Hong Kong Adwatch: Hutchison's lucky 3 rises to second position in TV recall

The telco proves that every now and then, it's not just how you say it, but how often. Christy Liu reports A bumped-up budget for greater TV presence paid off for Hutchison's 3G brand 3, whose TV commercials were voted by Hong Kong viewers as the second most-recalled commercials in June, with a recall rate of 88 per cent. The third-generation telecommunications brand has been continuously increasing its ad budget for TV. According to Nielsen Media Research, Hutchison spent HK$11.6 million (US$1.5 million) on TV in May, a sharp increase of 76 per cent over the previous month.

by | 07/16/2004

Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong business director Chris Leung said the brand unveiled four TV commercials last month, promoting its upgraded services and improved battery performance, as well as two branding TVCs.

Since the launch of 3 in January, Hutchison's investment in advertising has been significant. However, one market observer noted: "Before June, Hutchison launched too many 3 TV commercials without considering the consistency of the message. Some TVCs promoted the brand image, while others promoted its added-value services. TV viewers were not able to get a core brand message from all these TV spots."

Industry observers also pointed out that as of the beginning of June, 3 narrowed its focus to speak only of its long-life battery and improved network coverage. After tackling the two technical issues, the brand then rolled out two branding TV spots in order to strengthen the positioning of 3 as both an advanced technology and a fun telecom brand.

3's TVCs were aired primarily in primetime, with a major portion of the TV ad budget allocated to Cable TV in order to reach its target middle to high-income group working population.