by Rome Jorge
The force is strong with Cheuk Chiang
“There will always be room for advertising with a purpose. It has become the new standard. There’s been an awakening in the Force. Truly, good over evil is coming alive again,” declares Cheuk Chiang, jedi master and chief executive officer of global media and communications network Asia Pacific for Omnicom Media Group responsible for over 4000 staff in 47 offices across 18 markets. In his career of over two decades, he has been responsible for such brands as Coca-Cola, Heineken, Heinz, Hennessy, HP, Holden, HTC, Kraft, Mars, Myer, Motorola, Nestle, Nikon, Tiger Beer, and Unilever. He is also a man who is taking responsibility for the message his media network espouses.
The son of Chinese migrants in Australia, Chiang, grew up in a community where parents aspired for their sons and daughters to become esteemed doctors or lawyers. Instead, Chiang has striven his whole life to make advertising a profession to be proud of—a force for good. He takes to heart what his reconstructive surgeon brother-in-law once told him: “Anyone can save a life.” And that he strives to do with advocacy advertising.
For Chiang, marketing and product development with integral advocacy is more than just a passing trend or a gimmick to win creative awards. “I don’t think this is a fad,” assesses Chiang. This he revealed in an exclusive interview with adobo magazine at the recent adobo Tambuli Asia-Pacific Conference on May 31, 2016, at the Fairmont Hotel, Makati City, Philippines.
He observes that standards and expectations for conscientious creativity are constantly being raised. “I’ve seen it happen with the Nike Fit Band. That was actually a Cannes Lion Grand Prix and Titanium winner. That campaign was in 2012, four years ago. We’ve been seeing that sort of work being done as early as 2010.”
The movement towards a more activist role for advertising will proceed forward, he contends. Consumers, not just creative awards judges, demand it. He notes, “It’s incredibly relevant for this generation. Anyone born from 1993 onwards, this millennial generation, it is a huge development. And even the next generation after millennials will even be more righteous than millennials because of their parents and their upbringing.”
Advocacy advertising is close to the Chiang’s heart. He attests, “Our agency has worked on the Lifebuoy campaign with Unilever. It’s clearly very close to our heart because it’s ultimately preventing diarrhea in young children by washing hands. Another one close to our hearts is the Dove sketches campaign which we were heavily involved in. That really stood up for women and their perception that of what real beauty is. Very powerful. There’s also brands like McDonald’s that have related to food provenance and freshness,” adding, “It’s a great way to connect with consumers. So we are doing a lot of work in that area.”
Faking it is failing it
Taking on advocacies is not without peril for brands that dare do so. He cautions, “The biggest anxiety are brands that do not find a cause that is related to their particular brand. And in that way they would seem disingenuous and millennial can see through that. To tie yourself to a cause that is not even related to your brand, that is one step removed, just for commercial sake, they’ll see right through it. I think on those instances it’s a vulgar and obvert use of branding. If it’s not the right fit that will happen.”
In the same breath, he also highlights the benefits for both brands and consumers in pursuing genuine and relevant advocacies. “If it’s a great fit and the brand message is well-tied to whatever their cause is in a very seamless way—and that’s the challenge often—then you won’t get into that situation.”
During his presentation for the Tambuli talks, Chiang illustrated how even bigoted reactions from social conservatives decrying the use of gay parents for the advertising of Honey Maid graham crackers was turned around with a video where visual artists made a message of love from all the hateful tweets printed out.
Watch our interview with Cheuk Chiang at the adobo Tambuli Asia-Pacific Conference 2016:
He declares that advocacy is no longer an option. Those who fear to take on the responsibility will be left by the wayside. During his talk for Tambuli, he stated, “In this day and age, for brands to survive, they need to have a very strong sense of purpose. Purpose-driven advertising is very important because millennials have a very strong sense of purpose and believe it’s the right thing for us to do.”
With Cheuk Chiang striving to awakening the forces of good, he has become nothing less than a real life jedi master.
Catch this and more in the July-August 2016 issue of adobo magazine.
