Many Malaysians will be familiar with the PETRONAS advertisement that has tugged our heartstrings during festive seasons. It captured the essence of Malaysian culture when the nation was harmonious. But little did we know that the creative mind behind this awe-inspiring concept is none other than the advertisement giant – Leo Burnett.

On April 5th students of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology uncovered the talents behind such advertisements that spoke the notion of humankind.

“Creativity has the power to transform human behavior,” explained Leo Burnett (Malaysia/Singapore) CEO Tan Kien Eng who held students enthralled with his talk entitled “The Marketing Side of Advertisements’.

Organized by the Faculty of Business Management and Globalization, the talk saw hundreds of students eager to learn from his experience.

Kien Eng explained that advertising is just not about selling products but about changing perception of humankind. To illustrate his point, he played the Earth Hour television commercial produced by Leo Burnett global.

“People ask if Earth Hour is important. But that shouldn’t be the question. This is about changing people’s behavior, so even one hour counts,” he said.

Earth Hour is one of the many influential campaigns created by Leo Burnett for WWF. The campaign has been running since 2007 and has raised awareness about climate change globally. According to statistics, each year the campaign makes a difference as millions of people across the world joins in effort to switch off non-essential lights for an hour.

Advertising with purpose

In his talk, Kien Eng stressed that the human element is increasingly becoming the driver of “purpose based strategies” when companies are exploring how best to brand their products.

“We call it the human lens. Brands with purpose attract more than just consumers. They attract believers,” he said.

The advertising industry today cannot afford to brand their products only for monetary value, he added. Companies are only able to sustain in the market if they position their products with significance to change people’s mindset. A series of television commercials were shown to the students to help them see what he meant.

The McDonald’s Breakfast 2010 campaign showed that beyond the yellow round yolks dropping from the eggs were a group of Malays, Chinese and Indians enjoying the dawn of a new day with their new breakfast sets.

“Our aim was to change the typical Malaysian concept of breakfast- nasi lemak and roti canai, to a healthier option,” he explained.

A roadmap to creativity

Kien Eng was the Jury President of the 14th Asia Pacific Advertising Festival (ADFEST) in Thailand, a festival to celebrate the best creative advertisements in Asia Pacific region. He shared his experience of the ADFEST with students and highlighted the techniques of the creative adverts that won awards.

“When I was asked to come here, I felt it was a great opportunity to give my take on advertising to the new generation.”

The talk ended with much enthusiasm as Kien awarded limited edition Leo Burnett pencils and books to the students who asked best questions on advertising during the talk.