Glenn Smith

Despite having one of Asia's lowest per capita incomes, Indonesia is a target for Unilever's ice creams.

Japanese car makers slashed adspend during the past couple of years, then sat back expecting the worst. But not much happened, which has led them to question the relevance of advertising to their business.

Japanese car makers slashed adspend during the past couple of years, then sat back expecting the worst. But not much happened, which has led them to question the relevance of advertising to their business.

Beer vendors struggle with a declining market, but China offers profits for Taiwanese brewers.

Beer vendors struggle with a declining market, but China offers profits for Taiwanese brewers.

TAIPEI - According to Nielsen's latest report, Taiwan ad spend has leaped 24 per cent to US$695 million (NT$22.3 billion) in the first half of 2010, marking a welcome turnaround after nearly a decade of decline for the island's advertising industry.

Advertisers are cleaning up as telcos struggle to make their voices heard in the emerging market.

Advertisers are cleaning up as telcos struggle to make their voices heard in the emerging market.

Advertisers are cleaning up as telcos struggle to make their voices heard in the emerging market.

Handsets holds sway over service providers for a population that is still more inclined to text than to talk.

Local outlets still dominate the Chinese convenience store sector, but is there a gap for overseas brands?

Despite excellent tap water, two brands, VanaH, and I LOHAS (lifestyle of health and sustainability), a new launch from Coca-Cola Japan Corporation (CCJC), have revived the Japanese mineral water business.

Korea's LG leads a regional air conditioner market that is benefiting from hot and hazy climatic trends as El Nino again wrecks havoc across Asia.

TAIPEI - The Taiwan Advertisers' Association (TAA) is preparing a letter that it will send to the island TV and cable broadcasting associations in the hope of averting a summer pricing disaster.

TAIPEI - The first quarter saw Taiwan adspend grow 22.8 per cent to US$312 million (NT$9.9 billion), according to Nielsen data, perhaps signaling the start of a recovery from a protracted ad slump that began before the global downturn.

TAIPEI - Taiwan's media agency association, MAA, has issued a letter to the island's terrestrial and cable TV associations requesting that local TV broadcasters review and perhaps amend their pricing practices.

TAIPEI - Grey Group is closing its joint venture with Hwa Wei in Taiwan.

TAIPEI - In what is seen as a rebuke to print magnate Jimmy Lai's broadcasting ambitions in Taiwan, the National Communications Commission (NCC) has rejected the applications for four of the five channels Next Media planned to launch this year.

Despite growth in the country's beer consumption, there is little competition for UB Group and SAB Miller.

Adspend has fallen dramatically as brands struggle to mark their territory in a blossoming pet food sector.

TAIPEI - Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets across Taiwan have turned angry customers away after supplies ran out for a combo meal marketed through TV spots.

The biggest threat facing China's airlines last year did not come from global carriers. Instead it came from domestic high-speed trains now plying the heavily travelled corridors between first and second tier cities within the country's 33 provinces.

Last year, a year-long commodity tax cut revived the Taiwanese auto sector from a 22-year lull. As the initiative became void on 31 December last year, there is little optimism for car sales in 2010.

TAIPEI - Taiwan's adspend sank to a new low of US$1.2 billion (NT$39.4 billion) last year, according to Nielsen Taiwan.

VIETNAM - Last year was a big one for soft drinks in Vietnam, with local and global beverage brands seeing double-digit growth in sales of new product variants supported by ever larger sums for advertising.

The recent launch of Apple's iPhone in the mainland capped a busy 2009 for smartphone manufacturers.

TAIPEI - Media agencies in Taiwan are pitching for the launch of cable channel NextTV, despite the whirlwind of negative publicity last month that prompted Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC) to reject NextTV's application for a broadcasting licence.

The sector has been a rare bright spot in Korea's ad market this year, but consumer spend is polarising

Unlike neighbouring Japan and Korea, in-game advertising has so far failed to make a significant impact in China, despite the huge number of active online gamers.

The city-state's financial services industry adopted a safety-first marketing strategy after last year's turmoil.

TAIPEI - Dentsu Taiwan is conducting an internal investigation following accusations of bribery connected with its World Games advertising account.

UPS, DHL, FedEx and TNT have been cutting Chinese adspend despite ambitious plans to expand.

Honda and Yamaha are spending aggressively to maintain their dominance of the motorcycle category.

Unilever and Procter & Gamble are spending heavily to increase their share of Thailand's haircare sector.

TAIPEI - Terrestrial TV stations may soon disappear from some households in Taiwan due to a new move by the National Communications Commission (NCC).

The growth of the online gaming industry in Taiwan has created a new group of big-money advertisers.

Newly affluent Chinese men are purchasing high-end watches to act as symbols of their social status.

Will performance-based pay hinder creative or lead to effectiveness?

TAIPEI - Leading financial services provider Chinatrust Group has named Media Palette Taiwan as its agency-of-record after a pitch that included MEC, Starcom and local shop MediaDrive.

Coca-Cola is working on a new offensive in the Philippines to guarantee its lead in the archipelago's large, but contracting, soft drinks market.

Lax regulation of the industry appears to be ending after the authorities ditched a tax break on adspend.

TAIPEI - Taiwan's China Times Group, owned by biscuit maker Want Want, is set to launch a newspaper focusing on Chinese business news as cross-straits relations thaw.

TAIWAN - Saatchi & Saatchi Taiwan has scooped the Master Kong instant noodle account in Taiwan after a three-way pitch against the brand's roster agencies Publicis Taiwan and Grey.

TAIPEI - Adspend in Taiwan has seen a sudden surge this summer in Taiwan, which in turn has driven up TV airtime prices, according to new figures released by Nielsen.

TAIPEI - Chinatrust Bank has called a pitch for its media business, which will see Carat Media Taiwan and four other media agencies vie for the account.

As global retail operators build their presence in the region, they must vary their growth strategy by market.

TAIPEI - Taiwan has become the latest Asian country to see the launch of Nielsen's internet audience measurement survey.

Despite a recent dip in sales, Vietnam's nascent car industry is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years Smith.

The hills of Shantung, birthplace of Confucius, are now planted with cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Riesling.

TAIPEI - International branding consultancy Brandimage has partnered with several Taiwanese operators to launch a new agency for the market, Jin Jin Jin Communications.

Local manufacturers will have to raise their game to make it in what is now the world's largest car market.

The city-state's three operators seek to grow market share by turning their focus to the pre-paid consumer.

Beer sales are in decline, but the fall in the market's value has been hastened by its leading brands.

TAIPEI - Red Bull has criticised the Taiwanese health authorities after its products were confiscated over suspected cocaine contamination.

TAIPEI - The new owner of Taiwan's China Times Group has claimed that it was singled out for tough treatment by this week's ruling of the island's National Communications Commission (NCC).

Luxury lovers are responding to recession by buying goods at second-hand stores or just renting them.

Medication bought over the counter is cheaper and often the only option for some Chinese consumers.

TAIPEI - Taiwan's Government has unveiled a huge investment in the country's creative industries.

TAIPEI - Taiwanese agencies have welcomed the prospect of a longstanding ban on Chinese brands advertising in the country being lifted.

With one of the lowest car-ownership rates in the developing world, the market is there for the taking.

With 22 per cent of Japanese over 65, the older consumer is a lucrative market for the skincare industry.

Whiskey is the spirit of choice in Taiwan, but top brand Johnnie Walker is under pressure from Asian labels.

TAIPEI - United Advertising is poised to wrest the Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) creative account from incumbent Leo Burnett in what could be the year's largest creative pitch in Taiwan.

The SAR's finance-obsessed residents are continuing to look for banking products that can make money.

TAIPEI - Carrefour Taiwan has been levied a fine of NT$3 million (US$88,300) for false advertising in a promotion that allowed consumers to exchange Government-issued stimulus vouchers worth NT$3,600 for double that value in Carrefour coupons, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).

TAIPEI - The Hoffman Agency shut its doors in Taiwan this week after four years on the island, with former staff setting up an independent agency, BMA Global Services.

Taiwan's media sector is in deep trouble. Last year, Nielsen measured spend at NT$42.4 billion (US$1.2 billion), a 6.6 per cent decline year-on-year and the fourth consecutive annual fall.

Sales are set to grow beyond last year's $8.6 billion as recession-hit buyers choose cheap, convenient snacks.

TAIPEI - A popular call-in quiz show aired by MTV in Taiwan is being investigated due to consumer complaints of possible fraud.

With the country's entry into the WTO, global fast-food franchises are scrambling for a piece of the pie.

TAIPEI - Sandra Yu (pictured), chairwoman and CEO of GroupM Taiwan, is taking a majority stake in United Advertising, the largest independent ad agency in Taiwan, along with its marketing communications subsidiaries that together form the United Communications Group (UCG)

Falling sales in Japan mean luxury brands are looking to China for growth, but recession is biting there too.

Four months after the melamine scandal broke in China, the nation's infant milk business has been turned on its head.

TAIPEI - Taiwan's much-touted voucher programme has failed to translate into a rash of new business for agencies, despite consumers' desire to spend them.

TAIPEI - Taiwan adspend dropped 6.6 per cent to NT$42.4 billion last year, the fourth consecutive annual decline since Nielsen began measuring the data in 2004.

The industry's spectacular growth in India is attracting the attention of several international brands.

Taiwan's retailers of 3C - local shorthand for computers, communications and consumer electronics - eagerly await the passing of a bill that will begin putting NT$3,600 (US$108) shopping vouchers in the pockets of every Taiwan citizen before Chinese New Year.

TAIPEI - Leo Burnett Taiwan has been awarded the total promotion business for passenger and commercial vehicles - imports included - for Mitsubishi Motors in Taiwan.

Late in their careers, self-made billionaires sometimes turn to the glamorous world of media for an entrepreneurial fling.

Promoting beer in a highly taxed and largely non-drinking Muslim nation requires a creative approach.

Growth in car sales in Asia is beginning to drop, but changing consumer attitudes may signal a new opportunity for car brands which are gentler on the environment and the pocket.

Pizza Hut's decision to hand its Singaporean creative account to JWT, ending an 11-year relationship with BBDO, comes as competition intensifies among Western franchises in the Lion City's saturated fast food market.

TAIPEI - Want Want China has snatched the China Times Group from rival Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Magazine and Apple Daily.

TAIPEI - Hard-pressed Taiwanese TV broadcasters are testing the legal limits of product placement in programmes, and are facing fines from the island's National Communications Commission (NCC).

TAIPEI - In an eleventh hour move, Want Want China Holdings, a maker of rice crackers and milk drinks, is believed to have snatched the China Times Group from rival suitor Jimmy Lai, founder of Next magazine and Apple Daily.

TAIPEI - Jimmy Lai (pictured), founder of Next Magazine and Apple Daily, is believed to be negotiating a buyout of Taiwan's struggling China Times Group.

After several good years since Sars in 2003, the industry is losing steam in the region after the Olympics.

British American Tobacco's (BAT) decision to consolidate activation marketing for its Japanese brands with Ogilvy Action highlighted the complexities of marketing cigarette brands in what remains one off the most lax tobacco regulation regimes in the developed world.

While it helps, it is no longer enough for airlines to play the patriotism card.

After years of prodigious growth, the mainland car industry faces a slowdown.

In the fiercely competitive mobile market, finding a point of difference other than price is proving difficult.

TAIPEI - Taiwan's first look at post-election adspend demonstrates a negligible boost in spend, despite the promise of a new economic era.

SEOUL - eBay is poised to purchase a stake in the Korean Internet auction and retailer, GMarket.

TAIPEI - McDonald's has implemented a tier-pricing system in Taiwan, partitioning the island into three districts to counter the impact of food price inflation.

TAIPEI - Interest in the Olympics from viewers and advertisers in Taiwan is notable by its absence, according to data from Nielsen.

Hands-on consumer experiences are driving sales in the region across an increasing variety of retail formats.

TAIPEI - The United Daily News (UDN) has launched its fourth magazine supplement, a weekly pull-out that focuses on personal finance.

TAIPEI - Nielsen Online has rolled out ad tracking system AdRelevance in Taiwan, the seventh market in Asia-Pacific to have the service.

When Lin Sheng-fen, president of China Times, stood on the pavement outside the newspaper's Taipei headquarters and announced that it would drastically reduce pages and cut staff numbers in half, a shudder is likely to have passed through the island's other newspapers.

TAIPEI - Taiwan's China Times has announced it is to produce a dramatically smaller paper and drastically cut staff.