SHELL Lubricants, a division of Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd, will bank on The Stars new augmented reality feature, iSnap, as a platform to enhance the presence of its Shell Helix motor oil in the lubricant market and forge close interaction with customers.

Its marketing manager for South-East Asia-South Cluster (Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) Seow Lee Ming says via this innovative platform, it will be able to interact more closely with customers through its various campaigns and provide a clearer picture of the range of its products and services.

Customers can view the benefits of the campaigns as well as the products and services available by using their smart phones. It is an innovative way to reach to our customers effectively as Shell wants to be at the forefront in technology and innovation and be ahead of the game, she tells StarBizWeek in an interview.

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THE effectiveness of advertising campaigns has become a much more important issue nowadays due to the pressure on marketing budgets and the tougher environment for achieving sales growth.

GroupM Malaysia, believed to be the countrys largest media agency group, fully realises this. It is therefore coming out with several insights products this year to ensure that its clients (the advertisers) spend their advertising ringgit in the most effective way.
Girish: ‘Engagement is as important as reach.’

Chief executive officer Girish Menon says it is important to differentiate between effectiveness and just numbers like reach and frequency, Engagement is as important as reach, he tells StarBizWeek.

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PETALING JAYA: Year-to-date (YTD) April 2012 advertising expenditure (adex) in the country slipped 0.8% year-on-year to RM3.15bil, according to data from information and measurement firm Nielsen.

However, industry experts are not pushing any alarm bells yet, as they feel that the numbers are within expectations.

Omnicom Media Group managing director Andreas Vogiatzakis said the figures were not a surprise, pointing out that adex was traditionally slow in the first quarter (Q1).

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‘Decision engine’ Bing has announced a redesign, adding information from social networks to its search results as well as other features to help users make faster decisions.

The new three column layout will include an interactive sidebar dedicated to social results which, unlike when Google introduced social results, will incorporate results from Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Quora, LinkedIn, Google+ and Blogger, instead of excluding its competitors.

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Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) is tentatively scheduled to announce its first quarter 2012 (1Q12) results on May 30, according to recent news.

The research arm of Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd (Kenanga Research) noted that it expected TM to record RM2.34 billion in turnover with a net profit of RM137 million in 1Q12, underpinned by a higher retail segment contribution as a result of a strong Unifi take-up rates.

The company’s Unifi growth momentum did not appear to be slowing with about 347,000 sign-ups as of May 7, representing a strong take-up rate of 29 per cent, which translated to 1.2 million premises passed to date.

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Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim has declared 154 sites, tangible and intangible objects and distinguished individuals as the country's national heritage.

They comprise 24 sites, 10 tangible objects, 111 intangible objects and nine individuals.

Rais (picture) said the declaration of the national heritage status was a positive move in providing balance to all transformation programmes implemented by the government.

"The ministry views the declaration as a catalyst to fuel our spirit of patriotism and nationalism. It will also boost the spirit of conservation and preservation," he told reporters here today.

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Haier Electrical Appliances (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd aims to achieve a 150% increase in sales for 2012, following the recent acquisition of Sanyo Sales and Service (M) Sdn Bhd home appliance business in Malaysia.

Haier's purchase of Sanyo worth US$100 million (RM306.6 million) would pave the way for a dual-brand strategy that would position it in the high-end and mid-range home appliance market in Malaysia and parts of Southeast Asia.

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KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 (Bernama) -- Haier Electrical Appliances (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd aims to achieve a 150 per cent increase in sales for 2012, following the recent acquisition of Sanyo Sales and Service (M) Sdn Bhd home appliance business in Malaysia.

Haier's purchase of Sanyo worth US$100 million would pave the way for a dual-brand strategy that would position it in the high-end and mid-range home appliance market in Malaysia and parts of Southeast Asia.

Haier Group vice president Du Jingguo said the company also aimed to be the top three home appliances brand in Malaysia in five years.

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KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) should intensify promotion of Malaysian products and tourism destinations in its monthly inflight magazine, said Tourism Deputy Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit.

According to him, the contents of the magazine appeared to focus more on promoting other countries.

Replying to a supplementary question by Senator Mumtaz Md Nawi who wanted to know whether the ministry would also publish the magazine in Arabic to attract more tourists from the Middle East, he said there was such a version in circulation in such countries, albeit not extensively.

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Social networks will be the primary form of how companies engage with their consumers in the future, according to Omnicom Media Group's (OMG) OMD Predicts.

Besides the use of such social networks as Twitter and Facebook, there will also be more personalised advertisements for consumers in the future instead of a wide approach as how it is done today, it added.

OMD Predicts is a series of industry events that looks beyond today and anticipates what is around the corner. This will lead to a better understanding of consumer behaviour trends.

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