Out of the Trenches

FOR about a year after assuming the helm at Bates Malaysia, Ahmad Shukri Rifaie kept a very low profile. He cocooned himself in his Level 11 office at Menara IGB in Kuala Lumpur.
Yes, it was a difficult period - not just for his company, but for the whole industry, and globally. It was 2003.
But the man wasn't in hiding. As uncertain as things were with the Cordiant Communications Group having just been taken over by WPP, Shukri was hard at work charting and preparing Bates Malaysia for its emergence into a new era.
Bates Worldwide was the main brand in the Cordiant Group, and rumours were rife that its Asian operations would be wound down, like WPP had done with Bates in the US and Europe.
But happily WPP, the world's largest marketing and communications services group, has since decided that Bates Asia - which Bates Malaysia comes under - would continue to operate as a WPP-owned stand-alone regional agency.
Bates Asia is now being re-launched, seemingly with a different focus, if its new logo featuring grains of rice, the region's staple food, is anything to go by.
Bates Malaysia has taken this one step further, by complementing it with icons of nasi lemak to give a distinctly local flavour to the image.
At the back of Shukri's calling card are five tiny boxes lined up to feature each stage of the nasi lemak preparation process: the nasi lemak in a wooden steamer; the rice being spooned on to a wrapper; addition of condiments; the wrapper being folded; and finally the familiar pyramid-shaped packed product ready to be served.
"This, in five tiny boxes, is what Bates Malaysia is all about. We understand the importance of providing relevant and insightful work. We believe in addressing micro segments of a market instead of cloning a cure-all global solution.
"Our new positioning will appeal to clients who are looking for the best local solutions with strong, world class insight and communications skills.
Shukri was appointed chief executive officer of Bates Malaysia in January 2003, 16 months after he joined the company as director of client services. The office environment, with its emphatically Balinese resort feel, looks inviting.
"This is not my doing. It was already like this when I joined," Shukri pre-empts the question as he eases into a rattan armchair.
"My former superior felt that since we spend so much time in the office, it's only right that we make the environment as pleasant as possible. Furthermore, we are in the advertising industry: we are the creative people - we dare to be different."
That seems to be the central philosophy of this 45-year-old advertising man who has spent almost half his life servicing clients, starting with his days as an account executive with the then PTM Thompson Advertising Sdn Bhd.
Joining PTM Thompson-the country's biggest advertising agency then – was actually what he had hoped for when he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Mass Communications (majoring in advertising) from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in 1983.
PTM Thompson, he says, gave him very good exposure. He was in the team responsible for the re-design and relaunch of Malaysia Airlines' corporate image and logo. His brief also included Tourism Malaysia, Nestle Malaysia and McDonnell Douglas Inc.
Six years later, he moved to Bozell Sdn Bhd as senior account executive responsible for, among others, Shell Malaysia, MUI Bank, Sunkist Growers Inc and India's tourism board.
This time he stayed only a year, then moved on to McCann-Erickson – a company that employs some 6,000 people worldwide - and in the next 12 years worked his way up from account manager, account director, to senior account director and finally group director in charge of four account directors who collectively managed jobs worth over RM50 million in advertising expenditure.
His tasks then included developing market and communications strategies,
as well as designing and implementing programmes for clients.
Shukri apparently performed very well, for in 1995 he was described as a
rising star in the industry by Hong Kong-based MEDIA Magazine. He was
also in the 50-member McCann-Erickson Worldwide Chairman Circle, a scheme
which provided high potential employees with special recognition as well
as career attention and development.
It was not surprising, therefore, that the company would sponsor his
participation in Princeton University's Leadership Development Programme
in New York.
So why did he leave the company for Bates Malaysia?
"After 12 years, it wasn't challenging anymore. I didn't think I could achieve what I wanted to do if I continued with McCann.
"Don't get me wrong. I wasn't hard up for the chief executive's post. In fact, I joined Bates Malaysia as director of client services. I was simply no longer enjoying what I was doing (at McCann)."
However, memories of his time at McCann are fond ones, especially during the time when he was handling Levi Strauss (M) Sdn Bhd and Coca-Cola Far East Ltd, two of the agency's top accounts.
For Levi's, Shukri revived the "501" brand and so successful was the campaign that the client achieved its four-year targets within eight months of its new image launch. This was despite a ruling by RTM back in 1992 that didn't allow denim blue jeans to be promoted on national television.
"We wanted someone who was `universal', someone who had nationwide acceptance among all the races. We saw that in (singer) Zainal Abidin. He was our talent and we used his songs for the commercial. If you recall, Zainal was in black jeans.
"Following that commercial, Levi's 501 black jeans were selling like hot cakes."
It was not unexpected, then, that when he moved to Bates Malaysia, Levi Strauss asked to follow.
"I didn't ask them. In fact, I didn't broach the subject with them at all. They asked me."
As for Coca-Cola, Shukri was responsible for the company's international television ommercial in 1998, which was created for airing during the fasting month of Ramadan.
"We (McCann-Erickson Malaysia) were up against an advertising agency from United Arab Emirates for the job. I went to Istanbul and Jakarta while another team went to Cairo and Bahrain to research similarities among Muslims around the world in breaking fast. We then put together a commercial called Charity and presented it to Coca-Cola at its headquarters in Atlanta."
It was aired in 20 Islamic countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the UAE, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco.
In the commercial, a young boy and his mother go to an orphanage bearing gifts; the mother has with her a rug and a basket of food while the boy carries a bottle of Coca-Cola. The boy makes friends and plays football with some of the orphans. Later, the boy scampers back to the orphanage to break fast and share the Coca-Cola with his newfound friends.
The commercial ends with a tagline "Dengan Tulus Ikhlas. Pastinya Coca-Cola (Always in good spirit. Always Coca-Cola)".
Still, Shukri says he and his Malaysian colleagues are frequently viewed in somewhat less than good light by prospective international clients. "Some think that locals don't have the creative capability to bring a brand to the international level, especially those `in your face' type of clients. Most of the time, we just have to hang in there."
Shukri doesn't see anything special in the way he handles his clients. He doesn't practise what he calls the "conventional way" of taking care of clients; which is to say, he doesn't do pubs or karaokes.
"Mostly, I just meet them over lunch. I keep my relationship with clients at a professional level. There is this understanding between us."
His good looks could easily land him jobs as a "talent" and in fact he has turned down several offers. "I work better behind the scenes, not in one."
On his university days, he says it was a matter of elimination when it came to deciding on a major.
"There were four majors to choose from: journalism, broadcasting, public relations and advertising.
"I struck out journalism because my English wasn't that good. I didn't choose broadcasting because back then, there was only RTM and so the job prospects were limited. As for PR, I thought it was only for beautiful girls," he laughs.
"So that left advertising," says Shukri, who was nicknamed Panjang by college mates because of his 186cm frame.
Today, this Kampung Bukit Bayan Lepas lad is understood to be one of only two Malays heading an international advertising agency in Malaysia. The other is Khairudin Rahim of Lowe & Partners Sdn Bhd.
Shukri says Bates Malaysia is ready to move forward, having put behind it the takeover exercise.
"When I joined the company, we were facing SARs and the Iraq war. I was facing the same issues as other CEOs in the advertising industry but I also had to handle the uncertainties associated with the takeover.
"It wasn't easy but I was confident enough not to start exploring other options. People said I was on a sinking ship but I didn't bail out. None of my people bailed out on me too.
"Yes, we lost some business to companies within the WWP group but we're still OK," says the father of daughter Nauwar, 11, and son Ahmad Haikal, 8. His wife is University Malaya language lecturer Dr Kamila Ghazali.
In 2002, Bates was positioned sixth in Malaysia in terms of total revenue. With over 85 employees, Bates Malaysia offers a full service discipline covering integrated marketing communications programmes, strategic planning, account management, and creative, specialised design as well as production and media services.
When he joined the company, apart from Levi Strauss, he also landed Dockers Khakis, Parkson Corporation, F & N Sarsi and BenQ Marketing Services as clients.
"Our new corporate identity represents the new optimism and renewed focus on Malaysia." says Shukri. "Spread the word, we are here to stay."