Pact on knowledge sharing
educate@thestar.com.my CREATING effective advertising is about understanding people to change their spending behaviour.
That is one of the philosophies adopted at Leo Burnett Malaysia and is what the advertising company wants to teach the Advertising Programme students at Xiamen University Malaysia.
The company’s chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Kien Eng says advertising students are not just learning how to create advertising.
“Your job is to understand people to change behaviour,” he told the first cohort of advertising students at the university during the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between Leo Burnett Malaysia and Xiamen University Malaysia on Tuesday.
“That is what we, as an organisation can bring to the table in this partnership - to share with you our knowledge in this area (understanding human emotions),” said Tan, who is also the CEO of Publicis One Malaysia.
“With all the work happening in our offices everyday, our people still have the time to contribute in what we believe is humankind.
“Humankind is our philosophy, it is our approach to produce great work for our clients,” he says.
Tan adds that it takes someone who understands empathy and psychology to create touching and effective advertising campaigns.
This is the first MoU to be signed between Leo Burnett Malaysia and a higher learning
institution.
He adds that in the past, the advertising company has had more “casual” collaborations with higher learning institutions.
The students, he adds, are not limited to opportunities with Leo Burnett.
He says that learning opportunities and input can also be obtained from the other agencies under Publicis One Malaysia.
The MoU was signed and exchanged between Tan and Xiamen University Malaysia assistant professor and programme coordinator of advertising Dr Wang Changsong.
“We believe that linking classrooms to real world experiences by connecting students to leading industry experts can guide them in terms of career and also entre-
preneurship (lessons),” says Dr Wang.
He adds that Xiamen University was the pioneer university in mainland China to offer courses in advertising in 1983.
Under this strategic collaboration, Leo Burnett Malaysia will be working closely with the university to inspire and further enhance the advertising students’ learning experience in their respective fields.
The MoU will see Leo Burnett Malaysia sharing real case studies, latest industry insights, guest lectures and training assistance for educational purposes.
There will also be internship opportunities for final year advertising students before their graduation as well as other areas of cooperation.