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TheEdge: Tune Talk recruits nearly 500,000 subscribers |
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Thursday, 31 December 2009 10:14 |
KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the intensive competition, mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Tune Talk Sdn Bhd has recruited nearly 500,000 pre-paid mobile phone subscribers since its launch in August, making it one of the fastest-growing telco in the country.
Its chief executive officer Jason Lo said that the company was on track to meet its 12-month target of one million subscribers with the help of the unconventional marketing and communication strategy that includes a web-based approach.
The rather fast growth on Tune Talk's subscriber base seems to reinforce the view that MNVO does stand a chance to give a good fight to the incumbents for mobile phone users as well as revenue.
The emergence of MVNO is said to have exacted pressure on pricing and taking away market share from the existing telcos.
Lo previously revealed that it gains some 4,000 customers per day and that the monthly average revenue per user (ARPU), a standard gauge of telcos' operational performance, was about RM40 to RM45.
He said the target for the company was RM100,000 per day, or RM3 million a month in terms of top-ups.
Tune Talk have partnership with Celcom, which holds a 38.1% equity stake in the former. Celom has an option of acquiring an additional 16% stake in Tune Talk three years from the commercial launch or when subscriber base reaches 1.5 million.
Tune Talk, launched on Aug 19, offers a flat rate of 22 sen per minute for voice calls to all networks and five sen per SMS. It also offers incentives such as e-vouchers for flights on AirAsia, and insurance policies for subscribers.
It also recently launched its own mobile phone, Tune Talk Phone, in a bid to gain more subscribers from low to middle income group.
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TheSun: Omnicom wins big at Agency of the Year Awards |
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Thursday, 31 December 2009 09:34 |
OMNICOM Media Group Asia Pacific is jubilant as its agencies bagged two awards at the recent Agency of the Year Awards.
PHD Asia Pacific won the Media Agency of the Year 2009 award while OMD Malaysia won the Silver Award for the Best Office of the Year in Southeast Asia category for the second consecutive year.
This year marked PHD Asia Pacific’s debut entry for the category in the region while OMD Malaysia was the only media agency in Malaysia to be shortlisted.
"I am always proud of both PHD and OMD. The wins are testament to the dedicated teams of people who never lose sight of the fact that our service to clients is accountable," said Omnicom Media Group Asia Pacific chief executive officer Barry Cupples.
"I’m really pleased that we can showcase to our clients and colleagues regionally and locally that all the hard work is worth the effort," said Cupples.
Meanwhile, Omnicom Media Group Malaysia managing director Andreas Vogiatzakis (pix) said the two agencies’ consistent achievements lead the way in the media and marketing industry.
"Winning these highly coveted awards are the most significant achievements, and this demonstrates our passion, unconditional dedication and determination to be the leaders in this market and beyond," said Vogiatzakis.
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WARC: Behavioural economics among hot topics in 2009 |
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Thursday, 31 December 2009 09:09 |
Insights about behavioural economics, shopper psychology and pricing featured strongly in the most downloaded list of Warc's Short Reads series of book summaries this year.
Nudge, Buyology and Free occupied first, third and fifth places on this measure.
Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness by Richard S. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein elaborates the theory that seemingly insignificant details can have a major impact on consumers' lives.
The authors are sympathetic to an idea of liberal paternalism, in which individuals are free to make their own choices, but public and private bodies are also encouraged to help people make life-improving decisions.
Martin Lindstrom's popular Buyology – Truth and Lies About Why We Buy and Chris Anderson's book Free – The Future of a Radical Price both take a more direct look at the drivers of consumption.
Elsewhere, summaries of Allen P Adamson's BrandDigital and Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers also proved popular.
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TheEdgeMalaysia: Astro to supply software to Saudi Bells Telecom |
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Tuesday, 29 December 2009 11:19 |
KUALA LUMPUR: ASTRO ALL ASIA NETWORKS PLC [registerQuotes("ASTRO", "ASTRO_span");], in a related party transaction, will supply and license a content gateway software system to Saudi Bells Telecom Company LLC (SBC), as well as build and develop the system in the Middle East and North African territories.
In a statement today, Astro said its subsidiary Digital Five Sdn Bhd (DFSB) had on the same day inked an agreement with SBC for the supply and licensing of the system on a non-exclusive basis to the latter.
"DFSB is expanding its business of provision of software development for telecommunication providers in countries outside Malaysia, and pursuant to this agreement, to the Middle East and north of Africa," it said.
Astro said the total contract price was US$2.605 million (RM8.9 million) to be paid in three tranches
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WARC: Agencies search for recession answers |
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Tuesday, 29 December 2009 09:33 |
In a year dominated by economic gloom, it is of little surprise that "recession" was the most popular search term on Warc among creative, media and research agencies in 2009.
This subject attracted nearly two-and-a-half times as many queries as its nearest rival, social media, the rise of which reflected heightened levels of interest in making the best use of sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Close behind was luxury, a category facing a tough time in the current climate, which just edged out product placement into fourth, followed by sponsorship and word of mouth.
In terms of sector and product-led searches, insurance and beer both made the top ten, followed by automotive and retail among the top 20.
Ikea was the most frequently input brand-focused search – and the only one in the top ten – although Dove, and its owner, Unilever, registered among the 20 most widely-used terms.
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WARC: Word-of-mouth is key to digital for Unilever |
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Wednesday, 23 December 2009 09:14 |
LONDON: Digital campaigns benefit brands by encouraging "pass along" and word-of-mouth among consumers, Babs Rangaiah, vp of global communications planning at Unilever, has argued.
Simon Clift, the FMCG giant's chief marketing officer, has previously championed the use of social media as a means of connecting with consumers.
According to Rangaiah, one of the disadvantages of utilising digital platforms is that they are "much more labor-intensive with a lot more front-end money put into development of the campaigns."
More positively, he suggested, "because of the whole concept of pass along and word-of-mouth and building tools that allow you to share, you can generate more impressions that cost less."
The Anglo-Dutch corporation has recently appointed a number of agencies to handle global new media duties for brands like Axe and Dove.
Razorfish, Euro RSCG, AKQA and Lean MeanFighting Machine are all among this group, with further shops set to be added in the near future.
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WARC: Adspend levels set to fall in APAC |
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Monday, 21 December 2009 09:29 |
HONG KONG: Advertising expenditure levels in Asia Pacific are set to decline this year, but will return to growth in 2010, Media Partners Asia predicts.
According to the company's figures for the region, adspend will fall by 4.1% in 2009, after estimated ratecard discounts. However, it is expected that totals will improve by 5.8% in 2010, and 6.4% in 2011.
"Media owners in TV, online and print segments can finally take comfort that there will be some stability to earnings and ad spends over the next 12 months," said Vivek Couto, executive director at MPA.
China, India and Indonesia are likely to be the main drivers of this trend, with more established markets like Australia and South Korea also recording upticks.
However, MPA did sound a qualified note of caution, warning that "inflationary pressures" could have an impact in Vietnamese, Indonesian and Indian markets in 2010.
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WARC: UK think tank attacks advertising |
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Monday, 21 December 2009 09:28 |
LONDON: Advertising is contributing to a number of negative social trends which are currently observable in the UK, a report by a leading think tank has argued.
The New Economics Foundation has produced a study, entitled A Bit Rich: Calculating the real value to society of different professions, assessing the role of various segments of the employment market.
At the positive end of the spectrum, the ad industry was estimated to employ 17,000 people directly, as well as supporting jobs in numerous other sectors, and providing corporation tax to the government.
More negatively, it "encourages high consumer spending and indebtedness," and "can create insatiable aspirations, fuelling feelings of dissatisfaction, inadequacy and stress," the NEF suggested.
Overall, commercial communications were ascribed a "social cost" of £16 billion ($26.0bn; €17.8bn), having contributed to rising levels of obesity and debt, and been linked to some "anxiety-related mental health issues."
Furthermore, £30bn of "overconsumption" was attributed to the actions of ad executives, with these non-essential purchases exerting a highly detrimental effect on the environment.
"We have weighed all the costs incurred by advertising professionals, which amount to £1.2 million per person, against a benefit of £370,156 per person," the NEF concluded.
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Top YouTube videos for 2009 announced |
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Thursday, 17 December 2009 09:59 |
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YouTube has announced its first official ‘most watched’ video lists for 2009. The top entries were judged through the videos Australians and the world were watching and searching for throughout the year, including the billions of queries that people typed into YouTube search in 2009 to identify some of the fastest-rising search terms for each month. According to Kate Vale, head of YouTube for Australia and New Zealand, the online video site has become a mainstay for sharing and watching online video “from a new singer’s debut on the world stage to newly-weds dancing down the aisle”. Top five most watched animal-related videos: 1. Extreme Sheep LED Art
2. Bizkit the Sleep Walking Dog
3. The largest dead snake ever found, over 50 feet
4. Piranha Devours a Duck
5. Slow loris loves getting tickled Instant celebrities thanks to YouTube: 1. Susan Boyle - Singer - Britain's Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)
2. JK Wedding Entrance Dance
3. David After Dentist
4. Greatest freak out ever (ORIGINAL VIDEO)
5. Inspired Bicycles - Danny MacAskill April 2009 Top five most watched Australian user-generated content: 1. My Crazy Sister - mychonny
2. Asian and White Parents - mychonny
3. Sorry it's been a while - communitychannel
4. My Victorian Bushfire Campaign - juanmann
5. Uncomfortable Love Scene - communitychannel Top five most watched YouTube videos overall: 1. Susan Boyle - Singer - Britain's Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)
2. I'm On A Boat (ft. T-Pain) - Album Version
3. Miley Cyrus - The Climb - Official Music Video (HQ)
4. Miley Cyrus - Party In The U.S.A. - Official Music Video (HD)
5. Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow"
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WARC: Global adspend to rise 2.3% in 2010 |
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Thursday, 17 December 2009 09:33 |
LONDON/WASHINGTON: Global adspend will fall by 10.5% this year, but improve by 2.3% in 2010, according to Warc's latest Consensus Forecast.
The prediction for 2009 constitutes a downward revision on the estimate of a decline of 8.4% made in the most recent Consensus Forecast, and is based on a weighted average of recent predictions made by ad agencies, media companies and industry associations.
This aggregated data is provided on the condition of anonymity, preventing more information from being released.
China is set to record the best overall performance among the 13 countries assessed, with an uptick of 8.0% this year, and of 10.6% over the following 12 months.
India also remains well-placed, and is set to see ad revenues expand by 5.7% in 2009, although its annual growth rate has been reduced from the level of 8.4% in April, and 6.4% in November.
Advertiser budgets in the Asian nation are due to climb by 9.4% in 2010, while Brazil is expected to experience annual gains of 3.7% and 10.7% in the same timeframe.
By contrast, Russia is likely to witness a contraction of 32.1% this year, with a positive movement of 5.4% next year.
Elsewhere in Europe, Spain will deliver successive decreases of 20.3% and 1.8%, with the UK off by 12.5% and 0.3%, and Germany down by 8.6% in the first year, and staying largely flat in the second.
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