TOP MARKETERS OF 2003: Asia's marketing stars

The Asian crisis pulled the rug out from under marketers feet.

Six years on, many are still struggling to regain their balance, grappling with a severely deflated marketplace where goods no longer fly off the shelves.

In the unforgiving post-crisis years, the need to build robust brands has forced regional marketers onto a sharp learning curve. Operating in a marketplace of constant product and service innovation, increasing media fragmentation, intense category competition and plugged-in consumers have added to the complexity of the marketing job.

But the consensus from the top players is that downturn does offer opportunities which have to be seized quickly and fearlessly.

They added that while technical knowledge is important - from above- and below-the-line to interactive and public relations - being streetsmart can spell the difference between success and failure.

Terence Lee, Towngas marketing communications manager, says: "The key thing is to be able to develop a market sense - to be aware of what's going on around you: who are your customers, what they believe in, and offering them something that is relevant to them, who the competitors are, how they operate and what they are offering.

"At the same time, you also have to know what is going on in society, culturally and politically. What might work in one time and place, might not work in another."

Marketers also stressed the need to keep the big picture in sharp focus, while operating in a holistic manner.

Philip Ho, Zuji regional director of marketing, says: "Making the brand proposition a reality is as much about creating awareness internally as externally. It's getting all the key stakeholders of the company - the staff - on our side, to give legs to any marketing and advertising effort we might have externally."

Being streetsmart also requires companies to be in constant touch with consumers, and the trends they spark, through research and observation.

Mabel Leung, Esso Hong Kong retail sales manager, adds: "It ensures you have the correct positioning and strategy, and when the measurement systems are in place, you can monitor the progress of your campaigns."

The marketers featured in this report have all excelled in their profession to push their brands forward - no mean feat this year, when Sars, terrorism, the Iraq war and economic uncertainty dominated the headlines across Asia.

Media and client/agency relationship consultancy R3 selected the marketing stars of this year.

Additional reporting by Sangeeta Mulchand, Tsang Shuk Wa and the Brand Equity Team.

MABEL LEUNG - Retail sales manager, Esso, Hong Kong

Leung, whose remit also includes marketing, was given one of her toughest assignments at the beginning of the year - she had to raise Esso's flagging brand awareness in the face of stiffening competition from competitors such as Shell. She accomplished that goal by plastering the entrances of the Western and Eastern cross-harbour tunnels with billboards and posters. There were even toll booths that were wrapped with stickers to make them resemble Esso fuel pumps. Awareness jumped by 30 per cent, while Esso's brand image index shot up 40 per cent.

WONG MEI WAI - Senior marketing manager (group marketing) Asia Pacific Breweries (APB)

Wong champions a portfolio of Asia Pacific Breweries brands, including Tiger Beer and Heineken, across the region. Heineken has a strong presence in Asia, while Tiger is a leading beer in Southeast Asia. The company recently moved to beef up the latter's presence in North Asia, by appointing Leo Burnett to spearhead the marketing communications charge. APB runs well thought out campaigns, underlined by its trophy cabinet filled with accolades from Clio and Media's Asian Brand Marketing Effectiveness awards. Trained by Unilever in Singapore and Hong Kong, she has a no-nonsense, consensual approach to ideas.

SARA PAZ - Regional marketing communications manager, Nokia N-Gage

Paz masterminded the campaign that officially launched N-Gage, one of the most remarkable new products of 2003. More recently she took her team to the North Pole, as part of a motivational exercise. With degrees from San Diego, Oxford University and Guadalajara, Mexico, she followed her passion to Asia and worked with Sony in Tokyo. The last four years at Nokia have positioned her well for the future.

CHRISTOPHE BAUDIC - Regional marketing director, Mattel Asia

Baudic is a 14-year veteran with Mattel, whose main objective is to orchestrate the roadmap of building long-term brands and offer added value to consumers and the trade. The challenge of the job is having to be at the same time "proactive" in long term brand building efforts and "reactive" to market needs. "The toy industry is very trend driven, almost like fashion trends." This year has been a successful one for Mattel in Asia - sales are growing strongly and it even managed to win creative accolades at Media's Asian Advertising Awards.

SUSAN STEVENSON - Vice-president, customer marketing, Asia-Pacific, American Express

When Sars hit, Stevenson served "lobsters" in the form of triple reward points in the worst-affected markets of Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. The plan was successful, as card members charged up to 37 per cent more on their Amex cards than before Sars. The effort derived other benefits to the company - loyalty and generating interest among non-card members. The initial intention of formulating the strategy at the end of April at the peak of Sars was to give "extra reasons for cardmembers to spend on the card during a very difficult period", to "take a leadership position" in helping merchants through a difficult time and to support government bodies who were trying to grow consumers' spending. Stevenson says: "It isn't a brand for every single segment. It isn't a brand that's for every single consumer in the market place. It is not mass appeal. "We want to be able to provide value for the segments that we're after. We are certainly not a niche brand. We are a brand with very broad appeal, but not for a mass audience necessarily."

TERENCE LEE - Marketing communications manager, Hong Kong & China Gas (Towngas)

Lee has been with Hong Kong & China Gas, better known as Towngas, for the past two years. During that time, the 140-year-old utility provider underwent a brand rejuvenation which positioned it as a company that could pre-empt customer needs and add to the quality of people's lives. But giving Towngas a more dynamic image was the biggest challenge, says Lee, who reports directly to the executive director and chief operating officer. "Pre-campaign, we were seen as solid but conservative, so our activities ranged from big above-the-line campaigns right down to showing that cooking is not something that is routine, but which people can enjoy with their friends," he says. The campaign, which successfully achieved its brand image objectives, picked up an ABME gold.

KAMOLDIST SAMUTHKOCHORN - Marketing director, Carabao Tawandang

Kamoldist Samuthkochorn had been with ExxonMobil for 17 years when he surprised them and himself by leaving to join a new energy drinks venture last year. Just 13 months after the launch of Carabou Daeng, its marketing director can claim a 22 per cent share of the competitive energy drink market plus regional recognition for brand building, including a gold and silver from Media's Asian Brand Marketing Effectiveness Awards. "It's been a lot of hard work, but it's been fruitful," Kamoldist says. His biggest contribution: "To help the company, which is a collection of a number of investors, to understand what mass marketing is all about," he says. Interestingly, Kamoldist started his career as a computer analyst after graduating from UK's Bradford University. Ten years later, he became ExxonMobil's adverting manager and then its regional promotion adviser, based in Singapore.

PHILIP HO - Regional director of marketing, Zuji

Ho's claim to fame over the past year has been as the driving force that built the Zuji online travel brand from scratch since its soft-launch in July last year. Today, the brand has made significant inroads into a number of key markets, in particular Singapore, where aided brand awareness for Zuji among the internet population is 45 per cent, up from 22 per cent in May. This has pushed it ahead of more established players such as www.airfares.com.sg and www.starasiatravel.com, but still lags behind the market leader, www.priceline.com.sg. But in terms of unique visitor numbers, Zuji is ahead of Priceline but seventh overall, according to Nielsen//Netratings.

SAUGATA GUPTA - Head of marketing, Marico Industries

In 1999, Gupta joined ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, then an aggressive start-up in an industry which had just opened up to the private sector. "Everyone said insurance was a 'push' industry. I believed there was a role for marketing and branding," he says. ICICI-Pru introduced new products, lowered attitudinal barriers through clever advertising and emerged as the fastest-growing insurance company and the biggest private sector player in India. From January, Gupta will head marketing at Marico Industries, a leader in the Indian hair-care and cooking oils fields.

TUL SUPHASAWAT - Marketing director, Cerebos Thailand/IndoChina

For Tul Suphasawat, "marketing is magic, because you can actually influence how people perceive something". The marketing director for Cerebos, responsible for Thailand and IndoChina, Tul started his career with dairy company Foremost, before moving on to Procter & Gamble for six years, and then to Cerebos, where he has been since 1996. "The biggest challenge is to constantly adapt to the changing environment," he says. "In the health food supplement business, not only do customers' tastes and lifestyles change, but you also have regulations changing - the laws on your products, and on advertising your products." Cerebos has won a number of major accolades in the region, including the 'Best of show' at Media's ABME awards for its 'Artificial leg' campaign.