Global Voices

Recently, I was in Tokyo at a seminar organised by Asahi Advertising, MakkiMakki Brand Consultants, both are members of Worldwide Partners Inc., and Intage Research Agency, who work for leading Japanese food manufacturing companies.

Although the seminar was about “Indonesian Consumers and the Latest Trends in Food Product Marketing” the two interesting observations that got me thinking were more related to social media.

The first was an Indonesian social phenomena identified by Sakti Makki, the main speaker; stating that Indonesians are basically followers. He explained that Indonesian consumers have a big tendency to act according to the crowd. They are easily influenced by word of mouth and what they perceive others are doing.

This tendency is fueled by their avid use of the social media networking. Amongst a population size of 238 million, Facebook has a 69.6% reach and Twitter 13.6%.Indonesia ranks second in the world for the number of Facebook users at almost 39 million users.

We were showed how the leading brands in the two categories of frozen yoghurt and spicy local snacks (Sour Sally and Maicih, respectively) had built their success with the clever use of Facebook and Twitter to create trends & hype and to engage with their consumers.

In neighbouring Singapore, its Prime Minister Lee, could be aiming to do the latter by setting up his Facebook and Twitter accounts on April 20^th.  In his maiden post on Facebook he said that many of his colleagues had been using social media and encouraged him to start his own Facebook page, and ‘Having watched them, I have decided to join the fun.’ He continued ‘As a Facebook newbie, I would appreciate your advice, suggestions and, most of all, your patience.’ Some commentators have wondered how he would handle negative comments and feedback.

Twenty days earlier, negative comments and the spreading of rumours of a coup following the downfall of one of its most charismatic politicians, Bo Xilai, caused the China government to come down hard on its vibrant social networking media, detaining six people, closing 16 web sites and shutting off the commenting services for microblogs run by the Sina Corporation and Tencent Holdings, each having over 300 million registered accounts. The measures allowed users to post, but not comment on others’ posts.

This brings me to my second observation – postings, or rather the absence of postings, which took place during the seminar. Whilst it is common nowadays at seminars, conferences and meetings to see attendee’s texting, tweeting and posting to Facebook, not one attendee did so in Tokyo.

Perhaps, the Japanese were being polite and respectful to the speakers, or they were merely following the sign in the elevator and extending it to the seminar room. So, Indonesians are not the only ones who are followers.

Arriving in La Paz along the altiplano, skirting around a flat rim surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, you’re not quite sure whether your breath is taken away because of the altitude or seeing the city spread out in its bowl-like landscape. And quite soon, the social topography starts to reveal itself: the poor are high up on the flats, battling a combination of the searing sun and sweeping winds; the middle class sit comfortably further down the slopes on the outskirts of the city centre; the rich live lavishly at the bottom of the basin.

It’s no secret that Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in South America. As you drive through the altiplano before arriving at the centre you pass half finished red brick buildings and cholitas wearing their garish pleat skirts, clashing jumpers, scarves and top hats. These cholitas are either working hard on the fields with their little kids in tow or squatting by their goods hoping to make a couple of pesos.

The campesinos (farmers, peasants) live in a short-sighted world. They live day-by-day, cheek by jowl and whatever they manage to sell that day is the money they can spend for dinner. Surprisingly, the government hasn’t helped to improve things greatly either. Despite Evo Morales being the first indigenous president elected to help the campesinos, education is still poor, which inevitably has a knock-on effect.

Firstly, there is a shortage of teachers and therefore not enough schools. If there is a school in the altiplanos, then it may be a two to three hour journey for a child to make there and back. And to top it off, in general, the teachers are hardly progressive in these areas. Children are also needed as extra hands on the field, so education is often not a priority.

However, as you slide down the basin you notice that the 4x4s get bigger and fiercer: a sure sign of wealth. But even here, the government policies don’t allow companies to take full advantage of their captive audience.

Let’s take broadband. In the UK, it’s now standard for every household to have broadband. Despite there being three companies in Bolivia (Entel, Tigo and Viva), it’s still too expensive for even a middle-class family to have it in their home. Plus it’s slow. For the past six years Sky, Virgin Media and BT have been openly battling to offer the fastest broadband at the cheapest consumer price possible. The UK government openly supports this, as simplistically, fast, affordable broadband enables businesses to be more efficient, helping to boost the economy, and ultimately improve the standard of living.

As there are no monthly consumer deals to shout about in La Paz, there are no aggressive, tactical ads to create. So rather, they go for bold in-your-face branding by painting the sides of houses, shop fronts and walls with their logos and slogans for a monthly fee. Imagine having the front of your house painted red with Richard Branson’s beardy smarmy grin.

Bolivia is a tough place to do business and to succeed is even harder. The fact that even McDonalds couldn’t make it work and shut up shop in 2002 proves this.

Orange Cinema…Tuesday? Well that’s how it goes down in France and here are two ads promoting their version of Orange Cinema Wednesday with a cheerleader and stars of French cinema, Catherine Deneuve and Gilles Lellouche.

Orange’s two for one ticket cinema promotion is much newer in France and was only launched for the first time last year by Publicis. Same deal as the UK except “every Tuesday is Cinéday. Read More »

An amusing spot here from Italy for a brand of potting soil called Vigorplant. Armando Testa has documented a day in the life of a nudist, as he wakes up, stretches, exercises, does his chores and and daily ablutions.

But thankfully our eyes are spared having to look at his private parts — and Vigorplant wants to make sure we are aware of who we should be thanking for that. Read More »

Look no further than what is happening to big-box retailers, such as Best Buy, Blockbuster and even Target and Wal-Mart, to understand how buying products with a smartphone is quickly changing everything from local governments to ad agencies. In short, big-box retailers are hurting if not dying outright. Consumers can get game systems, computers, mobile phones, TVs, audio equipment, books, movies, even dishwashers and refrigerators cheaper on-line as compared to traditional retail stores. For instance, the same 48-inch, big-screen plasma TV at Best Buy, Target or Wal-Mart is 1-2% cheaper on their own on-line site than at their brick and mortar outlet, not to mention how much cheaper the same TV is at dedicated on-line retailers like Amazon. Read More »

The recent rise of Morocco as a noteworthy economic hub in North Africa is something to really admire. Today, the country also represents a relatively tranquil oasis among the other North African countries that are still striving to reorganise themselves after the massive changes that took place during the Arab Spring only one year ago.

Morocco is seen as one of the four most advanced economies in Africa along with South Africa, Egypt and Tunisia. This is because the economies of those countries are broadly diversified across a wide range of manufacturing and service industries. Given that Egypt and Tunisia are currently still recovering from the period of unrest, focus is now shifting strongly towards Morocco with its openness towards the Western world and its ambition to be seen as a truly global player. Read More »

There was a ban on alcohol at the Lollapalooza music festival in Santiago. All the western foreigners expressed overt outrage and drew up complex plans to sneak booze through security. After drinking at midday pre-festival and succeeding in bringing in a bag containing a bottle of vodka, a bottle of pisco and beers, it was a lot of fun.

Of course, it’s unusual for Westerners (i.e. European, American and Australian binge-drinking champs – or chumps in some cases) to experience a music festival without being blind drunk. And unusual for alcoholic drinks brands to be denied access to that ever-willing prime target. The official excuse is that there are kids present. The reality is that the South Americans go a bit nuts after they’ve had too much to drink and like to fight, whereas we get silly happy. Read More »

I’ve spent a lot of time recently deciding between chicken or beef; on my way between London and Singapore. Both Hyper Island, the Swedish digital media university college I helped start in the mid 90’s, and my London agency, the OTHER media are looking east towards Asia as we respond to both client needs and opportunities.  We’re by no means alone in planning such new ventures but the reasons are so compelling that it surprises me that there aren’t even more headed in this direction.

Clients and talent are the twin reasons behind our decisions. As our ecommerce clients grow in confidence, they want to reach out and access customers in the vibrant and increasingly wealthy Chinese and broader Asian markets. They could, of course, replicate sites, apps, fulfillment and marketing using local agencies but partnering with their existing agencies to adapt their European and US presence offers greater economies of scale and consistency of both message and operations. And, to be effective in these new markets we have to be there; operating in their languages, cultures, timezones and on their terms. Read More »

If you’re a small business with zero budget for advertising and media spend, what do you do? You create your own, of course.

It’s very simple: red type on a white background for stand out and clarity. Lead on product and go straight to the call to action – with a map, for god’s sake! Media placement is also important. How about next to the colourful party shop with ghastly fluorescent balloons to draw attention? Read More »

As the Grand Prix passes through Malaysia, let’s look at Consumer Confidence.

After the economy shrunk by 1.7% in 2009, GDP growth bounced back in 2010 at 7.2%. Read More »