8/14/2019 TheSun 2009-11-02 Page 11 Making Sense of Advertising
Ringgit
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CHELMSFORD is a quaint town,an hours train journey north-east
ofLondon. Its home to GEC and the An-glia-Ruskin University where I
stud-ied law. The joke going around thosedays was that if you threw
a stone,it would land on the head of a GECemployee or a university
student.
Most shops are within walkingdistance of each other. I held a
Tescoloyalty card and every six months,would receive stamps
entitling meto discounts. Those days, Tesco hada big sign which
read: Well refundtwice the difference if you can find itcheaper
elsewhere. One afternoon,I walked into the store to buy sixtubes of
chocolate flakes at 1.49
each. Heading home, I stopped bySainsburys and saw the same
flakesfor 1.47. I marched back to Tesco,seeking a 12p refund not
much, butit was the principle that mattered.
The supermarket manager said Ihad to provide proof of purchase
byproviding a receipt from Sainsburys.Why should I buy something
twice?I asked.
That is our policy. We need proofit is sold cheaper, he said. I
wroteto Tescos headquarters. Two dayslater, I received a letter
saying Tescowould review its policies on thisissue. Enclosed was a
10 voucher!This episode has made me a life-longsupporter of
Tesco.
Why this old story? Its to empha-sise that it doesnt take huge
advertis-ing expenditure (adspend) to win thehearts of
consumers.
Many moons ago, being top ad-
spenders, the tobacco boys werethe darlings of media owners,
beingregularly wined and dined. Whenthey were banned from
advertising,the telcos became the big boys atitle they held for
five years until lastweek, when they were overtaken bythe Malaysian
Government!
Yes, the Health Ministry hasa budget; the Consumer
Affairs,Domestic Trade and Co-operativesMinistry has money to
spend; the
Transport Ministry spends on roadsafety campaigns. The mother of
allspenders is the Tourism Ministry
and rightly so. But there are otherswho choose to blow their
budgets.If you drive along the North-SouthHighway, you would come
acrossa billboard by the Fire and RescueDepartment!
While it is understandable thatthe Health Ministry embarked ona
big campaign after the swine fluoutbreak, there is no justification
forothers. Here are some facts worthpondering: From January to
September, thegovernment spent RM224.66 millionon advertising up
from last yearsRM153.6 million For the same period, telcos
spentless RM212.9 million The two biggest makers of house-hold and
consumer products, Unileverand Proctor and Gamble,
collectivelyspent RM236 million Nestle spent just RM72.8
million
As you read this, there are peoplepresenting creative ideas
withstory boards and visuals to somegovernment officer. But does
anyonemeasure the results and impact oftheir advertising
campaigns?
How do government reps choosethe agencies? Is there a pitch
andwhich are the agencies invited?Who are the people who make
thefinal decision? Who draws up theadvertising budget? Who
monitors
the efficacy of the advertisements?No answers are forthcoming
becausein many instances, the agencies areone-man operations. One
man whocalls himself an expert gets close tothe powers-that-be and
bluffs his wayon what he can do. Having gotten thenod, he gets some
freelancers thereal lembuswho do the work to
come in with the visuals and the ac-tual artwork. I am aware of
one suchperson who was a key figure in acriminal trial who has
parked him-self in a ministry offering all kinds ofservices
including media relationsof which he knows nothing about.
Another advertising czar whoreceived government advertis-ing
contracts paid for a ministerspersonal trainers air fare to
LosAngeles and Hawaii. When Terenceand I confronted him, he had the
au-dacity to tell us: Thats how businessis done in Malaysia. To get
to knowthe minister better, you have to lookafter the inner circle.
Hence, if therehad been competitive bids, we wouldsee more creative
advertisements andeven better results from campaigns.
Take the Smart Consumer cam-paign, for example. What does it
aimto achieve? How many shoppers has
the campaign compelled to compareprices. If the previous
campaign onpetrol subsidies comparing theprices of fuel in selected
countrieswas a wanton waste of public funds,then this campaign
takes the cake asits a no-brainer from the word go!
The list of money-making cam-paigns is a long one and the
peoplein the advertising fraternity can relateepisodes of how they
lost out to un-known firms.
While the leaders are talkingabout being competitive in the
globalmarket which will in turn spur talent,some government
agencies are doing
just the opposite, giving contracts todubious characters.
Just like the private sector whereadvertising agencies compete
toprovide the most creative and cost-effective campaigns, the
public sectormust do the same.
And those who spend money ongovernment campaigns must
alwaysremember that its taxpayers moneythey are throwing.
R. Nadeswaran enjoys following thedevelopments in the
advertising indus-try, especially when it comes to usingpublic
money. He is editor (specialand investigative reporting) at
theSunand can be reached at: citizen-nades @thesundaily.com.
speak up!11theSun | MONDAY NOVEMBER 2 2009
CitizenNadesby R. Nadeswaran
Making sense of
advertising ringgit
[email protected]
Be firm on corruptionWHILE some will applaud the primeministers
realistic stand on corrup-tion, others even from among his
supporters will think that the standis not strong enough. While
promis-ing that the task force will investi-gate the serious cases
highlightedin the Auditor-Generals Report andserious action will be
taken againstthe wrongdoers, Datuk Seri NajibRazak clarifies that
the action maybe administrative and not neces-sarily legal.
The setting up of a governmenttask force comprising the
countrystop civil servants to investigatethe wrongdoings of
governmentdepartments and the civil servantsmanaging them may be
seen asinnovative but the fight against cor-ruption and its
perpetrators is not.
The fact that the police and theMalaysian Anti-Corruption
Com-mission (MACC) have been activelyinvolved, especially recently,
inbringing to book those involved in
bribery and corruption both in thepublic and private sectors
showsthat the authorities are indeedstarting to seriously walk the
talk.The fact that more people, includ-ing the whistle-blowers, are
com-ing forward to report on real andperceived cases of abuse of
powerand authority shows that the publicwant a cleaner,
corruption-freesociety.
Granted the task force is setup to investigate the abuses
andwrongdoings unearthed in theAuditor-Generals Report. It is
only
right that government servants areassessed against the rules
that bindthem in their duties and responsi-
bilities. It is only fair that the actiontaken against those
found guilty ofcommitting a clear breach of trustbe commensurate
with the regula-tions that are in place.
However, one must bear in mindthat the chain of wrongdoing
islong and entangling. Governmentdepartments buy products
andequipment or obtain the servicesand consultancy of parties in
theprivate sector. Granted there willbe those who are unknowingly
ornaively roped in by the unscrupu-lous businessmen and
contractors.But there are an equal number ofpeople who act with
their eyesopen and their palms outstretchedand ready to be
greased.
In order to be dead serious inthe fight against corruption,
thegovernment must not be seen to besoft and compromising,
especially
with their officers whose duty it isto serve the people not
hoodwinkor rob them. If the top leadershipis seen as being
compassionatein order to win hearts and minds,the public thinking
and tidak apaattitude will not change.
Malaysians need to be jolted outof their apathy and
lackadaisical at-titude towards morality and acceptresponsibility
for the society thatthey themselves have created.
Halimah Mohd SaidKuala Lumpur
Purring beamers poserI AGREE with the comments made in Checks on
old cars will be a burden(Letters, Oct 30).
I own a 13-year-old Japanese car and am the sole driver of the
vehicle.
Merely listening to the slight sound from the engine compartment
will giveyou the impression that the car is not more than three
years old. This is dueto the fact that I have been taking very good
care of my car.
Even the paintwork is original except for some minor scratches
whichare unavoidable. It is also accident-free.
Do I have to send my car for inspection when my car is due for
renewalin 2010?
I hope the relevant authorities will re-consider any requirement
for thetests to be conducted to confirm my car is in good
condition.
One-car OwnerVia email
