"Independence Day" marketing campaign by SUNDAY Communications Limited won the Gold Prize of the HKMA/TVB Award for Marketing Excellence 2000. It is highly commended as a creative, innovative and unconventional campaign which had successfully captured the opportunity created by portability of mobile phone number to gain market shares from competitors.

Dr The Hon David K P Li, JP, Chairman of The Hong Kong Management Association, presented the trophies at the Award Presentation Luncheon on Wednesday, 4 October. The Award has been sponsored by Television Broadcasts Limited since 1989.

In addition to SUNDAY Communications Limited, other winners include:

Silver Prize
"Ocean Shores - Live the Good Life, Live at the Best"
Swire Properties Real Estate Agency Ltd

Bronze Prize
"The Creative Positioning of 5-7 Seater Mazda Premacy Capsule V"
Mazda Motors (Hong Kong) Ltd

Certificate of Merit
"U-point Credit Card"
BOC Credit Card (International) Ltd

"You Name the Price"
Hong Kong`s Tender Ltd
"Guangzhou-Kowloon Through Train Service Improvement Turned Business Around"
Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation

Citation for Innovation
"You Name the Price"
Hong Kong`s Tender Ltd

"V-Teen Cyber Hunt"
Marketing Consultancy Office (Social Service)

Citation for Outstanding TV Campaign
"Tempo Superior Wet Strength"
D`Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (Hong Kong)

"Independence Day"
SUNDAY Communications Ltd

"The Rejuvenation of Cityplaza"
Swire Properties Ltd

This unique Award on marketing, organized by the Association since 1985, is looking for a well-integrated marketing programme which comprises meticulous market research, well-organized promotional work, good public relations, accurate results forecasting and efficient administration.

The Award Presentation Ceremony this year featured the keynote address of "Building Customer Loyalty in the Changing Marketplace" by Mr Vincent Cheng, OBE JP, Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive of Hang Seng Bank.

This year, a total of 53 marketing campaigns entered the competition. Commenting on the winners this year, the Board of Examiners (which comprises members of the Marketing Management Committee and Marketing Awards Organizing Committee of the Association) and the Panel of Judges noted that despite the threats posed by economic downturns, all the campaigns not only responded effectively and efficiently with focused objectives but also backed them up with well thoughtout strategies, based on vigorous market analysis and research. In most cases, they had successfully turned threats into opportunities to capture market share, to gain market awareness and even to turn business around with right pricing, right position and right product. They had also demonstrated how sophisticated marketing could create values.

The launch of "Independence Day" was commended as an outstanding communication and image-building campaign which knew exactly what it set out to achieve, focussed on getting its message across, charted out its strategies and tactics on a planned course, and ensured its entertaining value not being sacrificed in the process. The overall strategies were well-aligned, well-coordinated and integrative with the central theme of the campaign.

"Ocean Shores - Live the Good Life, Live at the Best" was commended as an extremely smart campaign which successfully redefined the playing field by positioning its residential development as an East Kowloon project and benchmarked it with Taikooshing, the most popular estate in the territory. The use of "baby" campaign not only captured recalls and awareness but also effectively brought out the message of providing the best to the next generation which was especially appealing to the young family users.

"The Creative Positioning of 5-7 Seater Mazda Premacy Capsule V" was commended as an excellent example of need creation in a depressed market environment. Mazda had successfully captured the "value for money" mindset prevalent among consumers at the time and established a new image for the 7-seater which was appealing to a niche traditional family car market.

The Judges were impressed with the bold measures adopted by "U-point Credit Card" in creating an unique image for the card, such as the breakthrough product design, the use of celebrity and innovative promotion channels, which were all effective in bringing about a substantial increase in the number of young customers.

"You Name the Price" was commended as a brilliant programme which had successfully open up a new segment within the traditional retail structure - promoting on-line/telephone shopping as a convenient and effective channel for popular brand durable goods and appliances supplied by authorized local dealers.

"Guangzhou-Kowloon Through Train (GKTT) - Service Improvement Turned Business Around" marketing campaign was recognized for its successful effort in revamping the unfavourable perception of commuters on the service standards of the GKTT with the introduction of the electrified train, modern carriages supported by more attentive in-cabin services and more convenient terminal facilities.

The Panel of Judges this year are: Professor Andrew Chan, Associate Dean (Graduate Studies), Faculty of Business Administration, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Mr Michael Chan, Chairman, Cafe de Coral Holdings Ltd; Mr Conrad Chiu, Executive Committee Member, The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Hong Kong; Mr Adolf Ho, Managing Director - Greater China, Campbell Soup Asia Ltd; Mr Roger Luk, Managing Director and Deputy Chief Executive, Hang Seng Bank Ltd and Mr Peter Yeung, Managing Director, Compaq Computer Ltd.

The Board of Examiners this year comprises members of the Marketing Awards Organizing Committee 2000 and the Marketing Management Committee 1999/2000 of the Association.

Members of the Marketing Awards Organizing Committee 2000 are: Mr Robert Young (Chairman), Consultant, Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Co Ltd; Mr S K Cheong, Assistant General Manager, Television Broadcasts Ltd; Mr Tony Cheung, Director - Marketing, New T & T; Mr Antony Chow, Vice President - Grand China, Euro RSCG Partnership; Mr Eric Tai, Head of Strategic Alliances e-Business - Asia Pacific , The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd; and Mr Timothy Wu, Managing Director - Consumer, Greater China, JDH (Hong Kong) Ltd.

Members of the Marketing Management Committee 1999/2000 of the Association are: Mr Irving Koo (Chairman), General Manager - Marketing and Customer Services, CLP Power Hong Kong Ltd; Ms Viveca Chan, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Grey Worldwide: China & Hong Kong; Mr David Tai, Branch Manager, The Prudential Assurance Co Ltd; Mr Louis Tong, CEO, Paramount (China) Ltd; and Mr Robert Young, Consultant, Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Co Ltd.

For more information, please visit the website of the Association at: www.hkma.org.hk.

Issued by The Hong Kong Management Association on 4 October 2000
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