In this age of information overload, we are bombarded with news and ads when leafing through a newspaper or magazine. However, good print ads, with creative visuals and a touch of local relevance, still attract people's attention. Here are a handful that caught our eye in the Hong Kong media. Have you spotted any cool print ads lately?
Manhattan Credit Card and ACE Life are sponsoring Radio 903 host Sammy (森美)'s upcoming comedy talk show 森美要滾 (Rocka Sammy) at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in July. The not-so-subtle poster features the phrase "要滾", which literally means ‘want to be boiling hot’, but it also has a double meaning of ‘fooling around’ in Cantonese.
PCCW-HKT's new print ad by Uth Creative mimics the iconic King Kong movie poster, but with skycrapers including the Gherkin in London, Taipei 101, and Hong Kong's Bank of China Building. The headline, "傾狂", which roughly translates as ‘non-stop chatting’, also sounds similar to "King Kong” in Cantonese.
Maxus Hong Kong has launched an integrated campaign for PrimeCredit, riding on “牙齒當金使” common slang emphasizing the importance of honoring a promise. Apart from TV, print, an MTR augmented-reality game and a roadshow event, there is also a game that allows people to scan a QR code found on an online banner ad and then use their smartphone to control a game on the PC screen that involves collecting falling teeth in a basket.
Chocolate Rain is a cartoon brand founded by Prudence Mak, a graduate from Central St Martins College of Art in London, whose trademark is the recycled patchwork-girl character of Fatima. Chocolate Rain has done many crossover marketing projects with partners like The British Museum, Samsung, Super Star Seafood Restaurant; its latest and first partnership with the drama sector is with local theatre group Bravo Theatre for its upcoming romantic light musical, which will be showing at Sheung Wan Civic Centre from 25-28 April. The print poster combines the animated carefree Fatima with the cast of the show.
Independent creative agency Uth Creative Group, which has been working on the PCCW account for 18 months, has launched a new print and digital campaign for 'Character building story pack', a new content package for its eye home tablet. The product is intended for children from 3 to 7 years old, and the ad features kids modeling Angry Birds-style costumes and expressions. The creative idea is to awaken parents to the importance of emotional as well as academic development.
In Hong Kong, Puma is sponsoring Commerical Radio 903 DJ 少爺占’s ‘Super me talk show’. In this live show, the DJ plays a gay character 朱豔強 who shares his cheeky and bittersweet romance story. The show takes place at the Sunbeam Theatre in North Point, which is better known for presenting traditional Cantonese Opera performances.
In ‘Kill bill’, the latest brand campaign for Hong Kong's PPS bill-paying service, upbeat graphics convey the message 'Get packed, ready and go'. The campaign, created by local agency 4 Tael, includes a lucky draw for a pair of return air tickets to the UK. PPS is provided jointly by EPS Company (Hong Kong) and PCCW's subsidiary Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT).
Hong Kong's Cyberport has been promoting its weekend market, which began last November and runs through March.
The ad, a childlike drawing with bubble gum colours, depicts an action-packed weekend with parent-child farming, an organic food and crafts bazaar as well as outdoor movies and youth performances, all aimed at turning Cyberport from a cold office outpost for hi-tech geeks into an eco- and child-friendly location for weekend family outings.
As part of global campaign for Nike's Kobe 8 shoes, a campaign in Hong Kong includes print, TV, MTR, bus shelter and even billboard ads in basketball courts, all featuring the brand's black mamba, which is said to symbolise brand ambassador Kobe Bryant's speed and boldness, but also meshes quite nicely with the upcoming Year of the Snake in the Chinese calendar. In fact, Nike plans to launch a limited edition of the Kobe 8 trainers for Greater China.
Accompanying panel for the previous image.
In this 2013 poster for California Fitness, the brand's new ambassador, popular Taiwan singer/actor Richie Jen (任賢齊) shares how his love of working out helps him to get off to a flying start in the new year.
A lineup of bare-chested, tattooed gang members (with suspiciously perfect teeth and hair), features in the print ad for ‘Young and Dangerous: Reloaded” (古惑仔), the latest in a popular Hong Kong film series that began in the 1990s about Hong Kong’s triad societies. The new cast of toughs includes Law Chung Him (羅仲謙) and Leung Lit Wai (梁烈唯), posing in front of neon signs meant to evoke the seedy love hotels of Mong Kong and other dodgy locations in Hong Kong—which ironically is one of the world’s safest cities. Quite of few of the actors in the series, including Ekin Cheng (鄭伊健), have become popular brand ambassadors.
Apart from running tactical ads for prices and destination offers during this holiday season, Singapore Airlines (SIA) is running an ad campaign, created by its global agency TBWA, in 10 popular overseas education markets for Hong Kong students. The campaign offers students heading to Australia, New Zealand, San Francisco, London and Manchester, among other places double excess baggage as well as 5000 bonus miles. Instead of the iconic Singapore Girl, the ad features a young female student holding a sack of heavy reference books.
The 21st of December marks the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar, and Ogilvy’s new pop-up advertising campaign for awfullychocolate purports that the Mayans are right, with posters depicting chocolate at the centre of worship.
Biotherm, a French luxury skincare brand owned by L'Oréal, is running a Christmas-themed print ad for its Sogo Christmas Beauty Fair from 5-11 December. The childlike graphic features an undersea world populated by a seahorse, jellyfish, a mermaid and a hidden message: ‘Beauty from the deep’.
7-Eleven has been very active in running redemption programmes to engage with its ‘loyal’ customers. Its latest offer is a crossover marketing initiative with Sanrio, the Japanese company famous for its cute characters. The ad depicts a high-tea set of ‘Sanrio Sweet Delight’ cupcake toys, including Hello Kitty, Badtz Maru, Keroppi, Little Twins Stars and Cinnamoroll to tempt kids—and obsessed adults.
The fourth-annual Clockenflap, a large-scale outdoor music & arts festival, will take places on 1 and 2 December in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District. With sponsorship from brands including San Miguel, British Council, Milk Magazine and HMV, the festival will have over 80 bands including Primal Screem, De La Soul, Azealia Banks, Jun Kung and Chochukmo, and a series of BAFTA short films as well as a children's playground, a handicrafts market, a coffee house and more. <br><br>The pastel print poster projects an intriguing, childlike innocence, which promises a fun day out for families and art and music lovers.
For World Aids Day on 1 December, NGO Aids Concern Hong Kong is running this print ad campaign with the message 人人出手 (everyone gives a helping hand) to encourage the public to get HIV testing as well as give support to safe-sex education programmes targeting high risk youth.
Korean sensation Psy has popped up in a Madonna concert in New York, as a guest speaker at Oxford University, and soon at Macau's City of Dreams. The resort has run a print ad for his one-night-only debut concert on 29 November, featuring him in his signature tuxedo and bowtie. Audience members who dress in Gangnam style for the show will get a free drink.
Wrigley’s Airwaves has sponsored Commercial Radio of Hong Kong’s 2012 Ultimate Song Chart Awards, which will be held on 1 January 2013 at the Hong Kong Convention Centre, and produced this retro and tongue-in-cheek print ad. The theme for this year's award is 土炮起來, honouring Cantopop songs that reflect local Hong Kong culture and social issues.
Puma sponsors Hong Kong's soft rock singer Endy Chow 周國賢 and uses manga-style images to catch the eye.
The Venetian Macau gets under your skin with this ad to promote its Human Body Exhibition.
Eurasian babies and children are always in demand for agencies in Asia, as Western children are seen as 'too foreign'. Here, six-month-old Summer makes her debut in the latest 7-Eleven ad campaign.
Samsung has outgunned mobile giants such as Sony and Nokia to become one of the most top-of-mind mobile brands alongside Apple. But it is still advertising aggressively and coming up with new ways to showcase its mobile phones.
American Express has partnered with Cathay Pacific and developed a series of print ads that use the American Express credit cards like Lego bricks to construct iconic buildings like Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House and Taj Mahal.
