"Adam King" first appeared on my handphone and into my life as an unsolicited SMS that exhorted "Who is Adam King? Find out soon."

My calls to the mysterious handphone number were perpetually answered by voicemail. It started making more sense when I saw the many, many, print ads. My immediate reaction was to run a web search for the phrase "Adam King". The search failed to reveal any relevant results. Further effort revealed that the domain whoisadamking.com, and thisisadamking.com were not registered. A few days after the campaign launch, I registered the domains which became functional on 6th July.


Adam King is a fictional character created by Guinness to market their products in Asia. From the company's previous experience in Britain, Africa and Asia (the George Lam campaign in the 1980s), the embodiment of Guinness as a man could be incredibly powerful. See the following:

Who is Adam King? Adam King portrays Guinness values (The Star Malaysia) Guinness confident ad drive will boost sales (NSTP [google cache]) Nanyang Article (in Chinese) - Quite a comprehensive article that also details the press conference and events at Adam King's introduction to the media. Also, try the automatically translated to English version by Altavista Babelfish "Adam King is brave and the wisdom incarnation" Context All About Adam King Online (Adam King website, Malaysia) This is Adam King - Guinness (Adam King website, Hong Kong) Michael ...the power, the charm (THISDAYonline - About Michael Power, a fictional character created by Guinness to market their products in Africa)

Media coverage on whoisadamking.com This is not Adam King - News & Technology - CNETAsia "We urge members of the public to immediately cease accessing the whoisadamking website..." Will the real Adam King please stand up - The Star Online : Techcentral Subsequent reader feedback related to the article : Reader feedback : Take the Web seriously "it really makes one wonder why a company that is prepared to spend US$8mil (RM30.4mil) on a campaign would actually not have thought about registering the domain..." Reader feedback : Cheers and jeers "Much has already has been written about companies and their brands failing to embrace web marketing more stringently..." The Edge (Malaysia), a weekly business newspaper)  View scanned article, "A Royal Flush" The Edge (Singapore), a weekly business newspaper)  View scanned article, "The Man Who Would be King" Public opinions Guinness Adamant About Losing Its King (Andrew Pang on Promuda) Read a Malaysian college's course notes on this issue (Also includes scanned pictures of The Star newspaper articles) Google Groups (See top four links) Cyberita (in Bahasa Malaysia) "an insult to photojournalists..." "Well, the story is that GUINNESS spent a HUGE sum of money...but FAILED to register the www.whoisdamking.com domain for a mere sum of US$15 dollars! "

The domain attracted interest from the advertising industry and general public. It appears that people were guessing the URL or posting the URL on bulletin boards. People wrote in their personal online journals. Judging from my referrer logs, people find this site also by searching for "Adam King" on search engines.

What does this say? It shows that today's consumer is more tech savvy, capable, and sophisticated. They are not content to accept only what the media has to offer. They want more. They want an experience.

I feel that this campaign could have harnessed a web marketing plan to its advantage, to complement the print ads which are effective in generating awareness and creating interest. A website is an extension of your brand, and is one of the most accessible and cost-effective ways for consumers to interact with the brand and find out more.

Speaking in a wider context, it isn't too far fetched to mention that local agencies are not embracing the full potential of the web. Not many ad agencies have their own web presence set up and web work is usually subcontracted or given to designers more familiar with print media. Web design still seems to be regarded as the poorer cousin of advertising, when in truth, the two can complement each other. This ignorance must be addressed.

There is more to web marketing than banner ads, and websites created simply for the sake of having one. The following sites exemplify the potential of the web in terms of technology to market a product effectively.

Yes, there is a local official Adam King website, residing at a rather odd location, and now, closed. However, it appears to me as more of an afterthought, than what could have been an integral part of the campaign. There are careless mistakes, obvious to even a novice surfer, let alone a professional web designer.

Perhaps to communicate the importance of the web as a marketing tool, we need to speak to ad agencies in their language and in terms of the brand and the consumer.

"Guinness has in the past few years exalted the intelligence of its drinkers with its ad campaigns. In ignoring internet users, Saatchi and Saatchi and their client have seemingly shied away from those drinkers," - said Tim Yang, an authority on web business development.

It is surprising that the domains were not registered - even if it was to ensure that no one else would take it. In theory, anyone could have put anything on this site, even a spoof website which surely the brand guardians would have cringed at. A competitor could have taken ownership of this domain. This campaign was budgeted at US$8 million, and running in three key Asian markets - Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. The teaser ad campaign ran in various publications and other media throughout these three countries.

To put things in perspective, it would only cost $15, or RM60 to register a domain name. A high-end, interactive site would probably cost about RM10,000. It is easily affordable to spend a small amount for the domains, and have left over for ordering alternative domains such as iamadamking.com - which is quite standard practice, if not common sense.

This domain, and its ownership, stands as a testament to the fact that much more could have been done.

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Josh Lim
Designer
Josh.com.my

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