Showcasing: Advertiser of the Year

Challenge
Maggi’s vision is to inspire Malaysian mothers to cook for their families everyday, but not many know of its wide range of cooking products. The challenge was to showcase Maggi’s entire range of products and cooking demos that go beyond the conventional 30-second TVC.

Solution
Major festivals such as Chinese New Year and Hari Raya are important but chaotic times for mothers, as they will spend a lot of time cooking; they are also most receptive to recipe ideas during these periods. Upon discovering that Astro was in the midst of shooting a CNY program featuring valuable tips on preparing for the celebration, we pitched an exclusive Maggi cooking segment for all nine episodes.

Execution
We own a 6-minute Maggi segment for all nine episodes to showcase the breadth of MAGGI cooking products through the seamless product integration. In return, we offered our MAGGI recipes and expertise. For maximum on-air exposure, we produced short cooking demonstration vignettes from the program and aired as promos in other channels. The negotiation resulted in RM1, 000,000 worth of product usage shots, RM1,000,000 value of MAGGI exclusive vignettes and RM450,000 of product promos.

Results
Total branding value of RM2.45mil and 700% ROI was achieved! Total Maggi Seasonings achieved an all- time high growth of 50% compared to past year and +13.3% increment compared to a month ago. Brand imagery was on top at 80% (40% ahead of our next competitor).

Challenge
100 years of success and making its way into millions of homes and hearts is great cause for celebration. However, large-scale 100th-year celebrations marking this milestone may be seen as “pompous”, risking negative sentiments from consumers. Our challenge was to reinforce Nestle’s longstanding reputation, heritage and success without sounding arrogant.

Solution
Consumers are always more interested in stories about people than stories about companies. Therefore, we decided that the “Nestle 100 years” campaign should be co-created by the people of Malaysia, with their own stories as the building blocks. Of course, consumers are always fascinated by social influencers’ stories, so what better way to kick-start consumer participation than to get social influencers to share their Nestle stories.

Execution
We first turned to major print publications and convinced editors of various columns to share their Nestle stories in their style (sports story by sports writer Zalina Som, comic illustration by comic editor Reggie Lee, etc). These stories appealed to all walks of life and triggered Malaysians to reminisce their own experiences. At the end of each article, readers were encouraged to share their own stories with the publications or at “Nestle 100 Years” microsite.

Results
The nation responded with 108,000 Nestle stories within 3 months of campaign, making it the largest crowd-sourced brand campaign in Malaysian history. Nestle’s corporate image improved 24% post campaign and 87% of Malaysians felt a stronger connection with Nestle. (Source: MillwardBrown). Nestle closed the year with +12% in stock price.

Challenge
In 2012, ALPO’s advertising budget was at an all time low at RM70,000 while its competitor tripled theirs. Consequently, research showed that dog owners were more likely to support the competitor. The challenge was coming up with a sustainable creative solution, without the help of an advertising agency.

Solution
Based on a pet ownership study in Malaysia, over 85% of dog owners are Chinese whose preferred medium is the Chinese newspaper, and especially loyal China Press readers. After connecting with China Press, we found that they wanted to start a Pet Section but lacked the content. As an internationally renowned brand, ALPO possesses a wealth of information on dogs; hence we offered to contribute content in return for advertorial space and creative resources.

Execution
Through China Press, we obtained ALPO testimonials from readers and celebrities who are dog owners, featuring them in a series of editorials over three months. The articles created the perception that ALPO was the recommended brand over others in the market. As ALPO set the themes and provided weekly content, articles were angled on dog issues so ALPO could make a clear difference. This further elevated ALPO’s credibility in the category.

Results
ALPO achieved a 300% return on investment, despite only having an advertising budget of RM70,000. By end of the 3 months campaign, ALPO’s volume share was 15% higher compared to a year ago. Consumer’s consideration level also increased by 6% compared to a year ago.

Challenge
100 years of success and making its way into millions of homes and hearts is great cause for celebration. However, large-scale 100th-year celebrations marking this milestone may be seen as “pompous”, risking negative sentiments from consumers. Our challenge was to reinforce Nestle’s longstanding reputation, heritage and success without sounding arrogant.

Solution
Consumers are always more interested in stories about people than stories about companies. Therefore, we decided that the “Nestle 100 years” campaign should be co-created by the people of Malaysia, with their own stories as the building blocks. Of course, consumers are always fascinated by social influencers’ stories, so what better way to kick-start consumer participation than to get social influencers to share their Nestle stories.

Execution
We negotiated with various media owners (TV, newspaper, radio and web) to get their associated personalities to inspire consumer participation by sharing their own Nestle stories – TV hosts like Hui Mei from AEC Evening Edition, radio DJs like JD and Dilly from Mix fm Breakfast Show, sports editors like Zalina Mohd Som, comic editors like Reggie Lee, social celebrities like Awal Ashaari across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, bloggers like Hanis Zalikha, and many more.

Results
“Nestle 100 Years” became the biggest crowdsourcing campaign in Malaysia’s history. Within 3 months, we garnered over 108,000 stories from all walks of life! Nestle’s corporate image improved 24% post campaign, and gained tremendous media interest, resulting in RM5.6mil PR value. Nestle closed the year with +12% in stock price.

Challenge
“Let’s Nescafe and See What Develops” was Nescafe’s 2012 campaign theme that illustrated the possibilities of drinking Nescafe. The challenge was to bring a dynamic theme to life on a static billboard along one of the country’s busiest highways, and to get Malaysians excited about the billboard.

Solution
The billboard, a blank canvas that “developed over time”, revealed new imagery every week and in the mornings when our target audience – motorists stuck in rush-hour traffic –would be driving to work. As our target audience would be tuned in to their radios, we engaged radio DJs to make live announcements while the billboard visuals were changing, to catch our audience’s attention and encourage them to go viral about the activity, hence amplifying it.

Execution
Development to the billboard visual was done every Monday morning during rush hour, with collaborations with the local council that directed traffic during the change. This created curiosity and buzz in addition to live updates by DJs from two top radio stations, Hot FM and Hitz FM, on air and on Facebook. Radio cruisers also went on location to broadcast updates. Listeners were invited to watch the developments and discuss them on Facebook.

Results
Our billboard became the talk of the town! Buzz and talkability was evidenced by the active sharing, liking and commenting on the DJs’ Facebook pages: in four weeks the billboard posts generated 243% more likes, 641% more comments, and 445% more shares. Brand saliency increased by 7% (source: Millward Brown).