Hong Kong client Visa International and Hong Kong Disneyland recently announced an alliance that marks one of Asia’s largest integrated marketing partnerships.

An extension of the 10-year global alliance between Disney and Visa, it positions Visa as the official card of Hong Kong Disneyland, which opens on September 12, 2005. This offers numerous benefits for Visa’s member banks, merchants and cardholders. Prior to the announcement, GolinHarris tackled the media strategies, key messages, press materials, Q&As, media invitations and pitching.

For the announcement, held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre and "starring" representatives from both companies, including Mickey Mouse, consultants held run-throughs, attended to the media and handled one-on-one interviews for Visa spokespersons with the South China Morning Post and Reuters.

The results of the announcement include over 30 media stories of the event and strong positioning of Visa as the international payment card leader.

The skincare brand Natural Beauty was facing the challenge of being seen as old-fashioned and outdated. They appointed GolinHarris in Shanghai to develop a campaign that would ultimately portray the brand as 1) a sophisticated and stylish product, and 2) a specialist skin care brand.

In response, GH in Shanghai arranged a series of media events, the most recent one carrying the theme "Has your face Tai Chi today?" This theme helped to convey the key message of the "art of balance," meaning that both your face and body require balance. This also demonstrated the benefits of Yam, a key ingredient found in Natural Beauty products.

Components of the event included a theatrical performance that conveyed the concept of contrast and balance: angel vs. demon, black vs. white, and Chinese vs. Western. Following this climax, the Natural Beauty television commercial was shown.

To further enhance the health and image benefits of Yam, drinks and finger foods made with Yam were served at the event.

An important aspect of the re-branding was establishing Natural Beauty as a professional player in the skincare industry. GH helped further the professional representation of the product by advising Natural Beauty’s senior beautician on professional speaking and image.

Dr Zhang, a famous Taiwanese dermatologist, was invited by GH to speak at the launch and endorse the benefits of Yam to human skin. This is the first time in Shanghai a dermatologist has spoken and endorsed a product like this at a media launch.

DaimlerChrysler, a key client for GolinHarris in Thailand, keeps the account team particularly busy during the annual Bangkok Motor Show. The Motor Show is a major event on the Bangkok calendar; this year more than 1.6 million Thais visited the 10-day show. Apart from the general public flocking to the show, it attracts hundreds of Thai reporters for the special media opening day.

As part of their brief, the GolinHarris team were required to be on deck at the DaimlerChrysler stand on opening day and then be based at the Motor Show for its duration, in order to respond to media queries.

As DaimlerChrysler is also the distributor of Mercedes-Benz cars, the leading prestige brand in Thailand, the GolinHarris team handled the separate launch of the "Silver Star Exhibition" at the Motor Show. This involved a display of six classic Mercedes-Benz cars, marking the 100th anniversary of the brand in Thailand. The cars ranged from a replica of the first Mercedes-Benz of 1886 to a 1950s Mercedes. Three hundred cars in total were flown in especially from Stuttgart, Germany, home of Mercedes-Benz. To further complicate the mix, Jutta Benz, great-granddaughter of the founder of Mercedes-Benz, was on hand to open the exhibition, and both motoring media and lifestyle media were vying for her time.

The GolinHarris team were therefore juggling media enquiries for DaimlerChrysler, Mercedes Benz and Jutta Benz—all at once!

But, as expected, all ran smoothly. The total number of clips for DaimlerChrysler from the motor show totaled 320. Estimated advertising value was in excess of 60 million baht, or US$1.5 million.

Capping a busy spring for Visa International, the Hong Kong office of GolinHarris played a key role in Visa’s recent title sponsorship of the Visa Dynasty Cup. The tournament is Asia’s answer to the Ryder Cup golf tournament, pitting the top players from Japan against the top players from the rest of Asia.

GH provided speech and media relations support for Visa, in particular Visa’s head of Greater China and the Philippines, Jim Allhusen.

The Visa Dynasty Cup is quickly becoming the crown jewel of the Asian golf calendar, showcasing Asia’s top golfers and providing fierce competition for players and spectators alike.

The 2005 tournament—held at the world’s largest golf complex, beautiful Mission Hills in Shenzhen—concluded with the Asian team successfully defending its title against a Japanese squad that was bent on revenge for its shock defeat in 2003.

TEFAL, a French cookware brand from Groupe-SEB, had been in the Taiwan market for over a year, yet had limited brand exposure. In March 2005, the Taipei office of GolinHarris arranged a workshop for TEFAL’s first official introduction to the Taiwan media. The goal was to help TEFAL build up consumer awareness of its product features and brand name.

GH invited "A-Zhe," an award-winning young chef, to demonstrate the ease of using TEFAL cookware. "A-Zhe" cooked a variety of Chinese and Western cuisine, including French crepes, oyster omelets, noodles wrapped in egg, and pan-fried fish for reporters to sample.

The workshop attracted plenty of media attention. A "self-experiencing" area was set up to let reporters test TEFAL product features: "Thermo-Spot" and "Non-Stick Coating." A total of 33 reporters attended the event. The resulting 46 media hits, including ten TV clips, provided consumers an excellent introduction of the company. Sales in Taiwan continue to rise following the media workshop.