Learn how Catapult, React, and Moove Media get their message across

With bits and pieces of media messages bombarding us every day, all with different purposes and under various platforms, there is no doubt not every single parcel of them actually achieve what they were set out to do. Some are effective; perhaps a lot more aren’t. In addition, everyone is capable of sending out messages but the question is whether they actually get across.

This is where experts come in. In particular, media experts who help companies effectively communicate with the public or with specific target recipients. In this feature, we take a look at media players in Singapore and how they use their respective platforms in not just getting the message out but ensuring they get results.

These media experts do not execute without a plan, and certainly not without a goal. And firms need these players’ expertise because they have the answers to varying media needs.

Catapult - What’s the right media?
The simple answer is: the one that reaches the shopper, with the right message when he/she is ready to buy, that results in the purchase of your product or service. But never before have communications and media professionals faced such an evolving and difficult task. Let us briefly break down the answer to illustrate the complexity.

Begin with the “shopper”. Only now are marketers seeing that the consumer is not always the shopper (or buyer). So, who is this mysterious middleman – this shopper? This person was traditionally not considered in the media planning development process, and only a few companies are doing so now. Consider how that impacts the second part of the above answer - “the right message, when he/she is ready to buy”. After all, if we have gotten our target wrong (consumer versus shopper), then how could we possibly know when and with what message to speak to this person? Also, if I have gotten my target wrong, how could I know what media will be available
to me?

Determining the right media and communications plans in today’s market requires a whole new skill set than the traditional media houses we knew. We must plan and execute media very differently than in the past. We also
must measure results differently than historic measures of GRPs and awareness – changing to measures of driving action among shoppers via the right media with the right message at the right moment. The expert approach to media planning and execution today requires expertise in understanding shopper targeting and communications. Catapult knows how. Do you?

Getting the right REACTion
Ask any company out there what they do for publicity and almost all will answer – Advertising.
However, over at React, they work solely on word-of-mouth and referrals and never advertise or sell their services. Facts and figures are a business entity’s best friend in ascertaining how market forces react.
Thus before a product is launched, reactions to marketing campaigns, trends, and current business
environment should be determined.

Apart from this unique way of gaining recognition, what else sets React apart from the others? “Most digital agencies focus on developing creative and interactive websites with little emphasis on business or revenue strategies. React however, works backwards by first defining KPIs, ROIs and end results clients want to see, and champions research and fact-based analytics to lead the creative thoughts process. In essence, React is first a business and results company, then a creative agency,” said React’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bryan Tan.

Mr Tan also explained how the name React came about and how it mirrors their working attitudes. “The name “React” actually describes our mission to capture reactions of users, and turn them into business intelligence. After which, clients can react to that knowledge and make better campaigns. In a way, there’s not much point being proactive if you don’t know what you need to do anyway – sometimes, it’s smarter to observe and react to the facts and situation instead of jumping into the fray blindly.

Hence, the name React is to remind ourselves that in whatever we do, we must always consider how users will react and how we can capture that reaction.” Unlike most digital agencies that focus on developing creative and interactive websites with little emphasis on business or revenue strategies, React Digital Agency works by first defining KPIs, ROIs and end results clients want to see. It then utilizes research and fact-based analytics to lead the creative thought process where customers’ reactions to marketing campaigns are captured and analyzed to understand who, how and what they want. Clients can then utilize these knowledge to improve campaigns.

The company’s philosophy is that it’s smarter to observe and react to the facts and situation instead of jumping into the fray blindly. This is why React is now among the best-valued professional digital business consultants in Singapore. React’s growing business amid the recession is an affirmation about how effective its methods were. “You see, in times of recession, clients have to be extra careful with spending their budget, and more importantly show results to justify their spending. Clients AND conventional advertising agencies prefer to incorporate React’s solutions into their campaigns. The key thing is that our clients are ALSO creative agencies so we’re working WITH them and not against them.

Furthermore, React has turn-key resultsdriven applications and solutions that enable and empower clients to measure, track and harness business intelligence on their customers, and plan marketing activities more strategically. “Our next step is to further enhance the solutions and move them onto the self-service SAS platform where they can be accessed 24/7, easily and conveniently,” emphasizes Chew Liong Hong, React Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer.

Moove-ing In ALL directions
Innovation has invaded transport advertising in Singapore. Thanks in large part to Moove Media, the advertising arm of the largest transportation company in Singapore, which offers a plethora of diverse advertising platforms - 3,000 buses, 17,000 taxis, 14 NEL train stations, 16 bus interchanges/terminals and prime ambience sites. Fittingly, the name ‘Moove’ signifies the fluid nature of the company’s moving advertising platform that enables clients’ brands to be literally on the move and visibly noticed round the clock!

Moove Media has been operating since 2005 when ComfortDelGro and SBS Transit meshed their advertising arm after their merger in 2003. Motivated by their tagline ‘Moove is More’ their marketing strategy is to deliver that extra Oomph! and ZEST! to its advertising campaigns. “We pride ourselves in being at the frontier of Out-of-Home advertising as we constantly surprise the public with very unique and creative branding campaigns executed using our 2 and 3D platforms,” says Jayne Kwek, Moove Media’s CEO and Head of Branding.

Buses startled Singaporeans as they suddenly adorned Christmas Hats (Innovative Moove), Fortune Gods’ Headgear (Fortune Ride) and ferrying various models on its rooftop, ranging from HL cows going bananas (Go bananas), ferocious sharks engulfing cameras (Jaws!), to gigantic shuttlecocks (Moove in action!), professional pool players (Striking Moove), and Wall E robots (Moove Animates). During the inaugural Formula 1 night race in Singapore, services 16 and 175 prowled the roads, decked interior-wise as rally stands (F1 Grand Prix buses). For those who enjoy night life, bus rides on services 80, 167 and 162 took on a whole new meaning (A pub on the Moove?) as ordinary fixtures gave way to the jazzy contours of a luxurious pub.

As a Moove-r and Shake-r of the advertising industry, Moove Media goes beyond revolutionizing the way advertisers deploy bus advertisements. Annually, the landscapes of Singapore were dotted with Moove’s signature cows. Launching of Moove cows (Cows on the Moove), Flower Cows, Celebrity Cows (Moove goes Hollywood), comic heroes (Cows Can Fly), CNY greeting cows (Cash Cow), to charity campaign cows dressed in yellow polka dots (Moove Love), that were commissioned on merchandises for fund-raising sales, and the latest soccer cows during this World Cup craze (Moove on the Ball).

Moove Media continues to experiment with new but proven methods of advertising, such as their latest Moove Jewel outdoor campaign in the month of June, utilising their taxi medium. The pioneering taxi tops advertising platform which resembles that of New Yoke cabs departs from the old image, revamping into a diamondlike multifaceted showcase, alleviating the brand positioning of the featured product. This promises to be both captivating and mesmerizing as it transforms the surroundings into a ‘Star of the Night’- dazzling and glamorous - the likes of which has never ever been seen before. With more consumers on-the-move outdoors everyday, clients’ products need to get moove-ing outdoors too - off the shelves, out of exhibition rooms, factories and assembly sites - and onto the streets and roads, above and below ground.