MEDIA CAREERS: Bates to address imbalance in Internet knowledge with massive training manouevre

<p>Bates Asia will be training all its staff across the region about </p><p>cyberspace, what its advertising potential is and how it can be used in </p><p>a traditional media plan. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>About 1,000 people will be involved in the effort in what could be the </p><p>biggest, single training exercise among agencies in Asia-Pacific. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Bates Asia regional president Jeffrey Yu said it was important to teach </p><p>everyone this knowledge because the current set-up - even among other </p><p>agencies - was too cumbersome. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"What we have right now is the client goes to the traditional agency </p><p>people for traditional advertising but when they ask about the Internet, </p><p>they are directed to the interactive guys. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This is inefficient and cumbersome and it unnecessarily splits things </p><p>up," he told MEDIA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Part of the problem, Mr Yu said, was the myth that only the techno-geeks </p><p>understood the Internet. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Take away all of the hype surrounding the Internet, take a clear look </p><p>and you will find it is a simple medium to understand ... Although you </p><p>might need the techno-geeks to execute the advertising strategy." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He also said that while the technology driving the Internet was still </p><p>rapidly developing, the cyberspace point-and-click concept was generally </p><p>understood by most computer-savvy consumers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the early days of the Internet, surfers talked about "cool sites, but </p><p>now they are talking more about how they can benefit from going to </p><p>certain sites", Mr Yu said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This is now the era of content and business strategy; without them, the </p><p>dot-oms are nothing. The Internet war will be fought on content and </p><p>marketing strategies - not on technology." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Bates Asia has won a slew of new accounts, half of them dot-coms. Since </p><p>the beginning of the year, the agency has won US$12 million in </p><p>new business including 2cube.com, a stock trading joint venture between </p><p>Jardine Fleming and Cable & Wireless HKT; chinaren.com; and Asiaone.com, </p><p>which is part of Singapore Press Holdings. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Other account wins, not dot-coms, were Avon in Thailand and Parke-Davis </p><p>pharmaceutical brand Gelusil in Taiwan. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>