Driving along Victoria Street after a meal at the famous Jackson Kopitiam at MacPherson, I spotted this anomaly right smack in our city area just outside Bugis Junction.
Yes, your eyes ain't kidding you. We do have a Wholesale Centre just outside the city called the Victoria Street Wholesale Centre. Apparently, they have 41 units of tenants who specialise in all manner of dry food supplies and special ingredients that you can't get elsewhere. Now aunties and housewives from every corner of Singapore have a place that they can go to for that extra "lemak" curry!
What especially amazed me however, wasn't so much the assortment of traders in the wholesale centre. Rather, it was the example of all out in-your-face branding taken by Skylight Abalone's parent company Kwang Yeow Heng International as you can see below.
All the canvas shades surrounding the four sides of Victoria Wholesale Centre carried the brand logos, images, red colour and cans of Skylight Abalone and its sister seafood products (Buddha Jump Over the Wall, Sharksfin, Limpets etc). If I didn't look closer, I would have thought that this was the abalone HQ of Singapore! Unfortunately, some of the colours were fading and this made the "cans" of abalone look less appetising on the canvas.
How does Kwang Yeow Heng's largely below-the-line advertising strategy (which are mostly on site through the use of banners, posters and flyers) compare with that of its chief rival Goh Joo Hin?
Unlike the former, Goh Joo Hin embraces a largely above-the-line advertising strategy coupled with massive doses of celebrity endorsement. The parent company of brands like New Moon Abalone and Mili Mushrooms advertises heavily on mainstream media like television and newspapers. It also employs A-list celebrities like Fann Wong, Kym Ng and Stefanie Sun to grab your attention and get the message across.
In my view, I feel both approaches have their merits. Skylight's effort is probably more grassroots oriented and aimed at its existing pool of customers. On the other hand, New Moon is likely to attract the first time and occasional purchasers of fine canned seafood products.Labels: advertising, branding, celebrity endorsement, grassroots marketing