2018

The Challenges
In the first half of 2017 KFC experienced a concerning sales low despite having the highest top-of-mind recall and highest media spend. Clearly there was a disconnect, we tasked data to pursue insights that would stem the slide, and make the second half of 2017 profitable.

Insight, Strategy and the Idea
We sifted through multiple datasets such as holidays, weather, traffic, pricing, media mix (including datasets not conventionally associated with impacting sales) to uncover 1. Malaysians are 74X more likely to stay indoors during bad weather 2. Online video buys nudge sales during bad weather,not TV: In good weather, online video contributed to a mere 6% of sales while TV contributed a whopping 78% of sales. However during bad weather days, the numbers flipped with online video accounting for 64% of sales & TV to 13%. In H1 our media mix had failed to account for changing audience behaviour during bad weather. Introducing the Agile Media Predictor, an engine that learned weather data and recommended media mix against predicted sales.

Media Execution
1. We set up a weather data bank that collected day by day temp, rainfall info etc. Based on historical data, the bank also had thresholds for the temperature/rainfall that could impair sales 2. The weather bank API was fed into the Econometric model. When data hit thresholds flagging a bad weather day – the model adapted and sent alerts to planners to pause TV buys & trigger the DSP to initiate video buys. The paused TV spots would be used up by other segments in the KFC portfolio. The process was sound, but only time would tell if it was sound enough to reclaim sales

Results and Effectiveness
H2 2017 came with 6 in 10 days being bad weather days. We achieved • Revenue growth of 8% • Servings increase of 6% • And a media ROI unseen in 4 years

The Challenges
Time honoured Raya traditions have given way to modern practices. Just like our KFC bucket, a product popular on the 3rd day of Raya when everyone is so sick of Raya food, was declining YOY during Raya.

Insight, Strategy and the Idea
In our pursuit for progress, things get left behind. Like playing congkak with your cousins, or cooking lemang over firewood. Phones and Gas stoves threaten to take over. Likewise, “modern” food was replacing the KFC Bucket during the 3rd & 4th day of Raya. But Raya is about nostalgia and tradition, modern ways can’t take away that warmth. It was about time KFC Bucket, a traditional Raya item, did something about it. Our Idea: The return of Raya traditions from yester years starting with a KFC bucket

Media Execution
Teaming up with Astro Ria, we created a talk show with old & new celebrities sharing how differently they celebrate Raya, concluding with breaking fast with KFC buckets. Each episode was themed around a particular facet of Raya such as food, music etc to steer conversations around traditions. We then picked up the traditions discussed and turned them into content pieces for social media – the Warisi Tradisi series, schooling the digital population on the long forgotten Raya traditions. As every episode aired, new content would be developed in the form of posts, banners and even articles, prodding conversations

Results and Effectiveness
1. We achieved RM22.5Mn in bucket sales, outperforming sales targets by 12%. 2. The TV show garnered a viewership base of 268K – a base equivalent to shows that have been running for 3 years. 3. The Warisi Tradisi content series (all 250 of them) sparked engagement rates exceeding 15% – a record in itself for FB & Instagram. 4. Searches for the KFC Bucket that had been flat for the last 10 years grew by 48%.

The Challenges
Listerine had declined in sales for 3 years straight during CNY. Mouthwash is largely purchased by Chinese but most see it as a “nice to have” and would rather spend on “CNY essentials” or switch to cheaper brands. How did we then get the Chinese to buy Listerine during CNY?

Insight, Strategy and the Idea
We knew killing germs wasn’t enough, research told us that mouthwash instills speaking confidence. So when do people need confidence during CNY? Trawling social media, we found the one area everyone needed a confidence boost in is the awkward, no filter questions family asks when they visit. Could Listerine inspire Malaysians to have confidence answering these awkward questions? “KongDouZhun, WongDouZhun (Bold mouth equals prosperity)”, addressing the top questions found on social with witty answers that viewers could use during CNY.

Media Execution
We curated the top CNY questions people complained about for the past 3 years and created various 30s TVCs answering them i.e “Why you not boss yet?” “Because being boss would mean that I work very late. Work very late means I cannot spend time with family.” From social we ascertained which target groups the answers would resonate with i.e. Career questions for the 30-40′s, Relationship questions for the 18-25′s, Marriage questions 25-35, and etc… and cherrypicked channels accordingly, ensuring the right audience would resonate with our witty TVCs i.e. buying late afternoon slots for the relationship questions (18-25) or primetime spots for the marriage questions (25-40).

Results and Effectiveness
1.+7.4% sales during CNY period, first positive growth in the last 3 years!! 2. Listerine grew the mouthwash category +6% by getting new users in (competitors declined or remained flat during same period) 3. Videos garnered a total of 1.1 million views, average VTR Rate 24.8% vs industry 15% 2. 6x more engagement rate vs previous campaigns.

The Challenges
Come 2017 as smartphones became more important in people’s lives, telcos became less important. TM launched the ‘Mobility & Entertainment pack’ -,offering Webe and Unifi broadband right at the onset of the 29th SEA games to bait new user sign ups and stay relevant.

Insight, Strategy and the Idea
People live their lives in Moments; Moments where they soak themselves in their interests and inarguably moments where brands are unapparent. We engineered Mobile Micromomenting – a bespoke strategy that etched a relevant niche for TM in the moments in people’s lives, nudging pack sign-ups . Micromoments exude emotions that bare consumer needs – umpteen opportunities for brands to own ; and mobile was the hotbed. We chose 24 micromoments (based on historic browsing and app consumption behaviours) layered with the possibility of 8 emotions and tailored ad messages in accordance – 730K different ways to instill the relevance of 1 pack.

Media Execution
The 24 micromoments chosen were diverse & customary such as : when searching for SEA games updates to even complaints about Maxis. Each of the micromoments exuded atleast one of 8 emotions(anxiety, joy etc). Leveraging Programmatic and dynamic creatives, contextual ads of the pack were served. When people complained on twitter about Maxis service –ads playing up the service benefits of our pack would be served .The hygiene optimization techniques of dayparting, frequency capping, custom remarketing and look-alike modelling were deployed too.

Results and Effectiveness
Micromomenting conquered hearts & wallets in 20 days! – For every 6 clicks on our ad we earned 2 sign-ups; a record amongst conversion campaigns – The sign-up decision making window shrunk from 7 to 3 days – Cost per sign-up dropped by 19% – Direct traffic grew by 13% And thus TM told the world – Mobile matters, Moments matter more!