"Vietnam is the "new China". Intense, dynamic, optimistic, with an appetite for progress. It is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, and where the advertising industry is still young"...What you do with your business card can be a gross insult to your host and misreading body language is easily done. Robin Hicks offers some tips for working in Asia. When Publicis made the final of the global Singapore Airlines pitch earlier this year, it was a genuine shock!

Never mind that it happened three years ago. When the network's former Asia-Pacific chairman Guillaume Levy-Lambert wrote an open letter to the Singapore Airlines chief executive in The Straits Times, inviting him to meet to "share some exciting and wonderful business ideas", it was a public embarrassment for the airline.

The letter suggested the airline was mistaken for working with Batey, its agency of 30 years. The boss of Asia's classiest brand lost face - in front of a national audience - and industry gossip suggests Publicis got so far this summer because the client wanted to raise its hopes, bleed its resources, then snatch the business away at the death.

The face issue regularly trips up the unwary in Asia. So does an
attitude of knowing better, Mike Amour, the Asia-Pacific chairman of
Grey, says: "If you come here to 'show them a thing or two', you won't last. Locals often regard expensive expats with suspicion."

Expats too often come across as overly domineering, even when they don't mean to be, Charles Wigley, the chairman of Bartle Bogle Hegarty Singapore, says: "Don't behave like a bull in a china shop. Talk less, listen more. You have to coax more out of people here. Asians are naturally less forthcoming (unless you're in India!)."

Business in Asia is built around relationships, Wigley says. "And
relationships take time. A quick trip to 'fix' a relationship by someone the client is never likely to see again won't work."

This applies to creative standards. In the UK, the quality of the work
will often dictate the quality of the relationship. "In Asia, the
reverse is true," Wigley says. "And remember that classic UK advertising is the anomaly, not the norm," he adds. "The whole world is not in thrall to CDP's early output."

SINGAPORE

Conspiracy theorists reckon Singapore is an experiment to see if the West can live in peace with the Chinese. If true, it seems to be
working. The squeaky-clean city-state has become a popular regional hub for Western agencies and clients.

Westernised and cosmopolitan it may be, but it's a common mistake to expect business as usual. The similarities are simply gift-wrapping, Dan Paris, the managing director of TBWA\Tequila Singapore, says. "The locals use the expression 'chicken and duck talk': you may speak the
same language, but not understand one another."

Singapore's ethnic Chinese majority can be more traditional than their ancestors, and etiquette is key. "Business cards should be presented with two hands, preferably from a card wallet, not the wallet you've been sitting on," Kim Walker, the Asia president of M&C Saatchi, advises. "The card is a symbol of self-respect, not a toothpick or something with which to brush biscuit crumbs from the meeting table."

The city-state may have a reputation for its strange laws, such as those on chewing gum and failing to flush the toilet, but most are myths. "We laugh at our image of totalitarian strictness," Jeffrey Seah, the chief executive of MindShare Singapore, says. "We are a safe, clean, prosperous country in which you're not allowed to do things that, in truth, you really shouldn't."

INDONESIA

Corruption and protectionism weigh heavily on Indonesia. But a
population of 220 million and an ad economy growing at 15 per cent a
year were good reasons for WPP's chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, to
tip the country as a market to watch (along with Vietnam and Pakistan)
when he jetted into Jakarta this summer.

Biofuels, tobacco and banking are making local companies appealing to
agencies. But meetings with local clients can be tricky for Westerners,
an agency head warns. "The chances are you'll be made to wait," he says.
"It's a show of power. Don't look disgruntled - they won't apologise.
Apologise that you don't speak Bahasa, and ask whether they mind
speaking English. And go easy on the vocab. Too many Brits speak as they
would back home. Indonesians will not let on that they don't understand.
Ideally, have a local colleague with you to reiterate every point in
Bahasa.

"Never give a business card with your left hand. It's considered
extremely rude. And come prepared for the most uncensored nightlife in
Asia," he adds, referring to a five-story Jakartan nightclub with a
hotel on top called Stadium. It opens on Thursdays and doesn't close
until Sunday afternoons.

THAILAND

Since the coup last year, Thailand has become a noticeably less smiley
country. The economy has gone flat and Thailand's best creative agencies
are losing people to better-paid industries. But Thais are reluctant to
discuss the country's problems openly with foreigners. After all, here
is a country that has never been colonised, a culture unchanged for
2,000 years and one not used to outside influences, Shilpa Swaroop, the
chief operating officer of Grey Thailand, says.

Face is a big issue, as Alex Thompson, who moved there to run Kinetic
Asia- Pacific, has discovered. "One of my staff wanted to resign to take
a better job. But because he didn't want me to lose face, he made up a
story about taking over his ailing father's toy-making factory," he
says. "We then had a Python-esque debate on marketing toys in Southern
Thailand. When the truth came out, I don't think either of us could have
been more embarrassed."

Thailand is the most warm, ingratiating country imaginable, Andre Nair,
the chief strategy officer of JWT Asia- Pacific, says. "But remember
that even if your best friend is Thai, you speak the language or share a
girlfriend, you will always be farang (foreigner)."

JAPAN

If Thailand is the toughest nut to crack culturally, then Japan, Asia's
largest ad market, feels the most alien (closely followed by
neighbouring Korea).

"Japan is dangerous because you instantly fall in love with it. The
people, the food, everything is so wonderful," Daryl Arnold, the chief
executive of Profero, says. "But you can get carried away and be blind
to the issues."

The Japanese hate confrontation, which includes problems likely to cause
embarrassment, he warns. "You could have a working relationship which is
treading water and, before you know it, it's gone pear-shaped. If you
don't deal with problems early on, the implications will quickly
magnify, you will lose a lot of money and the Japanese will want you to
walk away."

Japan is Asia's most extreme market for business-card etiquette,
Michelle Kristula-Green, the Asia-Pacific president of Leo Burnett,
says. "If you drop it on the floor and step on it, you're stepping on
the person. It's hard to remember people's names, so line name cards in
front of you in the order of the people you've met."

Rank is important, too. "When entertaining, the seat of honour should
face the door, and the most senior seated in descending order of rank.
In meetings, the people sat quietly at the back are most likely to be
the bosses," she says.

CHINA

Nowhere in Asia is in more of a hurry to develop than China. David Shaw
is the Asia-Pacific brand marketing director at Lenovo, which stunned
the West when it bought a chunk of IBM in 2004. He says: "Everything the
West has gone through goes through a compressed cycle here. There is no
place for the slow burn of building brand relationships. So don't be
surprised if clients change agencies every few years."

China's progress has emboldened it. "Gone is the 'West is best'
mentality. The Chinese don't think well of foreigners who believe they
have something to teach them," Shu Fen Goh, the principal of the pitch
intermediary R3, says.

And never talk politics. "The Chinese tend to talk about the good, not
the bad - at least in public," Goh adds. "Don't think it's clever to
bring up, say, the Mattel toys scandal, because they probably won't know
you know about it. It will only cause embarrassment."

Business may be done at a loud volume, but humility and values always
come first. Yan Gang, the boss of Citic, WPP's former joint venture
partner, accused Sorrell of having "no manners, no upbringing and no
culture", before severing ties last year.

VIETNAM

Vietnam is the "new China". Intense, dynamic, optimistic, with an
appetite for progress. It is one of the fastest-growing economies in
Asia, and where the advertising industry is still young.

Sabyasachi Mishra, the managing director of Lowe Vietnam, has worked in
India, Thailand and Vietnam. He notes: "The Vietnamese show a stronger
desire to learn than any Asian culture. I've noticed locals working
closely with foreigners have a slightly superior standing to those who
are not."

He adds: "Vietnamese are inventive, tenacious and extremely hardworking.
A campaign that would take eight months in the UK can be done in three
here. But be careful with assertiveness. Don't push your point of view
too hard, especially to local clients. Passion is seen as
pushiness."

A lot happens in pitches in Vietnam that goes beyond verbal
communication. "Watch out for body language and how the locals interact
with one another," Mishra notes. "Smiles and nodding don't necessarily
signal approval."

And eagerness to learn is one thing. "But if you think you have real
sway over the locals, you'll be mistaken," he concludes. "Vietnamese
agencies have very high staff turnover rates. There's no sense in giving
people a reason to leave by being a bully."

INDIA

There is a palpable swagger about the streets of Mumbai as the world's
largest democracy grows in stature. The ad market is booming, talent is
no longer inexpensive and property prices would frighten a Londoner.

Business is done in a similar fashion to the UK: direct and
straightforward. But not as fast, Sam Balsara, the chairman of Madison
Communications, notes. "We are yet to fully understand the value of
time. If you have an appointment for 10.00, don't be surprised if it
becomes 10.30. Payment deadlines are not treated as sacrosanct - a few
days or weeks here or there, no big deal. But we are hardworking and
will deliver, no matter what."

Kristula-Green adds: "Indians are smart and like to show how smart they
are. Things rarely happen without adequate discussion and
intellectualisation of the issues."

This means meetings are often long affairs, sometimes without
conclusion. "Don't expect instructions to be followed religiously,"
Balsara says. "To win favour, you must appeal to our hearts as well as
our minds."

(Source: Media)