iris appoints Emilia Mason Senior 3D Designer, Singapore office

iris has brought in Emilia Mason, joining Lucas Burrows in the expansion of the agency’s brand environment capabilities for the Singapore office. Mason joins iris from FITCH Singapore and brings with her over six years’ experience. Her design repertoire includes high profile clients in the FMCG industry where the high points of her career included redesign work for Havaianas stores, where she translated the brand story into a modular furniture system to showcase the vibrancy and colours taking centrestage. Emilia also created the luxury visual merchandising concept for SKII’s LXP cream and serum range of products, where she was inspired by the idea of ‘liquid gold’ to reflect the plush nature of the range.

Commenting on Mason’s appointment, Grant Hunter, Regional Creative Director, iris Asia Pacific says, “As a global creative innovation network, we’re constantly looking for new talent to join us. Our innovation unit is very focused on blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital world. Emilia will be a great addition to our team as we continue to innovate in the brand environment space.”

Mason will report to Lucas Burrows, Creative Group Head, Brand Environment, at iris Singapore.

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MediaCorp Announces Cannes Lions 2013 Jury Line-up from Singapore

MediaCorp, the Singapore representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, is pleased to announce the six creative directors from Singapore who have been selected to serve on the prestigious Cannes Lions Jury 2013.

Press Lions Jury:
Ali Shabaz
Chief Creative Officer, Grey Group Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand

Outdoor Lions Jury:
Farrokh Maddon
Chief Creative Officer, Y&R Singapore

Direct Lions Jury:
Joji Jacob
Group Executive Creative Director, DDB Group Singapore

Radio Lions Jury:
Troy Lim
Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather Singapore

Cyber Lions Jury:
Clarence Chiew
Creative Director, Iris Singapore

Design Lions Jury:
Pann Lim
Creative Director, Kinetic Singapore

The Cannes Lions juries are drawn from creative experts in each field around the world. Each year, close to 300 members of the creative communications industries are invited to serve on the juries that consider and award all the entered work at the Festival. Cannes Lions selects the juries based on a rigorous selection procedure, ensuring that each jury contains an even balance of members from around the globe and from a representative spread of agencies, independents and networks.

StarHub TV Wows with Exciting Japanese Content

– Singapore is first outside Japan to welcome new Japanese entertainment channel Hello! Japan, offered free-of-charge to all StarHub TV customers

Yesterday, StarHub was the first pay TV operator to bring in Hello! Japan, an all-Japanese entertainment and lifestyle channel, out of Japan. Channel 149 will offer viewers a robust line-up that ranges from documentaries and dramas to movies and variety shows produced by top Japanese TV stations such as NTV, TBS, TV Asahi and TV Tokyo.

All programmes on the channel are aired in its original language with English subtitles. Some key titles viewers can look forward to are Athletic Fire, an award-winning variety show that invites famous athletes and celebrities to compete against one another, Hungry Hoppers, which features a trio from Hokkaido travelling around Japan in search of delectable gourmet, and Music Station, which focuses on the Japanese music scene and features top J-Pop artistes performing “live” in recording studios.

Grayling Singapore handles regional PR for inaugural Singapore Jewellery & Gem Fair

Following a competitive pitch in January, Grayling Singapore has been selected by UBM Asia Trade Fairs to handle public relations for the first-ever Singapore Jewellery & Gem Fair. The appointment will see Grayling Singapore manage the fair’s media relations efforts across four markets in Southeast Asia.

Held from 12th to 15th October 2013 at Marina Bay Sands, the Singapore Jewellery & Gem Fair is the only fair of its kind in Singapore to be backed by industry associations, namely the Singapore Jeweller’s Association and the Diamond Exchange of Singapore.

The Singapore fair complements its sister event in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem fair in September, which is the world’s largest jewellery fair.

Honda Accord greatest ever car advert

Honda Accord's Greatest Car Ad Ever - enjoy!

Disclaimer: This Really ancient Video was posted under the request of the Editor.

Car Confectionery

A Skoda made out of Cake – an ad made just for sweet lovers!

Q4 Asia Pacific Consumer Confidence Results

Things are Looking UP! Nielsen has just released results from quarter four – Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions. Consumers in the Asia Pacific region continue to be the most optimistic in the world, as consumer confidence increased in Q4 2012 to 101 index points from 100 points the previous quarter, and increased two index points from 99 in Q4 2011. Key themes and insights incorporated include:
· Asia Pacific has the highest consumer confidence in the world
· Asia Pacific consumers are at least two times more likely to have ‘spare cash’ than any other region in the world – majority are funnelling excess cash into savings
· Thailand recorded the biggest consumer confidence increase in Asia Pacific
· The top four most optimistic countries globally are from all just the Asia Pacific region

FESTIVAL OF FAME Confirms AJAY KAUL Jury President

Asia Pacific’s principal gathering of marketing, advertising, media and brand experts, has announced that Ajay Kaul, Executive Director, Global Brand Communications – Worldwide Marketing, Lenovo, will preside over the 2013 jury.

Joining Lenovo in 2006, Ajay manages Global Brand Communications and analytics hub of over 150 advertising and marketing communications professionals for over 50 countries. He also oversees the Lenovo global marcom strategic marketing services and analytics teams and is responsible for managing the Ogilvy advertising unit, which serves Lenovo’s global brand communications and advertising needs. Prior to relocating to Bangalore, Ajay was based out of Lenovo’s global headquarters in Morrisville, North Carolina USA, where he managed Lenovo’s Global Direct Marketing and Business Intelligence Functions.

Commenting on his appointment as jury president, Ajay Kaul says, “It is an honour to serve as the jury chair for the 2013 Festival of Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards. The FAME awards have become the most coveted marketing event in Asia Pacific that celebrates the achievements of the very best. I look forward to meeting some of the brightest marketing minds that have enabled world class campaigns.”

“We’re delighted that Ajay has accepted the position of jury president in such an exciting year. 2013 sees newly added accolades and categories and we are certain to see some inspiring and interesting work from across the Asia Pacific region. Ajay has a wealth of experience and skills which will stand him good stead to lead the jury and decide on the region’s best marketing effectiveness work,” Terry Savage, Chairman of Lions Festivals.

Anybody wishing to enter the awards or requiring further information should visit http://www.ame.asia. The deadline for submitting entries is 18 February 2013. The Festival takes place across 8 & 9 May, with the winners being announced at the Awards Ceremony on 9 May at the Pudong Shangri-La in Shanghai.

MediaCorp celebrates 50 years of Television

MediaCorp celebrates 50 years of Television – with Star-studded events and Special programming

MediaCorp celebrates its Golden Jubilee – 50 years of broadcasting – with an intensive media blitz for the year-long celebration. This includes an all-encompassing campaign that comprises a series of on-air elements, interstitials on TV trivia facts, artistes’ greetings and editorial and radio publicity.

There will also be a line-up of branded special programming anchored by each channel that allows audiences to enjoy a whole new experience while viewing television, via multi-platform, second screen and on-ground vehicles. This year-long jubilee will culminate into a grand Variety countdown Special on New Year’s Eve.

“Singapore television has come a long way from its pilot service 50 years ago. It transitted to colour in the 1970s, and to the digital form we know today – consumed as much on the TV set in the living room as on the go. Its content has also evolved, reflecting the mores of the times and telling the story of our nation building. As we celebrate this milestone anniversary, we want to thank all our viewers who’ve grown up with us, cried with us, laughed with us. We’re also reaching out to a new generation of viewers who want to be engaged via social media. Whatever the form, we will strive to innovate and improve ourselves so that MediaCorp continues to be an integral part of the lives of Singaporeans” says Shaun Seow, CEO, MediaCorp.

Channel 5, 8, and okto will each be launching part one of their drama trilogies this year, all revolving around the theme of Singapore’s early days such as, Mata Mata, The Journey,and The School Bell respectively. Each series will conclude in the year 2015.

Specifically on Channel 8, there will also be a fun, uplifting variety show, The Joy Truck, which aims to spread joy to the deserving, and also to introduce a new experience for viewers by encouraging them to help the needy by playing a specially designed interactive mobile game.

Channel U will also launch an interactive treasure race that involves audience participation during the actual recruitment, as well as crowd-sourcing for challenges from the viewers.

Suria and Vasantham plan to add on to the entertainment and festivity, with a cross-platform game show involving radio DJs and TV stars for Suria,Te:Ra Seh!; while a high-energy dance competition on Vasantham, Dhool eVolution, consisting of an Original Sound Track will be specially produced to go viral online. As part of the promotional campaign for the show, the viral soundtrack will be used to obtain user generated content, by getting audiences to create their own versions of the soundtrack.

Channel NewsAsia will delve into a documentary, News @ 50 that covers 50 years of iconic news stories, joining the crowd-sourcing bandwagon to let viewers pick the top news stories to be part of the documentary.

Exciting events will also take place alongside the branded programming. A series of celebrative roadshows anchored by respective channels from the month of May will engage Singaporeans all over the island in our festivities.

In September, MediaCorp will embark on a large scale TV50 Charity Special, Race ME to the Stars featuring MediaCorp artistes from all channels.

The celebrations will culminate into a stunning 3 and a half hour of grand Variety Special, simulcast across the four main channels (Channel 5, 8, Suria, and Vasantham) on New Year’s Eve. This variety special will encompass dazzling song and dances, skits, as well as icons from all the main races in Singapore, bringing together the whole of Singapore to celebrate 50 years of Golden TV, as well as ushering in the New Year in 2014.

For more information, please visit xinmsn.com/tv50. The official Twitter hashtag is #TV50.

BBC named top news brand across TV, digital & mobile in Asia Pacific

The BBC has reinforced its position as the most popular news brand among Asia Pacific’s high net worth consumers. The latest Ipsos PAX survey says that BBC World News and bbc.com, BBC’s commercially funded international news and information services, had a larger reach than any of their competitors for combined television, online and mobile services.

The Ipsos PAX survey (Q4 2011 – Q3 2012) found that BBC World News and bbc.com rank as the #1 news brands in cross-platform reach among Asia Pacific’s high net-worth individuals (HNWIs). In reaching the #1 spot among this audience group, the BBC overtook CNN by posting the strongest increase in unduplicated reach across TV and digital.

In addition, BBC.com ranks as the leading digital news brand among top income earners, corporate executives and luxury product consumers in Asia Pacific according to PAX. This position is confirmed by comScore’s Media Metrix which also reports BBC.com as the #1 international news website in 2012 in APAC. Significantly, when compared to the last PAX survey published in October 2012, BBC registered the fastest growth in reaching Asia Pacific’s top managers who consume media content on mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones.

Jim Egan, COO of BBC Global News Ltd says: “We are proud to be going from strength to strength in Asia and are particularly pleased with strong growth for bbc.com. As audiences increasingly rely on mobile devices for their news we continue to invest in our digital offer. On TV, BBC World News is fresh from kicking off 2013 with an entirely new look and feel –we are confident that the re-launch and the state of the art facilities from which we now broadcast will enhance our storytelling and enable us to present the world’s most important news to viewers in new, dynamic and engaging ways which audiences will love.”

The Ipsos PAX study surveys pan-regional and local media consumption and product consumption among affluent adults and business professionals in main cities in the Asia Pacific region. The latest survey covers Q4 2011 to Q3 2012.

Source: Ipsos PAX 10 markets (excluding Tokyo), Q4 2011-Q3 2012, Q3 2011-Q2 2012 and based on monthly reach %. Top income earners: Personal monthly income US$10K+. HNWIs: Individuals who own US$1mil+ in personal investment excluding properties. Corporate executives: employed by companies sized 500+. Luxury good consumers: own jewellery (US$1000+ per item). comScore Media Metrix, January – December 2012, unique user 000s.

For more information contact: Shivani Sundralingam on +65 6507 4234 or email shivani.sundralingam@bbc.co.uk