Telekom Malaysia Archives - MARKETECH APAC

Malaysia – Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R Malaysia has introduced the fluffy influencer ‘Yunni’ as part of its new campaign for Telekom Malaysia’s (TM) game-changing Unifi offerings promotion.

Yunni, VMLY&R Malaysia’s brainchild, is a larger-than-life mascot that personifies Unifi’s new convergence package, bringing together fixed broadband, mobile, and lifestyle services. This new convergence package removes the customer’s pain and frustration of store-hopping to various suppliers to get everything they need at a reasonable price.

The campaign features a single-minded message, ‘0% Geram, 100% Ngam’, which translates to ‘0% anger, 100% perfect’. Unifi believes that finding a single telco in Malaysia to fulfil all of a customer’s digital lifestyle needs can be a complex and frustrating task.

And so, as part of the campaign, Yunni’s motto emphasises just how great it is to consolidate all these services to maximise savings and reduce frustration.

The campaign will also be available in TV commercials, digital films, OOH and DOOH, programmatic banners, social, on-ground activation, BTL, and in-store. There are also plans to expand Yunni as mascot merchandise after it has gained popularity.

Commenting on the campaign, Andrew Pinto, head of brand and marketing at TM, said, “This convergence campaign from Unifi offers a first-of-its-kind package that brings together fixed broadband, mobile, and lifestyle services into one game-changing offering. Unifi aims to provide an all-in-one solution offering more value for money and an elevated customer experience to become a one-stop centre.

He added, “VMLY&R worked with us to develop and execute a campaign which would communicate our new convergence plan in a way that would stand out and resonate with the market’s needs. Yunni is proving incredibly popular, and the results already speak for themselves.”

Victoria Chu, head of client engagement at VMLY&R Malaysia, also shared, “The success of this campaign stems from our strong partnership with the Unifi marketing team, who wholeheartedly believed in our capabilities and provided us with unwavering support. They entrusted us with the responsibility to spearhead one of the most significant campaigns of the year. This achievement marks just the beginning of our collaborative efforts, and we foresee further expansions on the horizon.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Dentsu Creative has been appointed by local telco Telekom Malaysia as its creative partner. Through the mandate, the agency will be the lead creative agency for telco’s Unifi Mobile, responsible for developing campaigns in the prepaid, postpaid and devices segments through strategic thinking, creative development, and go-to-market activation for the next three years until April 2026.

Moreover, having demonstrated their strategic and creative strengths in a multi-agency pitch, Dentsu Creative will now focus on partnering with Unifi Mobile for their growth agenda which requires differentiation and cut-through creative thinking.

The agency is eager to deepen its partnership and commitment to the brand by crafting campaigns to not only elevate Unifi’s market position but also forge a strong and lasting connection with consumers.

Recognising the shifting dynamics of market expectations, Dentsu Creative is poised to revitalize Unifi to capture the hearts and minds of consumers. The agency is committed to fostering a solid and enduring relationship with Unifi through open communication, transparency, and a shared vision for success.

Kunal Roy, chief executive officer at Dentsu Creative Malaysia, said, “We’re incredibly proud to be recognized as one of TM Group’s Panel of Agencies and to lead the Unifi Mobile creative remit. We’re particularly pumped about Unifi Mobile because the brand has a new personality and big ambitions. At Dentsu Creative, we believe the big challenges are where the power of creativity is best evidenced.”

Roy added, “We want to be TM Group’s partner for growth and through our approach to modern creativity, we will ensure that whatever we do has a real impact – on business, for the brand, in society and culture. Of course, all of this is only possible if we have the right people coming together for a shared purpose and we’ve put a great team together for this new partnership.”

Meanwhile, Rishu Verma, client partner at Dentsu Creative Malaysia, commented, “I am honoured to lead the TM and Unifi business at Dentsu Creative and we’re already working very closely with our clients and enjoying the spirit of partnership. Having put together a great team, we are now fully ready to keep pace with and even accelerate Unifi’s growth trajectory. In the months to follow, there’ll be some distinct and impactful work coming out of the Dentsu Creative kitchen for Uni5G and we’re all very excited about the future together.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Telekom Malaysia (TM) has teamed up with Grey Malaysia to launch a new campaign which uses generative AI to showcase the multifaceted diversity of the country. The new campaign was launched ahead of the upcoming Merdeka Day celebrations.

The TM team has created ‘AIDENTITI™ KITA’ an AI platform that allows people to express the unique traits that make them Malaysian. The campaign features a microsite at where people can generate their ‘AIDENTITI™’ as a personalised music video clip and stand a chance to be featured on digital billboards across the nation.

Following this, the team also worked with Directors Think Tank and Nacho Usual Collective to produce a one-of-a-kind music video featuring Malaysian artists MK (K-Clique), Suki Low and Balan Kash. Created with generative AI and the vision of film director Ian Djin Kai, the film tells a story of Malaysia’s diversity through live-action and unique digital artwork compositions.

Driven by a pop-rap music composition infused with traditional instruments, the music video showcased the beauty of Malaysia’s multifaceted culture in a method that’s fresh and modern.

Shanti Jusnita Johari, chief marketing officer at TM Group Customer Experience and Marketing, said, “Aligning with TM’s mission to bring new technologies to everyday Malaysians, this campaign showcases our country’s identity and diversity through a unique digital engagement, where communities from all walks of life can experience AI up close. Through our AIDENTITI™ KITA initiative, we at TM aim to foster unity by bridging culture, humanity and technology.”

Meanwhile, Jeremy Yeoh, deputy executive creative director of Grey Malaysia, commented, “We wanted to give people the platform to experience AI in a way that’s uniquely Malaysian. With generative AI, we’re able to add a different dimension and generate new perspectives on how we express Malaysia’s colourful kaleidoscope of faces and facets,”

Lastly, Jamie Hendricks, senior art director and Lysha Zulkifly, senior copywriter of Grey Malaysia, jointly said, “Giving everyone a taste of what AI can be is the beauty of this campaign, and what better way than to present it through our diverse culture. The outcome we got from the generated artwork with what was filmed really brought to life our blend of identity. It’s still uncharted territory that we’re tapping into, but as creatives, we have to adapt to constant new mediums of creativity. And with AI, it’s definitely a worthy exploration.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – National telco Telekom Malaysia has launched Credence, a cloud and digital services company, which will be focused on expanding the capabilities of enterprises and the public sector in their digital transformation journey.

Credence is led by Krish Datta, an experienced technology leader who joined TM in late 2021 to shape its new digital services arm. Leveraging TM’s established resources, infrastructure, and its strong links to enterprises and the public sector, Credence is positioned to accelerate Malaysia’s digital transformation journey.

Speaking about the launch, Datta explained that Credence will provide capabilities from tech infrastructure to business insights, cloud advisory, IT landscape migration, SaaS, managed services as well as analytics and insights.

“Credence aims to deliver outstanding experiences for our customers. We are the only company that is able to offer our customers the full end-to-end solutions from infrastructure to insights (I2I). Our approach is to meet customers where they are, discover what their mission-critical goals are, and work with them according to their needs and priorities. We are also platform and technology-agnostic – putting us in a better position to offer solutions with a stronger customer bias vis-a-vis a vendor bias,” Datta stated.

As part of the launch, Credence announced key partnerships with VMware, AWS and Huawei, which enables them to offer a broad range of options to enterprises, customised to their individual growth needs.

Meanwhile, Imri Mokhtar, TM’s Group Chief Executive Officer said that with enterprises re-evaluating their capabilities and offerings to respond to today’s increasingly digital demands, TM is poised to become an astute digital solutions provider in addition to its established connectivity leadership position.

“TM will empower organisations in the private and public sector to transform with greater efficiency and flexibility while offering a superior return on investment. We recognise that now is an opportune time to leverage on our strengths, address market needs and launch a dedicated company – Credence – that is focused on technology and digital innovation,” Mokhtar said.

He added, “TM will offer a differentiated advantage in how we bring end-to-end digital solutions and services to customers through Credence. Leveraging both local and international technologies as well as expertise, Credence will provide greater and faster time-to-value by understanding local customer requirements and challenges.”

Malaysia – In conjunction with World SME Day, which falls on 27 June, Telekom Malaysia‘s retail convergence solutions arm, unifi Business has launched a month-long campaign to help SMEs get back on their feet post-pandemic while rallying all Malaysians to support their business growth.

Using the hashtag #BelanjaDiSME, which means ‘Spend with SME’, unifi Business alongside several renowned partners has lined up multiple activities such as a social media challenge, an ‘SMEs to SMEs’ talk show, and a nationwide entrepreneurs roadshow to celebrate the significant role played by local SMEs in creating employment, promoting innovation and creativity, as well as contributing to the country’s economic prosperity.

#BelanjaDiSME was chosen to encourage Malaysians to buy products and services offered by local SMEs, boosting the profitability of these enterprises and contributing to their rebound post-pandemic, said TM.

The campaign started off with a social media challenge, where Malaysians are invited to upload a picture of any local SME of their choice on their personal social media space with a creative caption, tagged with the #BelanjaDiSME hashtag. Participants with the most creative picture and caption will be in the running to win prizes such as a 3-day and 2-night stay at local holiday destinations, smart devices, and shopping vouchers, amongst others. The challenge is now open right up until the end of June.

Meanwhile, unfi Business has also conducted an ‘SMEs to SMEs’ talk show featuring stories of local SMEs on their digital transformation journey. The talk show which went live on unifi Business Facebook page as well as on Astro Awani, featured speakers from Hernan Corporation, Jazzy Group, and Kiddocare.

A nationwide tour is also being held throughout the month of June, to raise awareness among SMEs on the importance of digitalisation process for their business growth and development especially during this transition to endemic phase. TM said this is in line with the government’s focus on empowering this target group and improving their living standards.

In addition, to give local SMEs a shot in the arm, unifi Business will also promote the SME Digitalisation Grant (SDG) where the entrepreneurs can enjoy up to 50% savings on their subscriptions to digital solutions from unifi Business or get a RM5,000 matching grant, as part of the Pelan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara (PENJANA) initiative announced by the Government in 2021. This is an opportunity for SMEs to increase their productivity while reducing their operating cost.

Malaysia – Malaysian telecom company Telekom Malaysia is making an interesting stride in content marketing with its newest insights hub – its Official TM Blog. The content destination will be providing direct access to thoughts and insights from the group’s top leaders and subject matter experts in the telco and technology sector.

Following the footsteps of some of the world’s biggest tech firms, the blog intends to become a one-stop information centre for key decision-makers, analysts as well as the media, allowing them to get the latest industry happenings, new ideas, analyses as well as trends in digital technologies and transformation, sustainability, organisational culture and various other exciting topics.

Written to engage and inspire an informed global audience, the articles are clustered into four segments namely Ideas, Trends, Achievements, and Insights.

The Official TM Blog is updated monthly, and is accessible from the main page of its corporate website.

Malaysia — Telekom Malaysia (TM), has produced a heart-warming Hari Raya film that incorporates Kufi, a type of early Arabic calligraphy, in an innovative way to unite the cultures of the past with the technology of the future. The campaign was created, handled, and executed by brand and customer experience agency, VMLY&R.

The short film entitled ‘Dari Hati’ or From the Heart, is part of the TM’s wider Festive Campaign for 2022 – which encompasses all the main festive celebrations in Malaysia, including National Day.

The short film revolves around a young man, Iqbal, and his ruminations on life and his purpose. His mum then rings, asking for help clearing out the workshop of his deceased father, who was an artist. By revisiting the workshop and being inspired by his father’s art to create tech Kufi versions of his own, Iqbal reconnects with his family, his heritage and above all his father’s values of doing everything with wholeheartedness and sincerity.

VMLY&R’s proprietary ‘Muslim Intel Lab’ insights helped shape the idea, that Malaysians have one intangible heritage that is passed on from every generation: Words of wisdom. This is an important pillar of the Malay community as it forms and guides everything that they do in life. Through this, the agency found a way to turn this intangible heritage into a tangible end product with the Kufi generator.

Kenni Loh, CEO of VMLY&R Malaysia, shared, “Our proprietary ‘Muslim Intel Lab’ provided a valuable insight that inspired us to find a solution that could convert the intangible, a heritage passed down through the generations, into the tangible. Our goal was to honour and celebrate Aidilfitri in a unique and interesting way and get our audience to not only enjoy the touching and meaningful Raya film but also share their own words of wisdom thanks to the world’s first Kufi generator.”

Together with TM, VMLY&R co-created a proprietary platform, Artificial Intelligence Visual to Extralinguistic Experience (A.I.VEE) that allows users to key their words of wisdom into a special page on the TM website that then converts their submission from text into beautiful Kufi. They can then customise, download their personalised Kufi design and share them with their friends and family.

KC Aui, executive creative director of VMLY&R Malaysia, said, “Many brands just produce a TVC for Raya, but we wanted to build on that in an innovative way. We wanted to celebrate the culture of sharing words of wisdom from our elders by converting them into another form of Malay heritage: turning Jawi (the traditional way of writing Malay script based on Arabic letters) into beautiful Kufi art.”

Commenting on the project, Shanti Jusnita Johari, CMO of Telekom Malaysia, said, “We want to highlight and celebrate Malaysia’s many cultures and heritage during a festive season when people are more attuned to the idea of how culture connects our humanity and brings families closer together. We also want to demonstrate TM’s role as the enabler of technology, by empowering Malaysians to use technology to create art pieces.”

Since its launch for Hari Raya, the film has garnered over 2 million views, and over 700 pieces of original Kufi art have been created. VMLY&R developed the first of its kind Kufi generator using A.I.VEE technology and building the microsite.

Philippines — TM Wholesale, the wholesale arm of Telekom Malaysia (TM), has signed a collaborative agreement with Globe Telecom (Globe), for a nationwide rollout of Globe’s co-branded gaming solution called Globe Gamer Grounds powered by Ember in the Philippines.

The partnership will provide Globe with access to Swarmio’s plug-and-play Ember platform for gaming that will enhance Globe’s gaming and e-sports services and bring it closer to its millions of mobile and broadband end users. Leveraging TM’s established global network and infrastructure ecosystems, the platform enables Globe’s customers to enjoy ultra-low latency gaming experiences with faster download speeds.

As an established digital solutions provider in the Philippines and an enormous provider of telecommunications services, the Globe Group of companies also has a significant presence in various digital solutions businesses, leveraging its substantial customer base, distribution capabilities, and strategic partnerships to establish a footprint that spans numerous industry sectors including fintech, healthcare, entertainment, adtech, e-commerce, manpower, IT services, and venture capital.

Amar Huzaimi Md Deris, EVP of TM Wholesale, stated that they are thrilled to collaborate with Globe as the gaming and e-sports industry is now considered the world’s biggest entertainment industry, with ASEAN gamers dominating the market.

“As a regional operator, TM Wholesale takes pride in making superior gaming experiences accessible to the industry via our wholesale offerings which provide a seamless and high-quality digital experience to users. This collaboration also aligns with our vision to create a more vibrant digital ecosystem throughout the region,” Deris adds.

Meanwhile, Ralph Aligada, head of Globe Games and Esports, shared, “With Globe’s all-in-one gaming platform, the community of gamers will enjoy a seamless and high quality digital experience. We are hopeful that with this agreement, there will be more opportunities and innovative solutions that would benefit our gaming community and users in the country, perhaps even across the region.”

Previously, TM Wholesale and Swarmio Media, a Canada-based gaming and e-sports technology company established a partnership to provide accessible and high-quality digital gaming and e-sports services throughout ASEAN. This partnership with Globe marks a breakthrough in TM’s collaboration with Swarmio Media, enhancing e-sports gaming and levelling up digital experiences for the Philippines and across the region.

Malaysia – Malaysian-based telco Telekom Malaysia has appointed Krish Datta, former CEO for JAPAC and the Middle East at global data solution provider BackOffice Associates, to the newly created role of executive vice president of digital services.

With over 34 years of technology industry experience, Datta has built and led several enterprise technology-based businesses across ASEAN, India, Japan, and Australia, as well as the Middle East. Aside from his role at BackOffice Associates, Datta has also held leadership positions at SAP APAC for over 16 years, where he established the company in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. He also went on to hold the position of president of SAP Southeast Asia, where he is responsible for all aspects of the business from sales, marketing, sales operations, and presales, as well as partner and eco-system, amongst others.

In his new role, Datta will be bringing his deep expertise in building Telekom’s technology businesses, alongside a broad, diverse set of experiences and skills.

Commenting on his appointment, Datta said, “I am excited to join TM, for more than one reason. I love building sustainable tech businesses, and this opportunity to build a technology-focused team offers me the ability to create, from the inside, another reliable TM brand, a new identity for Enterprise Technology along with a scope to help a country I love.”

Meanwhile, Imri Mokhtar, Telekom’s group CEO, shared that in this new role, Datta will deepen their commitment and ability to enable their Enterprise and Public Sector customers’ digital transformation, as they help them improve and accelerate every area of their business with simplicity and confidence.

“Krish at the helm of our new digital services arm marks the start of an exciting new chapter for us. As our customers in the Enterprise and Public Sector space continue to build the future of business, he will help TM realise our opportunities in B2B digital services. I am excited to see what Krish and his team will deliver,” said Mokhtar.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Petronas in Malaysia has launched the second edition of its technology accelerator program called ‘Petronas FutureTech 2.0’, an event that aims to encourage local innovations and to scale up technology startups in the country.

For this year’s ‘Petronas FutureTech 2.0’, Petronas continues its partnership with global venture capital firm 500 Startups. The program is expected to bring in greater prospects for participating startups as Petronas, through its corporate venture capital arm, Petronas Ventures has teamed up with Government-linked companies (GLCs) – telco Telekom Malaysia and conglomerate company Sime Darby Plantation.

The collaboration aims to unlock synergies from cross-industries expertise and maximize the value impact of the program to local startups. Through this, GLCs will be able to uncover potentially game-changing technologies, accelerate new ideas that can help transform local industries, and enable the participating teams to have greater market access for growth.

Arni Laily Anwarrudin, the head at Petronas Ventures, shared that following the success of the first FutureTech program in 2019, they foresee bigger prospects towards nation-building, and collaborating with major corporations is the right way to further nurture the ecosystem for Malaysian startups.

“It also creates a positive socio-economic impact to the community through education and skill investment, as well as fostering tech-driven innovations that support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals,” said Anwarrudin.

Meanwhile, Telekom Malaysia’s Chief Strategy Officer Tengku Muneer Tengku Muzani, commented that they are excited and thrilled to join hands with Petronas and Sime Darby Plantation to help nurture the startup ecosystem in Malaysia.

“In line with our drive towards a Digital Malaysia, we hope to explore common ground with the FutureTech 2.0 corporate partners and startups in accelerating digital innovation by leveraging on each other’s strengths,” said Muzani.

Sime Darby Plantation’s Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Dr. Shariman Alwani said that they are looking forward to identifying innovative startups with technology capabilities and game-changing solutions to help them overcome various challenges and pain points.

“We are excited to be part of FutureTech 2.0. To be able to give a voice to our local innovative startups and help unlock their potential in collaboration with like-minded partners such as Petronas and Telekom Malaysia is truly a valuable opportunity,” said Alwani.

Furthermore, the focus themes for this year’s FutureTech program are Industry 4.0, Specialty Chemicals and Advance Materials, Future of Energy, and Digital Transformation, as well as Retail Innovation.

Shortlisted startups in FutureTech 2.0 will undergo an intensive 12-week virtual program from September, which includes masterclasses, workshops, and coaching from 500 Startups’ mentors as well as C-suite and experts from Petronas, Telekom Malaysia, and Sime Darby Plantation. These startups will have the opportunity to accelerate their business solutions via a proof of concept (POC) and get access to insights and resources from the GLCs.

For interested startups, the applications for FutureTech 2.0 will be available until 27 July 2021.