Malaysian Media Awards Winners Showcase

The Challenge
The 2014 FIFA World Cup season is heavily saturated with ads. Not being an
official sponsor, Digi needed to find a way to stand out.

Insight, Strategy and the Idea
During the World Cup, everybody is a football fan. Hardcore fans suddenly became the
minority. It wasn’t football, but the international-ness of the whole thing that attracted people. We also discovered another important insight about Malaysian audiences: “It’s about winning, not about football”. This was evident in the numerous discussions about final scores, which country won and which country is moving up vs the finer points of the game itself. We created a character that unashamedly mirrored the Malaysian World Cup fan’s mentality. Lalang Chong would always support the winning team, even if they weren’t his favourite before the match began. The idea was summed up in the phrase ‘Lalang sampai memang’, which roughly means ‘Switch sides until you win.

Media Execution
To get around the non-sponsorship, we didn’t mention ‘FIFA World Cup’ but talked about
the matches, i.e. ‘Switzerland vs France’. To stand out, we avoided:
Typical 30-sec spots,
Excited announcer-type VOs,
Pre-recorded, one-version- fits-all scripts Instead, we created ‘live’, morning- before-the-match updates and commentary. Lalang Chong actually interacted with the on-air radio hosts, and shared his thoughts on the game. Of course, it was all ‘lalang’ commentary and predictions. This ‘infuriated’ the DJs, and secretly delighted fans. More than a radio ad, Lalang Chong became part of the radio show itself.

Results and Effectiveness
The campaign was immensely popular, and drove 450,000 Twitter conversations. Business-wise:
Q3’14 vs. Q3’13 mobile internet customers grew by 26.5%,
Q3’14 vs. Q3’13 internet revenue grew by 40.3%
Today, Lalang Chong is a regular football commentator and score predictor on Hitz.fm. Fans just can’t get enough. All this from the self- proclaimed ultimate lalang football fan!