Celebration and Cheers on Together with Powerful and Costs Effective Billboard Displays

Somehow, this is a quarter of great celebrations and cheers in Singapore and around the world!

For me the biggest events are the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the presidential elections in Indonesia. Yes, other events more worthy happening now include the upcoming National Day Celebrations in August, the annual Eid holidays, Mid Autumn Festival and the 2014 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix happening on 19-21 Sept 2014 - woo... A new title sponsor!

TPM Outdoor is geared up to celebrate with our clients by introducing 2 special offers. One is the Checkpoint Media offer that includes 3 of our top sites. TPM is also re-launching one of our largest billboard - A spectacular billboard is situated at People’s Park Complex (Chinatown). Just in time to create a strong branding and high impact billboard before the 8th September! 8th September is Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most important festival in the Chinese Culture, celebrated in every Chinese place all over the world. Chinatown and its annual street lighting festival will be the heart of the festivities in Singapore.

What a busy and activity filled quarter! Have your brand be part of all these through powerful and costs effective billboard displays.

Myanmar - Rising, Exciting and Ever Changing and Changing....

As the economy grows, the overall media scene in Myanmar is growing by leaps and bounds.

Dailies and Journals at a Typical Newspapers Kiosk along the Myanmar Streets

From my last heard, there are at least 25 newspapers in Myanmar and depending on if they are government newspapers, private or even club newspapers, different content and advertising can be published within. It would be worth the efforts to meander through all these different factors if both readership and circulation are high. Out-of-Home advertising is still key to reach out in high density Asian countries especially with high fragmentation and no clear leaders in other media.

A recent New York Times article spelt out the reality of newspapers in our digital era even in one of the newest emergent countries in the world:
 From the New York Times

Publishers suffering from lack of advertising and competition from Internet

27 NOVEMBER 2013
YANGON — Myanmar’s journalists celebrated this year when the government lifted a five-decade ban on private newspapers.
But six months after a dozen dailies rushed into production, journalists who had withstood the wrath and cruelty of a military dictatorship are struggling against something much more mundane: Market forces.

Despite expectations of pent-up demand, publishers say they are suffering from a lack of advertising and competition from the Internet.

“Every publisher is bleeding,” said Mr U Sonny Swe, Chief Executive of the Mizzima Media Group, which publishes a daily. “You have to be ready to fight. And ready to lose.”

Three of the 12 dailies introduced this year have already shut down, and none of the remaining nine are reporting profits, publishers say.

Some of the challenges facing Myanmar’s new dailies are the same as those that have confronted the news business globally for years, like declining readership for print publications.

But Myanmar’s new dailies are also operating in an impoverished country where the legacy of military rule is pervasive. The private dailies are competing with state-run newspapers that were the mouthpieces of the junta and remain in business.

Distribution in big cities is still unreliable for private papers, especially during the rainy season, and it is nearly nonexistent in the countryside. And a typical cover price of 20 cents (S$0.25) a copy for the private papers is too high for many readers, publishers say. State-run publications sell for a fraction of that.

Ms Daw Nyein Nyein Naing, Executive Editor at The 7 Day Daily, one of the new newspapers, said finding good reporters has also been difficult. Her reporters are addicted to Facebook, she said, and often post scoops on their Facebook pages, rather than filing stories to their editors.

She also lamented that many readers appeared to prefer dailies and weeklies that she said ran sensational articles of dubious veracity. “People are not buying quality,” she said.

Smaller newspapers, meanwhile, do not have the kind of financial support that large private daily newspapers enjoy, where they are effectively subsidised by a weekly journal.

Mr U Thiha Saw, a long-time journalist who clashed with censors many times during military rule, runs the country’s only private English-language daily, Myanma Freedom Daily.

“We scrimped and saved and sold our apartment,” he said. “Relatives and friends chipped in.” He is considering courting outside investors but is worried that their money might come with “strings attached”.

Journalists say they face unfair competition from the state-run newspapers, especially because the state publications sell for a fraction of the price and have plentiful advertising — a legacy of military rule when they were the only dailies in the country.

Mr U Kyaw Zwa Moe, Editor of the English edition of the Irrawaddy, a widely-read Internet news site that also publishes a monthly magazine, said the state-run papers are an impediment to the development of a free press in the country.

“In a democratic society, you don’t expect the Ministry of Information to publish newspapers,” he said. “It’s a barrier for the freedom of the press, and for private and independent media groups.”

In the long term, both private and state-run newspapers are likely to find it harder than ever, editors say.

With Internet connections improving and big foreign telecommunications companies poised to install mobile phone networks that could bring tens of millions of people online for the first time, Myanmar is likely to follow the global trend of people looking online for their news.

“Newspapers are so new for this country — that is why everyone is publishing,” said Mr Sonny Swe. “But you don’t want to be in newspapers for 10 years. Our future is in mobile.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES

On an even more exciting note - the 27th South East Asia Games (SEA Games) are upcoming and the countdown to the opening ceremony is going on. It is less than 11 days to the opening ceremony on 11 Dec 2013. The games will be taking place in both Yangon and the capital city - Nyapyitaw.

SEA Games Souvenir Naypyitaw Junction Mall

One of the most watched events would be the FOOTBALL and host country Myanmar has its eyes set on a gold. In fact, as published in the TODAY ONLINE, "Myanmar’s Sports Minister Tint Hsan has also set a target of 100 gold medals for the nation’s more than 1,000 athletes competing across the Games’ 33 sports."

Temporary SEA Games Billboard Traders Hotel 

I am sure Myanmar will do their own country proud as with all other projects that have been going on now. I am looking forward to that!

Myanmar, rising among Southeast Asia

By Chris Ong

Among the various Southeast Asia countries, Myanmar is rising and making an impact in the region. With the other regional countries having the head start, the gap between them and Myanmar would be even more obvious. But things are about to change. Since the welcome of its political freedom, we can see the global influence to the country’s culture and economic status.

With the opening market, we can see International banks penetrating. From Bloomberg BusinessWeek report,  we can see Key players like Visa and MasterCard are aggressively finding collaborating partners and setting up ATMs in Myanmar to made a presence in Myanmar. We are proud to be part of the effort for the MasterCard campaign in Yangon International Airport. Strategically located at key locations in the Airport, MasterCard welcomes the visitors and also “reminds” them their presence in the country with simple and impactful message and placements. 

Yangon International Airport Arrival MasterCard Greetings

Yangon International Airport Arrival
 MasterCard Series of Lightboxes

Domestic brands are under huge pressure from the rapid influx of foreign companies, Not only does major western companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi are rushing in for opportunities, we can see Asian brands trying to make an impact too. "It is very tough for us, now that these big multinationals are here," said Sai Sam Htun, chairman of the Loi Hein Group of Cos., one of Myanmar's largest conglomerates, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Billboard Scene at Yangon CBD located at
Bo Gyoke and Sule Pagoda Road

Jetstar billboard with us at the corner of Bo Gyoke 

and Sule Pagoda road, facing Trader Hotel

China brand like Midea and ChangHong have their brands advertised along the streets and roads of Yangon. Not only will they be competing with the domestic brands for home appliances market, big players like LG, Panasonic and Samsung have their own outdoor advertising billboards all across the country in strategic locations.

Chang Hong Electronic billboard at Yangon Airport Road

Midea strategic billboard placement just outside of the
Airport along the Airport Road

Following the report from The Economist, telecommunication and IT infrastructures are growing at a healthy speed, no wonder HTC and Smasung are spending big money with billboard placements located at key locations to target their consumers. Along the busy streets in Yangon, we can see that these giant mobile phone makers are always trying to make their product the most prominent and head on by the vehicles and the human traffic.

HTC Wall Facade along the busy streets of Yangon CBD Area

Samsung showing off their flagship Galaxy Note II phone
along the major road leading to Traders Hotel

As the culture opens up more, the Burmese are more tech and IT savvy, we can see advertisement for IT product can be seen all around Myanmar. For Kyocera, they see this as a chance to penetrate into this growing market. Their regional campaign with us targets the regional market like Bangladesh, Nepal and also Yangon. Their Yangon campaign was done with a placement at the Airport arrival; they will be able to capture the attention of all the arrival passengers.

Kyocera Light box prominently located at

 Yangon International Airport Arrival

konica Minolta situated before the turn into

Yangon Railway Station

Myanmar’s auto market is now blossoming too. Most of the market is dominated by Japanese automakers like Nissan Motor and Nissan, but western companies like Ford motor and General Motors have all established or plan to establish presence in the newly open country. Hitching a ride from the Korean wave, Hyundai will also be setting up their shop in Myanmar. Younger people of Myanmar are influenced by Korean culture; they are walking into showrooms looking for cars that were shown in Korean drama.

Naypyidaw, which have just recently opened their International Airport, have seen a growth in the market. This capital of Myanmar have held the World Economic Forum 2013 during this year’s June, ever since, Naypyidaw have been in the radar of various investors. To target the investors who are there for the forum, MasterCard have worked through us to locate a premium site which helps to create an impression to them and also the tourist and locals of Naypyidaw.

Located at a prominent location before

 reaching Junction Center of Naypyidaw.

The second largest city which is situated north of Yangon is the capital of Mandalay region. Mandalay is the economic hub of Upper Burma and is considered the center of Burmese culture. With the high influx of Chinese immigrants, it has shaped the city’s ethic makeup and increased commerce with China.

Mandalay is the major trading and communications center for northern and central Burma. Much of Burmese external trade to China and India goes through Mandalay.

Mandalay City Center 

With so many different kinds of industries heading into Myanmar, we are sure that the outdoor scene there will get even more vibrant than what we see now. Investors will definitely keep this country within their radar for more investment.  

Poster, Posters Everywhere

By Chris Ong

Other than trailers, the second thing that will force me to shell out the money from my wallet to watch a movie in the theaters would be the movie poster. Movie posters are usually clean and simple, usually showing the genre of the movie using simple pictures.

As the number of blockbuster yearly increase, it would be harder for these movie makers to stand out among the stars. In recent years, we can see movie makers spending more and more budget in outdoor advertising for their new movies.

Outdoor advertising works wonder for movies; they usually create word of mouth both physically and also digitally. This would greatly improve the campaign awareness and also create a greater impact and feel to the movie.

One of the simple and my personal favorite execution for is done quite some time ago for the movie “The Day After Tomorrow”, which is about Manhattan being overwhelmed by a huge tsunami.

Half Submerged billboard creating an impactful message for the movie and created a buzz

This creative placement was done in India Mumbai. The billboard poster itself is pretty straight forward, but it’s the location of it that's clever and witty. Its message is totally in line with that of the movie, and you just can’t help but look at it. It clearly shows the theme of the movie and effectively promotes it.

To sell the futuristic theme of the movie “Tron Legacy”, Fluorescent lights were used to show a different feel to this huge movie poster along the streets of United State.

Simple movie title for Tron Legacy by Disney, wait till you see the night version…

Now, THIS is Tron! 

We see how this simple movie poster was portraying the theme of the movie across to the consumers. With bright neon light lighted for the movie title, both human and vehicle traffics would be sure to notice the gigantic poster.

Remember the movie “Inception”?  They are the talk of the town some time back, with a huge cast of actors and a wonderful story line  They have spent quite a bit on out of home advertising with great placement at strategic location in France and United State.

What is real? The building or the gushing water?

Now, the dream is real! 

Cleverly using the tall building along the streets, the posters and billboards manage to show the movie’s concept and grab the interest and target the passerby. With a placement so big and a concept so special, these poster will sure to generate a talking point and create awareness across the nation.

With strategic placement and simple and clear message, we can see how movie posters can hooks a person’s interest of a movie in just an instance. To end it off, I would like to share one interesting campaign for the movie “Contagion” which was done at Canada. Wonderful campaign and true to the message it wants to bring across. Not to mention, using something that you would never think of, bacteria. 

Salute to Mini drivers!

By Chris Ong

Nothing beats the feeling of assurance and satisfaction after purchasing a new product or owning one of it. Be it the newest iPhone or the new pair of Nike shoes that you bought, we love the feeling of being appreciated and also to be assured that we have made the right choice.

Mr Bean might have made it even cooler, but owning one of the few mini that are zooming in the roads seems like a dream to me. They are always such a pleasant thing to watch when they drive pass me.

As a form of gratitude and a salute to these mini “heroes” out there, mini came out with one unique campaign to let them know that they are special and appreciated.

Along the streets of London Cromwell Road, these digital outdoor billboards are out there “recognizing” the mini drivers out there to change the message accordingly. Spotters will be out there taking note of the mini’s model, Color and also gender to trigger the billboards along the roads to display the corresponding messages, this ingenious way of using the interaction on the roads to capture the attention of the divers really intrigues me.




"Hey Red Mini, What's Your Secret?"



Looking Hip there red Mini

Greetings, Black Mini

Let messages like “Hello there blue Mini drive” or “Hey Cream Mini, what’s your secret?” to greet you in the morning when drivers are heading to work. A “Thank you” gift at the end of the road which ranges from a good morning breakfast to a tank of free petrol will be given to the lucky driver that was spotted.  

Imagine the feeling of the other commuters along the road when your car was “Greeted” on the large billboard, I bet there will want to own a mini of their own too. Just like how Mr Bean acknowledge the same Mini that Emma de Caunes drove.

Wild Posting / Fly Posting

Along the same lines of getting increasingly jaded, I learned a new word today - Wild Postings, or as Wikipedia - it also known as flyposting - [is a guerrilla marketing tactic through the act of placing advertising posters or flyers in legal or illegal places....]

[In the United States, these posters are also commonly referred to as wheatpaste posters because wheatpaste is often used to adhere the posters. Posters are adhered to construction site barricades, building façades and in alleyways]

I remember Apple iPod did a series of these worldwide in 2004. I now know the terminology for it.

Nice. 

The Branded Crime Fighters

By Chris Ong

Across the globe, we always view any police force as individuals that are vigilant and brave; the same could be said for our own Singapore Police Force (SPF). We can be sure that we are safe in the hands of these crime fighters.

In recent years, we can see a rise in public awareness about crime prevention all around us.

“A brand is a psychological construct in the mind of everyone who’s aware of us,” said Mr. Ng, who was made police chief in 2010. He kicked started a series of campaign to educate us citizens to keep a look out for our surrounding and engage the public with the force.

An image paints a thousand words; a wall of text requires you to read through it, a video needs you to invest time if you want to watch entirely of it. Images does not have either of those problems, instead, what you see is what you get. Advertising not only benefits consumer goods, it can be used to create awareness and public message for everyone.

From pillar wraps to large format billboard display, we can see SPF putting effort to educate and encourage the public to fight crime together with the force.

Lowest Crime Rate in 29 Years

Statistics shows that Singapore enjoyed the lowest crime rate in 29 years. Of course, the vigilant policemen and patrolmen are doing their job diligently to ensure that these crimes would not happen under their watch. But a lot more effort was placed into crime prevention campaign that was spread across the nation.

TPM is proud to be part of SPF campaign which was pushed out in Mid-March. This campaign was spanned across various places in Singapore to ensure that the message to be well received nationwide.

Giant Lightbox located at Furam City Center 

Tri-vision Display located at People's Park Complex 

These awareness messages are strategically located at places with high human and vehicle traffics which ensure that no one misses them. To reach out to more people, SPF choose to make use of table tops across various major food centers to help push the awareness even more. Around 800 table top displays were used to cover 8 major food centers across Singapore. 

Joo Chiat Food Center Table Top Displays 

Sembawang Hill Food Center Table Top Displays 

Serangoon Food Center Table Top Displays 

Joo Chiat Food Center 

With that much amount of impression that is carefully placed at every corner of Singapore, we sure believe that these images are “Burn” into the minds of all our fellow citizens. As the saying goes, “Prevention is better than cure”, we strongly believe that these prevention measures that the SPF took will be well worth the effort.

The "Kid" Within Me

By Chris Ong 

Yearly, June marks an important month for me, it's not just only the month that I was born in, but also the month where gaming’s most important expo would be held. Since 1995, the Electronic and Entertainment Expo (E3) would gather thousands of professional in this industry for major announcement and the giants will share their vision and plans for the year. Same for this year, some 48,000 people from 102 different countries attended the event held from 11^th to 13^thof June.

If you still think that gaming are for kids, then tell that to giants like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and Electronic Arts who are pumping crazy amount of money into this business.

Think twice if you think that gaming would not need any advertising. What can be better than seeing your favourite video game character which you see only on your digital screen, appearing on a big billboard, poising to strike. This not only sets my blood rushing but also brings me to another level of excitement and anticipation for the game. Evidence? We are already seeing more outdoor and indoor banners at this year’s expo.

Banners within the Expo Area, Beautiful aren't they?

Batman and Assassin's Creed, what more can I ask for!

All geared for next generation!

The highlight for this year’s event was the revelation of the next generation console from both Sony and Microsoft. All eyes are on Sony since they announced the new Playstation 4 console since February this year. Here’s the catch, they announced it without showing the world how does the physical console looks like, therefore, people from the industry and also the public wants to catch a glimpse of this beast in E3 this year.

Sony sure knows how to tease the people, just one day before the great event, a campaign was launched on the digital screens along the streets of London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds during the rush hours. With the display only showing the message “See You In The Morning”.  

Along the busy streets

See you In the Morning!

This teaser campaign helps to build anticipation and excitement for the event and the great revelation form Sony. Next morning, just a few hours after (Time zone difference) their official launch in Los Angeles, these screen immediately changed the message and along with the world, revealed the look of the new Playstation 4.

Revelation of the console along with the whole world!

We really saw them the next morning

This would be the very first reveal of the design and look of Sony’s black box console that goes on sale later this year. What I really love about this campaign is the simultaneous launch and announcement of the highly anticipated home entertainment system which captures and teased the thousands of traffics users along the streets since the previous day. As mentioned by the Associate Director of the site owners, Ocean Outdoor, “This is a genius use of premium digital outdoor to head one of the most anticipated launches in the home entertainment sector of the year”

Back in Singapore, our own team have helped Electronic Arts (EA) with their launch of the yearly and highly anticipated sports title, NBA2K12 back in 2011. Situated strategically on the LED screen in the only mall that has more sports equipment than the whole of Orchard 313, this display that was at Queensway Shopping Centre not only targets on the massive amount of sports enthusiast daily, but also the heavy traffic at every hour.

Keep the "Game" moving

Capturing the crowd that is waiting for the traffic

Combine with a Die-cut display of the game’s logo, it manage to generate more buzz and attention to passer-by. With a mall totally dedicated for electronic device, Sim Lim Square would also be the top location that these companies can advertise in to reach out to their mass consumers. Gaming culture might not be that big in Singapore, but recently, I’ve seen more and more games doing their advertising outdoor to reach out to more people. I, for one, strongly feel that this trend will grow and believe that gaming companies will make use of this media to further create their awareness globally.