Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Missing From The Blog World

Yes Yes!! I know that I've been missing from the blog world. Work has been crazy really! There was so much stuff that needed to be done - working for people has and will never be easy. So what have I been really up to???!!!
Well, there is this new campaign that I was working on with the regional team (I didn't plan it but am just executing it here so don't think I'm a genius in the making or something ok!) and it required alignment and perfect communication within all teams. I work with many agencies on a local level to make advertising and promotions work well. Yes it tough dealing with multiple agencies but being a person with agency background, sometimes the best work comes out when specialized members are engaged. Working with a one-stop-shop agency makes life easier but the work isn't necessarily good.
Anyways, getting the plans together, making sure the details are reviewed and just making it work - trust me, if not for the agency teams that I work with, the campaign wouldn't be just as good. Of course nothing was smooth sailing - there was yelling, screaming, even to a point - some crying - we're all human's!! so don't laugh. But despite all that, when it came to getting it done, it was done. It's funny coz many have told me "Don't worry bro! Things will work out somehow!" - its the word "somehow" that worries me.

We did launch it at a beautiful venue called Red Square in Capital Square KL. This outlet is really really cool. Every table is meant for us to dance on......including MEN! Finally, a place where ever we can get the platform :). The launch was purely for media and they were the first to preview what the brand campaign is all about. There was free-flow of Johnnie Walker and finger food for everyone and despite the heavy rain and traffic, the turnout was excellent. It was really good to hang out with my media friends and just chill and chat.
The campaign is really cool. It's all about friendship and the pact among men! There is nothing gay about it - it showcases how real friends help each other out through the good and the bad. It's a 5 part TVC with trailers of the next TVC featured every month. Since Malaysia is a dark market and we cant have competitive advertising, we can't show the TV ad's on TV coz the government feels that its not good for the morale of our community - kinda stupid if you think about it but that's another issue all together.
Anyways, the launch was great despite having major issues during the setup, nothing was going right, nobody was doing their part right, etc. But at the end, the production went on smoothly and everything fell into place and it was a successful event.
The fact that my M.D. said the event was good - satisfy me coz he's a hard man to please which is a good thing in so many ways coz it pushed you to strecth the limit of work and this is my MD - very nice and neutral dude. This was during our press conference with the media where we were getting hit hard on questions about the brand and campaign. We managed it quite well - teamwork paid off.

After the event, I was catching up with all my media friends - some new and some old. Then there was my agencies that did a wonderful job and pulled this event off successfully. These 2 lovely ladies here are my PR agency - Charlene is on the left and Michelle is on the right. Remember the crying I said earlier - but they are really hardworking and very nice girls. Practice makes perfect ya.
And this is one of the waitress at the bar - who made sure that my glass was always full with 80% scotch whisky and 10% ice and 10% water - apparently water and ice are expensive. She is so good that even before I take my last sip of the glass, there is a new glass already waiting for an exchange.
And of course the talented Paddy and Kumar - Paddy usually doens't go behind the bar but there were so many HOT women there that he just had to make an impression - and an impression he definitely made! He mixed up some funku cocktails for the ladies that made him a hero.

As usual, I had to do my thing and walk around and mingle with the lovely media and get their honest-honest feedback and thoughts about the event and the campaign and it was rally good to hear some positive thoughts and also some constructive critism which only helps us better our next execution and effort.
And of course the other attractive of the event were my Johnnie Walker Brand Promoters. These girls really knew how to show off their sexual appeal to the crowd and there were many people hitting on them.

This was the grand finish of the event. 6 individuals who will live the Johnnie Walker life of KEEP WALKING!