The much anticipated Time Out Penang (Branding)

Hello everyone!

I came to a realization that I did not specify exactly what the company I was interning at specializes in. Well, pardon me everyone! Mongoose Publishing Sdn Bhd is the publishing company that produces TimeOut KL, Esquire, Expatriate Lifestyle, The Circular, Golf Vacations and more. I bet one of the aforementioned magazines rings a bell. As a big publishing company, Mongoose Publishing deals with more than just getting the magazines ready for sales, they also have other significant tasks of ensuring that their brand name is known and certainly remembered, therefore they are basically aiming at making a strong connection with the audience by constantly creating a person to person relationship with their clients. Mongoose communicates with integrity to increase awareness and loyalty towards their brands and those that appear with them.

One huge project I was involved in during my internship period was the soon to be launched annual Time Out Penang Magazine. Time Out Penang will be an insider’s guide for Penang 2011/2012. In summary, this magazine will feature all that there is to know about Penang from health, tourism, education, entertainment, to lifestyle and all the like. I have learnt a great deal while doing branding. To start with, as a communication person, I had to do make phone calls to all sorts of people, the easy-going and the kind that will just tell you they are not interested before you even finish introducing yourself. As a PR person, I had to learn to be patient and remember to keep my cool all the time. While more often than not language was a barrier, communication skills are very vital. I had to know what to say in order to keep the conversations flowing or else I would end up frustrated at the fact that someone hanged up on me. At times I had to speak broken English to break it down for the person on the other side of the line. I have learnt that Branding means communicating with the various clients much more in person as compared to PR where a single message can be sent out to reach masses of audiences.

While branding I had to repeatedly communicate my brand identity to single out Mongoose Publishing from the rest in order to convince the clients that they are at the right place. This however, was very boring yet worth the discomfort. Before sending out emails and making calls, I had to be very careful and focused in defining the target market, hence strengthening the effectiveness of the company’s brand. Defining the target audience is very significant in branding. I emailed Time Out Penang Media kit to clients/potential to give them an insight of what the magazines will look like, keeping in mind that the company image is all about the appearance of their packaging.

I also had a chance to attend a meeting with a potential advertiser whereby I was given the mandate to explain to her what advertising in Time Out Penang would do for her company, it was not only fun, it tested my communication skills and confidence as well! One ought to have confidence in selling their company if they want to win their potential clients.