brian takes time out from his hectic traveling schedule to join us in the pool for a bit.name: brian tiong
d.o.b: 27 oct 1970
what you do: new media evangelist
p: what's up, b?
b: since leaving mtv, the year has been crazy. good holidays, people and projects have turn up and being able to work on choice projects has been my luxury this year. it's all good!
p: tell us the b-side story?
b: banking -> internet startup -> own startup -> wireless heavy weight -> mtv -> b-side
p: are you the wireless evangelist?
b: ha ha... how did you find that out? that's quite a while ago. it's from my days in the wireless telecommunications industry. i have always been interested in new media from technology to marketing. back then I did quite a bit of the conferencing circuit and hence was known as such.
p: tell us about an interesting story at mtv?
b: 1 lump of shit (that was not used), 100 students, 1,000 rolls of toilet paper and 1 toilet bowl was used as part of a pitch and we landed the big moto account. well executed to the last detail. strategic & funny with results. just the way pitches should be... mtv style.
p: what about that gorilla project you did when you were at the mtv?
b: ha ha ha... it was more a guerilla than gorilla project. it was actually a mtvasia regional trade campaign to reward our trade partners. it just involved a gorilla (as you do).
this is one of my favourite campaigns for that year as it involved a well executed integrated campaign that raises awareness to mtvs programming.
we targeted 100 of our most valued trade partners and clients and surrounded them with non-traditional media and then sent them a hand delivered suitcase (with men in black suits) with a gift of communication that led them to a website which showed the new mtv programming of the coming year and ended with massive event with live performances in an awesome venue. mtv then blew the story large in a regional trade magazine as pr. the gorilla was just a stunt and a mascot, a bit of a joke really.
p: what is b-side?
b: b-side is a new marketing consultancy company that i set up early this year to help brands understand this new media space with how consumers are actively joining and/or forming their own communities to create, consume and share media. it's such an interesting space on the internet now. check out my blog on www.b-side.com.sg where i actively post interesting articles i find.
p: what has b-side done lately?
b: i just finished a project with tiger beer on their translate lifestyle platform. great working with the brand and agency team traveling the world showing people a good memorable time drinking tiger beer with emerging artists and musicians. that was the first project i took after mtv. it was a nice strategy / architect platform project. quite a few brands are heading that way these days. have a look at some of the clips that were produced for this project on www.myspace.com/briantiong. tiger worked with idn magazine on this project and you can actually buy the dvds for us30/-. i think they have actually sold a couple.
p: what is b-side looking to do next?
b: i've always said that it will be interesting to connect all the talented people i know to work on a collaborative project. something like an interactive animated series for your mobile devices. i'm getting closer to that goal and i'm actually working on framework of this right now with a small team.
i would like to also do a music project again. i'm a sucker for music-related projects.
p: what kind of brands do you like?
b: i like brands that think of their consumers first and are willing to be strategically adventurous. what I mean by that is that consumers are always looking for something interesting that breaks from the media clutter. i've always believed that if you take care of your consumers and customers, everything else would fall in place.
p: what's next?
b: have you seen the latest video on jenny the meat packer on youtube? killer.
p: leave us a few words of wisdom
b: discover, design, develop & deploy... i always say.
brian is the former head of marketing for mtvasia and a new media evangelist.
he has worked with various clients ranging from tiger beer, motorola, philips, msn, yahoo, nokia, palm, startv, universal music on various traditional & new media marketing initiatives & strategy.
these days, brian spends most of his time observing and exploring cool new media trends and community cultures to help brands understand people and their networks in order for them to innovate, strategise and transform their businesses to communicate effectively with their target audience in this fast changing new media space.
he is a part of a collective of creatives, strategists, brand architects & trend analysts with www.poolatwork.com and also writes for www.b-side.com.sg which is a new media marketing blog.
www.myspace.com/briantiong
www.b-side.com.sg