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The Star Online: Business

KLCI advances, eye on crucial 1,700
Soros warns against more eurozone austerity measures
Elevating advertising image

Posted: 09 Apr 2013 06:50 PM PDT

Published: Wednesday April 10, 2013 MYT 9:50:00 AM

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's blue chips climbed in early trade on Wednesday, underpinned by gains in BAT, Petronas Gas and KL Kepong amid a firmer broader market as the FBM KLCI cast its eye on the crucial 1,700 level again.

At 9.32am, the KLCI was up 4.21 points to 1,694.48. Turnover was 176.96 million shares valued at RM119.24mil. There were 179 gainers, 116 losers and 166 counters unchanged.

Japanese stocks rose after the Topix Index yesterday climbed to the highest level since 2008 as the yen reached a three-year low against the euro, boosting earnings prospects for exporters, Bloomberg reported.

At Bursa Malaysia, consumer stocks were the top gainers, Nestle adding 60 sen to RM61.30 with 100 shares done, BAT up 46 sen to RM63.94, GAB and Dutch lady 10 sen each to RM18 and RM48.76.

TDM surged 32 sen to RM4.53 on its corporate exercise which include 22 sen a share tax-exempt dividend/

Index-linked PetGas rose 26 sen to RM19.18 and KLK 14 sen to RM21.44. MAS rose five sen to 85 sen on expectations of a turnaround in FY13.

CLIQ, which made its debut on Wednesday, down 4.5 sen to 58 sen with 13.65 million shares done. CLIQ-WA rose four sen to 16.5 sen and it was the most active with 40.69 million units traded.

Shangri-La fell six sen to RM5.12, Genting Bhd four sen to RM10.12, Time dotCom four sen lower at RM4.12.

Soros warns against more eurozone austerity measures

Posted: 09 Apr 2013 06:42 PM PDT

BOAO: The threat of deflation in the eurozone concerns US business magnate and legendary investor George Soros more than another round of potential economic crisis.

"Everybody now is looking for the next bubble. While you are looking for it, the crisis probably won't occur. Actually, the danger now is on the other side deflation and the eurozone is the perfect example.

"Everything (in the eurozone) is designed to fight the threat of inflation (but) what Europe is suffering from is deflation. The next crisis is coming from the opposite direction," he told bankers and business leaders in a dialogue-cum-luncheon during the Boao Forum for Asia here in southern China's Hainan province on Monday.

Soros has again expressed his concern over a debt-deflation spiral if European nations like Germany pushed for more austerity measures in the wake of the European sovereign-debt crisis.

He had said at the World Leaders Forum in the United States in February that austerity measures could lead to lower wages, layoffs and reduced consumer spending. He believed that this would possibly cause a recession in which the debt burden keeps growing.

When asked by former Australian Prime Minister and co-founder of the Boao Forum for Asia Bob Hawke if Soros also shares his sentiment that the world is short of outstanding leaders capable of making sensible political decisions when solving the economic crisis, Soros said tongue-in-cheek that Europe had actually seen a dominant leader in German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"She is really a powerful Iron Lady whose will cannot be resisted. The Cyprus crisis was a tremendous political victory for her. The problem is that she is leading the eurozone in the wrong direction.

"Also the problem is that different political leaders have different national interest. It is difficult to reconcile the national interests with the common interest. The eurozone is a practical demonstration of this," he said.

On China's economy, Soros said the country would have to change its economic growth model, not depend on exporting its goods and encourage household spending.

He warned that state-owned banks had accumulated tremendous debt and there were many problems in the Chinese banking system that need to be solved.

Elevating advertising image

Posted: 09 Apr 2013 06:36 PM PDT

PETALING JAYA: "Engagement" will be the key word for the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) in the next two years.

Newly-elected president Datuk Johnny Mun said during his two-year term, the 4As would focus on engaging with the institutions of higher learning, marketers and media owners.

"At the end of the day, we hope to elevate and propel forward the industry's image," he told StarBiz in an interview yesterday.

Mun said the new council members would engage with as many universities and colleges as they could and give career talks on advertising.

The 4As has started doing this. In February, the council went to SEGi University College in Sarawak and spoke to over 70 students, and last month the association, together with 95% The Advertising Academy, organised a forum attended by more than 100 academics and course administrators.

"We may hold workshops later. It is an opportunity for us to get talents from them, and it is a great opportunity for them to have real-life practitioners pointing them in the right direction," Mun said.

The 4As also wants to correct the myths that advertising was "almost a blue-collar job" and that the staff must work very late every day, he added.

Another big engagement project will involve the clients, i.e. the advertisers. Mun wants to advise them to use 4As member agencies because the agencies were consistent in training their staff.

Mun said that there were many levels of approvals for advertising work on the client side, and sometimes the junior to mid-level executives were not proficient enough to critique or appreciate a piece of work, hence second-guessing what their bosses wanted.

"We want to have seminars or workshops on how advertisers can get the best out of their communications partners. This is something we want to emphasise a lot this year as well."

In the past, such talks were not done in an organised manner, and agencies and clients might have their own private discussions. "This time the association wants to take a lead. And it won't be a one-off thing, as there are new people coming into the industry every year."

He said the 4As also planned to engage more with the heads of media companies. "It is a way of expanding revenue and pushing the envelope further for the clients."

One project that Mun hopes to take off during his term is the creation of a think-tank comprising industry veterans.

"A lot of people working with multinational agencies retire at about 60 years old. There is still plenty of knowledge to tap. Maybe we can form a think-tank group which we can outsource to government departments, SMEs (small and medium-sized agencies) or colleges that need their inputs and knowledge," he said.

On the upcoming Putra Brand Awards organised by the 4As, he said it used a different sample of 6,000 consumers each year but the brands which consistently came up on top were the same. "This shows that if you continue to invest in your brands, your brands will continue to be top of mind among consumers," he said.

This year, for the first time, the programme will honour the consistent gold winners as "Putra Brand icons".

Mun, who is also CEO of mid-sized agency Krakatua Sdn Bhd, served as an ordinary council member for six years and vice-president for two years before being elected president uncontested at last week's AGM. All the council members are the same except from Draftfcb.

"For continuity of projects, it's so simple because they're basically the same people whom I worked with previously," Mun said.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Selasa, 9 April 2013