KFC in agency talks for Cambodia account.

6 March 2008 Media 5 By Kenny Lim SINGAPORE Ogilvy & Mather and Saatchi & Saatchi were the most-awarded networks at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Effie Awards in Singapore, while Australia was the most ‘effective’ country. Australian agencies Grey Melbourne and independent shop Belgiovane Williams Mackey both won golds, for ‘Rabbits’ for Telstra and ‘Wipe off 5, save lives’ for the Transport Accident Commis- sion,respectively. Ogilvy Hong Kong, for its ‘Burning one calorie is unbe- lievably easy’ campaign for Coca-Cola, and Saatchi & Saatchi China for ‘My inspira- tion, my libang’ initiative for Nippon Paint, were the lead- ing lights for Ogilvy and Saatchis.DDB and Grey were the next most-awarded net- works,with two Effies apiece. DDB Singapore aside, Naga DDB won a bronze for ‘Viva loves you’ for Perodua Sales, while Grey Bangladesh added silver to Grey Mel- bourne’s gold, with ‘Lost in translation’ for Nokia. Of the most-awarded coun- tries, India nabbed three bronzes,while Singapore won a gold and a bronze. Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan also ran out winners. The event drew 150 cam- paign entries — not as many as the Effies might have ex- pected — from 18 countries. Around 1,300 delegates at- tended to hear speakers in- cluding Shelly Lazarus, the worldwide chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather; Simon Clift, the global chief marketing officer of Uni- lever;and president and CEO of TBWA Worldwide Jean- Marie Dru. Clift spoke of the importance of taking risks, pointing out that the world’s largest advertiser had changed more in the past three years than it had in the last 30.“Courting controversy is a new discipline for Uni- lever,” he said, referring to Dove’s ‘Campaign for real beauty’, which uses regular women instead of models in its advertising.“Avoiding risk is probably the most danger- ous strategy if you want your marketing to be effective.” Unilever recently restruc- tured to give its global brand directors more power to sanc- tion advertising without inter- ference from above.“There is no great idea that someone senior hasn’t tried to kill,”said Clift.“So we removed the lay- ers of people most likely to say ‘no’.” In a speech on the decline in repetitive advertising, Dru pressed home the importance of constant reinvention by marketers. Only “disruptive, big ideas”will win through,he said, citing his agency’s work for Pedigree, adidas and Sony Playstation.Simplicity is criti- cal, too.“There is a fear that if an idea is simple, it might be empty,” Dru added, insisting that loud proclamations by brands are increasingly ig- nored by consumers. Dominic Proctor, world- wide CEO of MindShare,said that media agencies are hav- ing to change in order to stay relevant. “We are now em- ploying musicians and pro- ducers, not just media plan- ners and buyers,”he said.“We have become content creators overnight, and, in a sense, we are going back to the future — to the days of soap operas.” KFC in agency talks for Cambodia account By Robin Hicks PHNOM PENH KFC is in discussions with agencies as it prepares to open its first restaurant in Cambodia next month…