media boot camp for execs

In an Apprentice-style training challenge, young talent from across the region descended on Bangkok for Mediaworks II, co-organised by Media and Branded, to take part in a simulated full-scale competitive media shootout.

More than 120 delegates gathered at the Sukhothai Hotel, where teams were split into groups of 10, with each led by a mentor from the industry for the three-and-a-half day battle. The challenge was to pitch a media strategy to the client, Motorola, for the launch of a new mobile-TV-enabled handset -- the Motorola Vizn. The goal was to grab seven per cent market share in the category and 25 per cent of Motorola's business in the imaginary market of AdverThaiSing, where the mobile phone manufacturer had critically missed first-mover advantage to rival Nokia.

Benjamin Tse, Motorola Asia-Pacific's senior marketing manager, mobile devices, presented the brief and informed teams that Motorola had gained ground in its drive towards category leadership over the last two years through the launch of handsets boasting both technology and design savvy, such as Rokr and Pebl.

However, as in real life, a few curve balls were thrown, adding to the pressure on the teams, who worked through the night. At the eleventh hour, the client introduced another handset model, the Razr, which it wanted launched at the same time, on the same budget. Branded's co-founder and executive director Jasper Donat, said: "While the mobile phone market is booming, the incredibly competitive landscape is being driven by ever improving design and technology and marketers within the sector have to adapt and change, constantly turning on a dime."

Chairing the event was Chris Jaques, chairman and CEO of Y&R and Wunderman Asia-Pacific, and Greg Paull, principal of R3, as chairman of the judges. "The quality of talent was amazing, and the ability of the teams to think 'out of the box' generated some incredibly exciting ideas that would never normally come out of the standard way of working," noted Jaques. Teams also had the opportunity to meet the client online, via MSN's instant messenger, with Ian Chapman-Banks, VP, Motorola Asia-Pacific, and GM, marketing and business development, mobile devices -- North Asia.

Forrest Didier, MD, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, NetRatings, and Dan Yip, associate director, client service, regional media services, Nielsen Media Research, gave teams insights into the AdverThaiSing market and consumers. Meanwhile, speakers from key media groups such as print, online, TV all put forward convincing arguments for why their medium should be included in the team's media mix.

On the penultimate day, teams were given 35 minutes to present to a panel of four judges, followed by a 10-minute Q&A session. The best three had to pull yet another all-nighter for the daunting final pitch the following morning. Team Kaleidoscope, mentored by Victoria Henderson, MD of Universal McCann China, emerged as the winner of Mediaworks II. "Over the course of two days, there was some good talent and work emerging, and the brief was something that teams knew about and was of personal interest to them," Henderson said.

Meanwhile, Mediaworks I client, Bacardi Thailand's MD Mahesh Madhavan, noted that the brand incorporated several below-the-line ideas presented by last year's teams into its marketing mix. "The teams caught a lot of insights in just a couple of days that we have taken months or even years to think up. We used ideas from the presentations like reserving tables in pubs and clubs under the 'Special Reserve' brand extension to give consumers a sense of standing out from the pack." Mark Patterson, GroupM's North Asia CEO and mentor of one of the finalist teams, added: "It is very rewarding and uplifting to see such a disparate group come together for hard work and play with such commitment to both. This is what our industry is about, after all, and this was a brilliant microcosm of it."

Organisers of Mediaworks II, Media and Branded, would like to thank host sponsors, MSN, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, as well as sponsors Nielsen Media Research, Reader's Digest, BPA and Siren Films.