TBWA-Carlsberg relationship boosted with new markets win

<p>Carlsberg Beer is set to flex its muscle in the Asia-Pacific region </p><p>with the announcement that TBWA Hong Kong has been appointed to market </p><p>the global beer's brand advertising in the markets of Vietnam, Taiwan </p><p>and Korea. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The initiative, said Ms Wendy So, Carlsberg director of marketing for </p><p>Hong Kong and China, was driven from Copenhagen headquarters and is not </p><p>expected to impact on brand communications projects currently underway </p><p>for Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, which are managed by M&C Saatchi </p><p>Hong Kong and The Peter Beaumont Agency of Malaysia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Coming in the face of increasing competition from locally active brands </p><p>Tiger Beer, Budweiser and San Miguel, the move is being positioned as </p><p>evidence of an increasing commitment to the region and as a rejoinder to </p><p>market leading competitor Heineken's recent high-profile, high-budget </p><p>push, which saw celebrity director Oliver Stone working with Bates Hong </p><p>Kong to produce the series of TVCs now running in the SAR. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This latest account win strengthens a developing relationship with the </p><p>global beer brand, which first began in 1999 when Carlsberg moved its </p><p>China business out of Leo Burnett Greater China to the then </p><p>newly-launched TBWA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Hong Kong brand advertising had already moved out of Burnett in 1998 </p><p>following the departure of executive creative director Spencer Wong to </p><p>FCB, after his resignation and the closure of The Burnett Boutique in </p><p>1997. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>An interim year saw the account return to Bozell, under the executive </p><p>creative directorship of Fornita Wong, and creative team Paul Chan and </p><p>KC Tsang. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>When Ms Wong subsequently moved to M&C Saatchi Hong Kong, Carlsberg went </p><p>up for pitch again, with M&C Saatchi picking up the account for the </p><p>region, bar China, which was by then on its way to TBWA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>By mid 1999, Carlsberg Hong Kong was re-configuring its marketing mix </p><p>again, resulting in a move which added a further agency to the roster </p><p>with the appointment of BBDO Hong Kong - which had recently appointed ex </p><p>Bozell Paul Chan and KC Tsang as joint executive creative directors - </p><p>which became responsible for promotions and below-the-line last </p><p>November. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The nature of the assignment changed," said Mr Ian Thubron, M&C Saatchi </p><p>CEO, describing the loss of Carlsberg's below-the-line activities to </p><p>BBDO last year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to Mr Thubron, who joined M&C Saatchi in 1999 following the </p><p>departure of founding CEO Michael Moszynski, the Carlsberg account, with </p><p>its regional, global and local platform requirements, responds well to </p><p>"strong, strategic creative shops which maintain close client </p><p>relationships". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It's a point not missed by Mr Gavin Heron, TBWA's head of strategic </p><p>planning, who describes Carlsberg's plans to develop Vietnam, Taiwan and </p><p>Korea as "cross-market investment in an international brand, which is </p><p>increasingly globally active". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The four-way pitch for this new piece of business saw heavy-weights </p><p>BBDO, DDB, TBWA and Peter Beaumont slug it out in Hong Kong and </p><p>Copenhagen over the first three months of this year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The win is yet another feather in the cap for fledgling TBWA, which also </p><p>recently won the International Bank of Asia account with billings of </p><p>over HK$40 million. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With a strong global reputation for creativity, Carlsberg runs with </p><p>three of Hong Kong's leading creative shops, and four of Hong Kong's </p><p>leading high profile CDs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, with Mr Stanley Wong, current executive creative director of </p><p>TBWA and Mr Spencer Wong, the current ECD of M&C Saatchi, both publicly </p><p>admitting to their last jobs in advertising, and with both maintaining </p><p>independent creative personal careers, the stability of the account over </p><p>the next year remains to be seen. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Paying tribute to the inherent brand strength of the Omnicom late-comer </p><p>to the region, unsettled times on the human resources front have yet, </p><p>however, to deter Carlsberg, which with this latest move increases the </p><p>relationship with TBWA from three to nine markets in Asia-Pacific's key </p><p>economic growth countries of Greater China and Indochina. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The defection to Saatchi & Saatchi of TBWA CEO Laurie Kwong, after a </p><p>brief tenure of just three short months at the beginning of this year, </p><p>and with discussions currently underway, according to TBWA regional CEO </p><p>Keith Smith, for regional executive creative director Mike Fromowitz's </p><p>return to Canada to rejoin his family later on this year, it seems that, </p><p>for the time being at least, the account is preparing to settle down </p><p>after a turbulent three years which has seen the business move through </p><p>five of Hong Kong's leading agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Stability and longevity of agency/client relationships remains a </p><p>critical issue for the Asian advertising industry, which has yet to be </p><p>fully addressed. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the bid to raise the strategic and creative bar, Carlsberg's </p><p>consolidation of its relationship with TBWA may prove to be a pioneering </p><p>step in the bid to arrest human resource propelled account moves. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Billings for Taiwan, Vietnam and Korea are undisclosed. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>