Sime Darby Convention Centre: A reason to celebrate!

It was supposedly another ordinary day in CC+J Adhaus (meaning: still pretty out-of-the-ordinary compared to most days). Just as we were packing up to go home, suddenly came the call that would change everything.

"Hello, Joescher?"

It was from the Sales & Marketing Executive of Sime Darby Convention Centre!

In case you're wondering, CC+J has been involved in a pitch for Sime Darby Convention Centre this last month. Featuring a grand total of THREE competing agencies (ourselves, the current agency and a hot new creative house) TWO rounds of presentations and only ONE winner to handle their ad and media budget for the coming year.

Preparing for the big day. Here, we're writing down the presentation slides on individual pieces of notepad paper to re-arrange the sequence. This simple exercise, coupled with rehearsals, helped us get the perfect flow to present our ideas in the simplest way possible. "If the message is not communicated crystal clear to the client, it is equal to zero" repeatedly emphasised Joescher. Yes boys and girls, presentation MATTERS!

Back to the phone call:

"Yes, Izreen?"

"We just finished our meeting. I have some good news and bad news for you. Which would you rather listen to first?"

"Erm...the bad." (Fingers crossed. Really, really crossed.)

She laughed. "I thought you would want the good news first."

"Haha. Sure. Anything."

"Anyway, the bad news is that there're some ads we need you to rush for us tomorrow morning."

"Uh-huh. And the good news?"

"You got the job!"

"YES!"

And the rest went down in CC+J history.

Our hearts danced as we celebrated this amazing chapter in CC+J's history. Amazing for how tremendously we had progressed and learned from previous pitches. Amazing for how hard the entire team - from the creatives to the suits - worked together to realise this dream. Amazing for how we never stopped believing, even in times of hopelessness where every mountain seemed too high.

And you know what's coming next - let's make Sime Darby Convention Centre famous!

Hill's Science Plan - Love Pack

Woof! CC+J Adhaus recently received another doggy treat from Hill's Science Plan.

Hill's, one of the leading pet food brands in Malaysia, sought us to design an Intro Kit for new pet owners. Essentially, the pack is aimed at starting newbies off with the proper petcare methods while enticing them to purchase Hill's.

Take a look at what we came up with:

Early sketches. At this stage, we conceptualised the name Love Pack, drawing inspiration from the quote, "How does your pet spell love?" "T-I-M-E". The whole goal, then, was to get pet owners to spend time with their pets. Clear enough.

Direction 1 - Interact Bag: "Let's spend some time walking / playing."

Direction 2 - Food Bowl: "Any dinner plans tonight? Your pet wants to have a meal with you."

Direction 3 - Doggy Bag: "May I spend some time with you?"Items to be included in the Love Pack, categorised under three categories - Share, Play, Feed. And yes, that's a pet photo album!

Direct mailer for online enquiriersMakes you wish that you were a pet, doesn't it? *purrs*

SDCC Secretaries Week Ad Campaign

This past week, secretaries all over the world stepped into the limelight as Secretaries Week took place. And Sime Darby Convention Centre, one of CC+J Adhaus' clients, shared in the festivities as they held their first-ever Secretaries Luncheon.

The CC+J team was commissioned to develop a full campaign - press ads, flyers, posters, tickets, billboard - to promote and enhance the event. "Whatever it takes," in the client's words. "To fill up the hall on that day."

To ensure that the campaign would appeal to bosses, we first identified several key reasons for them to send their secretaries to a social event with no immediate benefits.

a) Emotional gratitude - Simply because they're kind bosses ("When was the last time you made your secretary smile?")
b) Face value - Because they want to appear as kind bosses ("A good boss rewards his secretary.")
c) Productivity - A happy secretary would uplift the workplace. ("A happy secretary makes her boss happy as well.")

It became apparent that the Approach C worked best. Approach A was done to death and seemed preachy. Approach B appeared cold and conniving. However, Approach C was comparatively fresh and appealed to both bosses and secretaries.

From there, the campaign message of 'Everyone loves a happy secretary' was developed and tested on 3 different visual approaches.

Visual Approach 1: Graphical, vibrant, colourful

Visual Approach 2: Traditional, Warm, Humanist appeal

Visual Approach 3: Iconic, Typographical, Friendly

The client chose Option 3, an approach that best reflected the mood and theme of the event. Next came the full range of event items, further developed from this visual direction:

Poster

Press Ad in New Straits Times, The Edge, Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia

Flyer

Flyer (Front and back)

Bunting


Billboard

Ticket

Have a Happy Secretaries Day, all! Don't forget to keep her happy. =)

Secretani Goes To The Mall!

Fresh off a blossoming branding campaign, Secretani heads for the glitzy lights of Mid Valley Megamall!

For the uninitiated, Secretani is one of CC+J's dear clients selling an organic fertiliser-cum-pest-repellent gardening spray. Hold on while I catch my breath.

After plenty of eye-opening research, we discovered that Secretani's 2-in-1 benefits (fertiliser and pest repellent) appeals most to its target audience of in-between gardeners. Those who're serious enough to try out fertilisers, yet reluctant to dirty their hands with chemical fertilisers. Hence, the coining of the delightful tagline 'The Plants Pestiliser'.

Front cover of Secretani's lovingly designed product leaflet

After an encouraging first month, Secretani booked a booth in last month's Home Buyer's Fair in Mid Valley. As proud babysitters of the brand, we were tasked with creating a series of posters for the event.

And here they are:




But here's the best part: Zam the Client called on the 3rd night of the exhibition to tell us that SOMEONE OFFERED TO BUY THE POSTERS! Have you ever heard of a consumer paying to buy an ad? Neither have we.

Another amazing true story, courtesy of the CC+J team. =)

The Evolution Of YouMixIt

What is YouMixIt?

The new era of virtual music sharing.
The world's first site for DJs of all backgrounds to showcase their mixes.
The ultimate platform for the superstar DJs of tomorrow to be heard and discovered.

Whatever you call it, YouMixIt is set to take the world by storm.
And the day it does, CC+J is proud to tell all: We helped make their brand famous!

The above is a very special video created by our clients and innovators of YouMixIt, Jac and Nelson. Watch it to enjoy the awe-inspiring progress of YouMixiIt from the drawing board to the World Wide Web!

The Secretani Mission

Picture these, all ye faithful:

Dreary Monday morning. When suddenly...

RING RING!

"Joe, I need an ad for Garden Asia magazine!"

It was our beloved client, Zam from Secretani. (For the uninitiated, Secretani is an organic spray to enhance plant growth.)

"Ohhh-kay. When is it due?"

"Erm...tomorrow."

WAH-LAU-WEH.

Welcome to CC+J Adhaus, where creativity isn't sold in juice, but buckets.

So first things first, we gathered the brightest minds in CC+J, ahem ahem, and sat down to discuss who we wanted this ad to speak to, and how. Originally, we had planned for the complete brand identity to be defined this week, but now had to do a quick one based on gut feel and simple research.

Eventually, we narrowed the audience down to 2 groups: gardening enthusiasts who spent hours daily caring for their plants, and casual gardeners who kept a few potted plants at home just for greenery.

As the product was new and without A&P yet, it made more sense to go for the former group. The ones who would actually seek out the best fertilisers for their plants, and understood the joy of seeing them bloom.

And of course, what did this group want to hear most? 'Enhanced plant growth' was a powerful proposition, but difficult to convey in a print ad without credible facts to back up. 'Convenience' was too flimsy as well; hardcore plant lovers wouldn't mind if they had to move mountains for lovelier plants.

As we probed deeper, the answer became apparent enough: what users really wanted was a natural, safer alternative to common fertilisers. By sharply highlighting the contrast between the organic and synthetic, here's the final ad we came up with:


And all's well ends well... The client loved it! Another day saved, by the CC+J team. =p

The Captiv8 Saga Ends (For Now)

Yee-ha!

Another CC+J baby is born. This past week, we finally handed over all Captiv8 collaterals and CapTV marketing materials. Just for info: Captiv8, one of our dear clients, is a media owner specialising in innovative advertising media. And of such medium is CapTV, an interactive advertisement screen found in reputable lifestyle outlets such as Low Yat Plaza, Finnegan's, Yoga Zone and MyFitness.

Captiv8 logo, name card, letterhead and envelops. Nice and simple, just the way we like it.

The complete stationery set. Hats off to Chin Yong for his trademark user-friendly design.

CapTV brochure, neatly tucked into a stylish Captiv8 corporate folder.

Now here's a design solution for you: The CapTV brochure, which needed constant updating on media rates and screen locations.

The answer? A unique rubber band spine which allowed pages to be detached for future editing.

But it ain't over yet, boys and girls... keep your senses tuned for more upcoming CapTV news!

Myrelo Goes Local

Some pics from last month's Myrelo launch at Souled Out Hartamas.

To refresh: Myrelo is an international relocation company, now kicking off a domestic moving service. And one of our beloved clients, of course!


Event media kit: Press releases, speeches, door gifts, flyers.

Door gift: Custom-made wooden boxes for our invitees. Containing a 10% discount voucher for your next Myrelo move!


The man behind the movers...Craig.


And the woman behind the man...Isma!


How's the food, people? Must've been pretty good, judging by how difficult it was getting seconds. Or maybe 'cause we were yapping away too much.


Launch time! The Myrelo crew marching out to 'I Like To Move It, Move It'. How apt.

Myrelo...Goes...Local!

Also on display that night, the unmissable Myrelo ads.




Keep an eye out for them in The Star Classifieds (under 'Lorries-for-hire / Moving Services'), iProperty magazine/site and the Yellow Pages site!

And whaddaya know...the launch event was covered in the local dailies as well: Star, Sun, China Press, Sin Chew! Will post featured articles pretty soon.

Till then...great job team! I'm proud of us.