Malaysian Media Awards Winners Showcase





2014 | |

Creating the 1st ever online comedy series for a fuel brand

Advertiser: PETRONAS
Brand: PETRONAS PRIMAX
Creative Agency: -
Credits: Zenith Media — Sandeep Mark Joseph (Head Of Digital), Tan Chieu Mei (Digital Manager), Fatin Shakira (Associate Director, Content), Law Erng Mei (Digital Manager), Aimi Sofina Sulong (Digital Executive), Chan Yuet Wah (General Manager), Toh Chyi Lin (Senior Media Planner)

The Challenge
PETRONAS PRIMAX fuel was contesting closely with Shell, its main competitor in the retail fuel market. PETRONAS had created equity with car enthusiasts via banner advertisements on LiveLifeDrive (LLD), one of the leading auto sites. However, as multiple competitors featured on this site, how could PETRONAS PRIMAX stand out?

The Solution – Insight & Idea
Key insights that guided us: 1. Buying fuel is a habitual low involvement activity. Consumers are more interested in cars and online car content. So PETRONAS would have to ride on the consumers’ interest in cars to gain attention and highlight its benefits of performance and fuel efficiency. 2. Car sites need refreshing content, to catch the attention of car buffs who have multiple sources of information available to them from around the world courtesy online channels. Humour was one possible way to stand out. 3. Gen Y doesn’t favour hard- sell, but prefer word of mouth (Nielsen). Hence we decided to create “Laughing Gas”, a first of its kind in the fuel category. Instead of placing our branded content on TV, which would be more expensive and harder to connect with Gen Y, we decided to go online, to extend the content’s shelf life and affordability. Hosted by the effervescent Daphne Iking, Laughing Gas features two kings of Malaysian comedy, Razif Hashim and Vince Chong, as drivers demonstrating practical, fuel-saving driving tips. Utilizing a driver versus driver format, Laughing Gas would navigate away from typical mileage challenges to illustrate PRIMAX’s superiority, infusing the proceedings with huge dollops of humour.

The Execution
“Laughing Gas” format 1. Shot on various roads and locations throughout Klang Valley, reflecting real driving situations. 2. Comedians contested fuel-efficiency challenges, against rush hour and other difficulties. Losing driver was penalized with a dare at designated PETRONAS stations. 3. Drivers were scored on how quickly they could complete the challenge and their fuel efficiency during the drive. 4. Challenges included: driving to KLIA via different routes, Amazing Race style clue hunt, drivers versus editors of LiveLifeDrive, working with fuel experts and more. Branding for PETRONAS 1. Each episode began and ended in a PETRONAS fuel station, and featured various PETRONAS-branded moments. 2. As drivers competed, the topic of fuel efficiency and their driving qualities that helped increase fuel efficiency with PRIMAX were regularly highlighted. 3. Humorous stance created goodwill amongst viewers. This also created conversations about fuels, which are more influential and credible with Gen Y. Placement: 1. Laughing Gas was placed on LiveLifeDrive, Carlist and YouTube, magnifying reach. 2. To create engagement, banners, editorials and fuel calculators were deployed on LiveLifeDrive and Carlist.

The Results
Laughing Gas was a riotous success, generating more than 272,000 cumulative views, across 5 episodes initially. Viewing is growing daily,6 months after campaign completed. Impressions served exceeded 4.2 million. Media ROI of 5x exceeded expectations. Most importantly, PRIMAX sales grew by 4% during this period. Laughing Gas had successfully created history in the category, with the first long format branded humour content online!