Live Issue: 4As BRAND LEADERSHIP SERIES BAPTISM OF FIRE!
Ham on 05 3, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: It may not have been as explosive as Parliament’s Opening Day which was on the same day, but last Wednesday’s Brand Leadership Series Web 2.0 Forum at the Securities Commission Auditorium was equally thought-provoking! And it rocked the house. March 8 was a turning point in Malaysia’s media and political scene and this forum could not have come at a better time with the theme: POWER OF WEB 2.0 : BRANDING, NEW MEDIA, POLITICS
Playing to a packed house of marketers, ad professionals, media and pr practitioners, and corporates, the forum was a rapid-fire session of probing questions, insightful revelations, personal anecdotes and brutal honesty. Politics and blogs have had a strange marriage in Malaysia – of ups and downs. Bloggers have gone from being labelled Monkeys to Members of Parliament!
Utusan Malaysia recently reported Malaysia has about 500,000 active bloggers, ranking the country among the highest in the world after Indonesia and the European Union. According to Universiti Malaya media department lecturer, Dr Abu Hassan Hasbullah, says, “Our research shows that 70% of the election results were influenced by information in the blogs.” As an example, Malaysian bloggers have left Singapore bloggers biting the dust in their wake.
Whilst Singapore bloggers languish in a restrictive environment Malaysian bloggers have gone from zero to hero!A recent study on “Top Brands Using Digital” by global market intelligence company TNS based on interviews with more than 3,000 Asian internet users, including 505 from Malaysia, ranked Nokia, DiGi, Maxis, Celcom and AirAsia as the top five players in this space in Malaysia. But it is also learnt that Digi has recently taken the lead.Two years ago, Malaysians sent 90 million sms message a day. This was a major instigator to all the viral and buzz marketing prevalent during the recent elections.Compound this with the explosion of social media networks like Facebook and so on, and a new ‘liberation’ post March 8 that set the media world on fire, the Forum set the stage for explosive debate on this theme.
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| Premesh Chandran, CEO Malaysiakini.com |
Rene E.Menezes, MD Media 2.0 |
Oon Yeoh, Journalist |
Special Guest Panelist was Ahirudin Attan @ Rocky a journalist for 23 years and a blogger for the last two. He is President of All-Blogs, National Alliance of Bloggers and Adviser to the National Press Club. Rocky writes for Tell mag, Singapore’s mypaper and the Washington Post. Rocky was Editor of two newspapers – the Business times in the late 90s and the Malay Mail until Feb 2006. He spent the first 18 years of his life in Singapore, and is being currently sued for defamation by the New Straits Times with fellow blogger YB Jeff Ooi.
Veteran newsmaker and agent provocateur Nadeswaran was most vocal with his observations and expose questions during Question Time. 4As President had to remind Citizen Nades that the ad industry had the ‘balls’ to hold such a Forum unlike what Nades exclaimed about advertisers not wanting to take that leap of faith into online.
MalaysiaKini’s Prem urged advertisers who were wary of the online space to work together with him to see how they could leverage their brand online without worrying about being ‘arrested’. René had the audience in stitches when he showed a parody of Hillary Clinton’s political campaign that just seemed to go ‘all wrong’. A brief VoxPox video survey on the media consumption amongst youth also drew big surprises from the audience. It was a reality check on what was happening on the streets and in the minds of youth with regards to old versus new media.The final question posed to the panelists was ‘Who’ll be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia?’ For full details on what transpired email ham@adoimagazine.com �
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POSTED BY HAM ON BEHALF OF LARRY LIM…
From: Larry Lim
To: 4As Secratariat
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 10:59 PM
Subject: RE: Power Of Web 2.0
Hi Mr. Matthews,
Who will be the next Prime Minister? – not the final question that you would expect from a forum (supposedly) about Web 2.0. Next to me was my friend who came all the way from Singapore, a French. And next to him was an Australian lady from Nielsen. I don’t think they came to hear about Malaysian politics.
This is the first time I attended a 4As event, and having purposely coming here from Malacca, I was really disappointed. Apart from being entertained by Ham’s jokes, I didn’t gain anything beneficial at all …and I think I wasn’t alone. The crowd started leaving at 5pm and people around me were complaining that it was not what they had expected.
Fact is, people from the advertising industry came to learn how they could use the Internet for marketing but most of what was discussed today was about politics and Malaysiakini.
They are “old school” marketers who are trying to play catch up and I know this because I spoke at an event last year, which was attended by the senior management from TM, TM Net, Bernas, etc. I’m invited to speak at AdTech in Singapore in June but had to reject because of personal obligations.
I fedback to Mr. Nantha Kumar about the forum and I hope 4As will organize another event about the Internet to make up for today’s event. I’m sure your members would rather hear Rene speak on search engine marketing, learn about online opportunities, online PR management, etc. instead of politics.
Sorry for being so blunt but it is what I honestly feel about today’s event.
Regards,
Larry Lim
Mobile: 012-683 1717
http://www.larrylim.net
POSTED BY HAM ON BEHALF OF 4As IN RESPONSE TO LARRY LIM..
Dear Larry,
Thank you for your very prompt feedback. Your frank opinion is much appreciated.
Wednesday’s forum is the first on this topic which has been organised by the 4As. The theme : “Branding – New Media – Politics” – was very well covered by the panelists, and we feel that our goal in organising this forum has been acheived. Which was to serve as a platform to provide insights on how the new media today has played / and will continue to have an impact in the consumer decision making process. The political dimension, as seen from the turn of event in the revent Malaysian GE, is a key paradigm that clearly displays this shift in the relevance of new media platforms.
As diverse as the forum content was, so too was the mix of the participants of the forum. As you have shared your honest feedback, we have also received many responses from participants – including 4As members, PR practitioners, brand custodians, etc – who were verry happy with the Forum, particularly the eye-opening insights from all the panelists as well as the moderator. Jokes and bantering included.
Having said that, some of the insights that you have shared with us, will undoubtedly serve as the useful inputs for the sequel forum that we have in the pipeline. Certainly, the Power of Web2.0 – The Sequel, may have a more specific brand activation slant to it – with a relevant forum panel as well. We shall keep you posted on this, once the plan is crystallised.
Warm regards,
Nantha
for the Malaysian 4As Council
FROM HAM HIMSELF:
Dear Larry,
Thank you for your polite comments regarding my humorous moderation of this Forum. I hope you don’t assume my style as being too casual. The subject is serious and we needed to take the curse off the edge, To listen to more serious stuff, check me out at the Shangri-la in Putrajaya this coming Wednesday morning on a topic titled: Branding 360 – Putting Malaysia in a Spin.
Back to the 4As Forum: it was about three points Branding-New Media-Politics within the framework of Web 2.0. We therefore shuttled amongst these subsets on the discussion. I also received about 25 sms-ses which could not be answered in time. I hereby list them out, and will alert all our panelists to respond to the questions in this ongoing blog…
From Vanda: Can advertisers who want to stay neutral in politics go with MalaysiaKini? It was a great session, can we get the video clip on the survey. That will help a lot in convincing advertisers to invest more online.
From Charles Peters (theSun): Rocky, so what if all The Star journalists clog up the blogsphere.. readers will only seek out the raw written word that’s closer to the truth..
From 012-307 2484 : So is MalaysiaKini an online version of Al-Jazeerah?
From Zawiah: Why Media Prima and other so-called government media giving too much news on the new opposition now? Something not right. Comments please?
Question to Prem from 016-323 7880: Why charge for subscription when you already have so many advertisers on your website now? Without subscription, you can feed the news to more people. I perceive MalaysiaKini as spreading justice to the masses.
From 012-3090608: Blogs are very individualistic, personal and opinionated. Compared to online forums which are more balanced in their views and coverage. Wouldn’t forums be a more effective way of brand building?
From 012-7800882: Do you think ’search’ will drive the consumer to gain more insights on Web 2.0 and affect the traffic to blogs?
From Charmaine (DDB PR): Can bloggers pretend to know how to run a country? Do you understand the enormity of taking the fate of millions in your hands? Idealism can be dangerous and smacks of arrogance..
From 012-3155343: Just like MalaysiaKini, where there’s high awareness but low subscription, how do we justify that (good) awareness online will translate to sales for the client or even ensure credible branding?
From 012-3993012: For Prem – You want to make money through subscriptions and superior content, but people on the net don’t seem to respect copyrights… content is shared and pasted for free in other places. is this a problem?
(Note from Ham: I think this is a Web 3.0 question, and relates to content aggregation)
From 012-3927730: Is MalaysiaKini truly unbiased in your reports? There is this one report that Ali Rustam called Pak Lah a ‘coward’ at a PPP event. I was there, and it was a heated session. But I noticed there was a little exaggeration in your report on this incident.
From Kenneth Wong: The fear of brand association with any bad report in case a blogger gets arrested, etc., due to its political nature. Any suggestions how to overcome that?
From Robyn: Other parts of the world are aware of the Power of the Web. It is hot here now, because of the elections. So looking at where we are, what do you think Web 3.0 is going to be?
From Justin: Where do you draw the line between a blogger who blogs with credibility and a blogger who blogs for money?
From 012-3836862: If a blogger can smell a rat a mile away, how can we use them to promote our brand? How should we approach this issue?
From Dipak: With blogging enjoying so much success, are you concerned that it’s creating a new generation of backseat drivers?
From Richard: What is the situation of women as part of bloggers’ writings and their issues in Malaysia?
From Jim: How has the advent of Web 2.0 evolved the way brands are campaigned?
From 019-2899225: Online networking websites like websites…how effective are they in creating web presence for corporations?
From Thomas: Do you foresee some form of censorship being applied to the internet in the near future?
(Note from Ham: I think Datuk Vincent Lee answered this question)
From Richard (Eyeka): How is the video user generated content (USG) developing in Malaysia? What was the growth at MalaysiaKini when it put on its online videos? How can brands leverage of video and the content from USG?
(Note from Ham: I think Prem answered this question)
From 012-2845792: Web 2.0 may only reach to selected target markets/segments. Malaysian access to the internet is very Central (I think he means region). How is this effective for branding exercises across other regions of the country?
From Rosie Hong (Rapp Collins): many clients would like to venture into blogging but at the same time are very concerned about negative news because it is not a ‘controlled’ or regulated media. So they end up not taking the step. How do we reconcile this?
From Ralph: Question for Oon Yeoh – Online medium contributed to PKR’s success in the recent elections. Do you see this medium would be controlled by our government in the future?
(Note from Ham: Like how they are planning to do in Singapore)
From Ralph: Question for Prem – Do you foresee MalaysiaKini becoming a commercial site, and how will that affect its content? And will you, Prem, run for elections?
From Justin: What tools can MalaysiaKini offer to help advertisers reach a specific target audience via their site?
From Kamal (McCann): As readers look to sites for real stories, how does the site verfy information reported such as the Rembau incident recount that didn’t happen?
(Note from Ham: I believe the answer is already on MalaysiaKini)
From Asil: For Prem – How will competition affect MalaysiaKini and online news portals n general?
From Tommy: Who conceptualised DAP’s brand image during the recent elections? Agency or DAP’s own?
(Note from Ham: I think YB Jeff Ooi, who is now Jelutong MP and Penang’s Investor Relations Chief, can best answer this question)
NOTE FROM HAM: PLEASE ADD RESPONSES TO ABOVE QUESTIONS AND ADD MORE QUESTIONS AS YOU SEE FIT..
Web 2.0 explained by Tim O’reilly:
I think the question – you posed is an entirely fair one. Not sure why Larry has got his hair up on this. The point of a panel or a forum is that you exchange views,challenge each other and ask questions and be thought-provoking. So for the people who complain – I think they should have stood up and put the panel to the test on what mattered to them .The ouptput or the quality of the forum is a reflection of the audience. A panel forum is an interactive two way process. I think Rene and Prem are suffiiciently qualified and knowledgeable to take questions across the spectrum. And in the panel there was some powerful protaganists in the frontline of the Cyber War for the hearts and minds of Malaysian. I think it showed up the Power of Web 2.0 and woken some marketers from their cyber-slumber.
Either the Chairman did a shoddy job or the audience was decidedly limp or “KAYU”
I think some Malaysians expect power-point ,handouts and a tea-break with mee-hoon !
When it is question-time – they all sink into the seats and keep quiet or pray that the convenor will not call on them. I don”t think the advertising industry came to learn about internet marketing for the paltry RM70 or RM100 !
The ultimate brand that we will purchase is the government of the day! And it is an interactive process because you get to engage the brand then choose. If the brand does not engage you or interact with you with a compelling message it is history! And all this well before the dawn of the internet. It is an age-old concept called democracy if you live in a country that gives you that right!
(A fat load a good a new Mercedes is if the roads are in a sorry state,the fuel and toll prices get to ludricous levels and I can’t keep the monthly on the new wheels. And it is only the neigbourhood crows and not the fat-cats in the City who can put a deposit on the latest Ferrari )
The internet due to technology puts interactivity and audience involvement on steroids. Ultimately brands are created by consumers not marketers. If there is no critical mass of need-fulfilment by marketers – then there are no brands. Successful brands at least.
Malaysians rejection of bad governmental practices and their need for accountability and contemporary government that is in tune with the needs and wants of the citizenry caused the mindshift that produced the political “tsunami”.
What do Malaysians expect from their Prime Minister and who should earn the right to lead Brand Malaysia!
WHAT IS BRAND MALAYSIA?
Absolutely the question I would want answered . I hope the panel did a good job answering this – if not it not too late. The power of the internet allows this question to be answered in retrospect.
BF2
Dei Larry,
Your comment must have been the corniest attempt at self-promotion if there ever was one. We are not interested in your speaking engagement at AdTech Singapore and subsequent personal obligations. Don’t throw your big time ‘guests’ (read clients) from Singapore in the mix to justify your standing in this discussion. If you wanna get a grip on stats, facts and data to impress your clients, go buy a book! This is a discussion forum; the topics are BRANDING, NEW MEDIA, POLITICS. If your friends ‘who came all the way from Singapore, a French, and Australian lady from Nielsen you claim didn’t come to hear about Malaysian politics’ it’s your fault for not reading the Forum leaflet and alerting them. If you’re not interested in what bloggers have to say about who they think will be my next Prime Minster, well get a load of this; I AM INTERESTED!
I also detest your demeaning term ‘old school marketers’ trying to catch up. Where are you coming from la?
There are many so-called ‘old school people’ who are ahead of this game than you may think. The internet
did not start yesterday! You, of all people should know better; age is not a factor to learning, even though
your pic show you look a young chickoo alright. Or maybe that’s another cosmetic attempt at self-promotion?
On a separate note, I look forward to hearing you speak on stage soon.
Welcome to the Power of Web 2.0!
hi ham, sorry to have missed the web 2.0 forum due to a scheduling conflict. sounds like it was interesting and provocative. It’s great to see so much interest in new media in the country!
from a digital branding strategy perspective, here is my 2 cents on some of the questions that you received from attendees that you listed in your post. by the way, i think that most of my comments below can apply to both B2C and B2B brands:
@ 012-3090608: Blogs are very individualistic, personal and opinionated. Compared to online forums which are more balanced in their views and coverage. Wouldn’t forums be a more effective way of brand building?
JZ: actually, both can be. in terms of entering into a brand conversation online, it all depends on where the target audience “hangs out” on the internet and on how the interactive strategy is implemented: do we implement our own blog or forum? do we leverage trusted blogs and/or forums that already exist in our market niche(s)?
@ 012-7800882: Do you think ’search’ will drive the consumer to gain more insights on Web 2.0 and affect the traffic to blogs?
JZ: i think search can play a very important role in driving traffic to blogs, especially if blogs are built from a proper search engine optimisation and search engine marketing strategy foundation.
@ 012-3155343: Just like MalaysiaKini, where there’s high awareness but low subscription, how do we justify that (good) awareness online will translate to sales for the client or even ensure credible branding?
JZ: you said it! analogous to offline media, a brand must be present in the places where its target audience hangs out online. then a strategy should be developed with specific goals and KPIs: are we shooting for database acquisition via online registration? download of e-vouchers for trial and/or discount purchase? driving traffic to a physical retail location or an event, conference or product launch venue? conducting a survey to acquire new consumer insights? etc? since the internet is a direct response medium, we can move beyond general goals of “branding” to the specific types of tangible conversion actions already listed (and many more).
@ 012-3993012: For Prem – You want to make money through subscriptions and superior content, but people on the net don’t seem to respect copyrights… content is shared and pasted for free in other places. is this a problem?
JZ: in my view, no. in fact, this presents new opportunities. why not allow others to copy our content, and thereby syndicate it across the internet at no cost to us? this also means spreading our messages farther and faster with no effort from us. i would provide a platform that encourages automated, viral mechanisms for people to syndicate a brand’s content through RSS, podcasts, vodcasts, widgets, etc.
@ Kenneth Wong: The fear of brand association with any bad report in case a blogger gets arrested, etc., due to its political nature. Any suggestions how to overcome that?
JZ: legal issues aside, is this necessarily a bad thing? as long as a brand is cognizant of the perception of the blogger in the eyes of its target audience this could even be turned into a positive. of course, if a company feels this is still too risky then no problem! web 2.0 still offers brands many, many other opportunities that are influential, cost effective and that can drive real, business results (i.e., video content sharing sites, a brand’s own blog, leveraging other blogs in the malaysian blogosphere that are not controversial to the government or to the target audience, social networking sites, etc.).
@ Robyn: Other parts of the world are aware of the Power of the Web. It is hot here now, because of the elections. So looking at where we are, what do you think Web 3.0 is going to be?
JZ: in malaysia i think we still have plenty of room for future growth to exploit opportunities in web 2.0 but in my view web 3.0 would encompass things such as:
+ social search (relying on the recommendations and/or search patterns of friends and/or “people like us” to make search results more relevant),
+ semantic search (search software agents that make searching for what we want even faster and easier by automatically producing highly relevant search results from multiple different places instead of our having to do this manually)
+ even greater aggregation of information/media all types through mashups (combining information from multiple sources in all sorts of interesting, new and value-added ways; examples include websites that provide real-time traffic activity on top of google maps, band touring schedules (dates, venues) superimposed over google maps superimposed over an interactive timelime superimposed over music reviews superimposed over mp3 song purchases/live show tickets purchases and so on), etc.
+ mobile computing enabling a “ubiquitous web”, especially when more people have more iphone-like devices, when we have wimax for coverage everywhere and proper broadband speeds
Justin: Where do you draw the line between a blogger who blogs with credibility and a blogger who blogs for money?
JZ: in my view, there’s certainly nothing wrong with someone who blogs for money. the key is whether this blogger has trust and authority in the niche community a brand wishes to reach.
@ 012-3836862: If a blogger can smell a rat a mile away, how can we use them to promote our brand? How should we approach this issue?
JZ: if the blogger has influence and authority, reach out to him/her in an open, transparent, honest way and seek their support without seeming to make them into an advertising “prostitute” in the eyes of their readers. if they are complaining about the brand, then approach them with a response that says, “hey, we hear you and respect your comments. this is what we’re going to do about it.” then contact them again when some improvement has been made. most bloggers will be very appreciative and will even blog about the results without the brand having to ask them to do so.
there are a number of strategies and tools that enable online brand reputation building, management, monitoring and even repair in times of crisis.
@ Dipak: With blogging enjoying so much success, are you concerned that it’s creating a new generation of backseat drivers?
JZ: i view this as an opportunity and not a threat! what better way to engage in a conversation with prospects, to quickly assess the feelings of people in a brand’s niche and to find and leverage new, influential brand advocates?
@ Jim: How has the advent of Web 2.0 evolved the way brands are campaigned?
JZ: the key is to develop strategies that leverage the power that exists in the communities and networks that web 2.0 has enabled to evolve so quickly and naturally. brands that understand how to do this have significant opportunities to jump way ahead of their competitors. in order to do this, brands must accept the fact that transparency and honesty are essential for success. brands must also understand the mindset of consumers when they use social media–the consumer is in control and not the brand. i know this requires a change in mindset for many brands but this is not a bad thing. it offers exceptional opportunities to brands.
@ 019-2899225: Online networking websites like websites…how effective are they in creating web presence for corporations?
JZ: done right, absolutely! the key is to be where the target audience hangs out on the internet.
@ 012-2845792: Web 2.0 may only reach to selected target markets/segments. Malaysian access to the internet is very Central (I think he means region). How is this effective for branding exercises across other regions of the country?
JZ: actually, we haven’t seen this type of behaviour when our company has run digital campaigns in the country. of ,course we get more participants from more highly populated areas. that only makes sense since areas with lower populations have a lower statistical likelihood of contributing the same number of participants as more highly populated areas. in addition to klang valley we typically see good response from other metropolitan areas in the country such as penang, JB and malacca. east malaysia not so much but i think that could be a result of a slower take-up of the internet there.
@ Rosie Hong (Rapp Collins): many clients would like to venture into blogging but at the same time are very concerned about negative news because it is not a ‘controlled’ or regulated media. So they end up not taking the step. How do we reconcile this?
JZ: i think malaysians are now tech savvy enough and are more than willing to blog about a brand whether the brand has its own blog or not. in my view, if a brand is worried about negative news on blogs, it’s far better that the brand try to retain some control of the conversation through its own blog than to cede control entirely to the blogosphere. this is part (but not all) of what online brand reputation building, management and repair is all about. to quote from one of my earlier posts on ham’s blog:
if a brand has a product with some warts on it, so be it. better to publicly engage negative comments on the company blog in a constructive manner and be seen publicly to care about and respond to consumer concerns than to bury it’s head in the sand and pretend that nothing bad is happening. the transparent company blog approach is such an elegant, classy way to build a following of loyal, raving fans who otherwise could turn out to be some of the brand’s worst opponents.
without such a “social proof” engagement strategy, unhappy consumers are sure to moan about the brand in their own communities and in the online world this can come back and bite the brand’s head off in all sorts of lightning quick, viral, unpleasant and embarrassing ways. i think of the jetblue valentine’s day 2007 disaster in the US as an excellent example of this.
jeff zweig
chief guru, web guru asia
http://www.webguruasia.com
Dear Ham,
Thanks for taking the time to call me this morning and address my feedback – it was a pleasant surprise. I guess I was expecting to see evidence of web 2.0 in action, the opportunities available in Malaysia and how advertisers can take advantage of it instead of too much talk about politics.
Anyway, I certainly look forward to future new media-related events by 4As and Adoi, and to get to know people from the local advertising community.
Please allow me to share my opinions on certain comments that were raised in the forum and on your blog…
On bloggers and the election:
The public turned to blogs because of the one-sided reporting by the mainstream media, although most knew that blogs are written based on opinions. Overtime, the public will learn to make their own assessments and not believe everything they read.
On advertisers fear of association with Malaysiakini:
This isn’t suprising because it maybe seen as an endorsement/support for Malaysiakini – same reasons why even Google refuses to accept ads for non-family-friendly sites. Malaysiakini (I’m a subscriber btw) is perceived to be political and a little biased towards the opposition, so perhaps a major rebranding exercise is needed to change this perception.
On Rene’s comments on the mismatch between where the crowd is and where money is spent:
It’s due to the lack of awareness and understanding about Internet marketing opportunities among advertisers. Apart from the obvious traffic, you can deploy ads faster, more targeted and more cost-efficient than on any traditional medium – and the list goes on.
On forums versus blogs:
Having experienced running both, I can tell you that it’s far more difficult to start and manage a forum than a blog. You will face hurdles from getting people to join/stay to controlling spam to addressing negative remarks to maintaining order among forummers. However, depending on your product and market reach, it definitely can be successful not only for branding but for customers to obtain peer-to-peer support, e.g. http://forum.eeeuser.com
On blogs as marketing tools:
Promoting on blogs is now common, i.e. you can just buy an ad placement or pay a blogger to write about your product. The second method is effective if it’s a positive review but remember that it can go both ways, although you’re compensating them. The blogger will also usually disclose that it’s a paid review at the end of the post. You can also employ more subtle methods like giving coupons to leading bloggers and making it seem exclusive. A company in the Philippines did this and the “privilleged” bloggers voluntarily blogged about the sale creating a viral effect.
On blogs as PR tools:
If you’re going to start a corporate blog, you need to practise “honest marketing” and allow (fair) negative comments. The blog allows you to collect feedback, acknowledge your weakness and assure your customers that you’ll look into the problem.
On “search” affecting blog traffic:
You can optimize blogs for search results as you would any ordinary websites – my posts usually appear in Google’s search results minutes after posting. Combining SEO and blogs as PR tools, you have a platform to counter defamatory, false articles that are so prevalent on the Internet, i.e. make sure that visitors read your side of the story before reaching the false articles so they can make a fair judgement.
On the effectiveness of websites for a corporation’s web presence:
The Internet is the most important medium today to establish a presence. In addition to being able to provide information beyond office hours, it allows fulfillment of an action, e.g. buying a product or completing a survey form. Being able to rank high in search engine results also gives you a better credibility and allows potential customers to find you instead of you finding them. It’s how I’ve been able to get even big corporate customers in Singapore, despite being a freelancer and based in Malaysia. No advertising at all – just a highly-ranked website with a no BS philosophy.
great to see web 2.0 in action right here on this blog!
it was interesting to see how the tribe responded to larry to defend the 4as, ham and the web 2.0 forum after larry posted his comments. ham, the 4as and the ADOI brand didn’t have to say anything to encourage this. it just happened naturally.
also great how ham posted larry’s critisicism’s right up front and responded to them in an open, honest and contructive way. then the tribe took over and did its thing all by itself.
then larry wrote back with his perspective.
this is precisely how brands can leverage the power of their own blogs despite negative comments appearing on it. the end result is empowering for everyone!
jeff zweig
another ad:tech singapore invited speaker who can’t be there due to a family commitment
chief guru, web guru asia
http://www.webguruasia.com
dang! apologies for the typos in the para below (corrected now!):
…also great how ham posted larry’s criticisms right up front and responded to them in an open, honest and constructive way. then the tribe took over and did its thing all by itself…
jeff z
Dear Ham and everybody,
Thank you for inviting me to the forum. I did enjoy myself a lot.
Come to think of it, that must have been the first “adguys” forum I’ve attended as a panelist or a speaker. I was very impressed, of course. I’ve met, worked and partied with, many admen and adwomen in my years as a journo in The Star, the Business Times, and the Malay Mail. I’ve always found them to be slightly more trendy than the journalists, always slightly richer than us at the end of the month, and most times equally loud.
That was then. Now, I catch myself wondering sometimes of how the adguys would behave with regards to blogs and other on-line media instruments, such as podcast, blog tv, Facebook, etc.
Look at my blog (www.rockybru.blogspot.com), for example. Ad-less. How do I bring in the ads (not Google Ads, Nuffnang) directly from companies that advertise: Air Asia, Toyota, Rolex, Nikon, Nokia, etc? Or could I? Who from the ad industry to I talk to if I want to bring in the ads?
At the Bloggers Universe Meeting 2008 last Thursday, the day after your own Web 2.0 forum, several bloggers said blogs should stay away from ads in order to stay clean and true. Is that the way to go? I believe blogs is not just borderless in for or the physical sense; they are also borderless in terms of content and substance.
Passion for politics or civil society should not be excuses for a blog to restrict access only to politicians and civil society activists. Ads have always been a powerful instrument for politics and for conveying messages to the society. As much as blogs should not shut ads out, it will be foolish for those in the ad industry to ignore events on the political front.
Thank you.
Dei Mississippi,
Thank you for your feedback, which was unfortunately about me instead of the forum. Short of turning this into a flame war, please let me just answer some of your comments:
1) I did not invite my friends over – they came themselves. Like me, they were attracted to the forum because the “main theme” was supposed to be “web 2.0″. If the 3 of us had that perception, I’m sure there are many others who did.
2) I thought I needed to backup my opinions with a resume because I am after all trying to convince seasoned marketers in Malaysia when I’m just an unknown. Not to sound arrogant but I don’t need self-promotion – I’ve never even advertised my services. As an SEO consultant, I have to rely on clients finding me from search engine results because that’s what I’m preaching anyway.
3) On the matter of “old school”, eveyone’s entitled to their opinions – welcome to web 2.0. Judging by the questions that have been posted to Ham (e.g. is a website effective for corporations?), I’m sure you would agree that there are many marketers who are still unaware about the power of the web.
Thanks but I don’t think I’m qualified for the big stage in Malaysia yet.
Larry is right, and seems to have an advanced knowledge of the differing components that can be used for brand-building on the internet. A brand has to be apolitical, but it cannot ignore current political landscape. This is because policies and regulatory issues will effect how the brand interacts with its customers.
Unfortunately I missed this whammo event, but a discussion on how politics and bloggers (many whom write about politics at one point or another), are symbiotic and a brand wanting to leverage on an internet-based personality or organisation needs to address the repercussions of the political stance taken by the personality/organisation. A brand has no choice but to be populist, while walking the regulatory line. Nobody said that the internet was going to be easy. Forums like these begin conversations, open minds and along the way allow participants to explore opportunities and network.
More of these are needed, so HAM … MAKE THIS A QUARTERLY AFFAIR!
POSTED ON BEHALF OF MAY GAN
Hi Ham,
Thank you, and also to 4As, the organizer, for an entertaining and informative forum last Wed. After reading your post-event write-up online, I would like to mention 2 things:
1. As an attendee to the forum, I agree with both Nantha’s and your responses to Larry.
2. I have been thinking since the forum last week if I should write to you on this issue. And as I read that some of the participants (esp agency members) requested for the video you showed us, I feel obligated to state my opinion on the matter. I am of the opinion that it was very befitting to show us the video of today’s young Malaysians’ take and habits re their online & the Internet involvement in their lives today. The idea and concept was good. However, I have my doubts if we can seriously take what was shown on the video clip as a good representation of Malaysian youths. In fact, I’m also not confident that it is a good representation of the Malaysian youths in the Klang Valley. Why do I say this? Well, if I recalled correctly, 70 – 80% of the respondents interviewed happened to be IACT students. (Why is this so? I certainly hope your video producer has a good reason for it.) And from that pool of interviewees, about 95% belong to the very active, vocal, student leader type of profile of our IACT students. I mean, I was happy to see so many faces of my students up on the screen that day, but it would be quite wrong to say that they represent the current Malaysian or Klang Valley youths. I teach at IACT, and I know that IACT students are a different breed of students and nowhere near the general population of Malaysian youths. They are advertising students, Mass Comm students. It’s like doing a survey and interviewing all the ad agency people only in Malaysia and then projecting their views as being representative of Malaysians! Therefore, I would be very cautious, if I were you, to consider releasing that video to ad agencies in order that they can use it to persuade their clients to buy into online advertising. Yes, without a shadow of doubt that Malaysian youths today are all into the Internet rage, but the question is, to what extent? Is it as per what the video wants us to believe? Please make a right and just judgement call as to whether you should and would like to share your video with ad agencies as per the request mentioned.
Having said that, could I have a copy of the video please? I would love to show it to my students. I’m sure that they would love to know how their opinions/statements are being communicated or used in the video. Surely they are not paid to give their opinions and I thought it might make a good ‘reward’ for them to see themselves in action and I’m sure they will be very, very happy and proud that it was shown at an forum organized by the 4As!
I look forward to your favourable reply. I welcome your comments / reply to what I’ve said above and stand to be corrected.
Yours truly,
May Gan
Senior Lecturer & Program Leader (Dip in Adv / MarCom)
Advisor, CREACTIVE – IACT’s Student Advertising Agency
Institute Advertising Communication Training (IACT)
Hello all,
Most important of all, I would like to clarify on the video that was shown during the forum last Wednesday. I represent the cirKLe who produced the video.
The survey was just the first step in bringing up awareness in the power of web, although it may seem as though there are many IACT students involved, but the editing was not done in a way that would put more weight on where they studied or where they hang out. These young people all fell within the youth category and were in the general area of video shooting. As the length of the video is limited, the editing was done to include those who had best audio visual clarity, not taking into account where the location was. So in happenstance, kudos to IACT students, who happen to have very good audio visual bearing.
As I have previously said, this is just the first step and it will definitely not be the last, as we continue on in different areas and hopefully out of state, trying to find out just what is going on in the heads of our future leaders, the youth generation.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Wan Rozana Aziz Kasim
Media Director
the cirKLe
POSTED BY HAM ON BEHALF ON MALAYSIAKINI.COM IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION AT POWER OF WEB 2.0 FORUM…
From 012-3927730: Is MalaysiaKini truly unbiased in your reports?
There is this one report that Ali Rustam called Pak Lah a ‘coward’ at
a PPP event. I was there, and it was a heated session. But I noticed
there was a little exaggeration in your report on this incident….
ANSWER:
I think the questioner exaggerated a bit too. Ali Rustam would be
sacked if indeed he called Pak Lah a coward. It was Kayveas he was
criticising and I don’t think he called him a coward. He said along
the lines of ‘if you’re not happy, leave BN’.
MEDIA AND ELECTION IN MALAYSIA: COVERAGE AND TENDENCY OF PRINTED PRESSES
TOWARD POLITICAL PARTIES AND ISSUES IN THE 2008 GENERAL ELECTION
Read the Report
What Oon Yeoh wrote about the forum:
http://www.zdnetasia.com/blogs/msiaexplorer/0,3800011234,63003458,00.htm
[...] a call from Ham the next morning, who put up my email together with photo and phone number on his blog – naturally attracting criticism from die-hard [...]
Larry,
It is really not a matter of whether your mobile, email or picture appearing on the blog that matters. Being the No.1 SEO expert, it is so easy to google you, your name and your business. For the benefit of readers on this blog…
About Larry:
Larry Lim is a civil engineer by training and holds a Bachelors of Engineering (Civil) from Nanyang Technological University (Singapore). Upon graduation, he served Keppel T&T as product development for ISP services, voice-based solutions and telco products. The demanding role involved taking products from concept to profitability. He travels often and have visited parts of Asia, Oceania, Europe and the United States.
http://www.larrylim.net/about.htm
Best of all, anyone can find you on Facebook; http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=797019096&hiq=larry%2Clim
However, any kind of comments and criticism is bound to attract attention. And you should be held accountable for your actions. Welcome to the true Power of Web 2.0
You created your own problems.
floo
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