Mobile Talk

Have you heard of FlashMob? A day when a group of people does silly things like stop and stare at the sky for a short while and then disperse to different directions all of a sudden. Or the case when a group of people search for something on the ground for a good 5 minutes and before finding the item, disperse to different directions. Like KL Freeze in Unison held on 13 April 2008? One carrier in United States used this concept to its advantage creating one of the most talked about and viral advertisement in the whole world. In my humble opinion, this could be one of the most out of the world and talked about campaign ever done by any brand.

In this ad, 400 dancers were hired to create a synchronized dancing where starting from just a few people dancing to a tune blasted in a Liverpool train station to a total of 400 people dancing to the tune. Throughout the whole video, you can see a lot of people capturing photos using their mobile phones (as this is an impromptu situation where most people might not have brought their digital camera but a good enough and enticing enough reason to capture a photo). This benefits T-Mobile as being the largest carrier in United States, most people would have used a T-Mobile phone under their phone contract to capture those photos. This is effective in promoting T-Mobile’s large range of mobile phones with high megapixels in capturing a cannot be missed moments. The best part is wondering how much virality this is going to generate esp those who have took those photos or videos and sent them through MMS as proof of what happened and later only to find out that this is a marketing gimmick by T-Mobile. I saw this ad when I was researching on T-Mobile and the YouTube video has such high traffic that I could see the link as the top three links after searching from Google. Up to today, the video uploaded on YouTube has more than 8,809,443 views and is still being distributed through various sites. A day later, my friend sent me the link to view the same video and I was glad I saw it first The point is the virality something like this can create.

Ingenius and out of the box! An advertisement that will be talked about all over the world and made a name for T-Mobile with the motto “Life’s for Sharing”.

When a Philipino friend working in Singapore requested me to buy him a few packs of OldTown White Coffee when I was back in Malaysia recently, the conversation below entails:

Emily: “Hey, I’m coming back to Singapore this weekend. Do you have anything you want me to buy for you in Malaysia?”
Jensen: “Nah, nothing. Wait, wait. I remembered. There is something. Can you get me OldTown White Coffee the 3-in-1 and Cappucino version? Can you get me 3 packets?”
Emily: “Oh, sure. I don’t drink coffee myself but I have definitely heard of it. I will get you 3 packets.”

So off I went to search for the coveted coffee powder which has carved a name for itself not only in the minds of Malaysians but also Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. When I was back for a visit half a year ago, I was surprised by the number of OldTown White Coffee cafes that has sprouted all over Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and now to all parts of Malaysia. Starting from a humble beginning in Ipoh in 1958 as a roaster of white coffee where people travel far and wide just to have a cuppa of this delicious coffee which consist of specially roasted Liberica, Arabica and Robusta beans with small amounts of caramel, moderately roasted in high temperature, this small Hainanese shop has come a long way.

The secret formula to its success involves a unique product, great branding and an attractive franchising scheme. The unique product comes in the form of white coffee which by itself just taste different from the Starbucks and Gloria Jeans all over the world. If you want African and Brazilian roasted coffee beans, go there. If you want local white coffee with its aromatic but Malaysianised flavors, go to OldTown White Coffee. Moreover, the price of the product is more local (in order words, cheaper) than the highly imported price of Starbucks. Thus, the regular kopitiam goers who are seeking for a more high class and air-conditioned ambience can choose to go here and not burn their wallets when having a nice talk over coffee.  And besides white coffee, they also serve other unique food like kaya/peanut butter toast, ice-cream toast, nasi lemak and laksa (all our Malaysian favorites!).

The branding of this company was done by the advertising agency Publicis which has done a great job in creating a consistent and homely feel to a very local brand of coffee. Instead of Westernizing the brand to the likes of Starbucks or Coffee Bean which would have made it a competitor to those 2 established joints ( which would spell failure for the company), it has moulded the feel of a joint with local food like Nasi Lemak and traditional furniture and cutleries that is used by the old kopitiam frequenters. This gives a more homely feel for those who wants to settle for something more traditional in this country.

Lastly and one most important factor in the growth of the coffee joints is the fantastically affordable franchising rates offered by the management, as low as RM100,000 to open a franchise with an established system and shop logos. This rate beats the normal franchising rate of international brands like McDonalds and Starbucks which would have costed you millions! Thus, OldTown gives you a faster breakeven if you chose a good location for the coffee joint.

Thus, I have to give my highest commendation to Alex Chuah Seong Meng, the group marketing general manager of the restaurant chain for doing such a good job to get the brand to such a level it is today to the whole of Malaysia. Recently, they have even signed a deal with AirAsia to serve the coffee to its passengers at RM5 per cup of OldTown White Coffee 3-in-1 Classic blend which would have elevated the name of the brand to consumers who flies AirAsia from Philippines to Europe and all over the world. As the estatic manager quipped “Now everyone can fly and drink OldTown White Coffee”. This coffee joint is definitely flying high!

Big applause to any brands that can create their own social media site and make it successful in a country that is still holding dear to traditional means of doing things like watching tv and listening to the radio. Malaysia is a country like this where people are not excited to embrace change in lifestyle in the name of advancement but fortunately, things seem to be improving.

There is one brand that has successfully embraced the new media and used it to their advantage. The company is called Berjaya Resorts that created a contest to allow users to pick their favorite wedding couple online by voting so that the winning couple enjoy free wedding photography and celebration in one of the beach resorts. Plus the winner can invite 3 of their favorite friends who voted for them to attend the wedding for free! What better way to create awareness to your travel locations through a contest like this but the best part is not the prize but the mechanics of the contest that requires participation from the voting public that created virality as the contest would have generated huge word-of-mouth from couple who are tryong to garner votes to win the coveted prize! There was 4 phases to the contest starting with the filtering of more than 500 applicants to just the top 50 so that users can vote for their favorite. This has triggered the lovely couples to spam their friends with pleas to vote for them as the winning couple to enjoy their dream wedding. Yours truly got an email from an ex-classmate of mine whom I admit looked beautiful with her groom but when I had the time to vote, the voting window was not open yet. And when the window was opened, I was too busy or impacted by the recession to vote. Sorry, pal.

Anyway, back to the story, after the voting has ended based on the videos created by the couples, 7 couples with the highest votes got selected from the 50. The top 7 couples were given the privilege to dress up in their gorgeous choice of wedding gowns in Colmare Tropicale, another resort by Berjaya which I am sure they are trying to promote to increase numbers of visitors. The 7 couples were invited to blog on their experiences and what better way to create virality to the website than to have the excited couples posting their beautiful photoshoots and brag about their experiences for all to see? While all this is happening, voting is still open for the best couple so the couple with a blog that readers can relate to or with the most numbers of supporters will surely win. Well, it got a huge enough traffic as this social media site promoting wedding couples was the first of its kind. Apparently, this contest was run on a tight budget which I feel was doable what with the prize sponsor being the brand itself and the only media buy being the single free newspaper in Malaysia - theSun. The social media site tapped into the narcissistic nature of human when they are their happiest: the days that lead up to their wedding day. Thus, the apt motto being ‘If you’ve got it, flaunt it’. The print advertisement merely created the awareness of the website ‘Love Me Do!’ and all other traffic, virality and buzz are created online through voting and the blogs. There was also plenty of awareness created towards the wedding providers like Edmund Tham being the wedding photographer and Bespoked and That Special Occasion as the provider of the wedding gowns. What more can these sponsors ask for?

With this, it was fantastic to have accumulated over 830,000 page views with 21,900 being unique visitors. There are more than 1000 fans to their Facebook group which is a good achievement for a Malaysian social site. This to me is a successful use of new media with the least amount of marketing budget during the downturn, targeted and viral.

“The challenge really is finding a good balance of marketing returns versus prudent cost control and churning out innovative solutions. It’s a lot about being different and standing out, knowing the problems and how best to solve them,” as aptly quoted by Thang Han-Ni, Marketing and Communications director of Berjaya Hotels & Resorts.

In marketing, one of the most important factors to success is in indentifying your target market. In every market, there are at least 2 schools of thoughts. The two most prominent school of thoughts are believer and non-believer, advocates or non-advocates. Even in the US Presidential Election, there are the Democrats, Socialists and Republicans with varied but some overlapping opinions. In the other countries, there are Communists and Democrats. In brands, there are people who loves and lives their life for Apple and some who does not use anything Apple related.

It is with this that I thought it to be a great idea when one bar in Malaysia created an event to serve the underdogs of Valentine’s Day. This day has been so commercialised that any business seeks for the opportunity to make huge profits from the couples who are madly in lurve and willing to spend their money to make their loved ones happy or so they thought. Roses overpriced at 10 times the normal market price, romantic dinner menus at 10 times again the normal price and movie tickets even though not hiked up will be fully sold out on this day. It is a day to celebrate couples in love and the idea of caring for someone who takes a special place in your heart.

How about the not-so in love, unable to find love and people far away from their loved ones who wish they have found the one? This is the most dreaded day for them as they have to endure another nauseatingly sick day of watching couples staring into each others eyes over a romantic candlelight dinner while they themselves sulk in bitter anticipation of their turn. How about the singles who have just broken up and just hate this event as it reminded them of the times they used to have with their loved ones? How about the lonesome person who are stuck in a different country and unable to celebrate this special occasion with their loved one due to the distance?

It is with this ‘other’ market that this club in Malaysia called Scarlet located in Cineleisure, Petaling Jaya organised an Anti-Valentine party. A party meant exclusively for singles to drink themselves drown and to be with people of the same predicament as them. People say people who bond during the toughest times stay together. And it is with this bond that Scarlett capitalises to make a profit from a different target market. So, let’s celebrate this wonderful occasion by celebrating the joys and perils of being single!

When you are a great brand, you will have little problem creating hype for new launches of your products especially when you already have loyal followers. To increase the chances that the launch of your new product is successful, you need make sure your target has an affinity with your brand or product.

Apple is one of those brands with great brand advocacy. Any owner of a Mac will definitely wants to own an iPhone and is probably already the proud owner of an iPod. Despite this, the biggest challenge of a great brand is also to ensure the same hype and success can be created for the launch of each and every new product of theirs. Microsoft experienced a great challenge launching their X-Box after the launch of a fantastically great product in the form of Wii by Nintendo. Nokia meanwhile has been launching countless of new phones just to be overshadowed by other handset brands like LG and Apple that has more impressive products. So, how does Apple go about launching their new iPhone in new countries like Singapore? Today, we will look at the launch of 2 huge brands in the world through their new phones called iPhone by Apple and HTC Dream by Google, both being launched by Singtel, the largest operator in Singapore.

Singtel launched iPhone on 22 August 2008 through a huge event that started from the stroke of midnight. The keyword for the whole event being ‘experience‘. They created an experience so amazing that one would be proud to own an iPhone as it gives you a sneak peak into what would have been a great experience from start to finish. The lead up to the event was emails being sent to the VIPs and highest ARPU users as well as the longest serving Singtel user. Once the recipient registers to purchase the phone on the actual launch day, they will receive an invitation to attend the launch event on the 22 August 2008 (when the date was officially announced). The first person in the queue would have waited in line since 5pm or so and the queue just kept building up. At the stroke of midnight, fireworks were heard throughout the night. This created a big bang to the event (and a big budget!). As the customers who queue up gets chauffeured into the special room that was decorated with bow ties, etc in groups, the rest were kept entertained and occupied as they are brought to a different section of the room where they can see the features of the iPhone and learn how to use the iPhone through digitised screens and personalised customer service personnels. They are also served finger food while waiting. It was customer service and a full-fledged experience at its best. Subscribers who did not stand a chance to obtain their iPhone on the launch date can still purchase them over the counter while stocks last.

Another brand that did the same method of allowing an open platform so that developers can build their own applications to be used on the phone is Google. Personally, I feel the walled garden concept adopted by operators all over the world except Japan and Korea is now a thing of the past. That was how Japan managed to created such a dynamic and thriving mobile industry and I hope Apple and Google will set the path for this to happen to the rest of the world. I was astounded when I found out that the youngest person who developed an application for iPhone is 9-years old! It is with this intention that Google created an open mobile platform called Android which allows one to access their marketplace of applications developed through an open SDK. The first phone to be launched with this Android platform is HTC Dream and the first country in Asia to launch this phone is none other than Singapore through Singtel again.

The launch of HTC Dream was held on 21 Feb 2009 and the media event was held one day before. It was a small event with not as big a fanfare as iPhone (due to the lower budget and simple nature of Google?). SingTel is collaborating with local application developers to introduce innovative Android applications that meet lifestyle needs of mobile users here. For example, one of the local Android apps that users can use on their HTC Dream is SG SavvyShopper. Simply scan the barcode of a product using the phone’s camera and the app will search and display the prices of the product sold in other outlets in Singapore. Google says that all its Android apps in Singapore will be free of charge!There will definitely be more applications like these in the future but while we anticipate the launch of both iPhone and HTC Dream in Malaysia, I would like to stress that both these brands have done me proud for their efficient marketing strategies. They have created incredible brand advocacy by being consistent, relevant and unique.

At 48, Barack Obama is more than a decade younger than his competitor, John McCain who is already more than 70 years old. Who would have thought that with less experience, wisdom and white hair, Obama would have beaten McCain during the Presidential Election until much later into the campaigns. Experience is not everything at this day and age. Knowledge is a powerful weapon and in Obama’s case, being young has also gained him the knowledge essential to win the election.

The reason I am saying this is while McCain used his old age mantra of experience is everything and selecting a female Vice President in the name of Sarah Palin to garner the female votes, esp the stay-at-home moms who could relate to her, Barack Obama went all out winning the hearts and minds of the masses through the mediums like Internet and mobile that could reach the masses. He selected Chris Hughes, a cofounder of Facebook (the No. 2 social networking site after MySpace in the US) to be the chief architect of his campaigns through using social networking, the most powerful and viral media to reach the youths of today. While McCain is preaching about his experience in the World War through standing on podiums and screening it across all TV channels which requires people to actively look for the broadcast, Obama spreads his messages through SMS which will arrive at user’s cellphones and has an immediate call to action since it is pushed to the most personal device of the consumers.

According to Nielsen Mobile, it is estimated that about 2.9 million subscribers received the text message announcing that Barack Obama had chosen Joe Biden as his running mate. How did they get so many subscribers? People opted-in because they are brand loyal and care deeply about the announcement, wanting to be among the first to know. Clearly these subscribers wanted to get the message because they feel involved in the Obama campaign in a personal way. Assuredly, there were John McCain supporters in there, too, following Sun Tzu’s advice to know your adversary as well as journalists who wants to always be in the know for everything related to Election.

Obama also created a mobile site that is updated so that while you are not at your laptop or TV, you can still follow the news on the election through your mobile phone which now has bigger screen and faster access to web. They also make it easy for anyone to access the site by simply texting the word GO to OBAMA (62262) or register online at http://www.barackobama.com/mobile. Supporters can then receive news and updates on events, download campaign images and ringtones, and even provide their feedback or questions via text messaging. As one example of the utility of the mobile solution, the campaign was able to alert its mobile supporters to the August 7th AFL-CIO Presidential Forum held at Soldier Field and broadcast on MSNBC, and to solicit their feedback and questions via text messages during and following the event. Supporter sent text messages providing commentary and asking specific questions about the Senator’s position on issues that were debated.

Obama jumped on the social networking bandwagon by creating his own social networking site called MyBarakObama.com which allowed members to create a profile, blog their campaign experiences, plan and attend events, find other supporters, and help raise funds for the campaign. On top of this, he also has presence on YouTube and Facebook which allowed people to support through being in the same community. It is not the mere creation and presence on these social networks that guaranteed the landslide victory of Obama with 8.5 million popular votes, it is the follow up and the strategy used to capture the attention of his supporters. He understood that the value social media could bring to the campaign grew exponentially if online advocacy was elevated to the campaign’s highest levels and integrated into all elements of the organization. The Obama campaign combined the embrace of online enthusiasm of Dean ’04 with the discipline, organization and hyper-targeting of the Bush ’04 re-election campaign. Obama’s campaign started early, was built to scale, brought in the right team and struck a difficult balance between inspiring the kinetic energy of a movement and channeling the enthusiasm into the precise activities that are needed to win a campaign – donations, organization and getting out the vote – in the specific neighborhoods, districts and states that the campaign needed to win. He turned everyone into engaged and empowered supporters through the power of social networks and technology.

(source from Endelman.com)

Last but not least, Obama is the first US President Nominee who used purchased ad space on in-game advertising platform as he knows that games is the most effective and influential way of reaching out to youths from as young as 8 to as old as 28.  Obama promoted his ‘Vote Early‘ ads through an X-box Driving Game called Burnout that is created by Electronic Arts. Despite the game being a car racing game that promoted violence and accidents, marketeres view this move as strategic due to its creativity and effective targeted approach. Anyone who sees the virtual billboard that links to Obama’s website would actually talk about this as noone has seen anything like this before which created fantastic buzz and hype for his brand among the younger generation who will continue to vouch for Obama (a symbol that he understand the youth culture). Nevertheless, I would give him brownie points for taking the risk.

See Malaysia’s own research by PULSE on Obama’s political influence and the media he uses for his strategy.

In the spirit of Christmas, some telcos in Singapore are playing Santa Claus by giving away plenty of free gifts in the hope to increase take-up and drive up usage of GPRS. So, despite the giving nature of a few operators here in Singapore, nothing comes without a price. M1 is giving lots of goodies through their Christmas portal where they are giving away free mobile contents like wallpapers, themes and bye bye ringtones. Meanwhile Singtel is doing something small by providing Christmas treats through m-coupons.

Nothing fantastic like great handset giveaway or free calls to local and overseas numbers to allow subscribers to make that precious Christmas greeting call. Same goes to the operators in Malaysia where I do not see much hoo-hah in giving away Christmas gifts to their loyal subscriber. For all the money the operators are taking from their subscribers, shouldn’t they at least give one free Christmas Caller Ringtone so that your friend can hear you greeting them with Christmas songs before they hear your voice. I would like to have personalised caller ringback tone whereby I can insert my name or my friend’s name into the caller ringtone. How nice it is to hear your name greeted through a ringtone on early Christmas morning. Makes people want to call you more when they feel appreciated and special. Simple giveaways to increase that precious ARPU that is weaning for all operators now.

Plus, it will be great if operators can get into the spirit of giving by giving discounted calls on Christmas eve, maybe to the 5 frequent call numbers so that people will call one another to spread the Christmas cheer. Another idea is to send Christmas cards using MMS to their high ARPU subscribers or young subscribers so that these MMS will be forwarded to one another. Wouldn’t this increase their GPRS and MMS traffic. This is the best time to tug subscribers’ heartstrings, cos it is the time of year to give anyway. Let’s spread the Christmas joy a little bit more…

With advertising strategies that include banner ads on bus stations (esp like the ones you see in front of Bugis Junction) cover for buses and on top of buildings with vibrant colours that deserve a second glance, it is no suprise that Neil Montefiore, the CEO of MobileOne Ltd won accolades for his effort by being conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Institute of Advertising, Singapore (IAS).

IAS said that the award recognised the individual who believed in the power of advertising and through his influence and decision making, helped to advance advertising industry standards to the advantage of his organisation, the industry and the community at large. Mr Montefiore was honoured at the Singapore Advertising Hall of Fame Awards 2006 on 19 October.

With upward attrition rates and stauration of their limited pool of SIngapore mobile consumers, it is a suprise that the company is still making profit in Q32006. They have used an effective re-branding strategy via the change in colour to a vibrant orange and blue and the naming of their motto as “1 Life Live It!“. To complement this, the potrayals of subscribers of M1 are those of a very young, urban and hippy group who enjoys life to the max and gets updated with the latest in technology and fashion. Once consumer could relate to a brand, they would grow to like it.

“Advertising is a strategic management tool and is key to the building of a strong brand. By creating awareness and shaping perception, it plays a pivotal role in helping the brand garner customer loyalty and goodwill that translate into tangible returns for the business. The strong brand image and distinctive brand personality that M1 has today have been developed through committed and consistent investments in advertising and other brand- building activities.” said Mr Montefiore. The views of this winner has been captured and will be launched on M1 Mobile Podcast Service.

SIngtel meanwhile has mellowed on their branding, choosing to concentrate on enhancing the value of their products and services. Their brand image will always be more professional due to their international blend of operators and enterprises making a larger portion of their subscribers.

Starhub chooses to ‘hub’ with all their consumers building on their fresh green colours of mixing mobile, broadband and cable products. Their current marketing strategies is called “I Am a Hub” in which all their subscribers are encouraged to use ‘hub’ for the life they love.

It was a football celebration like never before. Never had I seen a celebration celebrated with such pompous and grandeur. Never had I seen so many people from all races and age gather in one location with one goal (pun intended). Never had I seen so many people from various profession from students to professionals to politicians in one hot location.

I commend Hotlink for a job well done.

Among the things they did right:
1. Spent a considerable amount of budget on such a massive scale on the right event. Hey, it only happens once every 4 years. Which event can be more eclusive? As the saying goes, if you want to create an impact, make sure it is unforgettable.

2. Tie in with a political agenda to get the Prime Minister to launch the event. Always look for a win-win situation.

3. Organized the right activities for the right target market. A huge Hotlink balloon rolling over the crowds, face-painting, fire performance, etc are all activities that will draw in the young crowds especially during World Cup when people tend to be a bit more adventurous.

4. Maintain satisfaction of high ARPU customers, aka the VIPs by inviting them to convene in special booths with food catered the whole night and a big screen specially for their viewing. There was a separate tent for the ministers as well, ah bu then!

5. Make full use of the massive and thirsty crowd by selling pre-paid SIM packs and various Hotlink products. Put up blogs in websites to draw in website traffic.

6. Tie in with various vendors to cross-sell chat services, wap downloads (eg. Zidane’s wallpaper) and friend-finder service, in case you lose your loved one among the crowds.

7. Great promotional strategies in which the event was televised lived on RTM with MCs and announcers urging the public to make their way to Bukit Bintang long before the event started. There were roadshows all over the place from Kuantan to Johor Bahru with the finale ending in Kuala Lumpur. Wap push was sent to encourage wap downloads and to inform customers to collect freebies from the various roadshows.

8. Last but not least, all this is useless if the ROI is negative. With such a massive budget allocated for this one event alone, did Hotlink profit from any of it? Yup, at an exorbitant amount at that. The amount will remain confidential but I am indeed proud of my previous company for launching such a successful event.

Rather than spending the money to endorse some famous celebrities like Rooney and Owen, guess you know who I am talking about, who locals cannot relate to, it would be better to sponsor local celebrities to grace a high-class event like this. Kudos to Maxis/Hotlink once again. The World Cup for a successful event for World Cup goes to them now.