Fulford PR wins PR pitch for Dean & DeLuca

Iconic New York lifestyle brand, Dean & DeLuca, is coming to Singapore and Fulford PR has been engaged to generate publicity and hype around the store’s opening.

Dean & DeLuca partnered Kitchen Language, the franchised fast food and restaurant arm of Far East Organisation, in opening its first flagship store at Orchard Central in the first half of 2012. Renowned as a culinary food haven, Dean & DeLuca will offer Singapore a wide range of artisanal gourmet food selections from all over the world.

Fulford PR is tasked to create word-of-mouth publicity and heighten interest prior to the launch, over a campaign period of four months.

Justin Seamonds, president of Dean & DeLuca, “It is vital that our partners understand Dean & DeLuca’s brand philosophy – it is about living with food. We are pleased that Fulford PR showed clear understanding and is as excited as we are about the opening in Singapore.”

Kenneth Low, Director of Kitchen Language, “Through a series of pitches, Fulford PR has impressed upon us their creativity and dedication in achieving our objectives. We look forward to working with the agency, as well as with Dean & DeLuca, to bring the very best gourmet products to Singapore.”

Linda Fulford, Managing Director of Fulford PR, “Understanding clients’ brand philosophy and positioning is key in this business and we are thrilled to be working with one of the world’s best gourmet brand to bring it to life here.”

Fulford PR started the year on a good note, by winning the i Light Marina Bay 2012 pitch, and is set to further bolster its consumer lifestyle portfolio with the two accounts.

Brands – get ‘pinned’ for profit with Pinterest

Brands take note.
Pinterest is showing all the right signs of becoming a mainstream player on the Social Media front.
“Pinterest – Best Practice Guide” by leading independent digital marketing agency, Greenlight, spells out why this matters. Brands serious about leveraging this medium to boost revenues from online and mobile channels are advised to get themselves firmly ‘pinned’ to the Pinterest ‘board’ as opposed to hanging on its fringes.

Conceived in November 2009 and launched four months later, this ‘visually styled’ social network platform is already driving the social shopping experience. It offers a way for consumers to share images of anything – from fashion to pets, pots to plants. Users can create their own online pin boards to suit any theme and share it with likeminded people.

“Users are often ‘buy hungry’ when they visit Pinterest. As such, it presents a very ‘ready’ opportunity for brands to sell products to users actively seeking them out,” explains Charlie Elliott, Content and Creative strategist at Greenlight and co-author of the guide.

“By joining Pinterest and sharing, brands can learn a lot from their followers as they are offering up a whole load of information about their personal interests. It is typically the sort of insight and intelligence a brand needs and would have to go to great lengths to get, in order to create and/or tailor its product offering to its target audiences’ taste. Among others, retailers early in the game include Gap, ASOS and Etsy.”

However, Greenlight points out that this social platform is not a broadcast mechanism in the same way as other social networks. “Pinterest does not encourage product pushing. Therefore brands will need a different approach to the likes of Twitter and Facebook and will have to be creative in their output,” says Elliott.

There is proof aplenty that Pinterest already has a sizeable and importantly a loyal user base.

The authors note the pace of change within the Social Media sphere is rapid and impacting extremely on retail and brand visibility dynamics. “In all of this remains the constant competition for a share of the customer wallet. Brands would therefore do well to steer clear of coming in late, playing a costly game of catch up or worse still, being completely left behind as this sphere continues to evolve.”

Powered by YOOSE:

adsmobi to Launch New Mobile Coupon Service ‘Prime Location’

YOOSE, the hyper-local mobile ad network, was chosen by adsmobi, the
mobile media buying platform, to develop their soon to launch
location-based mobile coupon service, Prime Location. Advertisers who
sign up for Prime Location will benefit from a functionally rich, but
easy to use, self-service web application to create and manage their
location-based mobile coupon campaigns.

Prime Location’s ability to deliver consumer engagement via mobile
coupons will complement the existing adsmobi service offering which
includes innovative and performance driven products such as Rich Media
Ad Formats or the Push-App Program, a dedicated mobile app promotion
program. The launch of the service will capitalize on recent analyst
reports which forecast the ‘Big Five’ (UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and
France) will drive mobile advertising demand in pan-European markets
to become a $1 billion industry by 2014.

Prime Location will be structured to allow users to launch their new
mobile coupon campaigns in four simple steps, making it easy and fast
for both agency-based professionals managing the needs of multiple
brands, and smaller businesses who may be new to mobile advertising.
The first two steps allow the user to set up the type of coupon they
want in a pre-defined category (such as Food & Drink, Entertainment &
Leisure, Health & Beauty) and create a tailored campaign message or
offer. The final two steps ensure they can set up an accompanying ad
banner, determine the location radius for their offering (for example,
around a flagship store) and set the validity dates for the campaign.

Advertisers can register their interest for the new Prime Location
Service by contacting the team:
http://www.adsmobi.com/contacts/

Brands and business owners can contact YOOSE for more information
about hyper-local mobile consumer engagement via
www.yoose.com/Advertisers

SPIKES CONFIRMS DATES AND VENUE FOR SPIKES ASIA 2012 AD FESTIVAL

The organisers of Spikes Asia, the regional APAC awards and festival for creative excellence in advertising and communications, are pleased to confirm that the 2012 Festival will take place from 16 -18 September at Suntec City Convention Centre, Singapore.

Attendees can look forward to an outstanding learning programme featuring around 30 seminars and 6 workshops by global industry leaders, as well as exhibitions of the best work from the region, while reel showcases from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will display the best in creativity and communications from across the globe. Once again, un-missable networking events will be on offer including Networking After Dark which will see Singaporean agencies opening their doors for an evening of fun and socialising, while Festival opening drinks and the Awards After Party will provide further networking opportunities to delegates.

Last year, Spikes Asia saw its biggest Festival to date with over 1,700 delegates attending the 3-day event. A record 3,647 entries, a 19% increase from the previous year, were received for the 14 entry categories of Film, Print, Outdoor, Direct, Promo & Activation, Media, Radio, Design, Film Craft, Print Craft, Integrated, Digital, Mobile and PR.

Myriam Coupard, Festival Director of Spikes Asia, says, “Spikes Asia is a true celebration of creativity in the region and provides the industry with a unique and inspiring content programme, while offering unrivalled networking and learning opportunities. Year on year the Festival is growing and following last year’s record attendance and entries, we’re expecting a bigger turn out from across a wider region and we’re delighted to be able to continue to build and develop the event to make 2012 the best yet.”

AdLib is once again delighted to be a Media Sponsor of Spikes Asia Ad Festival 2012!

Delegate packages for the 2012 Festival are as follows:
Early Bird Delegate Price available until 1 August: S$699
Full Delegate Price applicable after 1 August: S$799
Young Spikes (under 28 years): S$470
Student Spikes: S$230

Key 2012 Festival Dates:
Delegate Registration Opens: 19 April
Entries Open: 17 May
Entries Deadline: 20 July
Delegate Early Bird Registration Ends: 1 August
Festival Dates: 16 -18 September

OMD Promotes Paddy Crawshaw to Head of Communications Planning, Asia-Pac

Paddy will play a pivotal role in enhancing OMD’s strategic planning
capabilities and strengthening the marketing effectiveness of client
campaigns across the Asia Pacific region.

Paddy is an Omnicom Media Group acolyte, having spent his formative
media years in London working primarily on automotive, retail and
government clients as Brand Communication Account Director at Manning
Gottlieb OMD, before relocating to China. In Shanghai, Paddy took up
the role of Communications Planning Director for OMD China and spent
two years growing the communications planning product in the country
before moving to Singapore.

Steve Blakeman, CEO, OMD, APAC, said, “Paddy contributed immensely to
our new business success across the region in 2011, helping ensure it
was our most successful year ever in terms of billings growth. He also
played an instrumental role in driving a culture of creativity, yet
focusing on results which has resulted in OMD securing numerous
industry awards / accolades.”

Paddy will report to Steve Blakeman, CEO, OMD, APAC, and take on his
regional responsibilities based at OMD’s regional headquarters in
Singapore.

Gobbler Deals livens up Facebook with their Valentine’s Day Contest

1st Prize Winning Entry

Gobbler, an associate of Moove Media, a member of ComfortDelGro,
celebrated Valentine’s Day 2012 with an interactive Facebook Contest
that sparked romance amongst their Facebook fans.

Bridging on the theme of romance for the month of February, this
Facebook initiative encouraged Gobbler’s fans to get creative, while
engaging their romantic persona. Fans were asked to submit their most
romantic picture and/or picture caption, with the most romantic
entries winning a chance to surprise their loved ones on Valentine’s
Day.

2nd Prize Winning Entry

This is in line with Gobbler’s purpose of delighting their customers,
injected with elements of fun and excitement, while helping their
customers save money at the same time! To make the occasion more
special, Gobbler tied-up the day with hand-delivered prizes by
Gobbler’s Brand Manager, Janan Kwek.

“I think it’s a fabulous way to engage with our fans while rewarding
them at the same time,” says Mr Kwek, of the brand’s move to heighten
their fans’ interaction on Facebook.

“I thought it was really unique that Gobbler added a personal touch by
hand-delivering the prizes. I will definitely participate in future
contests organised by Gobbler,” says 1st prize winner, Joan Teo.

Gobbler is living up to the name it has created for itself as the fun
‘Savings Monster’ in Singapore, by offering monster savings, be it
through deals offered on their website or in their interactive
activities of which customers can expect more of this year.

Prizes were generously sponsored, courtesy of Country Florist in
Siglap and Chocolate & Gelato Shoppe in Tanjong Pagar.

Click this link to our candid Valentine’s Day pictures :
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.273780406024720.64659.124508854285210&type=1

Pico Iyer’s book launch heralds start of a new online journey

 

TIME Magazine and New York Times essayist Pico Iyer – also a friend of
DDB Singapore AND frequent speaker there – has just launched his
latest book entitled ‘The Man Within My Head’. In the book, Pico Iyer
sets out to unravel the mysterious closeness he has always felt with
English novelist Graham Greene; he examines the fascinations of
foreign travel, the complications of faith and his haunted kinship
with Greene.

“Graham Greene was never a writer I dreamed of becoming; he was part
of all that I was trying to put behind me. But there he is, in spite
of everything. And the haunted theme echoed through every page he
wrote: the foreigner, precisely by going to another country, brings a
whiff of a different world into the lives of the locals he meets,”
writes Pico Iyer.

The book also coincides with the launch of his very personal and
revelatory website, picoiyerjourneys.com, which he has developed with
Tribal DDB Singapore over the last 18 months. The site gathers and
revives almost a hundred of his pieces from the pats quarter-century,
on every theme from Sri Lanka to Leonard Cohen, from silence to the
joy of travel. Organised into “innerworld” and “outerworld,” it brings
together essays and adventures, both new and long-beloved, into
unexpected combinations that throw fresh light on the mysteries of the
world and of the self.

The site was developed and designed by Tribal DDB Singapore. It
elegantly and imaginatively transcribes thousands of pages of Iyer
essays and journeys, many of them almost impossible to find elsewhere,
into a breath-taking virtual universe combining sight, words and
wonders accessible across all devices.

Picoiyerjourneys.com opens up a new dimension to author websites, as
it offers a visual complement to – and extension of – the words of one
of the world’s most acclaimed global writers.

“When computers first came to Time Magazine”, Iyer says, “in 1983,
just after its editors had controversially chosen “The Personal
Computer” as its “Man of the Year” I was one of the very first to use
them for sending in my articles; three years later, as a journalist
living far from the office, I was one of the first people I knew to
transmit all my work by modem. As a little boy, I used to go back and
forth to school by plane, and came to think of the airport as my home.
Yet I’ve been one of the slowest people I know to make myself at home
in the digital world and to create a life for myself in cyberspace.
The world is moving so fast that I’d given up trying to keep up with
it – until Tribal DDB came along and offered to give me a taste of the
moment (and the future) through this site.”
“Now I’m looking forward to my next unexpected collaboration with my
new colleagues,”

Jeff Cheong, Head of Tribal DDB Singapore said of this initiative,
“This is one project which we could digitally and artfully craft as
artisans. Pico’s words come even more dramatically alive with the
visual and photographs (just about all of them shot by Pico himself)
to bring out the essence of the stories. Font size options and
typographic treatment were blended seamlessly for accessibility on
computer screens, tablets and even mobile phones. It’s been a
fantastic experience for us, and I’m sure for the readers.”

Link : http://picoiyerjourneys.com/

The Power of German Engineering‏

Dog Strikes Back – New Volkswagen Super Bow Commercial

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=F2BM0FNU

MMA MAKES IT EASIER TO BUY & SELL MOBILE ADS FOR SMARTPHONE and TABLET

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) today released an updated version of the MMA Universal Mobile Ad Package. Created with MMA members, with added input from the industry, the new, 2.0 version makes it easier to create, buy and sell mobile ads for smartphones, feature phones and tablets.

“We’ve taken 60-plus ad unit sizes and streamlined them down to just six. That simplicity frees brands and agencies to focus on developing innovative, compelling mobile campaigns that span the widest possible variety of devices and demographics,” said MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart. “As a result, the new guidelines make it easier than ever to buy and sell ads for phones and tablets.”

The finalized version of the MMA Universal Mobile Ad Package v.2.0 incorporates input from the industry gathered during a 30-day public comment period that concluded in mid-January. Ad networks and publishers now have until the end of April 2012 to become compliant. At that time, the MMA will promote those companies by issuing the MMA Universal Mobile Ad Package Compliance stamps that members can use on their websites and marketing materials.

To create the Universal Mobile Ad Package v.2.0, the MMA, with support from ImServices Group, analyzed hundreds of billions of mobile ad impressions delivered across the global mobile advertising marketplace in 2Q 2011. The data – sorted by smart phone and feature phone, networks and publishers, and including mobile Web and apps – helped determine the six unit sizes that serve as the standard Mobile Universal Ad Package v.2.0. The final standards – which are supported by the Newspaper Association of America, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the 4As,mark a true collaboration between the sales side – including networks, rich media vendors and publishers – and the buy side at global ad agencies.

The MMA Universal Mobile Ad Package was created by the MMA North America “SWAT” Team and the Global Mobile Advertising Committee. MMA “SWAT” Companies include AT&T Adworks, WDIG, ESPN Mobile, Google, InMobi, Joule, Jumptap, Medialets, Microsoft, Millennial Media, Ogilvy, Tribune, Turner and The Weather Channel.

TIGER BEER BRINGS “LANGUAGES” TO THE FORE WITH NEW CAMPAIGN

Brand launches campaign to build affinity with consumers; Tiger Beer’s
mobile phone application to go live!

Using tongue-in-cheek television commercials, the campaign adopts a
central theme of depicting scenarios involving a man who travels the
world and comes unstuck from tricky situations with Tiger Beer.

The campaign was launched on 3 February with a series of 10 to
15-second video teasers that comprise snippets of the new commercials.
These video teasers will continue to air on television and can also be
viewed on Tiger Beer Singapore’s website [www.TigerBeer.com.sg] and
Facebook page [www.facebook.com/TigerBeer.sg] till 15 February.

The teasers end with a call to action for viewers and consumers to
look out for the full series of commercials on 16 February which will
also be aired on television and can be viewed on the same online
platforms.

A Tiger Beer “Live It Up” contest, which will be hosted on the brand’s
Facebook page, will be launched at the end of the month, with
exclusive invites to a party which will be held at a mystery location
in March up for grabs.

“The unique “Languages” commercials reflect Tiger Beer drinkers as men
who use their ingenuity and ‘smartness’ to overcome tricky situations
- something which we believe will resonate with consumers. On a deeper
level, the campaign demonstrates the appreciation of a good beer, no
matter the location or language spoken by a person.

Selected winners of Tiger Beer’s “Live It Up” contest on Facebook will
be informed to download the new Tiger Beer mobile phone app, available
to all iPhone users for free, to register themselves for the “Live It
Up” event and find out more about the event theme and details.