Creative Advertising: Sunday Communications LimitedBusiness situation of SundayWhen Sunday was launched, the market was not at all favorable to it. Hong Kong was a very mature market. There were already six mobile operators competing very fiercely in this small market. They offered different prices and services to customers. When mobile number portability was introduced in March 1999, competition for subscribers became open to all players. Under these circumstances, Sunday successfully entered the market with an innovative approach to branding and promotion. It was positioned as a lifestyle brand and focused on building the brand rather than seeking to increase market share. Sunday has become a remarkable brand with a high level of awareness, which translates into high ARPU and a high proportion of blocked subscribers. When it comes to customers, 86% of the population owns one or more mobile phones in Hong Kong. They were willing to spend money on their next mobile phone and were pioneers or early adopters of the latest high-tech gadgets. They are very open to new brands and technologies. Additionally, they give more importance to the appearance of the handset than customers in other Asian countries. In addition, more and more young people own a cell phone. More than a quarter (29%) of children aged six to fifteen own a cell phone, which is higher than the regional average of 12%. Hong Kong consumers are very informed decision-makers, so brand and image become very important to them. Sunday's communications objectives Despite its success, Sunday only represented 9.8% of the market in 2000 and 8.3% in 2005. Although the total number of subscribers continued to increase year after year, the average revenue per user has been declining since 2001. Their aggressive branding strategies including eye-catching advertisements, alliance marketing, and joint promotions were very effective initially, but became stale and commonplace as many imitators followed. Therefore, Sunday must find ways to maintain its innovative and independent brand image, increase its market share and number of subscribers, and maintain its loyal subscribers. Sources of Sunday's Brand Equity and Their Importance Brand equity is the added value a given brand name gives to a product beyond the functional benefits provided. For Sunday, several factors contributed to building its strong brand equity, such as the creativity and originality of advertisements, the ability to break taboos and make noise. Innovative, independent and unconventional images also helped build Sunday.