McCann Erickson kicks off marketing campaign

McCann Erickson, a division of McCann Worldgroup, kicked off an unusual marketing campaign last week for this year's CEO Power Breakfast, a part of The Singapore Advertising Hall of Fame Awards organised by Institute of Advertising Singapore (IAS).

Running across outdoor, direct mail (DM) and electronic direct mailer (EDM), the culturally-shocking but thought-provoking campaign features a cab shrouded in black (an inauspicious colour among Chinese), zipping around town,  with a direct marketing package which includes a set of fortune sticks (used in Chinese temples).

In line with this year's theme for the forum, ''The Untapped Asian Goldmine - Effective Communication In Asia,'' McCann Erickson drew the inspiration for the campaign from key Asian cultural insights to drive home the point that with the right knowledge and insights, you can maximise your brand's potential in Asia.

Elaborating on the idea behind the campaign, McCann Erickson Singapore's ECD, Farrokh Madon said, ''Despite Asia having one of the oldest cultures in the world, one seldom sees Asian insights at the heart of advertising campaigns in Asia. The CEO Power Breakfast on 14 October focuses on this Untapped Asian Cultural Goldmine and so the promotional materials for this event play on Asian insights.''

Black, traditionally an inauspicious colour according to the Chinese belief, was painted on a cab that was sent to roam Singapore's busiest streets in town and CBD area during peak hours with the line ''Would you take this cab, most Chinese wouldn't''. Curious CBD crowd stopped in their tracks for a closer look at the black cab and read its message, while interestingly; most in the cab queue hesitated to approach the cab. Concurrently, DM packs of fortune sticks typically found in Chinese temples with a message ''Will your next marketing campaign succeed in Asia'' were mailed out to the key target audience of the CEO Power Breakfast forum.

The forum, which is being hosted  on 14 October at Shangri-La Hotel, will feature a case study presentation by Farrokh Madon of the multi award-winning case study of GMP Raffles Place Ghost campaign, which tapped on an Asian insight to win the first-ever Grand Prix in Effie Singapore Awards history.