Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival 2012

Summary
Speaking at the 2012 Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival in Shanghai, Tim Broadbent (Ogilvy & Mather's Global Effectiveness Director) and Graham Fink (Chief Creative Officer for China) listed 10 rules for current-day marketers, and illustrated each one with a piece of creative from Ogilvy's Asian offices, including work for Coca-Cola, Dove and Vodafone. The rules are be creative; set hard objectives; aim for fame; have a Big IdeaL; go for penetration first; use TV; appeal to the heart; multi-channel sells; be interesting; and keep on spending.

Summary
Two sessions at the 2012 Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival put many of the assumptions brands and agencies make about marketing communications under the spotlight. Professor Byron Sharp, Director at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science at the University of South Australia, used the conference to summarise findings from his book How Brands Grow. He was followed by Charles Wigley, Chairman of BBH Asia, and Rob Campbell, Regional Head of Strategy at Wieden & Kennedy, who between them pulled apart five pieces of muddled thinking that refuse to go away. Conclusions drawn include that marketers are becoming unnecessarily obsessed with participation and brand 'love'; reach is a crucial consideration in buying media; and marketers can often do more harm than good by misunderstanding the real relationship consumers have with their brands.

Summary
How should global brands approach Asian markets? That was the theme of a panel session at the 2012 Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival in Shanghai. The panel looked at a selection of examples of strategies that had and hadn't worked, including Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty, which did not connect with Japanese women, while McDonald's changed its Asian positioning so as not to compete directly with other food destinations. Other brands and advertisers highlighted included Budweiser, Kraft, De Beers and Special K. Lessons are taken from these examples about what the role of a global is, beyond efficiencies, with "freedom in a framework" being the most repeated.

Summary
Premium scotch brand, Johnnie Walker, is one of Diageo's key brands in Asia. Speaking at the 2012 Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival, James Thompson, Diageo's Chief Marketing Officer for Asia-Pacific, revealed some of the tactics Johnnie Walker has used over the past year to connect with Asian consumers, and particularly those in China. Insights have led to three strategies: target influencers, always-on digital engagement and making use of physical spaces. Thompson provided examples of campaigns using each of these three tactics.