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Tencent makes ad debut with $9 million brand push by Grey Beijingby Anita Davis 17-Dec-09, 09:50ASIA-PACIFIC - Chinese internet giant Tencent is launching the first corporate brand-building campaign in its 10-year history tomorrow. According to executive vice-president SY Lau, the company wants to build Tencent as a recognised brand. He said that up to now, users have identified more with its entities, such as its games or messaging service QQ. The campaign will launch throughout the mainland, in time for Tencent’s 10th anniversary. “Four years ago, we started engaging with audiences through QQ.com. But other than that, we don’t really have a holistic strategy. Nine out of 10 people know QQ in China but not Tencent or what we stand for,” Lau said. “We’re not just a portal or an instant messenger or gaming provider — we stand for something bigger, and it’s something beneficial to users and brings people together.” The campaign - developed by Grey Beijing - is based around a 60-second TVC running on major mainland TV channels for two months. There will also be 30-second TV ads, outdoor elements and an online component on the homepages of Tencent’s sites. Lau estimated that the campaign would cost around US$8.7 million. Last year Tencent appointed TBWA as its creative agency-of-record. Lau insisted the company was still working with TBWA despite the decision to use Grey for the branding campaign. Investing in a campaign that promotes internet usage as a whole is a strategy to attract netizens as they enter the digital space for the first time. China has more than 360 million internet users, approximately 27 per cent of its national population. As of the third quarter QQ had 1.06 billion accounts, 484.9 million of which were active. Tencent has built a business that is not reliant on advertising. It recently posted a 93 per cent rise in profit for the third quarter on the back of strong gaming sales. For Tencent, having a grand scale of users makes its business more profitable: the company has built its business model on users’ micropayments for digital goods in its games and portals and does not rely on advertising. But banking on it success to expand outside of China is not how Tencent is looking to position itself, Lau said, explaining that its large-scale campaign was exclusively created for Chinese audiences, and skirts suggestions that Tencent is looking to go global. “The campaign is has been launched to highlight that we have a successful, long-lasting product, but for a product to turn into a brand, it’s necessary to show that what the brand stands for,” he said. “We’re not just a portal or an instant messenger or gaming provider - we stand for something bigger, and it’s something beneficial to users and brings people together.” Tencent’s third-quarter financial report, Tencent’s claimed 66.4 per cent year-on-year boost in net revenues of $493.3 million, which was an additional 17 per cent from its previous quarter. Credits: Project Life On Line Client Tencent Creative agency Grey Beijing Executive creative director Cheeguan Yue Creative director Adrian Zhu Art director Johnnie Tey Copywriter Adrian Zhu Agency producer Tanya Tang Media agency ZenithOptimedia, Beijing Production company Off-lo-hi Exposure Television, print Get full access to an all-inclusive ranking of Asia's award-winning creative talents. Subscribe to CREATIVE RANKINGS 2009.
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