PROFILE: Giving a voice to HK's advertisers

Michael Kwok barely had a chance to warm his seat at the Hong Kong Advertisers Association before a minor flap turned the spotlight forcibly in his direction.

In a town where association chiefs tend to shy away from verbal shootouts, the 2As' first new chairman in about six years showed a refreshing willingness to take a stand.

In this case, the eight to 10 per cent rate increase proposed by the market's top terrestrial broadcaster, TVB. Kwok has described the increases as short-sighted and unacceptable for a market still nursing economic shocks rendered by a fatal bug and a volatile external environment.

"Media vendors need to understand our position," says Kwok, who is Standard Chartered's senior manager for marketing communications, branding and research.

The 41-year-old marketer, who took over the 2As post from HSBC's Anthony Lau, is adamant that the terrestrial broadcasters should do more to make the environment more attractive to advertisers before raising their rates.

"I would like to see the stations push more on every front. TV is so broad-brush, but at the same time they are not doing a lot of things."

Which explains why Kwok's priority task is to recruit a property and consumer goods representative to the 2As committee. As both are among the biggest adspenders, they will provide the 2As with leverage when talking to media vendors as well as Government departments on key issues.

That said, Kwok is far more generous in his assessment of outdoor and print. Vendors of both mediums, as he sees it, have made an effort to inject greater value into their offering. New outdoor formats to the running of seminars and events and special supplements by Chinese print owners are helping advertisers connect with a market that is spending more time out of home.

If there is one area that Chinese print is lagging, it is in keeping advertisers in the loop over product developments. As an example, he cites a financial daily which introduced an entertainment supplement, making it more relevant than a mass market daily to an advertiser like Standard Chartered. "I think that's one of the things (print vendors) could do more - that is to actively let us know whether there are new developments or whether there is a change in their readership profile.

"They should be brave about it. Some changes may not be good for one product but could be good for another, so let us know."

While he appreciates that the nature of the industry is to blame for the distance, Kwok insists that both sides will only benefit from regular updates. And neither will regular contact diminish the role of media agencies.

As he sees it, media agencies have become an integral and invaluable part of the marketing communications pro-cess."If you do a survey of our members, quite a large percentage would agree that media agencies have an important role to play."

Media agencies have become successful, he says, because they have invested in expertise within their companies and are willing to dig deeper to understand their clients' businesses. However, the one-time adman, who moved to the client side because the "gatekeeper" role of advertising proved too limiting, believes creative agencies need an urgent repositioning. "I think their role is diminishing. They focus on the execution therefore there is less talk at a senior level on strategy," he notes.

Returning to a one-stop shop approach could arrest the creative agency's decline, he believes. "They need to give advertisers valuable output, not only in creative, but in strategy and brand-building as well."

KWOK: ON THE RECORD

Budget woes Advertisers are facing a very, very tough budget, but the operating environment has changed drastically. We have to make sure every dollar we invest generates the level of return we want.

Outdoors' ahead Advertisers are quite happy with improvements by outdoor vendors. They are willing to think out-of-the-box.

Industry lobby I would like to see a major brand from each industry represented in the association so that when we do go out to talk as an organisation, we will be more representative of the industry.

In deflation's grip From Standard Chartered's point of view, deflation will be over soon, but how soon we don't know.

Signature events I would like to see the 2As take a more active role establishing signature events, following what the ex-chairman has done.

Rate hike considerations When (Hong Kong TV) want to put up rates, have they considered the economy and whether there have been substantial improvements in their ratings and programming?