theSun | MONDAY MARCH 30 2009
media & marketing
HSBC launches academy for clients
HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd (HSBC) has launched
Trade Academy to facilitate a consistent and
professional approach in the delivery and shar-
ing of trade-related educational information for
business management personnel.
The bank targets corporate clients who re-
quest their assistance, whether they are from
small medium enterprises, middle market or
multinational corporations.
The Trade Academy approach formalises the
bank’s support to meet customer needs and
requirements, including offering quality advice
and market updates in this time of uncertainty.
Back to basics
to fight recession
by Hemananthani Sivanandam
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
FOR its biennial media workshop this year,
the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) is
bringing participants to China, a country that
has transformed itself into a success story
despite the odds.
The bureau chose China as the setting for
the media workshop to allow participants to
learn the methods that have been successfully
adopted by the country to engage the economic
sea change in the past two decades.
The workshop entitled Re-Session: Back to
Basics will be held in Shenzhen, an industrial
city, between April 29 and May 2.
It will have programmes and talks that are
tailored to help participants understand and
overcome the current economy downturn.
ABC hopes the workshop will educate
participants on the survival skills to surmount
the tests during the economic downturn and
prepare them to create campaigns that would
boost consumer confidence in their services
and products.
Speakers from the media, marketing and
advertising industries in Malaysia will explain
topics such as the changing media landscape,
the evolution of print media, consumer buying
trends and behaviour, measuring returns on
marketing investments and the most suitable
business models for 2009 and beyond.
Some of the speakers include Andreas
Vogiatzakis (Onmicom Media Group man-
aging director); Andreas Douglas (Nielsen
Upward mobility at NAGA DDB
NAGA DDB recently promoted its creative director,
Alvin Teoh, to executive creative director while his ence on Naga DDB’s portfolio of prestigious
colleague, Tai Kam Leong, has been promoted to
brand planning director, from associate strategic
planning director.
“The two promotions say a lot about Naga
DDB. On the one hand, it’s a place where people
of great talent have the ability to work their way
to the top echelons of the organisation as Alvin
has done; and on the other we constantly seek
to inject spectacular talents like Tai,” said the
company’s chief operating officer David Mitchell.
With a career spanning over 16
years, Teoh joined Naga
DDB as a junior art
director after receiving
a Bachelor of Fine Arts
in advertising from the
University of San Fran-
cisco.
Teoh takes Tai is brand
the executive planning director.
creative
director’s slot.
17
Some of the topics that the academy will
cover include trade financing, risk mitigation and
cost-effective transaction processing.
The initiatives will include running regular
seminars or workshops in key central locations
to cater to the bank’s customers nationwide.
The bank’s chief executive officer Irene
M. Dorner said: “HSBC offers our Malaysian
customers a comprehensive suite of trade
and supply chain products and services, both
conventional and Islamic, and our nationwide
branch network ensures we establish closer
relationship with our customers.”
Media Research executive director); Nelson
Wo (NBD, World Panelregional director);
Rahul Thappa (Mindshare Malaysia manag-
ing director,) and Guy Robertson (Concilium
Group managing director).
Malaysia External Trade Development
Corporation (MATRADE) chief executive of-
ficer Datuk Noharuddin Nordin will deliver
the keynote address.
The media workshop will also engage local
leaders in China for a perspective on the topics
for participants to gain insight into the work-
ings of the media, marketing and advertising
industries of the host nation.
Apart from talks, participants are also
required to be actively involved in the work-
shop.
They will be divided into various groups
and will be given tasks to come up with the
solutions to marketing proposals.
The winning group will get cash prizes.
This workshop remains an invaluable
touch-point for business opportunities and
networking and it is also expected to attract
foremost figures in Malaysia’s media, market-
ing and advertising.
For the first time, the ABC Media Work-
shop welcomes participation from final-year
students of local colleges.
This is in recognition of the function that
will be assumed by would-be practitioners in
the near future.
For more information, call 03-7660 8535 or
email Harcharan@macomm.com.my.
His imaginative flair has had a positive influ-
industry awards.
Among some of the accolades are the London
International Awards, The One Show Advertising
Awards, Asia Media Awards, Effie Awards and
Kancil Awards.
In his new role, he will be leading the creative
team and overseeing strategies and development
for key accounts like DiGi and Nippon Paint.
Tai, a mass communications graduate major-
ing in advertising, joined the company in 2007.
His aptitude for producing effective marketing
tactics coupled with his diverse experience from
working on leading brands has accelerated his
rise in the agency.
Involved strategically in brand and market-
ing communications for companies such as
Malaysia Airlines, Petronas and Marlboro,
Tai has played a key role in position-
ing these corporations as leaders
in their respective fields.
His tenure also coincided
with first-time ever wins, not
only for the agency but for the
advertising industry in Malaysia
as Naga DDB won the AME Gold
Award, and The Effie awards. Tai
will manage the strategies and
planning functions for accounts like
DiGi, Bank Islam, BMW, Perodua,
Astro and Panasonic.