Hakuhodo and PHD Hong Kong retained as Kao's media buyers

PHD and Hakuhodo have been the media buying AOR for Kao's beauty care and household product brands for eight years. The pitch also involved Media Palette and MEC Hong Kong.

The pitch was for media buying only, as Kao uses Hakuhodo and Dentsu for creative and media planning In Hong Kong, with Hakuhodo working on its creative account for over 10 years.

The key product brands of Kao in Hong Kong are Bioré, Asience, Essential, Magic Clean, Curel and Laurier.

According to admanGo, Kao’s monitored media adspend in Hong Kong in 2011 was US$42 million (HK$325 million).

Winnie Lam, business director of Hakuhodo Hong Kong, told Campaign Asia-Pacific: “Finding new clients is not an easy task, but maintaining a long-term partnership with clients is even harder, hence our team are very pleased to continue to get the vote of confidence from the client.”

Lam pointed out that in Hong Kong's highly competitive and mature FMCG market, Kao competes with its Japanese FMCG rival Lion, as well as MNC giants such as P&G and Unilever, which have much larger media spending power.

Lam added that TV will still be the media-buying focus, supported by print and OOH. "However, as TV is getting more and more expensive, we will also be shifting our focus, using innovative social media and online touchpoints to reach our targeted audiences," she said.

Kao employs a number of celebrities from Japan and Taiwan as brand ambassadors, including popular Japanese TV host Aya Takashima (高島彩) for its Bioré ad campaign and singer Koh Shibasaki for Asience, while Taiwanese celebrity Vivien Hsu fronts its Essential Shampoo ad.