Malaysian Media Awards Winners Showcase

The Challenges
For 20 long years, TelekomMalaysia was the sole ‘go-to’ TechnologySolutionProvider for SMEs. With time, as SMEs matured into promising growth drivers – most B2B brands (not just telcos!) set out to woo them. Competition was insane, but our budgets remained constant – with a mere 1/10th the category budget; we chased a target of 2X sign-ups.

Insight, Strategy and the Idea
Events/Conferences were the go-to channel to acquire SME sign-ups. As competition intensified, these events were dime-a-dozen,and fatigued by the ‘done-to-death’ event format,SME’ attendance dropped & so did sign-ups. Continuing to believe in the power of Events, we decided to give it an overhaul. Partnering with MalaysiaSME(MSME), we recced events & interacted with SMEs.We discovered:- • SMEs perceived events as ‘one-way push mediums’ devoid of engagement. So despite sitting through the event, they didn’t get solutions to their business issues. • Secondly, even if they wished to start a dialogue, the very format of these events discouraged them. In an open forum, in presence of competitive peers, SMEs were not comfortable to voice their biz issues. TM introduced a one-on-one SME Clinic in the form of an intimate Confession Box – a space for SMEs to confess their needs and seek tailored solutions from experts.

Media Execution
Partnering with MSME, TM launched communications inviting attendance to the SME Confession Box – a first of its kind event, where SMEs discuss their business needs one-on-one with the speakers/experts. The speaker line-up and SME invitation list was synced to TM’ offerings across 7 verticals (such as telco, retail etc.).For the first time ever, a mass SME event had been customized to every participant.

Results and Effectiveness
With a mere RM50K spend, we hoisted a record!
• Of every 10 walk-ins at the SMEConfessionBox, 7 signed up for a TM solution – +200% the normal conversion rate.
• We achieved 4K sign ups – 3X more than the last Event