Campaign Asia

Why does Singapore Airlines make such boring videos?

I have to conclude that the brand produces the most boring and unappealing content possible.

Hilton tries to change business image with concert partnership

Hilton has created a partnership with leading concert promoter Live Nation to try and change their rather stuffy brand image to one that is cool, contemporary and in touch with Gen Y and Gen X, in fact anyone outside of the baby boomers generation. Good luck with that.

CNY of the sheep (or is it goat or um, ram?) inspires brands to follow each other

I love Chinese New Year (CNY). Every year is different, a different animal for marketers to wrestle with. This Lunar New Year is the Year of the Goat. Although some say it’s the Year of the Sheep as apparently they are the same in Chinese. Some even say the Ram, which ( guess is in between the two.

Why do QR codes work in China and not in Singapore?

On a recent trip to China I was amazed by the amount of QR codes I saw. Why have they taken off in China and not in the West or even in Singapore? Simple answer, mobile.

A State of Trance: Customer-centric music power brand inspires

What started as a dance genre has become a multi level marketing operation unparalleled in global music for the strength of it’s brand, loyalty of its fans, variety of its interactive aspects and longevity of it’s brand strength.

LinkedIn and Taken 3 connect to market new film

20th Century Fox have created a very innovative Linkedin based promotion for the new Liam Neeson film Taken 3. In what I think is a first they have created a profile for the character Bryan Mills and a showcase page for the film itself and asked you to connect with Mills to enter a competition.

SG50: Branding a pioneering nation

I was recently presenting at a conference when I was asked what the most important thing that was going to happen in 2015 was. Without hesitating I said SG50.

Why can't brands like IBM do a better job at marketing themselves?

I recently chaired a B2B Marketing conference in KL and we had the marketing director of IBM do a very interesting presentation. Before he did this he asked everyone in the room whether they thought IBM was cool or not. Out of 100 people only one said yes.

Can the Crocs empire strike back with Star Wars partnership?

In a cool, cool galaxy far, far away Star Wars became the greatest movie franchise ever made. Many years later the Empire has taken over the asylum and started doing corny brand partnerships with gimmicky shoes that even Jar Jar Binks would turn down.

5 reasons your sales team should give up the phone and start selling socially

Social selling is in the process of replacing phone selling/cold calling in Singapore, and here’s why.

Singapore customer service effects brand perception

According to a recent survey in Singapore 60% of people who suffer from bad service never complain. That means that for every four people who complain, another six are just as angry but never tell you about it. This is a staggering number and should be a big worry for everyone in the customer experience sectors in Singapore and those who market the applicable brands.

Foo Fighters and HBO use content marketing to engage fans

The Foo Fighters unleash their new album, “Sonic Highways”, this week with unprecedented hype and a unique content-marketing strategy. Lead singer and band architect Dave Grohl had a vision of recording eight songs in eight countries. However that was shown to be outlandishly expensive so he settled for eight songs recorded in eight American cities.

All Blacks and Adidas unleash new kit (x3) in time for holidays

World Champion Rugby team the New Zealand All Blacks have transformed the thinking of the way that a new strip is launched to the public. Just as they lead the world in rugby so they are leading the world in marketing.

The rise and rise of Under Armour into a Super Brand

Did you know that Under Armour is now the number 2 sports apparel brand in America, overtaking Adidas?

Can Asian brands satisfy customers?

A recent Asian survey on customer satisfaction reported a drop to only 69% satisfaction. That means nearly a third of retail customers are leaving shops unhappy.

My part in the 'Meet me in Starbucks' campaign

I am delighted to have represented Singapore in the new global Starbucks campaign “Meet Me in Starbucks” which launches tomorrow. This is how it came about.

Is there a brand strategy behind Brand Beckham?

In September’s edition of GQ there are no fewer than three adverts featuring David Beckham. I can remember none of the brands. Two were clothing, one perfume. But I do remember Brand Beckham.

Have U2 and Apple officially killed the value of music?

Music stars do want to have it both ways. First they complain that music is not being valued properly, that piracy is killing new music—then they go and give away an entire album and wonder why people don’t value music.

Do Manchester United have too many sponsors?

Manchester United (MU) recently announced their 40th sponsor/commercial partner. Apart from the MU finance team should anyone else be happy about this? Does it work from a marketing perspective for any of the sponsors?

Would you rather be gorgeous than large?

An innovative female clothing brand from Holland is changing the way that women are viewed by clothes shops. Instead of having small, medium and large they have 'gorgeous', 'amazing' and 'fabulous'.

Bethany Mota: YouTube influencing entrepreneur

With 6.5 million subscribers on YouTube, 18-year-old video blogger Bethany Mota is a fashion retail superstar. She has also just created a groundbreaking product and brand partnership with retail brand Aeropostale.

Brands celebrate Singapore’s 49th birthday

I love Singapore’s National Day to celebrate the Republic’s independence. It’s an amazing day where everyone on the island (who hasn’t left to avoid it) celebrates Singapore’s birthday. This year many more brands than usual have created special National Day marketing campaigns. I think this is a dry run for them for the big one next year. 50.

LinkedIn vs Facebook: Who wins the B2B battle?

There appears to be a very ill-informed debate about whether LinkedIn or Facebook is better for B2B marketing. To me it’s a no brainer, LinkedIn wins every time. Why bother wasting time on Facebook when it won’t work for you?

'Free' is key to every marketing campaign in Singapore

Free is the magic word in Singapore for any marketing campaign. If you use it you can promote anything. I love Raffles Place in Singapore’s CBD as it’s always a hive of marketing activity. There are always a plethora of brands trying to capture the attention of busy business executives who are dashing around. You soon learn that “free” is the only message that truly works to achieve this objective.

The Beatles & Vans singing in a Yellow Submarine

Vans have followed up their Metallica brand partnership with a timely one with iconic band The Beatles. Vans have launched a special Yellow Submarine branded themed range of trainers and shows with some very cool and colourful designs on.

Will thoughtful Singapore buy into the new transport campaign?

Corny or admirable? You can either think that the new Singapore Land Transport Authority (SLTA) campaign is the corniest thing you have ever seen or admire their ambition in this cynical world to communicate thoughtfulness amongst commuters.

When will music brands like Linkin Park control both their content and their marketing?

With the launch of the new Linkin Park album “The Hunting Party” and after watching the amazing 30 Seconds to Mars documentary “Artefact” I am left wondering why do any music artists work with record companies and why they don't market their own content now?

Who has run the best World Cup guerrilla marketing campaign?

Arguably it is always creatively harder to be an unofficial sponsor attempting to gain World Cup association than to be an official one. It makes you think more innovatively and you have to tip-toe through the legal implications. Here are some great examples of brands that have launched unofficial World Cup campaigns.

Singapore's Sentosa: State Of Fun versus Family State

Whoever designed the new Sentosa marketing campaign “The State of Fun” certainly has an ironic sense of humour and clearly has never been to Singapore. Just read the copy and you’ll see what I mean.

Tiger’s new “Uncaged” campaign lacks bite

Tiger Beer went outside of Asia to Australia and still came back with more lacklustre creative for the new Tiger Beer brand campaign. Tiger Beer have taken more brand directions than someone lost in a maze, which many would say Tiger have been in for a very long time.

Does film marketing make any difference?

It seems like every week a new blockbuster film from a famous franchises is being unleashed into cinemas. Transformers follows X-Men follows Godzilla follows Spiderman. Is it the brand name that’s selling these films or clever marketing? Does the marketing even matter?

Is it time that Nike came up with new creative?

Is it me or is every Nike football tournament advert the same? The latest Nike TV advert for the World Cup could easily have been used in 2010 or the Euro’s in 2012 or 2008. They’re all the same and they’re getting boring and predictable. Is that what the Nike brand is now?

Taylor Swift melts Cornetto’s brand image in Asia

Taylor Swift has partnered with Cornetto to create a holistic brand partnership that would melt any fan’s heart. In a unique exclusive the partnership is created by and centred on the Asian leg of Swift’s “Red” tour and includes a branded “Red” Cornetto.

Diesel stretch the brand through partnerships

You may think you know the brand Diesel but you may be surprised how far they have stretched their brand through innovative partnerships with much larger more traditional companies desperately trying to be cool.

Singaporean superbrand "Ah Boys To Men" makes the army sexy

When the first Singaporean armed forces coming of age film “Ah Boys To Men” hit the cinemas and was instantly a monster success it genuinely resonated with Singaporeans. The film had such a fundamental effect that it really made a difference to the way Singaporeans felt about their armed forces in a very positive way. It also created a Singaporean super brand franchise.

A dozen words of wisdom: How marketing people inspire others

A new book by Matt Parkes looks to shed some light on marketing wisdom. Matt asked thousands of people to give advice in a dozen words and from that came an inspirational book “A Dozen Words of Wisdom”. Here are some highlights.

AIA Vitality Rewards have healthy aspirations but poor delivery

AIA have launched Vitality Rewards for every insured customer. Basically the concept is very positive. They want to reward you for being healthy. How this is being done is open to question though with some serious gaps in the program and some questionable creative.

Is StarHub’s sponsorship of the Singapore Lions failing to roar?

Sponsoring a football team is tricky business. Past success does not equal future success. Just ask Chevrolet how they currently feel about spending almost a billion Singapore dollars on sponsoring Manchester United from next year.

Orient Express runs out of steam as it rebrands as Belmond

Murder on the Belmond Express? Anyone?

Festival of Media promises a Festival of Agile Content

This year’s Asia Pacific Festival of Media (FOM) being held in Singapore 16-18 March promises a huge array of content about the theme agility. As one of the official FOM bloggers I spoke with a few of the star presenters to get their views on what they would be focusing on

Linkin Park tag with Shazam to debut new content

Rapidly becoming known as the hardest working rock bank in the world, Linkin Park have created a partnership with Shazam to debut their new single “Guilty All The Same”.

When product placement goes wrong, not even Jack Ryan can save you

Product placement in films is one of those things that can work extremely well or make your brand look very foolish. There is no shortage of films with product placement in them at the moment. Some are very obvious and clunky, and some are very cool and in keeping with the story and film brand.

LinkedIn company page vs corporate website: Which is more important?

There is a raging debate amongst marketing and corporate communications professionals as to what is more engaging and important: your company’s LinkedIn page or your company’s website? Undoubtedly, I believe that it is your LinkedIn company page. Here's why.

Is this really the new Linkin Park & Eminem album or when UGC takes over?

I was looking through the web for any new Linkin Park material the other day when I found potentially the greatest album ever made. Linkin Park and Eminem together in Collision Course II. Wow I thought and I haven’t seen any marketing for it. There is a reason for that.

Rock and jazz thrive in a content zombieland

I don’t miss many things about living in London (certainly not the weather and the underground) but I do sometimes miss the culture. Having the choice of seeing one of a dozen concerts with top class entertainers every night, top class comedians in places from clubs to concert venues and top class theatre from comedy to drama every night is something to be admired.

Brands gallop into the Year of the Horse (apart from the fast food ones)

Everywhere I look I see horses. There are more horses in Singapore at the moment than people. Every brand has a horse associated with it. Why? Because we are about to enter the Chinese New Lunar Year of the Wood Horse (don’t mention Trojans) and every brand in Asia has to include horses somewhere in their marketing.

Magnum vs Haagen Dazs in battle to be King Cone

Unilever and General Mills have opened up a new battle line in Singapore: Pop up ice cream cafes.

What is a personal brand and how do you manage it on LinkedIn?

Are you too busy to manage and develop your own personal brand on LinkedIn? Everyone has a personal brand. Whether you like it or not it’s how you are perceived and just like a corporate brand it’s made up of various brand attributes and values, some of which you may not be aware of and some of which you may not like. But you do have a brand. Everybody does.

Beyonce and AC/DC use social media to rock the charts

Finally the music industry has woken up to the power of social media. Beyonce’s surprise new album has blown away all iTunes records with no traditional marketing, and AC/DC will have their biggest hit in 40 glorious years, both thanks to the power of social media.

Tea Pigs makes tea taste sexy

How do you make tea sexy? Call your brand Tea Pigs and communicate in a way that acts more like a friend than a brand, have some very interesting flavours and become very customer focused.

Content marketing goes mainstream with Unilever

When brands such as Unilever spend more and more money on sophisticated content marketing, you know that it’s become mainstream. The way the company has done it also means that it controls the data and saves significant media costs.

Partnerships make brands sexy

How do you make cloud computing sexy? Add Stephen Fry. How do you make Starwood sexy? Add Bayern Munich. How do you make The Hard Rock sexy? Add Linkin Park.

Australia’s Margaret River Gourmet Escape leaves social media famished

Margaret River in Western Australia is holding its annual Gourmet Escape event this weekend. The organisation is using UK celebrity chefs to engage the public, but its social-media strategy lacks any real impact or engaging content.

Being banned in Singapore is better than sex for AshleyMadison.com

It’s pretty easy to get massive viral PR in Singapore and increase customer engagement. Create a website that specialises in adultery. “Bring it” to Singapore. Let the politicians, Facebook and public do the rest, then finally “ban it”. Bang, you have the No. 1 “dating” site in Singapore and more than 100,000 new customers with zero spend. Genius.

Has The New Paper set marketing in Singapore back 20 years?

I had to look twice when I saw the new marketing campaign for Singapore’s The New Paper. Were they really trying to sell their tabloid based on a sexy photograph of a woman? Was that it? Apparently so…..

Linkin Park embrace gamifcation and CSR to recharge new remix album

Linkin Park are never afraid of testing new musical formats as well as new marketing mechanics. The latest album is a remix dubstep/dance album of their acclaimed rock album “Living Things”. The latest marketing employed is gamification through social media, Xbox live music streaming and creating awareness for the world’s energy poverty.

Does Emirates understand sports sponsorship more than any other brand?

Emirates offers an amazing case study when it comes to how to own and activate a sponsorship area. They dominate sport sponsorship in a way that other brands most envy. But which properties make the greatest cut-through for them, and how do they use social media to activate their properties?

New Zealand: All Black and all white (part 2)

New Zealand has some pretty cool local brands and they make great play about local brand values. I saw a lot of “for Kiwis, by Kiwis”, in marketing messages. Clearly that message resonates with consumers.

New Zealand: Great southland of marketing opportunity (part 1)

New Zealand is an amazing place. Any country that has 4.5 million people in it and can run the American’s so close at the American’s Cup with a tenth of the budget has to be admired. It is a country that has an immense amount of potential as well great history to market.

Will the new Singapore Borders store turn back time?

Popular Books are bizarrely opening a new Borders store in Singapore only 2 years after the store crashed and burned and had to close all their stores not just locally but globally. Are Popular simply trying to resurrect that dead? Or will this brave attempt to engage Singaporeans with an off line book store actually check the momentum globally of high street book stores closing?

How Linkedin has changed Singapore networking

The great thing about social media is that everything is measurable. Every connection, every re-post, every like, every comment all tracked. It makes social media the most ROI orientated and results orientated form of B2B marketing there is. It’s why some marketers prefer to still focus on off line marketing not social marketing…..you can’t track a TV advert, poster or print ad in quite the same way.

Are politicians endorsing xenophobic marketing?

If politicians are supposed to have their finger on the pulse of their voters and set the standard for their country then it’s time to leave the UK and Australia and head to more tolerant shores like Singapore…..

Red Bull Singapore's cringing marketing clashes with its global brand values

When I first saw Red Bull’s appalling Real SG Heroes campaign I thought it was a clever tongue in cheek joke…until I realised that they were being serious. Red Bull owners would surely have a heart attack if they saw it…..

Budwesier shows how live music content is King for Beers

Budweiser are really rocking with their mobile engagement of their “Made In America” concert and shown how bite sized chunks of cool and compelling content really does make you King of Beers

Standard Chartered climb mobile banking peak

Standard Chartered are known as being a safe bank. Secure. Never troubled during the financial crisis so why risk their reputation on a climb up Everest to test their mobile banking abilities?

Starbucks feeds Singaporean's desire for freebies to create engagement

If you want to engage a Singaporean customer give away a freebie! That is an unchallenged fundamental in promotional marketing in Singapore and Starbucks knows how to do this better than most.

Ramadan changes the way brands target Muslim consumers

Ramadan comes but once a year, but unlike Christmas it lasts for an entire month and has a profound effect on the ways that brands market themselves in Muslim countries, especially in Asia. Just like Christmas for the West, Ramadan in the Muslim world is when brands spend the most amount of marketing dollars too.

English Premier League Clubs score in Southeast Asia

It may shock you to know but the UK is not where most Liverpool or Arsenal fans are located. It’s actually Indonesia. More staggering still considering that until this weekend neither team had even visited the country!

Is Visa’s Singapore taxi ban just a PR stunt?

Singapore’s taxis have something new to complain about. Visa. The company has banned the payment method from all Singapore cabs. Is this just a PR stunt from Visa, or a serious play to be the people’s champion?

Singaporeans demonstrate a passionate love of brands (and freebies)

Singaporeans love two things passionately: 1) brands and 2) freebies. When the two come together the mix is explosive!

Can marketing and partners drive Singapore's free travel initiative?

It was pure bad timing that Singapore MRT launched a Free Travel program just as the haze meant that people didn’t want to leave their homes or had left the country…..

A challenger brand’s story of how crocodiles do eat sharks in rivers

Porter Erisman’s engaging and compelling documentary “Crocodile in the Yangtze” on the rise of Alibaba.com in China is a gripping tale of a true David and Goliath battle for supremacy in the world’s largest ecommerce market, China.

Streaming radio brands battle for Singapore's ears

Spotify has finally come to Singapore! The world renowned streaming music playlist/personalised radio brand has landed after years of developing its brand in the West. They join an intense competition for the ears of Singapore's citizens.

Rembrandt shows that social media can be artistic

The opening of the new Rembrandt museum in Holland does not automatically make you think social media and flash mob but it did to sponsors ING with great effect!

McDonalds turns Hello Kitty promotion into a social media meltdown

It sounds like such a great idea. Create some Hello Kitty fairytale characters. Give them away when people order McDonalds McDelivery in Singapore. Then wait for the customer backlash when you run out of stock and outpouring of negative social media comments.

Boyce Avenue - Social media kills the record company

Boyce Avenue performed a classic acoustic set at the Music Matters conference last week in Singapore and wowed those who had never seen them (like me!) despite having ONE BILLION views on YouTube.

30 Seconds to Mars soar on social media

In the week that it was shown that users only visited the planet Google+ for less than 7 minutes a month it’s interesting to look at how a contemporary rock artist brand goes about using social media in their marketing and the different levels of interest on different platforms.

Indonesia – the world’s most social mobile centric country

Over 60 million mobiles will be purchased in Indonesia in 2013, a staggering figure. With a 114% penetration rate of mobiles this market is driven by the replacement market and social media.

Will the rest of Asia follow Australia in giving up drink sponsors?

I find it amazing that when I walk out of playing squash in Singapore’s Kallang Tennis and Squash courts that I am confronted with more fast food outlets than I can count on one hand. I find this more even more contradictory as this is also where the Singapore Sports Council and Singapore Sports Hub are located!

Tiger Beer's new TVC is "Pure Copycat"

Tiger Beer have a history of producing some of the worst creative in Singapore. Their new TVC doesn’t disappoint in that respect.

Did my blog change Burger King's bomb creative?

You may have seen my blog on April 1st about Burger King’s new BOMB advert which was illustrated by a nuclear bomb explosion (see below). Many people though that it was an April Fool’s joke such was the bad taste and poor creative.

Tokidoki builds a cult brand through partnerships

Tokidoki is a cult Italian brand that many mistake for being Japanese. It has that has really used a succession of very cool brand partnerships to elevate the brand and tap into the passion of their fans through social media.

What did the Thatcher brand mean to Asia?

It’s truly a fascinating experience living in Singapore and seeing the world’s reaction to the joyful, sorry, very sad death of the wicked witch, sorry Margaret Thatcher.

Will Scoot lead the way and abandon Facebook?

Singapore Airline owned low cost carrier Scoot are threatening to give up their social media presence just to "see what happens". Revealed to Customer Loyalty 2013 conference goers recently by Commercial Director Steven Greenway.

Burger King’s new BOMB campaign blows up in its mouth

Burger King has always had a terrible reputation for creative. Their new advert damages the brand yet further and stretches the limits of taste to the limit.

Singapore National Parks plants its vision on the CBD Lawn

If you have been to the Singapore CBD/Raffles Place recently you could be mistake for thinking that you have gone back in time! The lush green lawn that dominates Raffles Place has been replaced with a replica of a park to celebrate National Parks 50 Years of Greening Singapore.

Chris Reed