SINGAPORE (TodayOnLine), October 27, 2007:
Here is a man dressed in what even my plebeian eyes can tell is an expensive, made-to-measure suit, and he's going on about his weekly visits to - guess what - the wet market.
I stare at Mr Tham Khai Wor, immaculate in his navy-blue suit with visible hand-stitching, a white shirt, a brown leather belt and matching brown-leather shoes. This big name in the local marketing scene (and I mean, advertising) haggling with sweaty bodies in flip-flops over fish and newspaper-wrapped greens?
"It's a good time to reminisce and relax," says the 63-year-old, waxing nostalgic about checking out what people eat at wet markets, especially the one at Smith Street now temporarily located at Outram Park. Or going there to buy ingredients for the soups that he, a Cantonese, likes to slow-cook over a charcoal fire.
Time has been on Mr Tham's side since he left his employer of 33 years, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), in April 2005.
As the respected strategist behind well over $600 million of annual print ad revenue for the company, relinquishing those heavy responsibilities allowed him to start strolling to life's slower tempo.
That means, to the envy of those for whom a meal in the morning is a luxury, Mr Tham enjoys a hearty breakfast daily. Such as the plain porridge with several small dishes, prepared Teochew-style, by his maid this morning. It also means holidaying overseas more frequently and when he's home, reserving Wednesdays and Fridays for golf with friends.
On the other three weekdays, he is running Saltus Consulting, a two-person outfit advising companies, such as AIA, Cycle and Carriage and SC Global, on marketing and press relations. "Saltus", the Latin word for "quantum leap", denotes the ambitions of Mr Tham's business. It also aptly describes the way this one-time management assistant scaled the SPH corporate ladder to become senior executive vice-president.
One of his greatest achievements as the media giant, many say, was his successful 1980s merger of the sales teams for the company's various products. He rode out the initial difficulties through strong leadership, says an ex-colleague.
He was also strict and systematic about the way his team operated. The no-nonsense boss would convene a so-called "prayer session" each morning to hear updates from the various heads of sales, says an ex-employee.
Grooming was another must. Leading by example, Mr Tham was known to wash his face just before entering another meeting, so that he always looked fresh. He was also seen going for regular facials.
A former staff member recalls: "Everything was for the client." The veteran salesman was famous in the schmoozing scene for tirelessly entertaining advertisers and PR folks into the night, even after back-to-back meetings.
These days, Mr Tham goes to bed around midnight but still requires no more than five hours of sleep. And he continues to view the world through marketing lenses. He tells me about how promotional tactics must change according to geography, because a person in, say, Toa Payoh, would change his attire and demeanour upon hitting Orchard Road.
By zooming in on niche interests, this approach of "segmented advertising" is a way to catch the eye of the "over-reached" Singaporean bombarded by all kinds of ads everywhere. 7-Eleven is an example: The whiskies sold in the chain's Club Street outlet are different from the ones in Little India. Mr Tham assures me that he has studied the stocks in both places. I assure him I'm a believer. After all, this is the man who is reputed to have remembered the first name of every major advertising client.
I ask if he thinks Singapore's print market would experience another wave of consolidation. After Streats, an SPH freesheet, merged with MediaCorp's Today in January 2005, what are the chances of Today merging with SPH's flagship daily, The Straits Times (ST)? Mr Tham, who oversaw Streats' development from day one, smiles and politely declines to comment.
Okay, what about the oft-touted possibility of newspapers becoming irrelevant on two counts: Consumers (and by extension, advertisers) are increasingly opting for TV and the Internet, and last year, the increase in ad dollars was, for the first time in many years, not as fast as that of the Singapore economy? In other words, advertisers remain a tad cautious about spending despite upbeat economic data.
He replies that it is normal for ad revenue growth to play catch-up. Businesses tend to hold back ad dollars until they see a clear recovery of consumer sentiment, which in itself lags behind hard economic numbers.
"When the heart takes over the head, people end up overspending and that gives advertisers the confidence to spend more. That's when there's a catch-up."
As for newspapers, they will remain relevant because people will always want in-depth commentaries and analyses. In fact, he believes the fight for ad dollars between old and new media need not be a zero-sum game. The revenue pie would grow, not stagnate, if businesses cotton on to the efficacy of zooming in on consumer niches.
Shrewd Mr Tham has returned, yet again during the hour-long interview, to "segmented advertising". Keen to pitch for a company that roped him in as adviser for its recently-launched ad-monitoring system, he calls for someone to fetch some samples. I get a brief on how the product works plus PowerPoint print-outs of marketing info. Then it's back to the personal scrutiny.
So why did he quit SPH just before the retirement age of 62, leaving his post to Mr Leslie Fong, the editor-at-large of ST at the time? "I could've stayed on, but when is the right time? Always leave on a positive footing," Mr Tham replies. Plus, after over three decades in one place, it was high time to "test" his abilities without the backing of a huge organisation.
So it wouldn't be right to call it "retirement", a word he dislikes. The "outdated", "colonial" term, he says, conjures up images of someone who, upon finishing his overseas assignment, returns home to some country house and begins living on a pension.
This marketing stalwart is different. "I have not expired like a credit card," laughs Mr Tham. He merely chose to "move when the going is good". And while he's looking good, too.
Christie Loh
Copyright: MediaCorp
