• ISCRIVITI ALLA NEWSLETTER

Bill interviews Jimmy Lam, Chairman Asia S.I.Partners and President of Asia Pacific ADFEST.

BILL: Let’s spend a word about yourself. Today you work as a consultant in Shangai, but your career in advertising is pretty long. Could you tell us how you started and how was the atmoshpere then?

Jimmy Lam: I started as a copywriter at a hotest local advertising agency in Hong Kong, right after graduated as a Communication major from the Hong Kong Baptist University. Most of the established ad agencies in Hong Kong then were run by expats from Australia, U.K. and the U.S.A. Local advertising practisioners were rising up through the ranks.

B: In 1994 you have been the first adman from Hong Kong to be invited as a judge at the Cannes festival. Could you tell us something about this experience?

JL: I was both excited and worried that I was not sure what would be facing me. But the judging experience was good as you can definitely see the indifferences from juries of difficult continents. And I was inspired by so many great ideas, givig me perspective of creativity from a much higher altitude.

B: During your career you had witnessed great changes in the asian area. How did the advertising language change?

JL: Asia is a very diversified region, vey much influenced by westen value, pop culture and the English language which is used mostly as business language. To certain extend, Japanese pop culture also plays an important part in influencing advertisng and the advertising language, before most Asian countries as well as its advertisng practisioners develop confidence in its own cultural value and professionalism.

B: Very often in your carrer you have been in charge of pan-asian area. How did you manage to coordinate such a big area and what were its specific features?

JL: Working for multi-national brands to develop pan-Asian markets often means regional client will go for the lowest denominator in creativity, to ensure each market accepts a pan-Asian creative idea, communicating a consistent message in different local languages. To co-ordinate a regional campaign idea, I first worked closely with the regional account management leader responsible for that particular account. It is critical to ensure not only the regional clients but clients in each individual market are consistent in their objectives, whole heartedly supporting the strategy and communciation message, land ast but not least, their expecations from the campaign. Then, I will ensure creative and account team of the office of each market, fully support this regional campaign and work un-reservely as a team. I will eventually appoint one office to execute the campaign but make a very clear statement that all involving offices own that campaign idea, disregarding who has came up with the initial idea and who is executing it.

B: We read that in 1968 a Chinese delegation visited Cannes Festival and they were so impressed by the creative quality, that once they went back to China, everybody worked in order to fill that gap. What do you know about this event? Can you tell us what happened?

JL: There were both positive and negative feeling when the Chinese delegates returned home. While some delegates were very much inspired and wow to improve creative quality of their work, some delegates however felt Cannes’ high creative standard was unreachable to them.  And that Chinese campaign would be impossible to be understood by the international juries. There were subsequent seminars ran each year in different cities for top creative leaders within and outside of China to explain and comment the creative ideas of Cannes’s top winning campaigns. This served as valuable learning and idea exchange platform for Chinese creative people and to an extent, for the clients.

B: This year Mayan will be the first Chinese President in the history of Cannes festival. What’s the meaing of this event for all Chinese agencies?

JL: Obviously it is an historical landmark for the advertising industry in Greater China, i.e. including Hong Kong and Taiwan, because Ma Yan is originally from Hong Kong and his creative leadership also covers Taiwan. Ma Yan will definitely helped to inspired and encourage ad agency creatives in China to push harder their creative quality. The next historical moment will be a Chinese home grown creative being invited to be Cannes jury president, bearing in mind that Ma Yan started his career in Hong Kong and to some ad industry people in China he is still considered as an expatriate creative.

B: It seems to us that advertising is contributing in changing China. Can you describe these changes?

JL: Advertising along with the availability of consumer products with great variety and abundent of choices, entertainments and pop culture, and easy access to internet, all play a part in changing consumers experience in China. As living standard and consumerism growth, so are the demands for better products and smarter marketing communication.

B: Soon China will be the first economic power, even stronger than US. But the leadership in the creation of global entertainement is still held by US and Western countries. Do you think China could become the leader even in this sector?

JL: I always believe in quantity yields quality. In times, marketing communication creativity in China will stand shoulder to shoulder with well developed markets. Global entertainment, however, hinges on the influence of U.S. pop culture. When Chinese culture has a place in global pop culture, Chinese entertainment will has its place.

B: Among all Asian countries, where adversiting quality is higher?

JL: On digital and innovative media, the undespute leader is Japan. On print, Singapore still leads but has been catch up by Malaysia, India and Thailand. On TV, both Thailand and Japan are still producing some favourite TVCs in the region.

B: Westerns media were astonished when Obama nominated an Asian person as the chief of the World Bank (Jim Yong Kim). Our impression is that our media have an old approach to these topics, what’s your point of view?

JL: Like it or not, most international media are still western-centric in terms of value and perspective.

B: This magazine is dedicated to Bill Bernbach. Who are the admen who inspired you?

JL: Bill Bernach was the one who inspired me when I was a rookie creative. The second ad agency on my career path was DDB. I was 24.

B: Which of your campaingns you like the most?

JL: My own all time favourite campaign was not much of a campaign but something created at the right time with the right insight. It was a TV commercial created in 1986 for Remy Martin VSOP congnac, for the Hong Kong market. The time was when the British government under Marget Thatcher just signed up agreement with China under the leadership of Tang Xiao Ping, to return the soverienty of Hong Kong to China in 1997 when the 100 years old treaty resulted from the Opinum War expired. People in Hong Kong then was feeling uncertain to the future of Hong Kong when it became part of China. The more financially well off people and people of professions in demand at western countries started their emmigration plan. The TVC compared the metropolis of Hong Kong to that of other international cities, under a theme song… “Hong Kong’s got it all, I am not going, I’ve got it all here, my friends and my favourite Remy Martin”.

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