bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Chris Davis

Tough times see enterprises launch more innovative strategies on tighter budgets

Big and small companies alike recognise that, in a world of rapidly changing business demands, a successful marketing strategy is the key to generating  interest in their products and services, opening doors to customers and driving sales.

Now in its 18th year, the HKMA/TVB Award for Marketing Excellence recognises companies that,  through their efforts and accomplishments, have raised the importance of marketing in Hong Kong.

The organisers believe the awards  play a  key role in raising the standards of Hong Kong's marketing campaigns, as suggested by the high quality of the entries.

The organisers say it is significant that as many as 49 companies  entered this year's awards,  considering that businesses   weathered a difficult year. In a normal year, the average number of entries varies between 45 and 60.

Cheong Shin-keong, chairman, HKMA/TVB Award for Marketing Excellence Organising Committee, says effective marketing has become increasingly important as companies go out of their way to  make their products or services stand out from the crowd.

He noted that a prominent feature of  this year's entries was the use of celebrities to add glamour and  impact to products such as mobile phones and data services. Entrants covered a diverse range of businesses, including consumer goods, entertainment, technology, film and services.

'The days are fast disappearing when a business can expect to  keep growing by simply repeating what it  did in the past, or even recently. Organisations  must expect, and even initiate,  change - and prepare for it,' Mr Cheong says.

The organisers noted that, despite a rise in the average age of Hong Kong citizens,  there was no evidence of entries with marketing programmes geared  to the mature market, nor  did any of the campaigns stand out through the use of new technology to drive their marketing operations.

Mr Cheong, who is assistant general manager of Television Broadcasts, says changes in Hong Kong's economic environment, such as an ageing population and a greater consumption of goods and services by mainland visitors,  could present new marketing opportunities. But they will  also require a review of  marketing strategies.

Besides judging the rationale behind  marketing campaigns,  this year's evaluation process was fine-tuned to differentiate between marketing and business results. Judges looked  at how a campaign met marketing objectives and quantifiable measures such as sales, market share, image improvement, and changes in consumer/customer perceptions and consumer/customer satisfaction. They  also evaluated  whether the campaign met business objectives, including profitability and return on investment.

Mr Cheong believes that successful marketing requires identifying the needs of the marketplace, and executing the proper procedures to reach consumers. He says that whether a company is trying to maintain or gain market share, or launch a new product or service, the marketing effort is often the key to success or failure.

He says that taking part in the awards  gives  firms the opportunity to re-evaluate their marketing campaigns by subjecting them to professionally designed criteria.

'The awards allow companies to place marketing ideas and concepts under the microscope of a panel of impartial marketing experts, who examine it within a sound theoretical framework,' Mr Cheong says.

Honours aside, the awards create an opportunity  to benchmark marketing strategies between  industry sectors, focus attention on the need for innovation and set examples that will benefit the long-term interests of businesses.

Mr Cheong says many enterprises still struggling to overcome the economic downturn and the devastating impact of Sars  have been forced to create more innovative marketing strategies with tighter budgets.

'The tough economic climate and the effects of Sars have made companies look for unique or creative means to gain greater mileage from their marketing dollars,'  he says. There was some indication of a post-Sars response among this year's entries,  but the full impact of Sars on marketing campaigns will not be  known until next year as most entries were launched  last year.

To stretch their marketing budgets,  companies are increasingly forming strategic partnerships with distributors or launching campaigns that  are newsworthy.

'If a marketing programme is sufficiently strong, the media will be more than happy to report on it, adding free and greater coverage to the campaign,' Mr Cheong says.

Other methods used to gain market share or awareness include pricing, packaging, and service differences to significant features and benefit contrasts when compared with the competition.

The  winners of this year's awards are: Gold Prize: One2Free 'SMS Lovers', Hong Kong CSL; Silver: The Power of Love - The Power of Music, Warner Music Hong Kong; Bronze: Ocean Park Halloween Bash 2002, Ocean Park Corporation; Certificates of Merit: Twins Mobile - Breakthrough Info-tainment Service Keeps Idols Close, New World PCS; McDull, Hong Kong One Egg Tart, Regent Lane; and Watsons Water - Wats Next, Watsons Water.

Regent Lane  also won a Citation For Innovation and  Hong Kong CSL  won a Citation For Outstanding TV Campaign.



Creativity shines in a year of hardship