Hammering it home

Malaysian Business, Jan 16, 2008 by Yvonne Chong

HARMANDAR Singh, affectionately called `Ham' (of the halal kind, he assures), is one of the most well-known figures in the local advertising and communications scene. For the nearly three decades he has been in the industry, Ham has not only made waves, he has transformed it.

From the nation's first and still most authoritative advertising trade magazine Adoi and its first trade directory, to writing about the ad world as a newspaper columnist under the pen-name Sledgehammer, to organising advertising and communications events and workshops, the mark of this enterprising turbaned-guy is evident everywhere in the industry.

`If not for Ham, the local advertising industry would not be what it is today,' surmises another ad veteran, Shahar Noor.

Ham's entry into the ad world was not planned. Rather, he stumbled upon it. A friend and confidante, Malkeet Singh, then a copywriter with Ogilvy & Mather, convinced him to dabble in copywriting. Upon completion of an eight-month diploma course in marketing at a local college, Ham went job hunting but found that no one wanted to hire a man with a `funny hat' on his head. Finally, he secured a job in McCann-Erickson because they thought he was Malkeet Singh. `It was a case of mistaken identity!' he says, laughing.

`I joined McCann as a creative trainee, which basically meant you made coffee, ran errands, set up the film projector and slowly learned the ropes. I used to hang around the rooms of the copywriters and art directors and offer my two cents' worth! Suddenly I noticed that some of my ramblings started to appear as (ad) headlines in the newspapers,' he reminisces.

Ham believed he had the ability to write and started concentrating on the possibility of elevating himself to the post of junior copywriter. He moved up the ranks and in 1987 became McCann's deputy creative director. Subsequently, he joined Idris Associates, then the largest local ad agency. A year later, he became a freelancer.

`Sometimes I used to shuttle back and forth from six to seven agencies a day, so much so I even contemplated getting myself a van to operate from and calling it a "Hamobile"!' he says.

A year later, he formed advertising consultancy Sledghammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd. This was soon followed by the opening of a school, Sledghammer Institute, offering courses In copywriting and account management.

The inspiration to start a school came from DDB founder and advertising legend Bill Bernbach. `I'm a big fan of Bill Bernbach. He's my biggest guru. My local guru is (4As') Datuk Vincent Lee, of course,' Ham quips.

To Ham, who finds teaching very gratifying, the school was a dream come true. His greatest achievement, he feels, was to see a student do well, to carve a niche in his or her career.

`I had a student who won the best of the best - the Golden Kancil award for a radio commercial. She was so excited and when she came up and hugged me, I had tears in my eyes. I can truly say I was the happiest person in the world. I live for moments like this.'

Unfortunately, the school only ran for three years.

`I only had one programme - Diploma in Advertising. It was accredited and all that, but I didn't get many students. I only got 17 students in the first year and 11 in the second. It didn't have the volume. I have the knowledge and experience but I didn't have the big pockets to make it work. I can only do so much. But I'm proud to say all my students have done very well,' he says.

What Ham is most well-known for is Adoi, the first Malaysian advertising trade magazine, launched in 1997, and largely recognised as the authority in its coverage of the advertising and communications industry. The magazine was credible from day one because Ham was an ad man himself with 14 years full-time experience.

Adoi is currently published in the Malaysian and Indonesian editions, both in English. There are some contents that are regional but generally they are country-specific editions.

The magazine's circulation is about 8,000 in Indonesia and about 6,000 in Malaysia. Sledgehammer also conducts some 25 events and workshops a year in Malaysia and Indonesia and organises trade events in Vietnam and industry award shows in Indonesia.

Ham says Sledgehammer used to have an office in Martin Road, Singapore. Adoi Singapore was the first independent advertising magazine in the island republic. The business ran for five years but folded some three years ago.

`We are revenue-driven and need advertising support to survive. Unfortunately, Singapore is too small a market for that,' he explains.

Ham was also responsible for materialising an idea many people had but never put to practice - publishing a trade directory for the industry. Everyone laughed at the name - the Malaysian Advertising Trade Directory or MAD for short - when it first came out, `but it's now imprinted on their minds,' Ham quips. MAD is now in its 15th year.

Ouch! It's a tough world

A TRIANGULAR roadwork sign showing a turbaned road-digger with the caption `HAM AT WORK!' greets visitors to the office of Sledgehammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd. Malaysian Business popped by one day to chat with the `Ham' of Sledgehammer, Harmandar Singh - a witty outspoken man with a wry sense of humour. Excerpts of the meeting: