Copycats - a boost or bane to creativity?

Can you spot any similarity in the ads above?

How far can we borrow an idea or artwork before being labelled as a "copycat"?

Charles Wong, managing director for Contract Advertising says his agency rolled out a campaign (First ad on top) for Novartis' Ca-C product on 17 October last year in local newspapers and magazines.

Six months later on May 2009, Shizuoka Gastroenterology launched a print ad to promote its health product in Apple Daily and Oriental Daily featuring local celebrity Eric Tsang (pictured with drum) that Wong says looks "very similar" to Contract's artwork or simply a "layout copycat".

Wong says, "The resemblance is pretty amazing!We think it's a compliment to us but it's funny how 90% of the graphics have been used". Do you agree the ads are strikingly similar or a clever case of adaptation?

Wong adds, "Hey, we all know business is very tough these days but I suppose brands should certainly invest a bit to differentiate themselves in the market!"

It seems there isn't really an organisation locally that frustrated creatives like Wong could go to complain about such matters.

Tony Hon, managing director for Turn Creative says there's a lot of grey areas when it comes to proving if a work is 100% original as nobody really owns the ideas to an art direction or key visuals. If legal action is taken against copycat ads, he believes the lawyers will be the ones that stand to gain from this.

However, he does not think there are more cases of copycats due to the economic meltdown as such look alike executions do appear from time to time.

Copyright infringement or in the context of an increasingly digital world, piracy has become rampant particularly for those players that have got their fingers burnt.

Is there anything the industry could do anything about especially when consumers are nonchalant to such practices?

Langham's accidental orientalism

There are some strange things happening with Langham Hotels in Hong Kong at the moment, which I think are in danger of insulting not only Hong Kongers, but cultural commentators and even the local tourism board!

For the past month or so Langham has been releasing a series of videos online, under the tagline of - Visiting Hong Kong is a "Big Deal". Langham's argument is that traveling today can be a big deal, but thankfully Langham Place and the Eaton Hotel in Kowloon are here to assist you with this “Big Deal” solution.

To communicate this "Big Deal" Langham has invented a series of bizarre circumstances which travelers to Hong Kong may experience. The videos all contain a similar theme. Rude and frustrated travelers looking to escape a world of madness you find around Hong Kong streets for the safety net of Langham Hotels, where they can then have a true oriental experience, or Langham's version of it!

I find it strange that Langham is peddling these romanticised images of Asia and Asians. Who does that these days? In my two years of living in Hong Kong, I have never once experienced anything near to what Langham is trying to communicate, and I’m an adventurous person. Hong Kong was under British rule for 156 years, come on...

You can see all three videos here, but the second is arguably the worst.

(Update links have all been removed)

It features a clearly distressed white woman in search of somewhere to eat. After finding a street stall (a truly unique experience in Hong Kong) she orders chicken with rice by doing some weird chicken dance, only to discover that a chicken foot in congee is served. She then rushes back to the Eaton Hotel for a true Asian meal of … wait for it… a spring roll.

If you have a look at Langham’s price list you can clearly see its prices are way more expensive to what you’ll pay at a street stall and I’ll bet you $100 bucks that the street stalls are serving up a lot better chow than Langham.

The idea for the viral marketing exercise was launched by Prosperity Research, I wonder how extensively researched this idea was?

Already online conversations starting to take place about Langham Hotel are taking a turn for the worst! This headline from The Dark Side really takes the cake! "Avoid dirty locals: stay at a Langham Hotel".

The runaway train that is the online conversation can have a big impact in how opinions about brands are shaped. With comments like this already doing to rounds on Twitter. Langham better wise up!

"Langham Place: Where white people go to pretend they're not surrounded by filthy Chinese." Is that about right?"

" jessicalee87: WTF Langham Hotels, are you actually trying to DEMOTE HK? Please enlighten me. http://tiny.cc/njgjM"

Downturn spurs home entertainment

As if the financial crisis is not depressing enough, now we've got a flu epidemic looming, which might force people to stay at home even more.

But people still need entertainment and gaming is one such industry that's still doing well despite the downturn.

James Hong, GM for Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) says sales for its network games have increased substantially but declined to give further details on exact figures.

Hong has joined the gaming industry for over a decade now. He observes when he first joined 11 years ago, gaming was a subculture with only a tiny population interested to play games.

Today, gaming has become the 4th pillar after movies, TV and music, endorsed by the government and recognised as an important mainstream entertainment for young people.

However, it's only through education from industry players such as SCE that the public have become more receptive to gaming.

Hong says that five years ago, there weren't many people spotted carrying handheld console games such as the PlaystationPortable (PSP).

Back then, people had the misconception that game consoles were for kids and it's naive to be seen carrying one.

SCE decided to position the PSP as a fashionable and trendy gadget. Referencing ipod as its key competitor, the company was keen to change user's perception and wanted them to be proud of carrying a PSP everywhere they went.

To create the hype that PSP was a trendy gadget, the console game was seeded to up-and-coming stars, artistes and opinion leaders including movie directors to demonstrate that they could watch movies and trailers on the device as well as for singers to watch music videos and listen to songs.

Two years since the PSP was introduced, it grabbed a 40% market share in Hong Kong in 2007 and rose to 55% in 2008.

Hong admits PSP is currently skewed towards male users but the company has recently launched 7 colours of a slimmer version of the PSP and will soon roll out a new campaign to capture the female market.

Target audience for PSP are what he coins as 'kidults' particularly the young salaried men with more disposable income between early 20s to 30s.

Hong explains it's the software that brings in the money and students are less likely to pay for authentic games as they tend to use Bit Torrent to download pirated versions.

To target the family, SCE's Playstation3 (PS3) with its Blu-ray HD format, according to Hong has "the biggest edge against competitors" especially for watching movies.

He adds that PS3 has its own social network for its users available free known as Playstation Home, where they could interact with friends or meet other people with the same hobbies as them.

While gaming has been viewed negatively in society as being anti-social or "otaku", which refers to an obsessive video games fan and in Japanese usage to generally suggest a creepy, obssessive loner who rarely leaves the house, Hong asserts that "gaming is another very healthy and popular entertainment".

He reiterates that gaming is not harmful and it's just another form of entertainment that allow one to connect and enjoy with family and friends.

To reinforce the positive image of gaming, his team invests heavily in CSR initiatives such as the public recruitment of 150 jobs for Tin Shui Wai residents and partnering World Vision to raise $200, 000 in charity sales for the Sichuan Earthquake in May last year.

Additionally, SCE has cooperated with the government to provide part-time courses to train local youths to write PSP games and groom them as game producers.

As a Chinese native, Hong understands the enormous potential of introducing PSP and PS3 into the Mainland market, but he says the games could not be officially released in China.

"It's definitely our dream to go to China but due to government policy, we can't do anything," he sighs.

He hopes when China opens its market, it will allow them to sell in China one day.

With gaming becoming such a lucrative business and home entertainment taking precedence in this economic climate, it will be interesting to see how the key players Sony Playstation, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft's X Box battle it out to gain market share for this industry.

What the hell is a Mapgazine?

A magazine and map hybrid, of course. Visitors to Hong Kong can now get updated with a list of best shopping arcades and restaurants when they stroll into town for their holiday!

The first ever licensed monthly publication by the MTR is now distributed in the underground. Tourists can grab a copy of magazine for free upon purchase of any MTR tourist ticket.

The best buy section includes the list of suggested itineraries, selected hotels, dining and shopping outlets.

The Ossima Publishing Group, responsible for producing the title, say they are very cautious in selecting advertising partners.

"We will only choose positive brand name to advertise," said KL Chan, CEO of LoveTravel Group, of which Ossima Publishing is a subsidiary. "Any brands that receive complaints from tourists will not be in our list."

Targeting to distribute 40,000 copies a month, the publication is a combination of map and magazine. Instead of getting the location information of the recommended shopping mall, there is a box next to it with its detailed information.

KC Chan is confident that such a goal can be accomplished.

The publishing group will sign a contract with MTR for 2 years and only tourists could grab the magazine upon purchase of underground tourist ticket.