JIM GOH, regional managing director of Omnicom-MediaGroup, Southeast Asia

IT has always been known that you can learn a lot about media from newspapers, magazine, radio and TV media representatives. They can tell you about competition, the industry climate, the trends and the distributor attitudes, along with a raft of information about their own medium. An uninitiated advertiser, exposed to a bright newspaper rep, will probably buy that medium for his or her company because the advertiser is dazzled by the facts referred by the rep. And remember, there are three types of lies: dirty, white and statistics.

Working with a media-buying service is like working with an all-star lineup of the best media reps, with none of them championing their own media and all of them on your side, thinking only of your profits. These days, even gigantic ad agencies obtain their media information from media-buying services, which also do the buying. Because they buy so much media, they have enormous clout, which they can pass on to you.

“In any communications sphere, the ultimate stakeholder is the consumer. The advertiser/brand owners, creative and media agencies are essentially partners in pursuit of bridging the brand to the consumers. The unbundling of full-service ad agencies has resulted in the creation of media independents, CRM, PR, digital, etc., companies vying in the specialization of their respective fields. Generally, it is the advertiser’s requirements that dictate the type of media and ad agencies’ services. Nowadays, most clients select the best media and ad agencies they would like to work with regardless of whether they belong to the same holding companies. However, it is important to select agencies attached to a large global network when there is a need to tap into the global markets—for ease of account management, resources, accountability, consistency and knowledge sharing,” explains Jim Goh, regional managing director of OmnicomMediaGroup, Southeast Asia.

Media specialists have become essential to the industry as advances in technology opened the door to new media. As the number of media specialists grew, so did their buying clout. They provide the ultimate media package—their emergence has given the media more credibility, to the advantage of all media personnel. The proof is the improved sales, and the sharing of media data unreservedly with clients to increase mutual knowledge.

According to Goh, the unbundling of full-service ad agencies came about as a result of advertisers’ needs to focus on the 70 percent to 80 percent of their advertising budget, which are usually allocated to media, and the need to provide full accountability from their respective agencies. The increasing fragmentation of the media landscape, coupled with fast-changing consumer lifestyles and attitudes, has been attributed to the need of specialized services such as media.

“A great communications solution is when the three-party partners—advertiser, media and ad agencies—come together as a team, working toward the same set of objectives. In my point of view, it’s a collaborative effort,” Goh points out.

OMD is a full-service media communications agency which provides media- communication planning and buying, and consumer research services. It also provides digital and branded entertainment/activation services for clients that have such needs. “In some of our markets, we also provide econometric modeling services where we are able to forecast sales for our clients’ products based on their strategies, marketing, competition, economic and communication factors,” he adds.

OMD helps clients stay one step ahead by truly understanding how consumers are reacting to fundamental changes. To do this, according to Goh, “we rely on our suite of consumer insights and tools to provide communication solutions to our clients.” Consumer habits and behavior can change rapidly as OMD uncovered in its latest “Family Affairs 2.0 Study” survey.

“With the advent of digital technology, it is imperative that we understand the extent of its impact on our target audience as that would potentially influence how best we can engage this group of consumers,” he says. The recent survey suggests that Filipinos are indeed a tech-savvy group, particularly the younger Filipinos. SMS and music are ubiquitous in their lives which drive usage of gadgets in the likes of the mobile devise and MP3. Digital devices will coexist with traditional media, although media is likely to increase in usage and importance as we are witnessing such trends in the developed markets of Hong Kong and Singapore.

Proprietary tools and systems form the basis of OMD’s intelligence. It is the first step to producing smarter media solutions. “The foundation of our thinking process is based on our strategic-planning process called checkmate. Within the checkmate process, there is a wide spectrum of considerations and factors, such as the competitive environment, economic and market dynamics, consumer habits and attitudes, which form the basis of the communications strategy and communications.”

A key factor is to gain in-depth understanding of the consumers. OMD has been in the forefront of investments in consumer researches globally, regionally and locally. This is to enable their media professionals to plan better and provide the most appropriate media communications solutions for their clients, hence adding value to partnerships.

The decisions have never been more complicated, the options more plentiful, or the mistakes more expensive. Fortunately, media-buying services have more information than ever before, thanks to the digital world, so they can help you make the right decisions and avoid the wrong ones.  Selecting your advertising media is a foray into dangerous territory. Don’t do it without an experienced guide. More media options than ever mean more chances to do it wrong than ever. The last thing you want is a terrific advertising campaign run to the wrong people in the wrong media.

“I personally hope that the media-industry players will invest in training their existing media professionals and start attracting new talents into the already small industry talent pool. With increasing demand from the advertisers to provide the ultimate communications plans that are efficient, effective and accountable, incremental costs of investments in consumer research and tools/systems will be required—which means higher costs of operations. I hope that advertisers will take the perspective of media agencies as a business partners rather than just suppliers,” Goh intimates.

Goh feels the industry players should not commoditized their services to mere “media-buying house.” This will certainly not add value to the advertisers as the demand for professional communications consultancy grows. “We will continue to invest in our people and attract talents to OMD in pursuit of providing great business and communication solutions to our clients. We will continue to improve our quality of products and aim to be the best media-communications agency in every market we operate,” Goh stresses.

Goh has extensive regional accounts, as well as business experiences, across the region covering a wide spectrum of industries. He is responsible for the OmnicomMediaGroup operations in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines; and the new markets in Vietnam, Indo-China, Indonesia, and South Asia. In 2003 Goh founded a second media agency network, MediaWise, which has proven to be a great success within the network. This formed the foundation to launch PHD across these markets in Asia.

Y&R: Scoring big in Asia 

IN the 1980s an imaginative American advertising group, Young & Rubicam Inc. (Y&R), was looking for a partner in the Philippines. In the region, the company was first known as Dentsu, Young & Rubicam, a tie-up between the largest agency in the US and in Japan. The choice boiled down to Bates-Alcantara (Phils.) Inc. in Manila, which then became DYR-Alcantara.

Consumer demand is growing rapidly and there is vitality in the market. There was a directive to brand the operations of Y&R in Asia. That is why, executive creative director Leigh Reyes points out, Y&R worldwide has identified the region, and the Philippines particularly, for its business expansion. “As an entity, our organization [from all of its incarnations] has been around for almost 60 years, gathered from all the names of DYR Alcantara, DYR Bates-Alcantara, and all of those entire alphabet soup history of this agency.  As a corporate name, Y&R Philippines hasn’t been around that long. But as an organization, Y&R has been around for as long as the advertising industry in the Philippines has been around. It has a rich varied history.”

Despite its relative freshness in the country, the local agency’s solid lineup of accounts includes Accenture, Foodshere Inc., Commonwealth Foods Inc., Ford Group Phils., Mazda Philippines, Singapore Tourism Board Phils., Suzuki Philippines Inc., United Laboratories, Chevron Philippines Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Phils. Inc., Citibank N.A., Mariwasa Manufacturing Inc., Philip Morris Phils. Manufacturing Inc., Sony-Ericsson Mobile Communications, Turner Entertainment Networks Asia Inc. and Uni President Foods Inc.

“New businesses include Diago [Gilbey’s Gin] and assignments from BPI Express Credit, Myra E and the recently launched Digitab from United Laboratories,” Reyes says. Developing creativity for specific market is second nature to Y&R Philippines. The agency is dedicated to understanding consumer preferences and market responses to particular brands. Its most recent campaigns, which created an impact in the marketplace, were Myra 400 E (with Dawn Zulueta as an endorser) and Myra Facial Moisturizer (with Isabel Oli). “Panalo Ka, Girl!” was also one of the most successful promotions Colgate-Palmolive has ever run. “[The consumer] won’t buy what [she] doesn’t need or what isn’t relevant to [her] life.” Consumer intimacy is the basis of the agency’s creativity.

Too many advertisers are so wrapped up in the development of their advertising that they create ads and commercials in their own private worlds, concentrating only on the glorious creation of their identity in the media sun, oblivious to all competitors. They must realize that other businesses are vying for the same audience.

What is the competition saying? Where are they saying it? How often do they put out the word? How much are they spending? Is there advertising working? What is their advertising strategy? What other weapons are they saying? These are questions the advertiser must ask and answer in order to advertise and succeed in the real world, where all the buying decisions take place.

“Advertising, as we know it nowadays, is changing. Clients more and more are looking for ways to make their advertising money accountable and to lessen their adspend but get more banks for their bulk. It’s a tight squeeze, meaning creativity in that case, which is supposed to be the core of our business, should not just be applied to the ideas we have for our client’s business but with the same importance to how we view our very own business. There are so many agencies struggling with other competencies that clients are now looking for. For example: Can you run my event? Can you handle one-on-one consumer activities? Can you do a sampling for me? Marketing now has become a 24-hour industry. It’s like, we have to find out how we’re performing in the marketplace today, so we have to respond [today], and yet we must have done it yesterday. Or how do I drive preference when my market really wants to prefer me today, but doesn’t want to prefer me tomorrow.” It’s become all about great ideas delivered at great speed,” Reyes explains.

Where before there was much emphasis on trimedia, and such may still remain viable in the mix, they’re not the only tools you can use. People get attracted to publicity stance, to billboards that are more than billboards, to events in malls where prospects would rather sit and be able to talk to someone or touch a product, rather than seeing a commercial for the product. “So any smart marketer nowadays will most likely use a relevant mix of channels, and not all of those channels will be traditional. We’re very aligned with that as an agency and, in fact, internally, we have the capability to provide not just the traditional expectations of an agency but even the more far-out expectations,” Reyes beams.

As creative people, the agency cares about industry standards for excellence and the judgment of its peers. Y&R Philippines has earned its place among award winners in the recent Clio Awards. “I flew to Miami to accept the Philippines’ first gold Clio Award. This was for Soroptimist International region of Malaysia,” she says. The campaign contrasts violent interventions created by men and women with nonviolent inventions created by women. The work has been recognized with gold and silver in the World Press Awards, In-Book status in D& AD and finalist status in The One Show and Asia’s Media Spikes. The campaign is also an entry to the Cannes Advertising Festival, and the results will be announced next month.

“We’re really very proud and inspired by the fact that it actually got a gold Clio. It’s a very tough show, and this year seems to be tougher than the previous,” she says. Y&R Philippines and Y&R Malaysia joined forces to bring the campaign to life. Soroptimist Worldwide, a volunteer organization of women working to improve the lives of women and girls around the world, launched an antiviolence initiative in 2006. Soroptimist International Region of Malaysia approached Y&R Malaysia for help.

Y&R Philippines now ranks among the country’s top 10 agencies. Its services rely heavily on brand consultancy and strategic planning, account services and project management, creative (from concept to production), and action marketing (activation from concept to implementation).

Reyes says it’s no joke going from red to black in a span of a few years. The agency had its share of bad times. But it believes that “it’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce back.” According to Reyes, years 2003 and 2004 were not profitable years, “but we were able to turn the business around—through both business acquisitions and organic growth [new assignments coming from existing accounts].”  The team’s effort, sheer enthusiasm and energetic agency environment keep them going, especially when times are hard. The agency is composed of a seasoned crew of ad professionals who have contributed to success stories for leader and challenger brands in various categories: Quick-service restaurants, food, beverages, financial institutions, telecommunications, fast-moving consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, automobile, real estate and others. “We will end the year with a kind note,” Reyes stresses.

Starbucks: Building the profitable brand 

IF you were stranded and alone on an island and suddenly you see a Starbucks logo, wouldn’t that sight alone offer an immediate sign of hope? This brand has made its presence felt so well, it’s impossible not to be recognized by anyone. Consumers are impressed, on an unconscious level, with Starbucks’ consistency, and they become aware of the belief that it remains forever fresh in their mindset.

Although new technologies, new formulas, new versions of the product, and new benefits may be offered, the concept or character remains the same. “It’s that entire coffee-drinking lifestyle that we’ve been able to cultivate, plus the fact that Filipinos like getting together and talking [with one another]. We just provided the venue for them to bond [together],” says Alexandra “Ding” Bustaliño, head of marketing.            

According to Bustaliño, Starbucks always stays relevant by looking at the needs and wants of the customers. It is that “lifestyle” that actually drives the image of the brand. “When we first started, a lot of people thought Filipinos will never enjoy drinking coffee because we’re in a hot climate. Who would think people would actually enjoy sitting outside and drink a hot cup of coffee? But, you know, 10 years later, that’s exactly what we see,” she relates.             

Many view Starbucks as a strong brand. Known for eye-catching merchandising tools and collaterals that range from the simple and toned-down to the extravagant and bombastic, Starbucks automatically positions the brand as dominant in the consumer’s mind. “We always stand for good coffee. I may have the best marketing program or best-looking collaterals, but when a customer enters and he approaches the barista and it’s not translating to that so-called experience—then I would feel [that] I have failed. Why? Because our baristas are the best coffee masters, a reflection of the brand,” she adds.           

Starbucks baristas have access to all its beverages and can come up with a concoction that’s not exactly on the menu board. It’s taking away the risk of just experimenting because they’ve tried the “mixing and blending” by themselves. Customers usually request for a recommendation from these baristas. Knowing that baristas are masters of their craft, customers want to feel confident the coffee they buy is of excellent quality.

“The Philippines incidentally has the largest pool of coffee masters globally. Fifty-two percent of our barista base are certified coffee masters,” Bustaliño stresses.

Starbucks’ name is itself a marketing coup, a stylish recreation of the best cafés all over the world. Its ambiance set by architecture by world-famous café planners, Starbucks is elegance and fine taste personified. It is not just mere state-of-the-art café store, but deep in the heart of a lifestyle culture, for the yuppie crowd with their young families looking for excitement in life and for those with fine taste—people, definitely middle-class, who are willing to spend more for quality. As they say, “It’s not work and it’s not home. It’s a special third place in between. You may spend only five minutes there, but you’re welcome to stay for hours. It’s a place to lift your spirits, a place of new ideas. It’s Starbucks.” 

In this sense, perhaps, Starbucks comes close to reinventing the idea of a coffee lifestyle. If generations ago coffee had been a simple, lackluster business, stable but low in returns, now it has become sophisticated—driven by new technology and sleek consumption-driven advertising—and has introduced new excitement and variety to the Filipino’s palate, setting high standard for quality in the process. Starbucks was, in fact, educating the popular Filipino taste in coffee.

Despite the absence of advertising, customers become aware of Starbucks due to its effective market penetration and its ability to formulate its own customer loyalty target, the ultimate aim of a customer satisfaction strategy. “Market share is very difficult to measure. It is really more of where the site is that customers want us to be,” Bustaliño says. She recounted the recent inauguration of Starbucks in FEU Regalado. “There was such a huge coffee- drinking market out there. For us, there’s no actual road map, it’s really listening to our customers.”

To date, Starbucks has penetrated the country’s high-growth areas with 108 stores. With some stores being renovated, “if you put everything together, our stores are about 114, of which 85 percent would be in Metro Manila.” Aside from Metro Manila, its services are available in Cebu (with four Starbucks stores) and Luzon areas, such as Batangas, Tagaytay, Luisita, Pampanga, and Baguio. Though the majority of Starbucks stores are concentrated in Metro Manila, “we feel that there’s still a lot of room for growth [here].”

Starbucks spends most of its time in market penetration (existing product in an existing market) to increase its hold in the market. Even with a 100-percent awareness level, Starbucks keeps on improving its coffee network to make it very convenient for its consumers to have Starbucks coffee “within an arm’s reach.”

Starbucks is not only in the coffee business but has been helping in Unicef’s literacy program that started in 1994. “We’ve chosen to concentrate on literacy for children aged 0-6. Poverty is a big issue. Studies show that the biggest dropouts happen in primary school [six years and above], because the 0-6 age development of the brain is not given enough focus. What we did was to readopt nine of the poorest barangays and we’ve been able to finance setting up day-care centers, training the teachers, and even training the parents to be able to support their children in terms of taking over,” Bustaliño explains.

The planner promotion which Starbucks releases every December is directly linked to the Unicef program. It has, since then, created an incredibly high level of success. “It’s a yearlong event but the bulk of our success really happens during Christmastime. For the rest of the year, for instance, we donate [some] proceeds from our bestselling pastries. Ensaymada happens to be one of our popular pastries,” she adds.

The most dramatic characteristic of Starbucks’ attitude is the penchant for action. Action means creating, committing, measuring and improving. Starbucks knows this action is the soul of marketing.

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