Milk+Co sees great value in helping SMEs

ADVERTISING agency Milk + Co, formerly known as DDB International, sees great value in helping small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with their branding.

While it is certainly not an immediate money-making endeavour, it is something that brings benefits over the long-term, managing director Neal Estavillo said in a recent interview.

"This is not a I'm-going-to-make-money-today kind of exercise for us. It's more of a I'm-going-to-help-make-you-famous exercise ... the money will come in later when the work produces results," he remarked.

Milk + Co, he said, wants to work with more SMEs and is willing to invest time and effort to help these companies understand how to brand themselves.

This is an agency that wants to grow with the SMEs, he said.

Milk + Co's typical clients, however, comprise multinationals and big local companies.

"What we want to do is also work with SMEs. SMEs are the future face of Malaysia, and so they really need to brand themselves well and this is an opportunity we see," he said.

It has become increasingly important for SMEs to brand themselves as they expand outside of Malaysia in search of growth, he noted.

"Most of them know this, but just don't know how to go about doing it. This is where we can come in to help them," he said.

He cited a client, Heng Hiap, a Malaysian SME in the recycling business, as an example.

Heng Hiap, he said, is trying to conquer the world market with a globally-appealing model for plastics recycling.

While it has the technical know-how, it however required help from the agency to learn about branding and marketing.

"So we're helping them. They don't need to invest a lot of money (for this)," Estavillo said.

Milk + Co's biggest clients today include multinationals such as Exxon Mobil, F&N and Volkswagen.

Newly-acquired local clients include Goldis Bhd and cosmoceutical company EIG.