Third-ranked mobile telco Digi has opted for a new branded content platform as it aims to cut through the clutter in the country's high-spending mobile category.
Targeting semi-urban and rural Malay consumers, the company has developed a new TV programme in conjunction with McCann Worldgroup, running on Media Prima's TV3 channel. Named Ejen 016, the 13-part 'spy comedy'series follows the fortunes of a secret agent 016, fitted out with the full range of Digi products.
The Ejen 016 drive also includes online, mobile interaction and downloads, and a daily comic strip in a Malaysian newspaper. The rollout comes after Digi's key rivals — Maxis and Celcom — spent huge sums on World Cup related marketing campaigns.
"Many telcos are spending big money on conventional properties like football and music," explained McCann Erickson executive planning director Pratik Thakar. "The big question was — how much can they own it? Everyone gets lost in the crowd."
Accordingly Digi is hoping that the exclusive content it is offering will spur consumption in a target market that is considerably less saturated than the urban audience.
"Licensing content is simple; there are many ready international developers out there. But, developing your own TV series and then developing mobile content around it is something else altogether," said Digi chief executive officer Morten Lundal.
"This is what we are doing with Ejen 016, something that has never been done before."
"Semi-urban and rural markets have good spending power, and also comprise a large number of young citizens — which is the key segment for Digi's offering," added Thakar.
"We wanted to entertain them with the right combination of international style and local characteristics. We found the need gap, which connected well with Digi's core values — simple, innovative and different."
Digi recently reported strong second quarter earnings, driven by 354,000 new subscribers during the period. Over the last six months all three telcos have launched aggressive acquisition drives.
McCann won part of the Digi business following a review in 2005.
