Tag: Malaysia

Singapore – As the Muslim religious holiday of Ramadan draws to its conclusion, new report from e-commerce company iPrice shows that three products are most sought by Muslim consumers in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, namely perfumes, skincare products and ‘kaftan’, a type of robe worn by Muslims and has been a distinct clothing article of Muslims in Southeast Asia.

According to the report, demand for perfume among SIngaporean consumers skyrocketed to 6078% compared to last year’s Ramadan. Other goods most-searched in Singapore include supplements, kurtas, cooktops and cookies, all which saw a huge spike in search at a rate of 2090%, 1974%, 1529%, and 452% in increase from last year respectively.

Meanwhile, skincare leads in the search history among Malaysian consumers, which increased by 8140% compared last year. Other sought-after products include perfume (6183%), Baju Melayu, a form of Malay clothing garment worn mostly by men (4241%), and even sofas (1262%).

Lastly, the Muslim-rich country of Indonesia saw that kaftan saw the highest surge of online searches, with a 8773% increase since last year. Other items include Gamis (a Muslim female clothing garment), Rok Muslimah (a casual version of Muslim female clothing), and Sarung (an Indonesian skirt), all of which saw a surge of 2813%, 1532%, 1850% respectively when compared to the same period last year.

iPrice also noted in their report that consumers in Singapore started their online shopping journey as early as 5 am, after a morning lull. Shopping activities reached its peak at lunch break at 2 pm and after Taraweeh (the night prayer) period at 9 pm up until 11 pm before bed.

Surprisingly, it was even earlier in Indonesia and Malaysia where people began to shop as early as 2 am and 4 am respectively. After the morning period, shopping sessions peaked again at 10 am in Indonesia and noon in Malaysia.

Smartphones have frequently been pulled out by consumers to purchase products online. This is evident because mobile emerged as the most used device for consumers in Singapore (55%), Malaysia (68%), and Indonesia (93%) to shop online than other devices within the first two weeks of Ramadan.

By comparison, the usage of desktops only showed 43% in Singapore, 31% in Malaysia, and 6.41% in Indonesia. This also proves that the mobility and the convenience of mobile transactions eclipsed tablet and desktop usage.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – In this year’s celebration of Mothers’ Day, oral care brand Darlie in Malaysia has rolled out a new film titled ‘Expectations’, which portrays the struggles of motherhood.

The two-minute film is done in collaboration with advertising agency FCB Malaysia. It is the first in a series of brand initiatives by the brand that aims to show the story behind an authentic, confident smile as encapsulated by its tagline ‘Your Smile Shines’.

‘Expectations’ sheds light on the pressures that a mother constantly faces in raising the family. The film narrates how they are constantly met with unfettered opinions in becoming the ‘perfect’ parent such as if they are able to spend enough time with their child, if they are able to teach them proper etiquette, down to the food they provide to the family.

Ultimately, the film is a reminder to all mothers that they are not defined by the expectations of the world and that it is impossible to be perfect and to please everyone around them. 

“Doing your best for those who matter to you is already enough,” Darlie Malaysia reassures.

Melissa Wong, the marketing director of Hawley & Hazel Malaysia, shared that as a mother herself, she knows very well that motherhood is a constant struggle but the burden becomes heavier when moms are weighed down by not only their own expectations of themselves but also the expectations of others of what they should or shouldn’t do as a mother.

“That’s why, this Mother’s Day, we want to remind all moms that even though there will be times where you struggle and believe you’ve failed in the eyes of the world, doing your best will always be perfect enough, especially to the ones who call you ‘mom’,” said Wong.

Meanwhile, FCB Malaysia’s Creative Director Tjer Wang commented that this project introduces Darlie Malaysia’s belief that the only benchmark they should measure themselves against is their own. 

“Hence, in an era of unrealistic depictions of ‘perfection’, what matters most this Mother’s Day is that our moms are celebrated for all that they’ve done for us, despite the unrealistic expectations stemming from social media and the rigidity of societal norms,” said Wang.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – As the pandemic amplifies digital adoption, companies from different industries have been developing their online content and embracing digital trends.

On airline airasia’s side, it has started efforts bolstering online content, where in last March, it launched ‘Project Kavvai’, a program that seeks to discover and develop the next big virtual idol to be showcased as a streaming digital avatar content creator in ASEAN.

After a long wait, airasia has finally announced its first virtual idol named Aozora Kurumi and is set to debut on 8 May 2021, which will be live-streamed on YouTube at 8:00 pm MYT.

Clad in a Victorian-style outfit with her trusted pet Jetson, Kurumi is designed by a renowned illustrator artist in the virtual idol community, Yueko. She was brought to life by industry veteran Iron Vertex, with vocals provided by a talent chosen from the ‘Project Kavvaii’ open audition. Kurumi will be responsible for generating exciting online content in gaming and lifestyle categories with live broadcasts while participating in engaging online and offline activities in the near future. 

According to airasia, the airline will also be working with pixiv, the top online community for artists in Japan and across the world, to produce an exclusive fan art contest for Kurumi in September, and a dedicated pixiv channel on airasia wifi that showcases exclusive content from the pixivision platform.

Rudy Khaw, the chief brand officer of airasia Group, said that they are proud to introduce the first virtual idol, which they foresee will be a game-changer in the future of streaming content in ASEAN. 

“As a digital company, the constant change in the way people consume online content drives us to explore cross-industry innovations with Project Kavvaii to stay relevant and ahead of trends. We are also very excited to have pixiv onboard this journey which would bring us closer to the community and hope to see Aozora Kurumi taking the content world by storm very soon,” added Khaw.

For more updates on Kurumi, fans may follow her on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as Facebook.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysian satellite television provider Astro has announced that it has been appointed by global mass media company The Walt Disney Company to be an official distributor of its streaming service Disney+ Hotsuite in the country.

Astro customers will be able to stream more than 800 films and 18,000 episodes of Disney’s content on the Disney+ Hotstar app. Astro is working towards making Disney+ Hotstar available via the Ultra and Ulti connected boxes of Astro later this year, providing Astro customers with a one-stop entertainment convenience.

Henry Tan, group CEO at Astro, expressed his delight with their recent partnership with Disney to aggregate more global to their platform.

“Soon customers can enjoy the dazzling line-up from Disney+ Hotstar in addition to the much-loved Astro hits, local signatures, award-winning originals and unparalleled live sports, making us the undisputed entertainment destination for Malaysians,” Tan stated.

He also noted that their ‘Movies Pack’ customers will soon be able to stream content entertainment on Disney+ Hotstar for an additional RM5 per month while non-Movies Pack customers can also enjoy Disney+ Hotstar via other value bundles.

“This is a great start to an action-packed year where we will be aggregating subscription-based video on demand (SVOD) streaming services, giving our customers the widest variety of entertainment to choose from, value and convenience,” he added.

Meanwhile, David Shin, general manager at The Walt Disney Company Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, commented, “We are excited to launch Disney+ Hotstar in Malaysia for the consumers and also collaborate closely with Astro to deliver powerful entertainment with heart. From iconic Disney classics, to brand-new Disney+ Original series, Malaysian hits from homegrown creators, filmmakers and talent and Asian series and films, there is something for everyone of all ages.”

The Disney+ Hotsuite will feature blockbuster Hollywood movies and award-winning content from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, National Geographic, FX, 20th Century Studios and many more, which also includes exclusive premieres and blockbusters from leading Malaysian studios.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The Malaysian arm of Universal Music, a division of Universal Music Group, has appointed Kim Lim as its newest managing director to help accelerate domestic artist development and label growth in the country.

The appointment comes as part of a series of strategic hires to further expand and bolster the senior management team as part of the company’s effort to accelerate domestic artist development and label growth within the region.

Through the appointment, Lim will oversee UMG’s operations throughout Malaysia. Based at UMM’s headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, she will report to Calvin Wong, CEO at Universal Music Southeast Asia and senior vice president for Asia.

Prior to her new position, Lim has held a variety of senior roles within the company, most recently serving as senior director of new business and artist management, as well as head of marketing and sales for Malaysia for Universal Music Malaysia.

She also spearheaded the launch of Celebrity 360, an industry-leading full-service management company which manages the careers of some of Malaysia’s most popular and influential talents from the worlds of music, film/TV, entertainment and lifestyle including Anis Nabilah and Alvin Chong.

Speaking regarding her appointment, she stated, “I am excited to lead the amazing team here in Malaysia, as we look at new ways to expand the horizons and think expansively about what is possible for a music company to achieve. We will continue to focus on domestic A&R, discovering and developing the best talent our country and region have to offer. 

She added, “We will innovate and carve new paths to ensure that Malaysia’s vibrant music culture is more accessible to partners, platforms and most importantly music fans throughout the region than ever before.”

Joining her as well in the recent slew of promotions are Hermond Cheng, director of A&R and marketing and head of Def Jam Malaysia; Ivan Koh as director of commercial and digital strategy; and Patrina Wong as finance and operations director.

Meanwhile, Calvin Wong, CEO at Universal Music Southeast Asia and senior vice president for Asia, commented, “I am thrilled that Kim’s ability, business innovation and strategic leadership have enabled her to rise from within UMM to the top job in Malaysia. Having been a passionate and successful marketing executive on the label side, she has achieved amazing results in transforming our non-recorded Income, whilst spearheading the innovative and successful launch of Celebrity 360 in Malaysia.”

He added, “I’m confident that with the team of Kim, Hermond, Ivan and Patrina in place, UMM will continue to expand the opportunities for Malaysian music talent around the world, whilst achieving new levels of success domestically.”

Malaysia – In this year’s celebration of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Malaysian cleaning appliance brand Kärcher releases a touching short film that reminds the value of ‘home’ and ‘memories’.

The almost 7-minute film was done in collaboration with social media agency Kingdom Digital, and Lui Xiao Yee, its head for account servicing, said that while the tradition of families coming together to clean and spruce up their homes in preparation for the Raya festive occasion serves as a great bonding experience, “memories are often sidelined.” 

Karcher Malaysia Kingdom Digital

Hence, the insight for the new short film, ‘Rumahku, Memoriku’ or ‘My Home, My Memories’.

The story revolves around the son, Zack, who is convincing his father to sell the family’s old house in order to gain money from it, but the father contests as the house holds many precious memories of the family. 

As the family visits and sets out to clean and ‘prepare’ the house for sale, Zack is brought back to his fond memories of childhood which he had spent happily with his parents. This brings the important realization that his parents are right all along, and that family comes first before anything else.

William Kiew, general manager of Kärcher Malaysia, said, “We are excited to have released our first Raya short film on social media platforms. Besides showcasing the capabilities of our key products to ease Malaysians with the spring-cleaning process, we hope to remind them that remnants of our past can often bring back memories and help us remember what made us who we are today.”

Kingdom Digital produced the short film in partnership with production company Untitled Films.

Hari Raya Aidilfitri which marks the end of Ramadan will be celebrated on 13 May in Malaysia. 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – In observance of the Muslim holiday Hari Raya, Malaysian telco Maxis has partnered with e-commerce platform Shopee in releasing a shoppable holiday-centric campaign, which encourages Malaysians to shop online for their Raya festivity needs in support of local SMEs, whose businesses are greatly affected by the pandemic.

Hari Raya, or also known as Eid al-Fitr, is a Muslim religious holiday that marks the end of month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. In Malaysia, Hari Raya is a well-known holiday, many Muslims and even non-Muslims return to their family home, known by the term ‘balik kampong’ where they go home to their loved ones a day before the festivities.

Maxis has released the ad ‘Raya Si Sakan’, in collaboration with Shopee, which combines storytelling with technology through shoppable ad features, turning a typical video into a shopping catalogue for entrepreneurs to promote and sell their products.

Maxis is inviting Malaysians to shop for their Raya festive needs in support of a noble cause for online merchants. Malaysians can select from over a wide range of products showcased at Maxis’ dedicated campaign page, from fashion, food, Islamic wares, décor and home items, as well as arts and crafts. In addition, this campaign puts the spotlight on local micro-entrepreneurs to help them unlock their ‘rezeki’ potential through the power of e-commerce. 

The narrative follows the quirky tale of a husband and wife preparing for the Raya festivities. While the wife prepares new things for the festivity, the husband has been spending online to buy merchandise from sellers, from beauty products, Raya-centric foods and dresses.

The general theme of the campaign encapsulates a new thought of celebrating Raya, as the husband says that he is spending online so that the merchants as well can earn and enjoy their Raya as well.

For Tai Kam Leong, head of brand and marketing at Maxis, the Raya season has always been personified by acts of generosity and shopping, and they were inspired to blend the best of both traditions, using our shoppable Raya film to turn shopping into acts of giving.

“Bringing sellers and shoppers together in this digital space, we are encouraging people to support local businesses, while giving the latter the exposure they would not ordinarily get otherwise. And as a tribute to their entrepreneurial spirit and contribution to our economy, we want to put the best of technology in their hands to enable them to Always Be Ahead,” Leong stated.

Meanwhile, Kenneth Soh, head of Shopee Mall Malaysia, stated that this partnership with Maxis is another initiative to make e-commerce accessible, inclusive and beneficial for all Malaysians. 

“As we further our goal of using technology to empower the communities that we serve in, this joint effort will help local entrepreneurs, particularly B40 entrepreneurs by giving them the opportunity to gain exposure and sales,” Soh stated.

Soh says further, “Beyond sales, the initiative strives to provide livelihoods for the entrepreneurs and help them survive during these trying times. We are humbled to be part of this collaboration and we look forward to greater things that will benefit the country together with Maxis.”

Maxis has been supporting the SME and micro-SME community for several years now. Recently, it launched its eKelas Usahawan, a structured digital marketing program to empower women entrepreneurs in rural communities to develop a stronger digital presence.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysian higher education institution SEGi College Subang Jaya has tapped digital solutions provider elfo to improve the institution’s digital transformation strategies by being its corporate partner for integrated performance-based marketing and automation.

Included in the partnership is the utilization of elfo’s marketing automation platform elfoMAP and its application-to-person messaging platform elfoA2P, which have been used by SEGi’s marketing and recruitment division for its email and SMS campaigns for the past four months.

Sri Yosephin, head at elfo, believes that leveraging digital technology is crucial for the higher education sector, to ensure the sustainability of enrolment strategies and student retention.

“Our user-centered solutions will help simplify redundant administrative processes and provide real-time, comprehensive data such as open rate and click-through rate. These key metrics allow SEGi College Subang Jaya to model student retention and apply that model to forecast successful enrollment,” Yosephin stated.

Calvin Chan, acting principal at SEGi College Subang Jaya, agrees as well, stating that it is important for the institution to position themselves as an industry-driven higher learning institution, moving towards Industrial Revolution 4.0, which is in line with Malaysia’s nation building agenda.

“Working closely with a MAdTech expert like elfo helps us make our necessary technological shifts seamless and enables us to focus more on the college’s recruitment needs and serving our students. The straightforward onboarding process and reliable professional support are definitely convenient, cutting short our learning curve and making the integration effortless,” Chan explained.

In addition, Li Chun Young, digital marketing lead at SEGi College Subang Jaya, also noted that two of the email campaigns optimized by elfoMAP had seen a promising return. Scholarship-offer emails sent to potential students had a 90% open rate and emails sent to Australian recruitment agencies had a 30% open rate. On top of that, the college also saw a 100% increase in conversion from the email campaigns

“This is impressive considering the average open rate is only 24.9% for the education-related campaigns. These numbers and responses are unlike what we’ve seen prior to our partnership with elfo,” Young said.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – There is an emerging trend that is reshaping the property landscape – urbanites are relocating to suburbs, or the phenomenon known as ‘Urban Exodus’. This ongoing trend of migration is accelerated by the onset of the global pandemic, giving the property industry a major makeover. As we move into the post-pandemic property market, there are three key factors reshaping the industry.

1. Growing Upward Social Mobility

The Malaysian housing preferences have changed, with many homebuyers looking to live away from the city. This is because suburban property is the manifestation of an everyday Malaysian’s homeownership dream – living in a large space with multifunctional rooms in a low-density neighborhood. From keeping up with the growth of children to taking care of aging parents, homebuyers are looking to upgrade their current home to a larger permanent living space in the suburbs to accommodate those needs. 

“The emerging mass affluent is a dominant force in the property landscape with their home-buying preferences. The paradigm shift in home-buying trends is a wake-up call for businesses to be mindful and prepared to evolve along with the market,” said Darien Mah, founder of FOREFRONT Group, which recently developed the house-buying app FOUN.

2. The Millennial Shift

Statistics revealed that the gap between income growth and property price is getting larger by the year, making the urban housing market unaffordable for many. A report by World Bank has also shown that there is a pattern of income stagnation and widening income gap among millennials, further decreasing the level of housing affordability. 

However, millennials are still looking for opportunities in the property market, hence why the affordability that comes with suburban living ticks all the boxes for this generation of homebuyers.

3. The New Normal

At the beginning of the 2020 global health crisis, everyone was confined in their homes and the city lost its luster. There is a growing trend where city dwellers are looking to trade their cozy apartments in the city for more spacious homes in the suburbs. 

Since the first movement control order (MCO) in Malaysia, having the luxury of car-porch workout or backyard farming has become a desirable aspect in life, or indeed, the new definition of suburbia chic. With remote work being a daily reality for many, urban dwellers no longer see the value of living in an overcrowded city.

This article is by FOUN.

FOUN is a one-stop property solution, developed by creative group FOREFRONT, that aims to empower the everyday Malaysian to achieve their housing goals while maintaining a balanced lifestyle.