Market Catalyst beats JWT to Lam Soon

<p>HONG KONG: Market Catalyst has expanded its fledgling relationship </p><p>with Lam Soon to knock J. Walter Thompson off the consumer goods </p><p>company's edible oil business. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It beat JWT and a third agency, which Lam Soon declined to name, in a </p><p>pitch held two months ago. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Market Catalyst's appointment comes as Lam Soon looks for new ways to </p><p>maintain its leadership of the edible oils category, which it dominates </p><p>with its Knife brand. Jim Tsao, group managing director of Lam Soon Hong </p><p>Kong, said: "Edible oils is a very sizeable category - it's easily one </p><p>of the top five in revenue terms in supermarkets - and as a result most </p><p>food companies have aspirations to enter this segment. We face </p><p>competitive moves every month; we have to attack and defend at the same </p><p>time." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the last 12 months, Lam Soon launched two "health-oriented" cooking </p><p>oils, high monounsaturated options. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Tsao said competitors had yet to follow its lead, allowing Lam Soon to </p><p>capture a three per cent share of this segment. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Our research showed that consumers take quality for granted from Lam </p><p>Soon, but they are concerned about health issues," said Tsao. Lam Soon's </p><p>Knife brand has won accolades from the Chinese Manufacturers Association </p><p>and in Reader's Digest's SuperBrands awards. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Tsao said the decision to move the business to Market Catalyst - which </p><p>has several senior ex-JWT staff on its team - was made because the </p><p>company showed strong insight into the category. "They handled the </p><p>account in the past when they were at JWT." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Conrad Chiu, Market Catalyst's CEO, said it was working on a new Lam </p><p>Soon assignment when it was asked to pitch for the entire account, which </p><p>been in JWT's hands for the past eight years. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>