HONG KONG: J. Walter Thompson has won the Kowloon-Canton Railway
Corporation (KCRC) account, worth around HK$50 million (US$6.4 million) over two years.
The Government-controlled corporation's business was formerly with Leo
Burnett, which resigned the account. A formal pitch did not take place;
instead several 4As agencies were asked to submit tenders to the
KCRC.
JWT was the agency for Hong Kong's other major rail service, the Mass
Transit Railway (MTR), between 1985 and 1998. "We have some expertise in
the transportation area," said Hong Kong chief executive William
Lau.
The advertising account just covers promotion of the company's routes to
consumers in Hong Kong, although some of the routes promoted go into
mainland China. JWT will initially promote specific routes, but Lau said
it would be moving onto producing corporate branding work in the near
future.
"We're trying to humanise the railway a bit. Generally, with public
transport, people just see it as hardware, and often they take it for
granted. We'll be trying to introduce something more emotional."
The KCRC is currently going through a period of massive expansion,
developing its Light Rail service into West Rail, and linking it up with
its other line, East Rail.
