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Categories
| Challenger brands willing to take risks |
| Written by Emily Tan | |||
| Thursday, 10 September 2009 11:31 | |||
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The commercials may seem a little out there for a mobile services provider. But challenger brands like DiGi are more open to trying new things. “Challenger brands are more likely to back out-of-the-box ideas whereas market leaders tend to play it more conservative,” observed David Mitchell, COO of DiGi’s creative agency NagaDDB, in an interview with The Edge Financial Daily recently. As Johan Dennelind, CEO of DiGi, said in an interview last year for Malaysia’s Most Valuable Brands (MMVB): “We dare to be different, we have the guts to try new things. With the DiGi brand you can do that because it is unconventional.” The MMVB is a joint brand valuation project between the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As), The Edge and global brand agency Interbrand. In the 2008 MMVB league table, DiGi was ranked ninth with a brand value of RM3 billion; Celcom, with a brand value of RM3.9 billion, was ranked sixth. The study is based on publicly available information so Maxis, which had been taken private, was not ranked. DiGi’s subscriber base of 7.2 million (as at 1Q09) places it third after Maxis and Celcom. Maxis had over 11 million customers as at 4Q08 while Celcom has over 9.7 million users.  NagaDDB created the YCF in 2006 to address the public perception that DiGi had the poorest coverage of the three telcos. The YCF was used to personify the telco. “The idea was to create companionship, to make DiGi coverage a personality, not just a service,” said Mitchell who joined Naga DDB in January this year. The YCF became an almost-instant hit with a cult following. At the Asian Marketing Effectiveness awards in 2007, the campaign won Naga DDB a gold (Malaysia’s first) for Most Effective Use of Advertising in Asia and a silver for Best Idea. The current campaign featuring the YCF playing cupid and comical fat cat in two 40-second TV commercials was created to remind viewers that DiGi gives good value on call rates at 10 sen a minute. According to NagaDDB Blitz, the agency’s newsletter, blogs and forums began to feature the commercials a month later, in July. Part of the Foetus Group and allied to DDB Worldwide, NagaDDB has built up a strong track record of working with challenger brand clients such as DiGi and Mamee, said Mitchell. In 2007’s MMVB, Mamee Double Decker, which owns the Mamee brand, was ranked 29th with a brand value of RM87 million. “The agency’s ‘just get it done’ approach attracts challenger brands,” he said. “They are more likely to take a leap of faith with us.” In Malaysia, Maggi has about 55% share of the instant noodle market, according to a spokesperson for the company. NagaDDB created a TV commercial named the Fire Extinguisher for Mamee Sllrrrp which sought to position Mamee Sllrrrp as the “spicy hot noodle expert”. The creative team invented a “Mamee Rescue Squad” to rescue spicy noodle lovers, said Ted Lim, executive creative director of Naga DDB, in a statement in June this year after the agency won a Silver Lotus at the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival (AdFest) for the TV commercial which was launched in June last year. NagaDDB’s campaign for the launch of the Perodua Myvi in 2005, which focused on the passion and commitment Perodua had for the Myvi, helped the car maker exceed its target of selling 20,000 units in the first month. According to Mitchell, Perodua sold 35,000 units in the first month alone. In 2008’s MMVB, Perodua was ranked 11th with a brand value of RM2.8 billion; Proton, with a brand value of RM150 million, was ranked 28th. Last year, NagaDDB’s campaign for Nippon helped Nippon outsell market leaders ICI and Jotun. “As of 3Q last year, Nippon became Malaysia’s top-selling paint,” said Mitchell. The idea was to create an army of colourful paint drops called “blobbies” named after Nippon Paint colours. “In giving paint a personality, we took a completely different route from other campaigns in the category. And all it took was one simple creative idea.” In Mitchell’s view, successful campaigns that help sell products don’t have to be big. “They just have to be talked about,” he said. This is the first in a series of articles looking at branding and brand value in connection with Malaysia’s Most Valuable Brands. The awards ceremony for MMVB 2009 will take place on Nov 20. This article appeared on the Media & Advertising page, The Edge Financial Daily, September 10, 2009.
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