From QR Codes to Augmented Reality

By Alex Hau, Senior Regional Interactive Manager, APAC for Universal McCann

Look, most marketers probably will agree with me on this - QR codes campaigns are just a fad pretty much anywhere outside of Japan. Manufacturer support is not there, and in most cases the experience doesn’t offer much value to the consumers. I don’t mind typing a SMS with my chunky fingers on the tiny phone to enter a contest (I am used to the pain of finger arthritis), but very unlikely that I’ll jump through all the hoops of downloading your app, switching it on, and snapping a photo of your QR code just to visit your contest site. (Yes you know who you are… and I know I will have “better luck next time” thank you very much)

Unless you give consumers some genuinely appealing incentives, no one but the most curious will download a potentially buggy app on their handset and point it at your QR code.

Under the concept of “value exchange” between consumers and marketers in this age of social media; to earn brand engagement time with consumers’ a brand needs to give back something of value whether it be entertainment, information, experience, etc. Right now plain old QR code just doesn’t cut it after the initial novelty factor wears out. So what’s next?

You might have heard of the term Augmented Reality (AR)? Wikipedia sums it up as “a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery - creating a mixed reality.” It seems to be “popping up” everywhere right now (pardon the pun) and mostly on mobile devices. While some make use of QR code technology, some are doing away with the code altogether.

I remember seeing a demo about two years back, one of our partners shown me his AR demo on the mobile phone and it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. You point your phone’s camera at a QR code printed on a piece of paper and on your phone’s screen up pops a 3D object extruding from the print ad! (watch this video if you still have no clue to what I am describing) It was like discovering pop-up books all over again!

Sure it’s gimmicky but you can’t deny it’s an interesting trick! Our sister agency McCann Erickson created a campaign using such technology for Nike in Hong Kong last year to great reception. This year we saw McDonald’s and Adidas making us of the same technology as well.

Is it just a fad or viable marketing tool? Time will tell, but already we are seeing AR technology being implemented in various creative ways. Here are some commercial examples.

Ray Ban created an application on the PC that allow consumers to try on sunglasses virtually using a web cam and dedicated software. Consumers can see in real-time how a pair of sun glasses will look on their head from various different angles. Watch a user created video clip here. One of the main criticisms of e-commerce had always been the lack of a tactile experience. That might still be true today but AR is bringing us one step closer to true “try before you buy” when shopping online.

Brands are also making use of AR technology at retail to further engage with consumers. Last month in Tokyo, the luxury brand Loewe launched an in-store AR experience for their customers. They made available a bunch of iPhones with custom developed AR app for consumers to browse the shop virtually. By clicking on floating icons on screen, customers can discover information about Loewe’s history and products not seen by the naked eye. Watch the video here.

Similarly, Lego created in-store AR kiosks in the U.S. so kids can visualize in 3D what their Lego blocks will look like after (their parents) spend hundreds of hours piecing the little blocks together.

Could real-time-virtual-world-augmented-reality-marketing be the next big thing? We’ve finally reached a point where it’s economically feasible to create virtual worlds in the context of the real one that everyone can interact with and understand. Sure it will take time for adoption and for price to go down even more before it hits mainstream. But considering the momentum this technology has right now, mass adoption doesn’t seem too far away.

Augmented reality, you have more than 15 seconds of our attention! In this time and age that’s quite an accomplishment.

Don’t ‘blow water’ with advertorials

Glenn Schloss is Regional Director, Asia Pacific, of Corporate Communications at Hill & Knowlton, based in Hong Kong.

Is it time to “blow water” all over advertorials as the literal English translation of this column title would suggest, to pour water and leave a mess of soggy newsprint? Or shall we, as the Chinese meaning suggests, explore their potential role in strategic communications to inform the public?

There’s already a bit of talk around Hong Kong about an advertorial which has popped up on p4 of the South China Morning Post. Promoting the proposed cross-border express rail link between Guangzhou and Shenzhen, its headline promised “Express Rail Link to Put Hong Kong on Fast Track to Greater Prosperity”. With a small “Sponsored Feature” in the top right hand corner, it’s not immediately clear who has paid for or written the article, but there are a couple of references to “a government paper” and “the government”.

It’s not in the Chui Shui Central column’s brief to discuss the advertorial’s political points. The Big Lychee (formerly known as Hemlock) has commented in prose which lives up to the promise of the blog’s tagline “Watching the sun set, little by little, on Asia’s greatest city”.

What is clear is that there’s a growing trend among corporations and government to turn to advertorials as they seek to gain ‘cut through’ in cluttered communications, advertising and editorial environments. Whether it’s a government trying to bolster support for policies and projects or companies raising awareness of programmes or promotions, this is a tactic which is gaining increasing traction with advertisers.

And media outlets, faced with declining spends on traditional advertising and dwindling audiences, are encouraging the trend. However there’s some news to report here - in some cases media proprietors are encouraging the blurring of advertising and editorial spaces by putting increased pressure and requirements on journalists to write positively about advertisers or devote column space when they usually wouldn’t have covered them. This is a trend occurring from London to New York and right here in Hong Kong.

The key question is whether advertorials are effective in winning support or persuading stakeholders?

Research indicates that advertorials sit somewhere in the middle of readers’ trust levels when consuming print media. People reading magazines most appreciated theme features, those editorial features where brands are presented in small segments of text, according to Peter Neijens, Eva Van Reijmersdal and Erik Do Vos in a paper presented to the International Communication Association. Readers then more appreciated and accepted advertorials than advertisements.

In this new age of conversations digitally and offline consumers are also becoming more demanding in their expectations and interactions from advertising. As a result, greater value and impact is being delivered via other channels - editorial, social media and word of mouth. The key to success with these channels is the credibility, confidence and connections to convince third party influencers who are willing to speak convincingly about a brand, company or government project they support.

There is no doubt though advertorials have a role to play in communications programmes; they are one of many channels to be deployed in the right circumstances. What really matters though is execution – targeted, informative and authentic writing are crucial, together with excellent production.

Put another way, advertisers (shall we say) ‘blowing water’ or spouting on about how wonderful they are in a manner which lacks objectivity in advertorials are wasting their precious marketing budgets and credibility. It’s when advertorials are poorly conceived and produced, providing little value to readers that they grate the most with media consumers – and other, more critical, stakeholders.

Some considerations for communication with audiences via advertorials include:

• Engage –Deliver information that is helpful, practical or will stimulate the audience to want to know more.

• Connect – Build connections with the audience by tapping into their motivations. What are their desires, concerns, expectations or fears? Address those. If there are concerns in media counteract those with your most compelling arguments.

• Integrate – An advertorial that is one-off or part of a limited number is not a good investment, audiences need repeated exposure to messages and concepts. The piece should be integrated with and cross-reference other communications materials, and ideally stimulate the reader so that they want to know more eg online.

• Transparency – Be up front about who you are and what you are trying to communicate. Obfuscation merely raises suspicion. Readers these days are very adept at ‘reading between the lines’.

• Innovate – Don’t fall into the same trap of advertisers who try to imitate the style and layout of the publication, which is merely your vehicle. Provide readers with a better and more interesting experience – they will remember you for that and be open to obtaining more information in future.

Have a drink and bash your client!

No that's not physical violence we're endorsing, rather an opportunity for overworked and unappreciated (or is that ego hungry) designers, copywriters and creative directors to have a good old whinge!

This is the second Off Brief for the year, with this week's session to be sponsored by DDB. So bundle up your frustrations and get along to the Philia Lounge this Friday from 9.30pm.

Party on the plane - Kiwi style

Although there's been a lot of buzz about brands dipping into social media campaigns, some have only started to explore this communication channel relatively recently.

Air New Zealand, for example, has started a Facebook campaign in August this year as well as a Facebook Fan Page to promote its London route targeting young professionals.

To extend its online presence offline, the airline organised a "Party on the plane" yesterday and invited its fans and a few bloggers to the event.

A mini-contest went out earlier on Facebook showing fans pictures of the kiwi animal and asking them its weight. Those whose answers came close were then selected to be at the air party.

I saw a few familiar faces from the blogosphere - Jansen Lu and Meling Lam, but that was it.

We got our 'boarding pass' and were allocated seats on business class and yes we were given star treatment for the next few hours.

Air New Zealand's marketing manager Prudence Lau broke the ice by getting everyone to introduce themselves and expose a little secret about themselves in the process.

A few lucky ones were later picked to become unofficial flight attendants for five minutes as they wore life jackets and face masks for the safety demo.

Right after, lunch was served on board. The caterer, Joel Crompton from Gate Gourmet gave us a peek to how airline catering works as well as details on how the food has been cooked. And yes you get the full course on the plane too - from appetizer, the main course to dessert.

After the meal, one of the air stewards, Kenneth walked around to set the 'bed' for some of the passengers.

Unfortunately, we were not allocated time for siesta and after a few snap shots we had to proceed quickly to a wine tasting session of the carrier's wine selection by a connoisseur.

And then it was photo taking with the chef and a bit of wondering around to different parts of the plane for more photo taking.

I had the opportunity to have a quick chat with the air stewardess - Eileen and Hilary and they gladly posed for a shot.

Then, it was time to leave and we were goofing around while waiting for the bus to bring us back to the airport.

(Above) Simon, a Yoga teacher doing his pose by the wing of the plane.

It was a very civilised 'party' and everyone was extremely well behaved - all happy faces as they leave.

Some reflections:

Unlike typical blogger outreach events where you would see the usual suspects, this is a refreshing change.

Sure this is not exactly a blogger event and while there's a school of thought that says influencers (bloggers) are important and they have sort of become mini-celebrities where they get invited to an event because they're in the 'list', they may not necessarily embrace your brand.

Having an ' influencer list' that we can stick to makes the job easier but not necessarily give you the results you want and it might even make you lazy.

It takes effort to engage with your consumers but social media channels such as Facebook or Twitter now allow you to identify who they are and depending on how you interact with them -give you the opportunity to make them your brand ambassadors.

It's definitely not as convenient as inviting a list of influencers that perhaps your competitors are already wooing, but putting in that extra effort does give you a better chance of connecting to your consumers and eventually a higher probability of converting them to become your loyal customers.

Chui Shui Central: Online advertising stalemate

By Kevin Huang, CEO of Pixel Media Asia

It is new or is it not?

The first ever banner ad was launched in 1996 so theoretically, online advertising is now 13 years old. I guess the answer is it’s not new but not that old either. A teenager to be precise, entering its puberty stage.

Sure, when it was younger, it had its fair share of problems. Back then, it over promised and delivered little. It said it’d change the advertising landscape forever and it didn’t.

Then there was the audience. The only people playing with it were literally playing games and what not and not serious about using it for serious business, work, communications.

And there was the elusive CTR (click thru rate) which was suppose to tell you the half that didn’t work or did work that TV or print couldn’t tell you and of course there were the hundreds of companies trying to be the “standard” creating their own standards, leading to no standards.

Fast forward 13 years and the year is 2009.

It’s grown up and more grounded today and have set expectations the right way. It now has standardization, effective ways to measure credibly and most importantly, the audience.

The right kinds of audience that is addicted to the internet ranging from 13 year olds to 60 year olds who can’t seem to get enough of the endless streams of information that is freely available online and the endless new tools that enable us to connect with one another that much easier.

The impact it has made on our lives have become real to the extent that politicians have won elections using it.

Yes, the promise of the internet has come true. It has started to impact our lives, our world and our future.

With advertising, we can target by almost any audience segment you want and measure almost everything from how people are engaging with your ads, which product appeals most to them and we still measure CTRs.

So with all that being said and done, I recently met with a major advertiser and he indeed was very interested in online advertising.

He asked about new things online, what he can do to engage with more potential customers, how he could impact his bottom line with it. He even mentioned that his 15 year old spends endless amounts of hours online.

I was pleased to hear that but my joy was short-lived.

He ended by saying, TV and Print rates have really come down during in the last six months due to the economic crisis and that he’s going to launch their next major campaign on TV as his boss enjoys watching his ads on TV and now that prices have come down, he can afford to do it.

Thirteen years later with the immense progress we have made as an industry by banding together to standardize ad formats, introduce measurements as well as maturity of audience and their levels of engagement online, we’re back to square one…13 years later, same old issues.

The social media career path

They’re starting to fall, like a house of cards, and only time can tell who folds next. They’re talented, entrepreneurial, digitally minded professionals who sold the farm for a life of digital evangelism, but it seems digital was not the land of milk and honey it was supposed to be. Now, some of Hong Kong’s most prolific digital agents are falling prey to the darker side of the marketing world, PR.

First it was Thomas Crampton, the former globe-trotting newspaper correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times, who turned his name into a powerful blogging brand and digital consultant for media companies. Over a period of six years Crampton built his name as a top tech blogger and through his unique video interviews led an innovative style of unearthing technology and social media trends. Earlier this year Crampton was snapped up by Ogilvy PR Worldwide as Asia-Pacific director of its 360 Digital Influence team, a role which sees him consult, conceive, develop and execute social media strategies for some of Asia’s biggest brands.

Next in line was Napoleon Biggs, founder of Palava Digital and the popular networking event Web Wednesday. Biggs, who spent 12 years building digital companies and consulting to brands like CNN, was lured by Fleishman-Hillard as vice president of digital integration in Asia Pacific, with his experience as leader of Hong Kong’s so-called digerati a major factor. Staying true to form, Biggs broke the news on his blog, saying that after 12 years of a “roller coaster life of internet start-ups”, he decided to suit up and take on a new challenge.

That’s how the game was played for a growing band of ex-magazine and newspaper editors who waved goodbye to their old media ways for a life of blogging. But some like hkcosme.com (aka Meling Lam) admits that making a living is a challenge.
So who’s next? The most likely candidate seems to be Jay Oatway, Hong Kong’s answer to Twitter royalty, a media trend hunter and more recently organiser of the successful Twestival charity events in Hong Kong. Oatway’s Twitter status is now reaching over into other areas like speaking engagements.

What’s interesting here is how social media is allowing those with the technical smarts to build their own personal brand as a stepping stone to bigger things.

Crampton admits this was one of his motives. “It was not about revenue, it was about bringing broader things to me like business opportunities, speaking opportunities and raising my profile in a way that was not possible in a previous era. My blog has always been about my obsession of social media and not something that I could retire to the South of France with.”

As a PR professional he says social media applications like LinkedIn, Twitter and GoogleRankings are employment tools for what he calls a “blogger employment strategy”.

“They have to have a social media profile. We want to get these bloggers out of their pyjamas and into a suit.”

Personal branding on social media is interesting but the wider ramifications it holds for the marketing industry remains to be seen. Some on Twitter argued that Fleishman-Hillard would be in for a rude shock once Biggs joined the team, but whether this is real criticism or just a bit of competitive jostling is anyone’s guess.

The PR sector’s initiative of poaching top digital talent should be applauded, but let’s remember that social media is not a ticket to a cushy job.

This article was first published in the September issue of Marketing

Chui Shui Central: The Problem with Property

Elmer Cagape, SEO consultant for Beansbox

A reliable barometer of Hong Kong economy has been the state of its property market. A booming property market indicates a healthy economy while sagging property prices is an ominous sign of an impending economic pinch in the territory.

Needless to say, Hong Kong property market is a busy piece of landscape characterized by cut-throat competition. The importance of exploring all marketing channels simply cannot be overstated. However, a sense of urgency in the realm of online presence doesn’t seem to be the order of the day for many property players in Hong Kong.

Mere presence online isn’t even enough. Competing websites try to outdo each other not only to attract steady flow of visitors but also to build brand equity. While virtually all property transactions happen offline, online presence often initiates connection between potential buyers, investors and sellers or landlords and tenants.

Search engine marketing plays well in promoting property websites to their target audience. Consider a company manager of an independent foreign law firm establishing its presence to Hong Kong. Clueless and only armed with hints from Google search results, he hopes to net ideas not only on properties and prices, but also on general living conditions like taxation, bringing pets or dealing with moving services. With one potential client waiting to reward an agent to answer simple questions, a forward thinking firm whose website sits prominently on search results gets one genuine business lead on hand.

As target audience flocks to social networking websites, so are property agents. A random check in Facebook shows Centaline, Hong Kong City Property and a few others have established Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. While this sounds promising, some of these early birds can’t seem to figure out how to make full use of these social networking applications as evidenced by a few test messages and lack of consistent updates.

Even as local property agencies have been relatively lackluster in maintaining online reputation, their counterparts in more matured online markets in America and Europe capitalized on this advantage.

Zillow.com is a media site and marketing platform that real estate professionals can use to connect with buyers and sellers. With its Zestimate proprietary function, home owners and buyers have an idea of a property’s market value. The site also allows homeowners, agents, buyers and sellers to throw in their questions directly to executives via Twitter, something that remains to be seen among Hong Kong agencies as a way to engage with customers.

Other services providers such as Trulia, Cyberhomes and Yahoo! Real Estate in the United States, Savills in the UK and Funda in the Netherlands have flourished in their online presence.

In the past it used to be shiny websites with superior wow factor that literally shone into prominence on numerous obscure award giving agencies. Now, that wow factor has been reinvented before the eyes of web award judges: user-centric layouts over flashy eye candies. No wonder, Landscope, a specialist in luxury properties grabbed Real Estate Standard of Excellence from Web Awards as it focused on integrating map services and property alerts over high resolution photos.

In general, players in the Hong Kong property market still have some catching up to do online compared to their American and European counterparts. The stage for a dominant online local agency is still up for grabs.

Madonna and me

I jumped into a taxi last night and Madonna was in between my legs... literally!



Not a bad idea though. It's all part of a Warner Music campaign to promote Madonna's last contract album with the group before she heads off to Live Nation. Inside these plastic pouches are collectable badges - six in total - but you need to find different taxi's to get all six.

East Asian Games in Hong Kong... really!

I'm only just beginning to figure out what those strange statues are that have recently appeared around the corner from our Sheung Wan office.

Yes, believe it or not Hong Kong is hosting the East Asian Games. Where, I have no idea and how... well, I guess only time will tell. After picking up the SCMP this morning and seeing its page two lead about how Dony and Ami (the East Asian Games mascots) had failed to spark any interest, I thought it appropriate to post this photographs of the mascots in Sheug Wan as an example of how these Games are being promoted.

These poor creatures have been sitting in the square for about a week and a half now, with some strategically placed steel rails giving the mascots a lovely touch of city aesthetic. There's nothing sporty about this installation and the description of what they are has been broken and is now resting along side those aforementioned steel rails (see below pic).

The SCMP today (Monday 12 Oct) reported that sales of the mascots - described variously as octopuses, hairy teeth and ugly vegetables - are well below expectations. In some cases shops have been with a sale for days.

With the games just two months away it's interesting to recall a survey (the source of which I'm still tracking) which showed two-thirds of 530 people (aged 18 to 45) interviewed were unaware of the event.

Hong Kong doesn't have the greatest track record for self-promotion and it seems the East Asian Games is no exception.

The advertising and social media divide

By Brandon Cheung, strategic planning director, wwwins Consulting

Where old meets new
Let’s stop the rumors right now. Advertising is not dead. There will always be a place for broadcasting your brand to a listening audience. Even Steve Jobs once said, “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” Coming from the man behind the most socially advocated products in the world, it’s safe to say that this dynamic between brand advertising and consumer will always exist.

With that said, yes, social media is red hot. And yes, social media is the driving force that leads some people to believe that advertising (as we know it) is dying a slow death. Consumer conversations are happening more rapidly, prevalently, and publicly in the digital space, presenting a whole new world of opportunities for brands to connect with their consumers. The key difference now is that brands start on the listening end of the conversation, before they ever have to speak.

More and more, there are moments when consumers speak out on what they want, or what they think. These moments are now moments of opportunity. With the advent of micro-blogs and real-time search, brands finally have access to these conversations from the very moment they happen. And more importantly, brands now have the chance to join the conversation.

But just because brands are invited to the party, it doesn’t mean they’re going to be well received. Brands still need to make the adjustment from the one-way conversation to the two-way conversation. Basic rules of human interaction apply here! The context needs to be right in order to join the conversation. When not welcomed, brands can expect the cold shoulder or even worse, backlash.

For example, guy walks up to a girl at a bar and says “Hi, I overheard you talking about gourmet food with your friend and I just happen to love gourmet food as well. Would you like to go on a date?” Ok, so that’s not really a social media example, but it’s the exact same approach many brands are taking when building their social communities online. For the 99.9% of us that aren’t able to pull this off successfully in the real world, what makes us believe that this would ever work in the digital world?

Now let’s look at the same situation with a more sensible approach strategy. Guy walks up to a girl at a bar and says, “Hi, aren’t you friends with my colleague Melissa? I heard you went to a really great sushi restaurant the other day. I’ve been dying to check it out. How was it?” If you haven’t scared her away by this point, you might actually have a chance at a conversation, and perhaps an eventual date.

The concept of real-life networking is the simplest analogy to explain the ground rules for engaging in social media. If they don’t know you, why would they talk to you? Give them a reason to know you, and maybe they’ll talk to you. If you creep them out with your unwanted greetings, you might just get nasty rumors spread around about you. Just remember that in the real world any rumor can be denied as hearsay. In digital social media, the stakes are much higher because everything is documented in writing.

The bottom line is that the rules are different, but the goal of reaching the consumer is the same. Brands in social media are in the business of building relationships, rather than fleeting moments of attention in 30 seconds, 30K, or full page bleeds. The price of admission is no longer a fee paid to a media owner to buy some share of voice. The ticket to the party is engaging conversation and strong relationships.

Pivotal fork in the road
While I have the stage, I’d like to share a few thoughts on the future of social media. I think there’s a real problem on our hands and it hinges on the four-letter F-word – FREE. Hold on. Before you think it’s another agency guy asking for money, let me explain.

The concept of social media as “free media” is a system-wide issue that affects all parties involved. I know I don’t need to convince this reader base or our blog hosts at Marketing magazine about the powers of social media. But the truth about business, especially in the marketing industry, is that money follows money – and that money isn’t coming into social media. We’ll spend a lot of money justifying and analyzing the effectiveness of our media spending, but what happens when we need to justify the effectiveness of money not spent? The purse strings get awfully tight. The mentality of “why spend money on something that’s free?” still prevails.

At some point in the near future, this thinking needs to change. Innovation of social media tools, services, and strategies will be crippled without investment, and we’ll never move forward in making social media a more serious part of our marketing mix.

I’ve seen some early ideas that lead me to believe this change is going to happen. However, my word limit is up, so it’s your turn to speak. What are some of the innovative social media business models you’ve seen?

China's timelapsed 60th anniversary

Here's a strange, toy-like perspective of China's 60th Anniversary parade, filmed by Dan Chung in timelapse and slow motion. Courtesy of the guardian.co.uk.

China's 60th Anniversary national day - timelapse and slow motion - 7D and 5DmkII from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Ears burn for climate change support

I'm a massive fan of Midnight Oil, so I'm not quite sure how to swallow this version of Beds are Burning, relaunched by The:Hours, a record label acquired by Euro RSCG last year. But because it's for a good cause I'd feel terrible if I trashed it.

It's all part of the "tck tck tck: Time for Climate Justice" campaign, launched earlier this year with Kofi Annan and Bob Geldof in the lead up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December.

Here's how we covered it. But check out the video and let me know what you think about the song.

The Real Deal

By John Morgan, Regional MD, Greater China for GolinHarris

By now, many of you have probably seen the ad campaign starring Kevin Costner and his weary, put-upon smile inviting you to “feel like a star” by flying Turkish Airways. But Costner himself doesn’t even look like a star in this shot; he looks like a guy with a fat check in his back pocket who’s itching to catch the next flight to New York—probably first class on Virgin Atlantic. It’s an unreal campaign in the literal sense.

This brings me to the point of authenticity. We recently released a new thought piece arguing that authenticity is more important today than ever before—in business, in politics and in life. It’s one of the dozen or so trends we featured in our “Next 50 Years” booklet published during our 50^th anniversary a few years back, and it’s the one we believe has become the most relevant and most crucial in today’s world.

Authenticity might seem like an obvious-enough concept to many of us. But when I began to include it in my everyday counsel to Asian business leaders, particularly in Greater China, it was fascinating to hear how they responded. First of all, billion-dollar conglomerates tend to “dance with what brung ‘em”—they rely on the way they’ve always done things because it’s been successful in the past. Dialogue about authenticity, however game-changing it is, will likely get tabled. And in our part of the world, where “face” carries a profound influence on the decision process that forms business strategies, authenticity can become an even more delicate subject.

My growing concern is whether these companies are willing to listen to the counsel they need to remain successful in a changing world. Are they being challenged when they need to be challenged? Are they willing to open up a closer, more transparent, more real kind of dialogue with their stakeholders—from the CEO to the marketing to the front-line staff?

The old ways of traditional advertising and mass communications just don’t always make the grade anymore. And more so than ever before, you just can’t fake it. We now live in a world where there are no secrets. All public-facing organizations must come to realize that they have to honestly define who they are, and then candidly tell their story.

That’s what we attempt to do with our new thought piece: to deconstruct the concept of authenticity so that clients can apply it to their particular circumstances. Consider it an owner’s manual … a 12-step program for “authentic change.” To access it, go to http://www.golinharris.com/Default.aspx/Overview/GetReal. I suggest you read the Asian version, which, although it recommends the same 12 steps as the North American version, is more tailored to our unique business, political and cultural landscapes.

A few examples:

1. “Look in a different mirror.” While the senior executives around your table bring intimate knowledge, they also lack objectivity. Populate your table with critics, customers, competitors, new hires and former employees. They are the envoys to authenticity. Insist that the final definition of what you are includes those without a vested interest in the outcome. Allow them to identify your best and worst features. Then use that image to plot your course. Their photograph will be much more realistic than your self portrait.

… skipping to #5…

5. “Find real stories.” At our agency, every employee can recite the story about Al Golin making a cold call to McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc more than 50 years ago. Needless to say, we’re all proud that McDonald’s is still a client. If these types of stories don’t rise to the surface at your company, you have to mine for them. Hire a historian or an investigative journalist to spend a week inside your walls talking to your people. Or ask your managers to provide more recent examples of employees who are living your values. In short, you don’t have to convince everyone that you are authentic. Other people’s stories will do it for you.

… and to #12

12. “Be humble.” We all should learn from China’s premier, Wen Jia-bao, who, during the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, showed authentic leadership in a very humble manner. A leader not only commands the situation, but a leader must also be authentic in his emotions. What Premiere Wen did was human, raw and authentic, and it consequently earned respect.

As I’m told, one of the aims of this new blog is to “chui shui,” or “blow water,” a colloquialism for having a casual chat. So why don’t I close by a) suggesting that you take a look at our snazzy little brochure, and then b) share who you believe consistently presents themselves as “authentic,” and how. It could be your own company or clients.

So, blow some water, folks … let’s see what flows.

The Trouble With Y!ou

Yahoo's new campaign is out of touch with the times

Hey there! You, with the oddly placed exclamation point! Yeah, y!ou! As in, "It's y!ou," the new tagline for Yahoo's $100 million global ad campaign, which launched in the U.S last week (Monday 21). At the very least, the exclamation point after the "Y" is an annoying distraction. Are you supposed to click your tongue or something while saying it? Or is it some sort of Norwegian/Icelandic term for "He who was born in a fjord and now works a keyboard?" If the creators wanted to convey a modern day, tech-y and text-y kind of word, wouldn't it be "U!"? Then again, Reebok already let "UBU" (back in the '80s) and Yahoo is all about the "Y," but, saying so would copy Overstock.com, which is all about the "O." But at least it wouldn't require any special fiddling with the shift keys. Sorry about the snark, but such an aggressively forced device implanted in such a basic word rubs me the wrong way. It's too cutesy. In fact, I can't see that exclamation point hanging around for long. "It's y!ou" all but begs for a response like, "You talking to m?e?" Or, taking a page from the Saturday Night Live skit, a sarcastic "Really!?!"



The truth is, punctuational desperation is unnecessary. My view is Yahoo is still a strong, likeable company boasting a fantastic name, more than 500 million visitors a month and a history of cool advertising. (Although, it could be all the purple, light-up Yahoo-tinis I've drunk at industry events talking.) I realize the company's stock price has been in free fall and there's been turmoil in the last year: changes in the executive ranks, competition with Google and the Microsoft deal morphing from a buyout to a search partnership with Bing. But what CEO Carol Bartz said at a recent press conference -- "When you get out of New York City and Silicon Valley, everybody loves Yahoo" -- sounded like part of the problem. The campaign comes off as defensive. It also seems generic and amateurish. (Sources say the work is a "collaboration" between Landor & Associates and Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. We'll leave it at that.) Of course, so far I've only seen an online video and some print. My hope is the TV will deliver some of the newness and excitement completely missing here.

The video could be a "ripomatic" for any media product. Over quick cuts of photos (dancers, Dalmatians, fireworks, etc.) the announcer says, "You are about to enter a place where time and space collide, and breed joy and wow. Where news travels faster and where you can consume, share, buzz, destroy, watch and wonder." Um, is this 1994 and they're trying to sell us on this new thing called the Internet? I was surprised to hear that models for the print work were real people plucked off the streets of New York. They certainly cover all of the proper diversity boxes, including a black guy with muscles, an Indian woman, a kid in a rakish hat who is possibly Hispanic, and a Latina teen jumping for joy. But they're used in such a dated and cliched way that I thought it was stock photography. The result reminds me of student work, or the kind of posters you'd see in your office lobby promoting a blood drive. Take the ad with the kid in the hat. It boasts the copy, "The Internet is under new management -- yours." Since when did a kid that age not think that the Internet was his? Where does Yahoo figure into that?Some are less obvious, such as one with a photo of a mother and son. The copy reads, "The end of the one-size-fits-all Internet." What we need here is less of the blah-blah talk and more product action. If Yahoo's mission is to focus on content, mobile services and personalization, then just say it and show us what it looks like. This is the most generic, least-personalized campaign pitching personalization I've ever seen. We don't need a remedial course in how great the Internet is. Be specific. The lines seem not only too defensive, but self-referential, and consumers can sense this. It's not that the Internet is under new management, it's that Yahoo is under new management. And Yahoo feels attacked and underappreciated, so it's attacking back. In other words, Yahoo thinks you have a problem so they're spending big money to fix it. What Yahoo is really saying is, "It's not us. It's y!ou."

Barbara Lippert: AdWeek adweek.com

BarCamp Hong Kong 2009

In case you're wondering, I wasn't camping out in the woods last Saturday.

BarCamp is an ad hoc unconference that brings people together to share and learn in an open environment.

In short, the ultimate Geek Fest where geeks and geek wannabes like me spend a full day in intense discussions and interactions with fellow attendees.

This year, the event was held at Turner's office in Taikoo Place, which attracted more than 300 people with some flying or training in from South East Asia and Mainland China.

I do not want to bore you with words and will do a show and tell via the pictures I've taken with my humble camera.

Alan Ho from Wwwins pointing to the session that he presented on Ruby.

One of the organisers, Aaron Farr presenting in the last session on Google Wave. I don't think he's from Google, but the way he talks about the brand and its products, I could easily mistake him as a Google evangelist. He drew large crowds and yes, I would rather see him present live than watch a one hour video about it.

Check out the sticker on his shirt. Casey is posing his classic "I'm a thinker" shot for me.

I love shirts like that, they speak for you!

You can so tell this is a tech conference when participants whip out their gadgets and start recording the presentations on their devices.

From L-R: Belle Liu, one of the organisers, Dookaz sponsored the T-shirts and Phooey, CNet blogger.

PH goes to different events and do photo documentaries. He gave me some good tips on how to take good shots - I need it!

Lunch break: you can so tell the ones with macbooks are more anti-social than others.

James Chue from BBC, nice shirt!

Gary Sweeting, platform strategy lead from Microsoft showing off his shirt.

Johan is a creative director for Metamorphics Studios.

I love the concept of how great ideas just spring out from these scraps of post-its.

A big thank you to the organisers, Napoleon, Belle, Aaron and Ben for making BarCamp 2009 such a great experience!