HK CLIENTS HEAD OUT OF THE BOX: The Lipton Tea Star Ferry, Patek Philippe's ZeitByte and New World First Bus' 'Green Force' have all been PR coups for their sponsors

<p>The Hong Kong advertising industry greets the New Year with a </p><p>flurry of unusual media activities, suggesting that clients are ready </p><p>and willing to take up 'out-of-the-box' opportunities, if presented with </p><p>them. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Lipton Tea's bright yellow Star Ferry set sail on January 1, Patek </p><p>Philippe's "edutainment" offering, ZeitByte, performs at the Academy For </p><p>Performing Arts in Wanchai on January 22 and New World First Bus' 'Green </p><p>Force' is gathering momentum as it approaches its first anniversary on </p><p>March 31. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>By definition, promotional activities, the Lipton Tea Star Ferry, Patek </p><p>Philippe's ZeitByte and First Bus' 'Green Force' have all proved to be </p><p>public relations coups for their sponsors. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With special supplements adorning the covers of Business Week and The </p><p>Far Eastern Economic Review, Unilever linked the Lipton Tea Yellow Label </p><p>brand's history from the first tea cutters, to the emblematic Hong Kong </p><p>Star Ferry. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In so doing, Unilever general manager Marc Desenfans said the company </p><p>remained true to its mission statement to be "One Step Ahead". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Star Ferry promotion is an in-house initiative on the part of </p><p>Unilever Hong Kong. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to Mr Alan Lau of Libertas Hong Kong, which holds the Patek </p><p>Philippe account, "Hong Kong is already a mature advertising market </p><p>producing many top quality campaigns." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Perhaps one way to enrich this is to nurture the cultural and creative </p><p>lives of Hong Kong people so that more locally bred designers, artists </p><p>and creative professionals can emerge into prominent positions in the </p><p>field. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This partly explains why Patek Philippe was enthusiastic to engage in </p><p>ZeitByte. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Positioning the company as "more than" a sponsor, Mr Lau said Patek </p><p>Philippe's involvement in ZeitByte was "part of a total communications </p><p>programme which includes not only advertising but also information flow, </p><p>customer service and training. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Patek Philippe's engagement in the project of ZeitByte this year is the </p><p>outcome of a series of info-creative programmes that have run over the </p><p>past four years". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With direct participation in the creative process of the production, </p><p>Patek Philippe employed specialist education and entertainment local </p><p>boutique agency Encounter Enterprise to undertake the project. The </p><p>attendant public relations values of client-initiated projects such as </p><p>these, is certainly appealing in times of economic pressure. ZeitByte </p><p>gained coverage throughout the media in the week following the press </p><p>release. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Balancing the need to expand with increasingly stringent budget controls </p><p>is giving birth to some exceedingly sharp ideas, with longevity that </p><p>appeals to established market leaders and new companies equally. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>First Bus' Green Force initiative marries a young company's advertising </p><p>and brand development needs with environmental issues and grass roots </p><p>activities. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In alliance with Green Power, a non-profit interest group in Hong Kong, </p><p>First Bus created the Green Force Campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This involved training 100 "ambassadors" - volunteer members of the </p><p>public - to form a vehicle monitoring team who noted down offending </p><p>pollutant emitting vehicles in their Green Force record book. Weekly </p><p>reports were submitted and these were acted upon immediately by First </p><p>Bus. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to Mr C F Kwan, assistant general manager for corporate </p><p>communications at First Bus, The Green Force and the Green Foundation </p><p>sponsorship of local events and activities aimed to increase public </p><p>awareness, and maximise public relations exercises on product and </p><p>service developments. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>On anticipated media activities for 2000, Mr Kwan says that First Bus </p><p>will "embark on a non-tactical media campaign to proactively seek out </p><p>media opportunities to promote the company's ethos, and so continue to </p><p>raise public awareness and company profile. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Engaging in soft and educational green activities to secure long term </p><p>advantages that benefit both the company and the community in preference </p><p>to short-term, above-the-line advertising. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It will strive to employ low cost, high exposure public relations </p><p>activities in the bid to actively promote cost effectiveness for the </p><p>company and to act as a responsible corporate citizen in pioneering </p><p>environmentally sound, smart working practices. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Green Force is a client initiated project engineered by local shop </p><p>Freeway, run by the ex-MD of DMB&B Hong Kong Desmond Soon. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>If the above examples are anything to go by, Hong Kong clients are ready </p><p>and willing to purchase relevant out-of-the-box ideas and are indeed </p><p>doing so - without, it should be added, the help of the 4As. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>