KUCHING: The advertising business is one of the oldest professions in the world and the impact of advertisement has catapulted it as a crucial factor for the success of companies making it indispensable.
PROUDEST MOMENT: Armed with over ten years of operation, Friends Worldwide exhibits its superiority when it pitches and secures the coveted Tourism Malaysia business for the Asean market.
“During bad times or good times, there is and will always be a need to engage in the area of advertising and marketing communications for most companies, corporations and government agencies.
“Therefore, there will be a need for agencies to develop related activities and programmes,” said Shahar Noor, the executive chairman of Friends Advertising & Communications Sdn Bhd (Friends Worldwide) in an exclusive interview with The Borneo Post.
Friends Worldwide was established in 1998, a time full of economic challenges. It was set up by its group managing director, Shahrein Zainal Abidin and group exe-cutive director Rashid Ahmad.
Friends Worldwide is a member of the 4As – the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of Malaysia and is fully accredited to all print and electronic media.
The agency is also internationally affiliated with the TAAA – Transworld Advertising Agency Network and it has affiliates in Asean countries based in Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, Brunei, Manila and Ho Chi Minh.
Shahar said that there were many institutions of higher learning in the country that offered exclusive programmes in advertising recognising the industry as a crucial sector of the economy.
“The only thing is that they need to constantly update their students with new developments taking place such as in the area of information technology which is evolving by phenomenal leaps and bounds,” he added.
Shahar pointed out that the emergence of this new era of media advertising would not affect the traditional form of advertising, it would metamorphise and adapt to the emergence of new technology.
“In Malaysia, print media advertising is still the biggest followed closely by electronic media. The digital form of advertising is slowly but surely growing compared with the countries in the west,” he highlighted.
Reminiscing on the company’s first international contract, Shahar stated that it was an uphill task for Friends Worldwide, being a local established agency to secure an international contract.
However, through the company’s link via TAAA and contacts, the company managed to secure a few choice projects based on its creativity and dedicated efforts.
Armed with over ten years of experience, Friends Worldwide exhibited its superiority when it pitched and secured the coveted Tourism Malaysia business for the Asean market.
Commenting on the challenges faced by the company in the recent ‘financial crash’, Shahar said, “We were able to rough out the rocky times by being more prudent, keeping an eye on overhead expenses while offering impeccable service and honing up on our creative skills. It was a tough period but with no other options we ‘trimmed ourselves to stay fit’ in the business.”
Shahar stated that Friends Worldwide, apart from striving hard to maintain a high standard of service for its clients was also looking at developing new businesses, both local as well as international to stay ahead of the competition.
“Going forth, we need to engage better qualified, experienced and dedicated staff in the agency. Today’s business environment calls for finding talent and also retaining talent, thus it is crucial that we constantly look out for newcomers to join our team with fresh ideas,” he added.
Commenting on the prospects for the advertising industry, Shahar revealed that many industry leaders predicted that there would be a 10 per cent to 15 per cent growth in advertising expenditure in the country this year.
“Usually, if there is a major international event taking place like the Asian Games for example, there will be a ‘knee-jerk’ increase in advertising expenditure. As far as the local scene is concerned, the upcoming F1 race will generate greater spending by clients such as Petronas,” he highlighted.
Besides being the executive chairman of Friends Worldwide, Shahar is also the president of the International Advertising Agency Malaysia Chapter.
According to him, the main challenge faced by advertising players was that clients were being thrifty in their spending.
“Many clients request for all kinds of rebates including discounts on creative works as well as media buys. Clients also resort to fragmenting the various aspects for the events by appointing numerous agencies to handle the event,” he explained.
His advice to clients was to appoint a full-fledged and accredited agency to work with them in order to get the best service standards and exposure for their companies.
Shahar further revealed that there were about 100 international and local advertising agencies in Malaysia, in which about 20 were international agencies.
He estimated that the total value of the industry was worth between RM5 billion and RM6 billion. In comparison, the global advertising industry was valued at between US$50 to US$60 billion.
“In comparing our advertising culture with other countries, there is not much of difference, especially in terms of strategies.
“However, we are governed by some regulations like the MIM: Made-in-Malaysia for television commercials and of course, we self-regulate always to be sensitive to the local population backgrounds such as different races and ethnics group, cultures and religions,” Shahar outlined.
He pointed out that in Malaysia, there were few regulatory bodies involved or connected to the administration of the business.
“In order to address these issues and to speed up on all work-related matters, a centralised or one-stop centre should be established by the government. It will be of great help,” he concluded.