Page 94 - myanmar

SPOTLIGHT ON
The challenge now for local brands
in Myanmar is different; many have benefited from a lack of competition for both shelf space and consumer loyalty and now must defend their position. They have the advantage, though, of serving consumers who are deeply patriotic, not in a flag-waving way but
in a way that honors the way things have been done by their parents and grandparents.
“They’re proud of their identity and don’t want to jump on the expressway to uber-modernization. It’s about finding a balance,” Macfarlane says.
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
Of course, Macfarlane’s time in Myanmar wasn’t all a bowl of noodles. “Sometimes the road would flood and you couldn’t get home, or you’d be in a meeting and the electricity would go out,” he says.
“Working in Myanmar challenges
you every single day. There are tons
of challenges and questions, and thinking about how to overcome them means every day you’re involved in the execution of strategy. Sometimes in the
West you prepare your PowerPoint and feel a bit removed from it, but here, one day you are in a teashop in small village talking to young people about the beer they drink. The next, you’re with a start- up in Yangon thinking about how to launch mobile banking.”
“There is an optimism, thoughtfulness and sense of opportunity in Myanmar that you cannot find anywhere else”
One of his more unusual tasks was to star in an ad for a local whiskey brand; he had just the ‘Scottish-looking’ face the brand needed, so duly sipped with satisfaction for the cameras. “I soon discovered Myanmar whiskey ads don’t use apple juice,” Macfarlane says. “They also involve a huge number of takes, and a production assistant kept running on stage to top up my glass. I left the studio ready for my new life as a Myanmar celebrity, but struggling to walk straight.”
Macfarlane is now senior director
at WPP research consultancy Penn Schoen Berland, and manages election campaigns around the world. He draws on the skills and understandings gained on his Myanmar adventure daily. “It was a life-changing experience,” he says. “I learnt a tremendous amount from the people that I worked alongside – there is an optimism, thoughtfulness and sense of opportunity in Myanmar that you cannot find anywhere else. Their thoughtfulness, patience and very deliberate way of living is something I keep with me.
“I found it a very reflective experience living in Myanmar. It was a wonderful adventure, and the uniqueness of
the Fellowship is that you come out
as someone with seriously wide experience of communications; I had
a year in digital strategy, a year in a developing market and a year in political communications and research. There are lots of situations I find now where I can draw on that wealth of experience. When you finish the Fellowship, you realize how it all ties together.”
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