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ISSUE 242 FEBRUARY 2020

HATCHING A NEW WAY IN DATA-DRIVEN CONTENT SOLUTIONS

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ISSUE 242// FEBRUARY 2020

A NEW LENS, A NEW PARADIGM & A REVOLUTIONARY WAY

COVER STORY

Regional CEO Professor Harmandar Singh ham@adoimagazine.com Business Development Managers Jarrod Sunil Solomon jarrod@adoimagazine.com Sandesh Singh sandesh@adoimagazine.com

EDITOR'S NOTE

A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Content Officer Vasuki Rao vasuki@adoimagazine.com Art Director / Designer Chemical Ali ali@adoimagazine.com

CHINESE NEW YEAR TVC's

TOP 20 MALAYSIAN CHINESE NEW YEAR TVC’s 2020 Over the years we have found that our coverage and polling of the Best CNY TVCs, Best Merdeka TVCs and Best Raya TVCs have had growing success and traction...

Designer Lilna Marlina lilna@adoimagazine.com

Events & Workshops Ruby Lim ruby@adoimagazine.com Web & Digital: Nurul Amira Ibrahim

ASTRO WINNING PARTNERSHIP SERIES

amira@adoimagazine.com Photography & Digital Imaging DL Studio No 7, Jalan PJU 3/50, Sunway Damansara 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor D.E. Malaysia Tel +603 7880 6380 / 6386, Email: studiodl@pd.jaring.my Roving Photographer: Mccain Goh Printer: Cetakrapi Sdn Bhd 22, Jalan Kepong, Taman Sri Ehsan, 52100 Kuala Lumpur Distribution: Spear Millennium Distribution Sdn Bhd E-1-5, Apartment AC4, Taman Sri Sentosa, Batu 6, Jalan Kelang Lama, 58000 Kuala Lumpur MPH Distributors Sdn Bhd (5048-A) Ground Floor, Warehouse, Bangunan TH No. 5, Jalan Bersatu, Section 13/4 46200 Petaling Jaya Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

03 MAA GLOBES AWARDS 2019

04 08

MARKETING magazine is published by Sledgehammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd 22B, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad Satu, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: 603-7726 2588 Fax: 603-7722 5712 www.marketingmagazine.com.my © All Rights Reserved By: Sledgehammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd (289967-W) No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without prior permission in writing from the publisher. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions and/ or for any consequences of reliance upon information in this publication. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher or editor. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertisers.

MARKETING magazine is available across 200 selected bookstores in the Klang Valley.

MALAYSIAN AGENCIES STAMP THE GLOBE WITH GOLD AND SILVER WINS Two Malaysian agencies, FCB Malaysia and Edelman Malaysia have made a mark in the global marketing industry by winning three awards at the 33rd Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide 2019 GLOBES. FCB Malaysia was awarded a Gold Award for the Best Entertainment Campaign in the World and a Silver Award in the Best Marketing Discipline Campaign Category for their multi-award winning...

MARCH 2020

Closing Date

ISSUE242FEBRUARY2020

A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

EDITOR’S NOTE

HOW CAN A “CHILD, INDEED ANY HUMAN BEING, BE ILLEGITIMATE?! ”

SHARAAD C. KUTTAN, SENIOR ANCHOR AT ASTRO AWANI TV TWEETED IN RESPONSE TO THE FEDERAL COURT’S RULING THAT A MUSLIM ILLEGITIMATE CHILD (CONCEIVED OUT OF WEDLOCK) CANNOT BEAR HIS FATHER’S NAME AND INSTEAD MUST USE “BIN ABDULLAH”.

THE COVID-19 “SITUATION IN

MALAYSIA AND THE CLUSTER OF CASES CURRENTLY UNDER CONTAINMENT DID NOT AMOUNT TO AN OUTBREAK.

”

ONCE upon a time, turban legend has it that a junior writer was hired in a case of mistaken identity by an international ad agency. It was actually a tale of two turbans. And his first day of work was equally amusing: April 1. His ploy was finally “exposed” at an industry creative awards show some months later when his boss who did a double-take as the other turban, also a copywriter from a different agency, walked over to offer his congratulations. But it was too late, as the sheepish villain in the case of mistaken identity had already won over 20 awards that night. And his boss was equally puzzled. Plus he was already on his second bottle of Dewar’s (no ice), and simply accepted the fact that no two turbans can be alike. Not long after that, the boss of another top agency called this copywriter for an “interview” at the Long Bar of the Royal Selangor Club. There was much drinking and very little interviewing. But around 10.30pm this boss, who had a booming and boisterous voice, huddled his buddies into close proximity and told them about this “fancy” new writer sitting with them. Then came the actual interview. He fished out his cigarette lighter from his deep pocket and slapped it down on the bar counter. He

then glared at the copywriter and hollered, “I want you to give me a headline for this lighter. It has to say it is the best lighter, that it’s number one and a leader brand.”

DATUK DR NOOR HISHAM ABDULLAH, DIRECTORGENERAL OF HEALTH IN MALAYSIA’S MINISTRY OF HEALTH ON 17.02.2020

Then came the clincher: “I want a ONE-WORD headline!” he thundered. Suddenly, all eyes were on the copywriter, by which time this included all the men at the bar. And a few other agency heads. The copywriter hesitated for about 23 seconds, and then said… MATCHLESS! Everyone sobered instantly, the copywriter left the bar, and the prospective employer raced after him. Good shit happens.

“ANDTAKEPUTTWOTHEMIDEAS

TOGETHER TO MAKE ONE NEW IDEA. AFTER ALL, WHAT IS A SNUGGIE BUT A MUTATION OF A BLANKET AND A ROBE?

”

JIM KUKRAL, AUTHOR OF ATTENTION!

ISSUE242FEBRUARY2020

MAA GLOBES AWARDS 2019

MALAYSIAN AGENCIES STAMP THE GLOBE WITH GOLD AND SILVER WINS

FCB GROUP WON GOLD AND SILVER AWARDS FOR IT’S ‘E-MYPADANG CAMPAIGN’

Best Entertainment Campaign Gold

FCB Group

e-MYPADANG. Malaysia's First e-Sports grooming Programme

Beiersdorf Malaysia

e-MYPADANG. Malaysia's First e-Sports grooming Programme

Beiersdorf Malaysia

Best Marketing Discipline Campaign Silver

FCB Group

Best Cause, Charity Marketing or Public Sector Campaign Silver EDELMAN WON THESILVER AWARDS FOR IT’S ‘SENSORY PHOTOGRAPHY TWO Malaysian agencies, CAMPAIGN’

FCB Malaysia and Edelman Malaysia have made a mark in the global marketing industry by winning three awards at the 33rd Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide 2019 GLOBES. FCB Malaysia was awarded a Gold Award for the Best Entertainment Campaign in the World and a Silver Award in the Best Marketing Discipline Campaign Category for their multi-award winning e-MYpadang Campaign for Nivea Men. Nivea men’s original and long-running e-MYpadang is widely considered as Malaysia’s most effective & successful football sports marketing campaign. For this iteration, FCB Malaysia was tasked to create a wider

audience, maximising brand reach and engagement A tie-in with EA Sport’s FIFA Online 3 moved the playing fields from physical to digital. e-MYpadang could now provide a content rich environment to engage players with the Nivea Brand. The e-MYpadang campaign included locationbased banners & responsive messaging, action videos, gaming tips and tricks, interactions with top e-gamers and on-ground competitions and skin care workshops, generating unprecedented brand growth and market share. It is also Malaysia’s first e-Sports grooming programme. When asked about the campaign’s success, Shaun Tay Co-owner and CEO of FCB Malaysia highlighted his

Edelman

Sensory Photography

agency’s prowess in creating long term creative platforms. “The strength of a concept should be measured by its longevity and ability to consistently evolve with its audience,” he said. For Edelman Malaysia on the other hand, what started in 2019 as a social brand purpose initiative with DL Studio in the form of Sensory Photography platform - an initiative envisioned to empower the visually impaired, with the opportunity to learn a new life skill - has won a Silver award for the category of Best Cause, Charity Marketing or Public Sector Campaign. This is another first for Malaysia in the category of Social Do Good. Commenting on the win, Mazuin Zin, MD Edelman

Malaysia shared that Edelman continues to believe people trust a brand, when it walks the talk on its brand purpose. “We have only DL Studio and Malaysia Association of Blind to thank for giving us this opportunity,” Mazuin said. “The work that roared at Dragons of Asia has now made Malaysia proud on one of the most respected stages and we are truly humbled by this global applause.” The prestigious MAA GLOBES continues to remain the elite results driven global award programme backed by the revered Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide. The award represents best in class results oriented work from across the world which would have won at various

Malaysia Blind Association

regional stages, like the prestigious Dragons of Asia for APAC region. As per WARC the MAA Worldwide GLOBES are positioned alongside prestigious global effectiveness awards, such as the Cannes Lions, the IPA Effectiveness Awards, the Dragons of Asia and the Effie. And what makes the award unique is the judging process of each entry is separately judged and scored by four different juries. And the winning campaign needs to reflect the highest industry standards of strategic relevance, originality, creative execution and effectiveness. For more information, visit https://www. maawglobes.com.

ISSUE243FEB2020

COVER STORY

Astro’s team at a 2018 Sales Incentive Trip in Hokkaido, Japan

A NEW LENS, A NEW PARADIGM AND A REVOLUTIONARY WAY Marketing has finally come face-to-face with media and all its possibilities. What’s the differentiator that can spell more opportunity, scalability and traction? As with the times, Astro has been on a mediatech curve for sometime now, leading the way in content and datadriven solutions. Finally, after years in embryonic stage Astro has given birth to a fitting way to help marketers optimise the way they look at media. A new lens, a new paradigm and a revolutionary way of manifesting the power of their platforms. Astro’s team at an offsite sales conference held in Port Dickson

IT is called Astro Media Solutions. No, it’s not a one-stop media centre; that will be too cliche and truthfully, too limiting a term to explain this approach. Instead, it’s more like a totally market-driven team that works from the outside-in, and not the other way round. Gone are the days of rate card presentations, and templated solutions; now it is about customised strategies, hand-crafted by media marksmen looking from the outside in. Big family photo during this year’s CNY celebrations at Astro HQ

What’s on the table? The efficacy of Astro’s television, radio and digital platforms is a given. But the thinking that Astro Media Solutions (AMS) brings to the table is aimed at pivoting the solution from transaction based to performance based. This is a team that embodies the understanding that the magic lies not in the process, but in the thinking. The differentiator is here, get ready for this riveting story as we take you behind the scenes

ISSUE242FEBRUARY2020

SPEED AND EFFECTIVENESS IS IN OUR DNA

Astro bagged 4 awards including a GOLD with Flavettes Malaysia, CUCKOO & Herbal Essences at the 2019 Dragons of Malaysia & Asia Marketing Awards

to unveil Astro Media Solutions and shift your thinking to a new way of working. Befitting a new decade…. Astro has been a Malaysian household name for more than two decades. For most of us, it was the first introduction to satellite television (TV) and the sentiments tied to Astro are of family time at the end of a long day and excitedly waiting for the premiere of a movie you couldn’t catch in the cinema. Now imagine a few more Hallmark movie scenes and you’ll get the idea of what Astro started out as. However, the sheer competition for eyeballs in today’s digitised world means attention is a valuable resource. In a world of distracted consumers, attention could no longer be bought through classic media placement. Authenticity is the new norm and this is where Astro Media Solutions plays a pivotal role. Astro Media Solutions is led by Wong See Wei as Director; Jeyapuvan Somasundram overseeing SME and regional business; Kristine Ong overseeing agency business; Norfuziana Ahamed overseeing heartland Malays; Nicholas Teh overseeing new initiatives and partnerships; and Vadivel Rajhamanickam [Padi] Padmanabhan overseeing automation, media data and research. So what exactly is Astro Media Solutions? According to the newly formed power-team leading the entity, the best way to describe Astro Media Solutions is akin to a private kitchen that creates bespoke dishes based on each of its diner’s dietary preferences and needs; using a team of professional chefs each with their own culinary expertise.

Given the acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in recent times, we are undoubtedly seeing a boom in the number of companies that deliver personalized solutions to their customers. So much so that it seems every new startup is promising data-driven, digital solutions. A different ball game With most of the global digital platforms announcing the killing of 3rd party cookies, Astro is well positioned as a first-party data owner, able to customize solutions to address client’s communication challenges, within the bounds PDPA. With strong take-ups of Syok and Astro GO, their view of the customer gets better, facilitates personalisation and further enriches our customer-profiles. Any marketer knows that there is great power in consumer data, even more when it represents a wide range of audiences from all over the country. A cadre of experts Back to the power of thinking; Astro’s analysis of the data collected goes beyond just the statistics. The team they have put together consists of experts with extensive experience in understanding consumer behaviour based on quantitative findings. Besides extracting precise data, Astro Media Solutions also delivers creative content via its best channel mix, tapping onto the strength of Astro’s ecosystem which offers market-leading reach and engagement with Malaysian consumers. Currently, Astro TV serves 5.7 million consumers with 76%

household penetration; Astro Radio hosts 16.9 million weekly listeners across 11 radio brands and its digital platforms have 13 million unique viewers monthly across more than 25 digital brands. “Speed and effectiveness is in our DNA,” says Director of Astro Media Solutions, Wong See Wei. “Our team’s agility allows us to have fast turnaround periods for our client’s campaigns and we’re constantly looking for ways to reach the targeted consumers more effectively.” By combining their evaluation of both consumer data and the client’s business challenge before creating a storytelling narrative, Astro Media Solutions creates magic and delivers results. A portfolio of success So far, this approach has proven to work for clients who have partnered with Astro. Farm Fresh Milk Malaysia was looking to educate and create awareness for consumers on their brand values and promise. For the first time, the brand collaborated with Gegar Vaganza by extending the reality singing competition to a massive outdoor concert – Picnic In The Farm. With a huge star-studded line-up for over 600 fans, the partnership saw retail sales increase of 20%-25%. Another successful partnership was with Oldtown White Coffee (OTWC) which produced a web-series, ‘DUA’, via one of Astro’s digital platforms, Gempak. By blending insights with creative content supported by a strong media platform, the web series tapped into Malay Milliennials’s love for entertainment, gossip and celebrities while creatively

integrating OTWC into its storyline. The partnership helped solve OTWC, a local previously Chinese-centric coffee beverage brand’s challenge, of winning over new consumers in the Malay Millennial market. This campaign won the team ‘Gold’ for Best Use of Branded Content at the 2019 Malaysia Media Awards. Astro boasts a long list of winning-partnerships and case studies prove that it is a result of effective and creative marketing solutions driven by data insights. The process of consolidating Astro’s platforms has had some challenges. “Our biggest challenge internally and externally would be changing people’s mindset from being platform-centric to solutioncentric,” adds See Wei. The individuals who lead Astro Media Solutions constantly remind their team to prioritise selling solutions rather than airtime or platforms. Once the team creates the right engaging content for specific target audience, only then does the process of figuring out media distribution and delivery across Astro’s multiple platform take place. Understanding Malaysia’s nuances Astro’s approach of fully capitalising on its strength to offer a rich content slate is a masterstroke, as it resonates with a diverse marketplace such as Malaysia that is home to consumers from different regions and of multiple ethnicities and cultures. Having a large footprint across Malaysia meant that

Astro staff members working on creative solutions during a team building session

Astro must serve diverse communities nationwide. As the largest producer of local content in Malaysia, they are in a strong position to understand what these communities want and use the knowledge to help clients develop strategies and solutions that addresses their need. “Our customers watch about four hours of content daily on average, of which three hours are spent on local vernacular content. With Astro producing over 13,000 hours of local content annually, we are confident of sustaining our strong reach and engagement with Malaysians which underpins our clients’ successes.” says See Wei. In for the long haul At the heart of Astro Media Solutions is the 300-strong talents designed to deliver consumer-driven marketing solutions. The battle for consumer’s attention has never been greater and technology has revolutionised the consumer journey. The antidote to drowning in a sea of content is finding the right team members with different expertise and unique perspectives. And when they share the same passion in driving value to a client’s business, then you have an absolute dream team. Together with their trade partners, the vibrant and powerful team which makes up Astro Media Solutions is more ready than ever to lead the journey to winning campaigns and more importantly, winning customers. The question is, are marketers ready for the ride?

“We are a media ecosystem that has access to all Malaysians - from the oldest to the youngest.”

ISSUE242FEBRUARY2020

“AMS enables us to unlock maximum value of our top rated IPs COVER STORY across mediums and make these solutions available to our clients. We also see great potential in Astro Awani, the most trusted news source. Trust and reach are very sought-after criteria by advertisers, and these are what we promise to deliver.”

Wong See Wei Director of Astro Media Solutions (AMS)

Nicholas Teh Head of Sales (Malay & News) Astro Media Solutions (AMS)

“Authenticity is key to creating engagement and consumers are drawn to genuine stories and conversations across multi platforms. Coupled with insights and data, we are creating an ecosystem that is always learning, always improving. Our aim is to be constantly adaptive, agile and quick to market.

Kristine Ong Vice President of Astro Media Solutions (AMS)

“SMEs are a significant driver of the Malaysian economy. At AMS, we recognise the value of providing SMEs with customised solutions to deliver their message to intended audiences with our unparalleled reach to Malaysians through our multiplatforms, including activation and talents.” Jeyapuvan Somasundram Vice President of Astro Media Solutions (AMS)

“With growth in the Malay population, Astro’s understanding on their psychography and demography is becoming increasingly important. Our influence in the Malay market allows us to continuously target this segment through a multiplatform approach.” Norfuziana Ahamed Vice President of Astro Media Solutions (AMS)

As an Audience-First media sales organisation with first party data, AMS is well positioned to deliver creativity, contextuality, customisation and targeting with our ability to aggregate audiences across all platforms and devices. Vadivel Rajhamanickam Padmanabhan (Padi) Vice President of Astro Media Solutions (AMS)

ISSUE242FEBRUARY2020

ASTRO WINNING PARTNERSHIP SERIES

2019 Silver l Non-Food FMCG Campaign | APPIES Awards 2019 Bronze | Best Entertainment Campaign | Dragons of Malaysia Awards

OVERVIEW While famous for its heritage as a natural sensorial product range, Herbal Essences registered low awareness level amongst Millennials. Astro tapped onto Thinker Studios to craft a ‘Life at Thinker’ episode series, featuring a connected story that revolved around its members. Their focus: to recall their little joys in life when using Herbal Essences. To make the narrative real, pure, and relatable, it follows the creative process of ‘producing the project’. Notably, the product is always on display – either in physical form or as a source of inspiration. Awareness of Herbal Essences among Millennials was at an alltime low, although the number of people surveyed for the brand’s audience category who revealed that they are willing to pay for premium products, was high. Both Herbal Essences and Astro learned that the challenge in capturing a wider audience is the highly fragmented marketplace. Through research, it was discovered that this is especially true among Malaynials as they are more prone to be resistant towards mass advertising because they crave genuine engagement. The objective of the partnership was to plan and execute a campaign that will improve brand equity and grow product demand by 10 percent. This also includes increasing consumer engagement and conversion by 20 percent at the end of this campaign. STRATEGY Astro knew what the Millennials respond to – content that is not just engaging, but also relatable, real, and pure. They must be engaged with strong visuals, acknowledge

THE ESSENCE OF JOY

the plot as relatable, and act on the call-to-action prompts. Astro’s existing strong penetration within the Malaynials, both on-air and online platforms made it suitable for a partnership with Herbal Essences. Astro’s various platforms also contributed to the campaign’s expansion and tied in well with Herbal Essence’s need to educate audiences about the strong affinity the brand has with all-natural ingredients. Using the approach of associating the shampoo product to a positive emotion (joy), was unique and deviated from the

norm in shampoo marketing. The strategy for execution was to use a simple, straightforward storytelling with visual, application, and senses cues, which became a campaign featuring real conversations with authentic reactions and pure joy. The campaign would also feature stories of personal reflections by celebrating the little things in life that are often taken for granted. Astro and Thinker Studios intertwined each episode with Herbal Essences natural and sensorial efficacy. The campaign was called Sharing the Essence of Little Joys in Life.

RESULTS

• Increased brand awareness for Herbal Essences

• Reach over 1.4 million views organically • Campaign reached high awareness among males at 42% and females at 58%, aged between 18 to 24 year-olds, as well as males at 53% and females at 47% for aged 25 to 34 year-olds through Thinker Studios’ platform. • Grew the brand by 2X off take, in comparison to the previous year. • Increase in Herbal Essences’ market share soared past 20% after the campaign went live.

TOP 20 MALAYSIAN CHINESE NEW YEAR TVCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2020

Over the years we have found that our coverage and polling of the Best CNY TVCs, Best Merdeka TVCs and Best Raya TVCs have had growing success and traction. Our respondents have grown from a few hundred to over a thousand in recent years. This year, 1137 respondents participated in our readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s online poll for their favourite CNY (Chinese New Year) TVCs of the Year. Poll respondents were not allowed to vote for their own and only votes from office email addresses were counted. while cheeky duplicates were weeded out. Rest assured this was a robust process and the winners chosen are truly deserving. The following are the 20 winners who will receive a framed Winners Certificates for their achievements and the final rankings are announced on February 21 at https://marketingmagazine.com.my.

ISSUE242FEBRUARY2020

HERE ARE THE WINNERS IN ALPHABE

AIA The Ong-ly Way to Prosper

AirAsia The Boy & The Lion

Celcom Axiata A Time for All

Digi Telecommunications Home

Etiqa Little Popo

Gamuda Giving Hope, Receiving Joy {施比受更有福}

Maxis The Most Unforgettable Chinese New Year 忆起过年

Maybank “Reunion”

Perodua Annual Rush Rush

20.02.202

BETICAL ORDER…….

Daikin Malaysia The Twins 龙凤胎

Grab HUATever you want, Grab got!

Hong Leong Bank The Grown Ups’ Table

Petronas 寶被 “Bao Bei”

Prudential Malaysia Every gift becomes a blessing when you do something about it

TOP 20 CHINESE COVER STORY NEW YEAR TVC’s 2020

THE TOP 20

Coway 小小期盼 – Tiny Prayer

ISSUE242FEBRUARY2020

TOP 20 CHINESE NEW YEAR TVC’s 2020

marketingmagazine.com.my

RHB Group Heart Baker

SP Setia The Many Celebrations

Taylor’s Education Group Prosperity Starts With Education

Tenaga Nasional Berhad #RealityNotVirtual

Watsons Malaysia Happy Beautiful Year!

过靓年, 我最潮!

CONTENT PARTNER:

ISSUE242FEBRUARY2020

ASTRO WINNING PARTNERSHIP SERIES

REPACKAGING BEAUTY FROM THE INSIDE OUT 2019 Gold | Best Product Launch or Re-Launch Campaign | Dragons of Malaysia Awards 2019 Bronze | Best Product Launch or Re-Launch Campaign | Dragons of Asia Awards

OVERVIEW Flavettes, famous for its Vitamin C offerings, carried out a relaunch campaign that turned around one of its products from being a complete unknown to something that everyone wants. It even directly affected the Adult Vitamin C category, forcing it to expand its market consumption capacity. While Flavettes Effervescent Glow launched in 2017, it didn’t capture the target audience’s attention. This is partially due to how the brand is only known for its Vitamin C line. This became the motivating factor to relaunch the product with focus on beauty and wellness. Flavettes Effervescent Glow had to contend with low product awareness and compete with wellestablished health supplements brands. The new approach had to be different – one that primary market players did not consider. Instead of immunity, Flavettes and Astro highlighted aspects of Flavettes Effervescent Glow that help improve skin health and youthfulness. STRATEGY Having two highly related

needs that were not main considerations for healthcare products, Flavettes was able to re-target the product’s main audience - women, specifically Malay women (aged 25 to 40) as they command the bigger share of voice for beauty and emotional benefits. As Duopharma and Astro developed this new and radical approach, they came up with a two-part plan that went beyond just addressing the customer’s healthcare and well-being needs. First, ASTRO brought to life the Flavettes Effervescent Glow tagline – Champion Inner Beauty, Outer Glow (Kejelitaan Terserlah). This was done using product placement and endorsement through drama sponsorship. As a follow-up, ASTRO then organised the first-ever ‘Flavettes Glowing Star Search’. The Flavettes Glowing Star Search is the primary platform for contestants to showcase their talents and potential as the new brand ambassador for Flavettes Effervescent Glow. To ensure this role resonates with women in Malaysia, the team made sure audiences can quickly and easily recall Flavettes. The entire process was carried out in two stages.

The first was through a TV drama sponsorship. The show that ASTRO identified as having the highest women audience was Megadrama’s ‘Lafazkan Kalimah Cintamu’. With a recorded viewership of 7.2 million, Astro had the product strategically placed and used in all 32 episodes. This includes moments when popular characters in the show consumed the product. Occasionally, characters from the show also made recommendations for the product and highlighted its benefits. The second approach was more direct – a social media campaign focusing on natural beauty. This took place after drama sponsorship wrapped up. The campaign was executed in the form of a competition, requiring participants to post a selfie on social media and craft a creative caption about Flavettes Effervescent Glow. As the approach was simple and relatable, it managed to capture more than 600 entries. Flavettes’ brand ambassador search also added on the hype as it tapped into beauty related platforms to drive marketing awareness. This included cross-

promoting on Astro’s InTrend magazine portal and being featured on Astro’s TV and social network properties via shoutouts. The campaign also engaged popular talk-shows such as MeleTOP and Motif Viral. As there was a public voting phase, the event felt immersive from the get-go. 20 qualified semi-finalists from the first round were narrowed down to five

finalists based on votes. The five finalists showcased their talents and how they plan represent and convey the brand essence of Flavettes Effervescent Glow, in front of a panel of judges. The winner became the new brand ambassador for the product and signed on Flavettes a one-year contract with Flavettes.

RESULTS

• The easy-to-relate campaign and ambassador search was highly receptive with its target audience. The major achievements were a stronger brand voice and a first place position in the marketplace.

• Flavettes Effervescent became the top brand in the Adult Vitamin C category by 48% in volume share and 107% in value for MAT. • Flavettes Effervescent overtook its direct competitors and became the market leader in Volume and Value. • Flavettes Effervescent Glow recorded high doubledigit growth in the Vitamin C category. • Overall brand recognition received a huge boost as the campaign generated 2.9 million impressions, attracting new consumers as well.

ISSUE242FEBRUARY2020

ASTRO WINNING PARTNERSHIP SERIES

MAHARAJA OF COMEDY MEETS CRUNCHY KING OVERVIEW School holidays spelled trouble for KFC because their Malay loyalists would travel out for staycations, foregoing their preferred KFCs in favour of the laksa in Penang and nasi ganja in Ipoh. With their customers’ eating patterns changing during the holidays, KFC had a huge task ahead - to compete with the travelling culture and regain product relevance among the Malays, their main target audience. STRATEGY AND EXECUTION Both Astro and KFC identified that regardless of travel plans, there are two things that their main target audience reacted positively to all year round: a good sense of humor and entertaining and hilarious content. KFC wanted their fried chicken to be the loyal companion for its consumers as they enjoyed themselves. The campaign capitalized on the pinnacle of comedy in Malaysia : MaharajaLawakMega, the highest rated comedy show and a raging phenomenon with Malays, by launching right in the middle of school holidays. Astro spun off various assets of MaharajaLawakMega such as the comedians, content nuggets, episodes, sketches and seamlessly weaved KFC into them. ‘EPISODES’ MADE BETTER WITH FRIED CHICKEN Fried chicken became the star of the show with comedians integrating KFC into their comedy sketches. Chicken jokes stormed the media with entertaining episodes across TV and digital. ‘MOVIE AND DRAMA SCENES’ MADE BETTER WITH FRIED CHICKEN The MaharajaLawakMega comedians took original scenes from 2018′s top Malay dramas & peppered it with a Chicken & Comedy twist. Releasing these

2019 Silver | Best Use of Branded Content | Malaysia Media Awards 2019 Silver | Best Integrated Media Campaign | Malaysia Media Awards

parodies on social media unleashed a barrage of conversations. ‘COMEDIAN GOSSIP INTERVIEWS’ MADE BETTER WITH FRIED CHICKEN Gossip being integral to Malay content, a ‘KFCPartyLounge’ was built for comedians to dish out juicy gossip, while feasting on KFC’s juicy chicken! These nuggets were amplified via social & video buys and vignettes on TV. ‘RADIO COMEDY SKETCHES’ MADE

BETTER WITH FRIED CHICKEN On radio, listeners were entertained with audio comedy sketches, all ending with fried chicken as the star. ‘IN STORE PRANKS’ MADE BETTER WITH FRIED CHICKEN In KFC stores, LawakMega comedians disguised themselves as KFC employees and entertained customers with their pranks and rewarding them with free chicken. Videos of the pranks were released online, creating plenty of brand mentions.

RESULTS

• Top of mind with Malays increased by 13%.

• Brand share grew +18%, higher than its strongest competitor. • TV content reached 5.6 million Malays, with an average of 11 million reach weekly on social media. • The social media video content was viewed over 1.6 million times, with average view rates 5.3x higher than benchmarks

CALL FOR ENTRIES Agencies Of The Year

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Best Presenter

MARCH 2020

Closing Date

Online Submission: https://appieawards.awardsengine.com

MARKETING CAMPAIGNS AWARDS 10 April • 8.30am -10.00pm • http://appies.com.my

ISSUE242FEBRUARY2020

THIS ARE YOUR JUDGES FOR APPI

Andrew Pinto Head of Marketing Mudah.my Sdn Bhd

Ben Foo Group CMO Taylor’s University

Ben Mahmud Head of Strategy & Business Development, Downstream Marketing PETRONAS

Bernard Lee Head, Marketing Services Digi Telecommunications

Fernie Jasmine Abdul Ghani Head of Group Marketing & Branding Axiata Group Berhad

Izra Izzuddin Director of Marketing & Communications TnG Digital Sdn Bhd

Hemanth Jayaraman Marketing & Commercial Moet Hennessy Diageo Malaysia Sdn. Bhd

Lai Shu Wei VP, unifi Marketing & Communications TM Berhad

Melati Abdul Hai VP & CMO, McDonald’s Malaysia Gerbang Alaf Restaurants Sdn Bhd

Nicholas Nyeow Country Marketing Manager HP Malaysia

Schrene Goh Head of Marketing POS MALAYSIA BERHAD

Spencer Lee Teck Loong CEO AirAsia BIG Loyalty

Shazlina Mohd Suffian EVP Head, Corp Marketing Head Brand & Sponsorship Mngmt Maybank Berhad

Lum Chong Heng Commercial Director Citychemo Manufacturing Sdn Bhd

Abdul Sani Abdul Murad Group Chief Marketing Officer RHB Bank Berhad

Rishi Pahwa Marketing Head Wipro Ginvera Marketing Ent Sdn Bhd

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IES MALAYSIA 2020 ON APRIL 10

Chai Hui Fung Regional Marketing Director Nando’s Chickenland Malaysia Sdn Bhd

COVER STORY

Diana Wong Head of Marketing - Bata Primavera Bata Malaysia Sdn Bhd

SANTHARUBAN T. SUNDARAM HEAD OF JURY - APPIES MALAYSIA 2020 Senior Vice President, Marketing & Alternate Business, Etika Holdings Linda Hassan SVP Head of Marketing - M’sia & S’pore Dommal Food Services Sdn Bhd

Mahmood Abdul Razak Division Head, Group Strategic Comms DRB-HICOM Berhad

Stephanie Caunter Head of Marketing ADA

Sutapa Bhattacharya GM - Strategic Communications & Branding Tenaga Nasional Berhad

Mohamed Adam Wee Abdullah Appies Malaysia Council Group Chief Marketing Officer & Group Chief Customer Experience Officer, CIMB Group

Timothy Johnson SVP Marketing, Product & Partnerships INTI International University & Colleges

Tai Kam Leong Head of brand & partnerships Maxis

Karen Ong Marketing Director Fonterra

Jean Ler Chief Marketing Officer

LIFE IS PAUSEABLE WITH COFFEE

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WINNING PARTNERSHIP SERIES

2019 Gold | Best Use of Branded Content | Malaysia Media Awards

OVERVIEW OLDTOWN White Coffee (OTWC) is a heritage brand that needed to future-proof itself by building affinity with Millennials, specifically the Malays, to remain relevant. In an attempt to position its brand as a spot for them to hang-out and get a drink or a get a bite to eat amidst their busy schedules, in 2017 OTWC launched a brand repositioning campaign called “Anything is Pauseable” which only achieved an average message cut through rate. Determined to achieve higher numbers and impression rates, OTWC partnered with Astro to engage with its consumer group that live a fast-paced lifestyle by introducing new and catchy content for them to unwind to. STRATEGY AND EXECUTION Consumer research helped uncover a second coffee

consumption period, untapped by competitors with huge budgets: the after work wave when they want to unwind. Another factor that was considered was that Malaynials spend a lot of their time connecting to celebrities and entertainment content, especially online. With that in mind, an original web series by Astro Gempak for Malaynials was born. As the ideal content partner, Gempak was chosen due to its strong brand proposition which was that Malaynials spent the most time watching videos on its platform and its young brand imagery. A four-episode telenovela, DuaTheSeries, mirroring the hecticness of Malaynial lives

and their entrepreneurship drive became an instant hit. Characters were inspired by their favourite OTWC variants e.g. vibrant Luna loves Hazelnut while sensible Amelia loves LessSugar. OTWC was positioned as the antidote during the emotional investment viewers had with the drama series and its characters. Top Malay celebrities (12 million social media followings collectively) were identified as casts and consistently posted teasers, commentaries and advertorials to drive viewership. As content creators, Astro Gempak’s strong platform with its large reach across young audiences was the perfect partner for OWTC.

RESULTS

The “DuaTheSeries” campaign amassed unprecedented results and achieved its objective of winning over Malaynials. Achievements include: • +28% brand favourability score remarkable for a Chinese heritage brand! • +5.6 point in brand imagery score for “relaxing brand” • 2 million views within 4 weeks • 93% likeability score • +1.3% market share when giants like Nescafe declined.

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19 INDUSTRY SHIFTS

ASTRO MHB’S NEW HIRE FOR CEO TV AND GROUP COO

Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad (‘Astro’) announced that Euan Smith, an experienced media and entertainment executive who was most recently in Foxtel, will be joining its leadership team as CEO TV and Group COO effective 1 April 2020. This move is part of Astro’s business and people transformation plan in view of the ongoing changes in the media and entertainment industry.

GRAB GOING TO COURT OVER MYCC’S PROPOSED FINE

Grab Holdings Inc has confirmed that it is going to court over the proposed decision by the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) to fine the company RM86.77 million for abusive transit media practices. In a statement made by the company, Grab said that there were questions and doubts over MyCC’s approach and investigation process in making the Proposed Decision, and the manner in which it exercises its powers. Amongst the issues Grab seeks to raise is whether MyCC is entitled, when issuing the Proposed Decision, to impose a daily penalty of RM15,000 commencing with immediate effect from the date of the Proposed Decision.

THE LEAVE HEARING IN COURT IS SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 9.

Ageism a key factor for Malaysian jobseekers LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has launched LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2020, a composite measure that seeks to understand how people perceive opportunity and more importantly, the gaps in getting to those opportunities. The research surveyed over 30,000 respondents in 22 markets globally, including 1,050 in Malaysia. Among the other findings was how age manifests as different opportunity gaps depending on the age groups. While the youths in Malaysia feel more optimism to succeed in the workforce, Gen Z (40%) and Millennials (21%) are held back by a lack of work experience. At the same time, Boomers (45%) and Gen X (33%) feel that age is a significant barrier to opportunities, as they struggle to keep up with technological and automation changes.

ADOBE’S NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR TO SPEARHEAD SEA GROWTH

Adobe recently appointed industry leader Simon Dale as Managing Director of its Southeast Asia (SEA) business operations. In this role, Simon will be responsible for leading the company’s accelerated growth and delivering exceptional customer experiences across its Digital Experience (DX) and Digital Media for Enterprise (DME) business units. The appointment is seen as timely reinforcement of Adobe’s accelerated growth and business momentum in Southeast Asia.

VMLY&R MALAYSIA WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Global brand experience agency VMLY&R announced the appointment of Raymond Ng as its Executive Creative Director. In his new role, and as part of VMLY&R’s Executive Management Team, Raymond will be responsible for building on these successes; enhancing the agency’s creative service offering and leading VMLY&R Malaysia’s creative team to create connected brands that drive value for clients, and impact the world by harnessing creativity, technology, and culture.

IPG MEDIABRANDS ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENTS

IPG Mediabrands Malaysia announces a series of leadership appointments across the network effective immediately. Amit Sutha, previously Group Managing Director, is appointed to the newly created position of Chief Executive Officer of Universal McCann (UM), UM Studios and Ensemble Worldwide. Darren Yuen, previously Group Managing Director of Reprise & BPN, is appointed to the new role of Chief Executive Officer of Initiative & BPN. This appointment follows the departure of Kristine Ong who previously helmed Initiative Malaysia as Group Managing Director. Sujith Rao, previously Vice-President of Inventure, has been appointed to the position of Managing Director of Reprise Performance & Tech. Client Continental Tires Weather Forecast: safety. Agency Rai Country Brazil Chief Creative Director Guilherme Fleury Creative Director Cacá Passos Art Director Cacá Passos Art Director João Paulo Pacheco Copywriter Cassio Guiot Illustrator Leandro Oliveira

GIANT TO EXIT SABAH AND SARAWAK

As part of the reorganisation of its operations, GCH Retail (M) Sdn Bhd will exit Sabah and Sarawak within the next couple of months. GCH operates Giant, Cold Storage, Mercato and Jason’s branded hypermarkets and supermarkets. Its departure will add to the dozens of stores shuttered in Peninsular Malaysia over the past couple of years. It is understood that plans are already underway for a smooth exit and the entire process is likely to be completed over the next two months. The retailer’s exit strategy for Sabah and Sarawak, where it opened its first Giant store in 2006, is different from that in the peninsula as it will be transitioning its outlets to established local players.

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CONTACT RUBY/AMIRA 03 77262588