WSJ Asia launches multimedia regional brand campaign

“You’d be surprised how many still perceive WSJ Asia as relevant only for bankers. We want to communicate its relevancy to all business sectors – whether it’s arts, fashion, IT or finance,” said said Shawn Hiltz, Dow Jones’ vice-president of marketing for Asia Pacific, in an interview with Campaign Asia-Pacific yesterday at the WSJ Asia headquarters in Hong Kong. “We also want to highlight that we are a global publication that is very relevant to Asia – not just a US title.”

This insight, he said, is the product of a series of focus groups conducted in the fall of last year with readers and non-readers of the WSJ as well as readers of competitor titles.  “Every year we reach out to understand what’s going on in the mind of the consumer. It’s a critical part of our business,” said Hiltz.

The pan-regional multimedia campaign, which has a total budget of about US$500,000, has been rolling out across Asia-Pacific since April.

The campaign started with outdoor placements such as billboards and decals in public transport stations. “We have dominated space at the platform for the Hong Kong Airport Express train as well as Singapore’s MRT stations at Raffles and The Sail,” said Christopher Luk, director of marketing for WSJ Asia who was also present during the interview.

The campaign also incorporates print, online and TV. On Monday (30 May) the 30-second TVC will be broadcast on regional channels such as CNBC, Bloomberg and CNN.

“The TV spot showcases the plethora of mediums by which WSJ Asia is accessible – print, online, iPad, iPhone. We don’t really care how you choose to consume us, so long as you choose us,” said Hiltz.

Currently WSJ has a Japanese language and Mandarin iPad app waiting Apple's approval, he added.

So far, there are four different print spots showcasing different business sectors centred on the tagline ‘Your business, is our business’. 

“The advertisements will be tailored to the publications they run in. For example, in the publication for Art HK  (Hong Kong’s International Art Fair) the ad featured is about the art business,” explained Luk.

WSJ Asia has also developed a new iPhone app called Scene Asia which debuted in the iTunes store on 19 May. The app highlights the title’s lifestyle content. 

Currently while the app is relevant regionally, only Hong Kong has a city guide but that could be set to change. “Our twin business strategies are digitisation and localisation so more city guides are a possibility,” said Luk.

The campaign is also aimed at promoting the presence of WSJ Magazine, a glossy luxury magazine launched in 2008, which has recently started publishing 10 months of the year.

“Because it goes out to all of WSJ’s two million global subscribers, WSJ Magazine is actually the world’s largest luxury title based on circulation,” added Hiltz.

According to Hiltz, the magazine itself was instrumental in garnering over 100 brands that had never before advertised in the WSJ. “They are mostly luxury brands like Ralph Polo Lauren and Ritz Carlton that never before considered WSJ as relevant to their consumers,” he continued.  

The creative agency on board for the campaign is Doremus HK, who the WSJ Asia has worked with since 2005, and the media agency is ZenithOptimedia.

Currently WSJ Asia has a total daily circulation of over 82,000 with its largest base of readers in India (12,500) followed by Hong Kong (10,900). Its website received over 17.8 million page views in the month of April while its China edition received over 40 million page views.