KOLONY, a social networking project that Celcom soft-launched recently has been ranked No. 7 for Malaysia’s 10 Fastest Rising Searches on Google. Celcom is giving away a free 500 Kolony ‘Koinz’ for all new registrations and the site is open to Celcom subscribers.

With Zenith working on the media and Draftfcb handling digital and creative plus some mystery and intrigue thrown in, almost 1.7 million subscribers have registered for the service!

Working secretly on this project, Celcom stirred the market with a buzz over the service and a teaser campaign warming up to the launch from late March. The phase involved a 10-second television commercial on Astro and terrestrial channels, newspaper advertisements, radio broadcasts, light projections on buildings nationwide, plus digital and blogger flashes all to get readers and visitors talking about it and trying to solve the puzzle.

The strategy was like something out of the old MAD magazines which featured the cartoon characters Spy vs Spy, tiptoeing around. Again, like something out of WagThe Dog, a ‘top secret’ document called the Patient Zero Kit about the outbreak was leaked by unknown parties and hand-delivered to bloggers by ‘secret agents’ and this raised bloggers eyebrows.

A community for people to express themselves and get connected was developed with the perception that Kolony is where it all happens, using the catch-phrase: Be a part of the infection that'll spread your social network. This helped generate talkability and amplified hype.

A series of YouTube viral videos were created by users and 10 bloggers updated their posts and photos frequently, while Facebook users changed their profile pictures to the Kolony logo, in an attempt to target youths between the ages of 18 and 25, all non-data mobile users, via billboards, buntings, bus-wraps and ads in LRT trains.

There’s only one sure way to make real teh tarik, says F&N, and that’s with F&N Sweetened Creamer with its signature “lemak manis” taste. This is the thrust of F&N Dairies (M) Sdn Bhd’s newly-launched campaign for its market leader brand F&N Sweetened Creamer, conceptualised and produced by its creative agency Lowe and Partners Malaysia.



Using Lowe’s High Value Ideas approach, the creative team worked with F&N to uncover what makes the perfect glass of teh tarik.  What they found was that the perfect glass of teh tarik comes from 4 key steps – 2.5g of tea dust added to 100°C boiling water, coupled with 2 tablespoon of F&N Sweetened Creamer.  The tea should then be “pulled” (or in Malaysian lingo “tarik”) 3 times at 60cm apart, to create a 2 cm froth – and voila, the perfect glass of tea, with F&N’s signature “lemak manis” taste!

Describing the campaign, Lowe’s managing director Khairudin Rahim commented, “The campaign is all about going back to the fundamentals of making a good glass of teh tarik – and as our campaign shows, the taste is all about the perfect combination of tea, F&N sweetened creamer, hot water and the ideal pulling technique.” 


“We felt the best way to dramatize this was to use the ubiquitous “mamak teh tarik” – after all, Malaysians consume more than 5 billion cups of sweetened creamer-based drinks each year primarily at stalls and coffee shops.  The mamak teh tarik man is the perfect “voice” for the F&N brand.”

Lowe’s interconnected campaign for F&N’s Sweetened Creamer, dubbed “F&N Teh Tarik Ori” includes 2 versions of a TV commercial (20 sec and 60 sec, plus print, in-store collateral and social media executions.  No details of the campaign adspend are available.

“Meeting for teh tarik is Malaysia’s favourite past-time.  These teh tarik sessions are an important part of our social fabric that brings Malaysians together.  If the outlet isn’t serving teh tarik with that F&N “lemak manis” taste, then you’ve settled for something less than perfect.” 

F&N Sweetened Creamer is market leader in the sweetened creamer market, with a 40% market share, followed by F&N’s TEA POT brand, with 20% share. The sweetened creamer category is estimated to be worth RM1 billion per annum.

F&N Dairies appointed Lowe and Partners Malaysia as its new communications agency for their flagship F&N sweetened creamer in early 2011, following their May 2010 decision to appoint Lowe as the communications agency for its TEA POT beverage creamer. 

KATCHI has appointed GO Communications on an initial 12 months Public Relations retainer contract for Malaysia and South East Asia.

KATCHI, formerly known as Stroeer Malaysia, is an Out-of-Home media specialist.

The award winning scrolling billboards are designed to optimize distance and provide showcase ads at eye level.

KATCHI’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Marceline Lemarie, said, “Our products are designed to catch the public’s eye, thus the name Katchi (pronounced Catch Eye).

GO Communications’ Chief Executive Officer, Michael de Kretser said, “It’s an exciting win, as clients are always looking for new ways to communicate to consumers.”

De Kretser added, “Out-of-Home media globally is growing by 9 percent annually. For example in China it is growing by 12 percent annually and in Malaysia by over 5% annually. KATCHI is a leader in this growing sector with a vision for creative and innovative technology. To be part of the team is a proud moment for GO Communications”, de Kretser added.

Lemarie commented, “With a PR partner, you need a mix of art and chemistry.  “Go Communications has both.”

The New Straits Times Press Group has launched a new brand campaign for Berita Harian developed by BBDO/Proximity, seeing a revamp of Berita Harian with enhanced design, the renaming of lifestyle section Berita Dua to Rona, refreshed editorial content and a new campaign line “BH mewarnai hari anda”.

The campaign is expected to augment Berita Harian’s image and increase readership amongst all Malaysians who are conversant in Bahasa Malaysia. The new look will project Berita Harian’s renewed image as the Malaysian newspaper that enriches knowledge and stimulating mind, is friendly, inclusive and open-minded, reliable and firm in opinion.

In 2010, the Nielsen Media Index reported a readership of 1.2 million for Berita Harian. The newspaper appeals to households between the ages of 25 and 34 years with and average monthly income of above RM5,000.



“Berita Harian has always delivered breaking news and rigorous reporting to its readers. With this campaign we are looking to engage a wider audience of Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Malaysians who not only value insightful journalism and firm, open-minded opinions, but also constantly looking for information to enrich their knowledge via an inclusive news source,” said the New Straits Times Press Group’s Marketing Director, Zuraida Mohamad.

BBDO/Proximity Malaysia’s Executive Creative Director Richmond Walker added, “We’re very excited to be working with NSTP again on their other Malay title. With much greater purchasing power, the Malaysian consumer has become far more discerning.”



The Berita Harian campaign comes hot on the heels of Harian Metro’s “Biar Betul” campaign launched in March that was crafted by BBDO/Proximity. “Biar Betul” reiterated Harian Metro’s No. 1 position as the most widely circulated and read Malay language daily in Malaysia with a formidable presence in print, television, outdoor, digital and social media. Apart from the print, outdoor and broadcast ads, the campaign generated a total media value of RM3.8 million.

Peter Anthony Das, nicknamed Mr Perodua for helping make Malaysia’s second national car brand a market leader has started work at Berjaya Corporation as Senior GM, Group Marketing.

During Peter's 15 years at Perodua, he started as an A&P executive and got promoted to sales assistant manager in 1998; in 2001 he moved to head advertising and promotion and took over marketing services. In 2004 he was promoted to senior marketing manager and took the helm of corporate affairs in late 2005. Peter was also President of the Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA) and Chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

He later spent two years as General Manager for Marketing and Branding at Proton’s Corporate Office before joining integrated ad agency People'n Rich as Consultant, Director for a few months.

In his new role, industry veteran Peter will report to Berjaya Corporation's Executive Director Chan Kien Seng, who also serves as the MD of theSun free daily.

Jasmine Lee, who is currently Head of Commercial at AirAsia Berhad, is slated to join Alliance Bank Berhad as Head of Group Marketing come July.

She will be reporting directly to Group CEO Sng Seow Wah and Timothy Mark Daniels who is Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications.

Prior to that, Jasmine was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of MNC Wireless Berhad a leading Mobile and Digital Media services provider in Malaysia.

Jasmine was awarded one of the winners for the Most Promising Entrepreneurship Award at the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards in 2009.  

She was also Senior Manager for Corporate Branding at DiGi Telecommunications early in her career.  

Jarek Ziebinski, President, Leo Burnett & Arc Asia Pacific has appointed Shilpa Swaroop as regional account director for Samsung, across Asia Pacific.



Based in Singapore, Swaroop has been tasked with guiding the strategic development and direction of the Samsung account, coordinating and overseeing local Leo Burnett assignments in Asia Pacific.

Commenting on her appointment, Ziebinski said,” Samsung is definitely one of the most progressive companies in the world and I am very happy to see our relationship rapidly developing across Asia Pacific. Two years ago we were working with Samsung in only one market in this part of the world; today we are collaborating across seven markets. The growth of the business and our client's needs justify further investment and require regional support structure. Shilpa and the regional Samsung team will be based in Singapore, in proximity to Samsung's Asia Pacific regional headquarters. I believe we are opening a new and interesting chapter in this relationship.”

Swaroop brings with her, over 17 years of experience in integrated marketing communications gained across markets including Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, India and the U.K. Having worked across multiple categories and media on blue chip brands including Citibank, Colgate Palmolive, P&G, HSBC, Audi, BAT and Microsoft, she also has deep experience in launching leading global brands in Asia as well as developing and running their marketing strategies.

Swaroop joins Leo Burnett from Independent Consultancy in London where she was Strategic Planning Consultant. Prior to that, she was also Managing Director of Wunderman in India as well as Chief Operating Officer of Grey Group in Thailand.