Malaysian Media Awards Winners Showcase

The Challenge
‘Jihad’ was declared against Cadbury. Unverified reports from the MinistryofHealth (MOH) claimed that 2 variants contained porcine DNA. It was false, but the mistake is already hurting Cadbury. We had to avert an imminent ‘war’.

The Solution – Insight & Idea
Deeply rooted insight was needed. We found out that Malay population trust everything JAKIM and MOH say about Muslim-related affairs, especially those in the news. Our strategy was to first clear the issue with the media and rally them to be our voice. By presenting Cadbury’s innocence in the media, we persuaded them to pressure JAKIM into releasing an official statement to clear Cadbury. That statement is Cadbury’s saving grace, and it has to reach most Malays. In all these, only JAKIM and the media should be seen as the working authorities; Cadbury needs to take a backseat. How do you leverage on the speed of propagation in digital to turn ‘Jihad’ into joy?

The Execution
JAKIM’s statement was the only source of credibility; we needed to circulate it to as many Malays in the fastest way. First, strategic spreading: Statement was heavily promoted on Facebook, Twitter, native/stream ads, social seeding, and search ads. Native/Stream ads camouflaged the message on popular news/content sites while search ads ensured that JAKIM’s statement was top return in search. YouTube pre-roll was also used tied to relevant content searches. Second, strategic conversations: Daily social media listening steered online conversations positively for Cadbury. We mobilized “keyboard warriors” (forum seeders) to neutralize damage by halting the spread of false information and directing confused people to JAKIM.

The Results
Cadbury sales up 50% by December 2014— highest since the issue. Approximately 60mil impressions (7mil and 1.5mil from Facebook and Twitter). Malays were engaged: 1 million in Facebook, 200,000 in YouTube Social listening sentiment: 80% acted positively via comments or resharing Cadbury’s posts.