Observations of Hong Kong - Marketingweb. Jnauray 2007

TBWA wastes no time when it concludes a deal. This has nothing to do with providing the new partners with an international holiday and everything to do with extracting a return on the investment as fast as possible. Within two months of signing the joint venture agreement between BrandMetrics and TBWA’s The Disruption Consultancy, I was whisked off to Hong Kong for three days.

The global MD of the consultancy, who reports to chairman Reg Lascaris here in Joburg, happens to be based in that remarkable city. And the east is where the business is.

The numbers are similar to Manhattan. Eight million people are squeezed into a relatively small geographic area on the island and mainland Kowloon. But in Hong Kong the entire population appeared to live, work or shop close to my hotel. Crossing the road to catch the underground was a startling experience. Across the four lane road a rapidly growing crowd assembles waiting for the clicking of the traffic lights to gain speed and then change to green. As you step off the pavement you realize you too are one of hundreds who have accumulated on your side. The two placid armies meet in the middle, intermingle for a moment and continue. If you have a fear of crowds, it is daunting.

Hong Kong is spotlessly clean. Each night teams of workers sweep, mop and wipe. On January the 1st a smoking ban was introduced. It is not incremental – it is total. But these are law abiding people and a city that always had a haze of tobacco fumes hanging over the streets, has instantly rid itself of that part of its famous pollution.

Taxi drivers are fast, skilful and safety conscious. The law says passengers should buckle up and you are frequently reminded to do so.

The major item on my schedule was the address I was to deliver to the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. I wondered prior to the event if these industrious, busy people would spare an hour or so to listen to an unknown professor from far off Africa talk on an obscure topic. I don’t know what the norm is, but the room could not have accommodated many more than the 66 who paid the fee to attend.

When we arrived at the Chamber’s offices, we were taken to a small meeting room where a sandwich and soft drink had been laid out for us. Dr Chan, who was to introduce me went through the business card exchange ceremony and announced he had been in Johannesburg to attend the World Summit held a few years ago. We impressed him. He found it well organised and he enjoyed his brief stay. He even commented on how safe he felt – which gave me a boost of confidence for 2010.

The seating arrangement was interesting. The 66 members of the audience sat on either side of tables that went away from the speaker. This was so they could enjoy their sandwich lunch prior to the talk.

Hardly surprisingly I spoke on brand valuation as the bridge between finance and marketing. When I finished there was that worrying silence when questions were invited by Dr Chan. Testing time that. It lasted a fraction of a minute that seemed long to me, but when they came – which they then did in a rush - they were incisive, educated and often challenging. There is a very real interest in effective, measurable marketing.

If you’re not experienced, the card exchange procedure is hard to master: present yours with two hands and a small bow; receive theirs similarly proffered at the same time. After the talk I found myself trying to respond to a dozen polite but enquiring card offerers at the same time. Apart from quickly running out of cards I did what I could to do the card thing to my right and left and answer questions ahead at the same time.

I left last Wednesday on the midnight flight to Johannesburg from their superb new airport feeling a little tired but thrilled that our home grown brand valuation model had been accepted and appreciated by a rang of finance, accounting and marketing people who ply their trade in one of the world’s centres of business on the other side of the globe.