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SCMP Reporter

Unless forced to do so at gunpoint, Media Eye will never forgo exclusive use of her bathroom. It is a privilege well earned.

Now she can linger blissfully in the morning shower, without her younger brother banging on the  door shouting about how badly he needs to pee.

Even worse, he might get in there first: many Hong Kong men take as much time in front of the bathroom mirror as women do.

A study by research house Synovate reveals that a quarter of Hong Kong men use facial cleaner foam, compared with 36 per cent in Singapore and 12 per cent in Korea.

But don't assume that sharing your flat with a Seoul-man will free up the shower: 67 per cent of Korean men  use skin moisturisers. And while only 45 per cent of Korean men  believed  their appearance was important, 85 per cent carry a personal grooming kit every day.

It turns out that mainland men, macho as they may be, are as vain as vixens when it comes to the shade of their skin.

'Men in China aren't much into products traditionally used by women, with one notable exception - 55 per cent of them use some sort of whitening soap,' said Synovate's Carole Sarthou.

'Skin whiteners are mostly scorned by other males in Asia.'

While none of this  says much for the masculine image of Asian men,  it  exposes a beautiful market opportunity for cosmetics  makers.

'The results  should be quite encouraging to purveyors of beauty products,' said Ms Sarthou. 'Asian men want to look after their looks, and are prepared to spend to do so.'

life's ups and downs

If you thought Hong Kong was saturated with advertising, think again.

The Hong Kong Commercial Publicity Association (HKCPA) is in talks with the government  to place poster ads  in lifts at  government housing estates.

'For lifts with a mirror on the back, we can hang a poster on each side,' said Mak Siu-tong, HKCPA vice chairman  and chief executive of Convey Advertising.

Media Eye is all for the idea, as long as the campaigns  improve, rather than degrade, the quality of life for apartment dwellers.

Hong Kong lifts offer advertisers a  truly 'captive audience'. The average Hong Kong denizen, after all, rides a residential lift twice daily. One hopes  advertisers will not abuse  them by pasting  boring billboard ads in those tight little spaces.

Thankfully, there is precedent for creative use of residential lifts as backdrops to tasteful marketing campaigns. Back in 1998,  furniture giant Ikea  launched a campaign entitled 'Change is Easy' in Beijing and Shanghai, in which it transformed 20 dingy  lifts into veritable elevators of elan.

Ikea not only fitted out the lifts with wallpaper, chairs, cabinets, dustbins and tea settings, it also hired conductors to smile at bemused residents and, of course, hand them Ikea catalogues.

Afterwards  more than 60 per cent of lift users said they liked the activity, citing an improved  lift environment and the creativity of the designs. About 43 per cent said they  might buy Ikea products.

reputations at stake

In China, employee quality and development are the most important  assessment factors for  'stakeholders' - executives, consumers and others with a stake in the success of a  business.

A study by Edelman found  27 per cent of  interviewees  in China  felt 'employee development' was the most important differentiating characteristic of a firm, well above the regional 9 per cent average.

'Stakeholders in China and India are  more likely than others to examine information regarding the management team,' said Alan VanderMolen, Edelman president for Asia Pacific region.

Asian multinationals - especially pharmaceutical and healthcare firms - were said to have failed to meet expectations on operational transparency and listening to customers.

'Health companies are not paying attention to what their stakeholders are.  They have to wake up or they'll be in trouble,' said Mr VanderMolen.



Mirror reveals Asian men going through cosmetic change