If you live in the Klang Valley and you use RapidKL buses to travel, you won't miss seeing the video ads from Asia Media TV. The current economic situation is forcing companies to find alternatives ways to advertise their product. With advertisers reducing their spending, companies like Asia Media seems to be benefiting from the current recession.

Comm & Tech Asia finds out more about this company and the people behind it in our interview with the CEO of Asia Media TV, Dato' Ricky Wong (second pict. below). 

Q: Tell us more about yourself? Maybe a little bit of your personal background?

A: I have an accounting and finance background from Lancaster University in UK. When I came back to Malaysia, I joined a manufacturing company that deals with optical fibre and cable. Here I was given the opportunity to fully utilize my potential and go up the ranks. I’ve always been interested in media, and when I discovered this amazing under-utilized media that was fast picking up in the US and Hong Kong, the entrepreneur in me saw an opportunity that should not be missed, hence the establishment of Asia Media in 2007. That has kept me productively busy the past few years. But personally, I’m no different from anyone else, and I enjoy doing regular things like reading, travelling and meeting up with people who share my passion and interests.

Q: How was Asia Media TV started? Is Asia Media TV the largest Transit-TV network in Malaysia?

A: Asia Media TV is our flagship product at the moment as our biggest business is in Transit-TV. I was inspired by this out-of-home digital advertising media during my stay in London. I knew there was an opportunity to expand this in Malaysia and I am very proud to say that in just under two years, we have formed a strong network in the Klang Valley, together with our business partner RapidKL, Handal Indah’s Causeway Links, Plusliner and Nice+, where we have installed over 3,175 LCD screens in over 1,391 buses. This Transit-TV network is by far the largest and the only one in Malaysia, and this has been endorsed by the Malaysian Book of Records.

Q: How does Asia Media TV work? How do you get the content up and was it easy to get Malaysian companies to advertise, since Asia Media TV is something new?

A: Ours is a powerful Transit-TV network that reaches out to more than 500,000 bus riders each day from a sought-after demographics of people aged between 16 – 34 years old, comprising of students, young executives and migrant workers, all with retail  and spending power.

The advantage to this medium as compared to the conventional media is that it provides a captive audience, meaning you can’t switch it off, turn the channel or fast forward. The effectiveness is proven as the messages repeated are remembered better. I believe this was the draw to advertisers in using this medium, together with the fact that it only cost as low as 5% of the budget for traditional media.

This is especially important right now, as more and more companies want their ad dollars to go further. Although we are new and Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising only captures a small piece of the ADEX pie, there is a vast potential to grow. In terms of content, we work closely with many government agencies and NGOs to help them in their public service announcements, whilst at the same time providing entertainment content as fillers throughout the day. We plan to make announcements throughout the year as we build partnerships with content providers.

Q: Last checked, Asia Media TV is targeted to more than 1 million commuters daily. How much has it grown so far and how much are you expecting these numbers to grow this year?

A: According to daily tickets sold by the bus companies, we reach more than 500,000 commuters a day. In an independent research report commissioned by TNS in December 2006, there are 1.24 million unique commuters taking RapidKL buses and these figures have expanded significantly as there were only 250,000 commuters a day two years ago.

With the improvements in the public transportation system in Malaysia and with new buses put on the road all the time, I believe more people have started using public transport more, and I foresee that this number will increase and never decrease.

Additionally, we are aiming to expand the reach of Asia Media TV network into other states other than the current market centres of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor Bharu. This will increase the viewership of our network.

Q: How do you specifically target these large audiences? Is it effective?

A: Asia Media TV is a medium that provides what a lot of media cannot provide – a Large Captive audience. By Captive, I mean an hour daily of undisturbed attention time. Commuters spend about an hour in the buses to get them to and from destinations. The channel keeps them informed about the latest information and entertains them throughout their journey, which is the most uneventful time in the day they have.

People today are always on the go and their daily lives are saturated with advertising messages that they have learned to tune off, which is why it is important to hit them when they’re on the go, or where they can’t switch off or flip the page. When they are in the bus, most times they are more open to the messages that they receive through our channel. And from our experience, they remember the ads - especially unique ones much better. 

To capture the interest of the masses, the messages have to be creative, and it would help if advertisers use an interactive platform to get the results they want. We are able to provide the content based on our expertise to advertisers who are unsure.

Q: Advertisers would love to see results. Do you have plans to deploy Near Field Communication (NFC) or QR Code in these ads, similar to Cost Per Action (CPA) or any other ways that allows the audience to response to the ad.

A: By operating in city buses plying the roads around Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor Bahru. We have captured more than half of the significant retail markets in Malaysia. Any product managers and business owners will tell you that most of their products and services are sold in these market centers. Some of them may depend on these markets only.

Asia Media TV is able to closely relate the advertising and infomercials that commuters see during their journey and translate them into Call for Action when they depart from the buses into any of the retail outlets where the buses stop.

Advertising and infomercials are repeated several times a day in between programs to ensure maximum reach and recall rates to all demographics. Commuters are able to recall, unaided, up to 80% of the ads they have seen as far as 2 months ago. These data is very convincing as to the power of the media.

Q: Do you believe that content can be free if ads are delivered together with it? What is Asia Media doing about this? Are you buying contents or are you sharing the revenue of the advertising with the content owners?

A: Asia Media TV is running on an advertisement driven model similar to many Free-to-Air broadcast stations.

Even though we have captive audience environment and have two 19” widescreen installed in each bus with full audio visual coverage placed in an strategic locations within the buses, we strongly believe in investing in quality contents.

We operate in a similar fashion to many broadcast stations as we have content acquisition departments.  Commuters are entertained via various genres of content, from documentaries, music videos, latest entertainment updates, drama and blockbuster movies. These contents are sourced locally and internationally from independent producers to international broadcast stations.

Q: Can you share your future plans for Asia Media TV? How do you plan to expand and what does it take (to expand)?

A: We plan to continue expanding our Transit-TV network across Malaysia, and to also take our expertise beyond Malaysia to countries such as Dubai, London and India as there is a huge untapped market there. We will also venture into other transit media such as ambient transit media. We will be making an announcement on this expansion within the quarter.

Q: How do you see the OOH digital advertising industry in Malaysia during the coming years? With the global economy in a downturn, can it cause the digital advertising industry to slow down in Malaysia?

A: On the contrary, I believe there is an upward growth of OOH digital advertising around the world, and Malaysia is no exception to the trend. This is especially true with the current economic downturn where marketers and advertisers have a smaller ad budget to use, and so each dollar has to go much further.

People are spending more and more time out of home and OOH Digital advertising is the new black as some would say, as it provides a relevant and current platform to reach out to present-day consumers. It is very cost-effective.