The telco wars are in full swing in Malaysia, judging by the March Adwatch chart, with the country's top three telcos -- Maxis, Digi and Celcom -- all having TVCs placing in the top five.
Maxis' prepaid brand Hotlink emerged in second place with a campaign targeting the youth segment. Since the account was awarded to BBDO late last year, the brand has made a significant branding push in the market.
Maxis' prepaid brand Hotlink emerged in second place with a campaign targeting the youth segment. Since the account was awarded to BBDO late last year, the brand has made a significant branding push in the market.
Close behind was competitor Digi in third place, which launched its 'Beyond Prepaid' campaign in March as a means to boost postpaid subscribers. The campaign was created by Naga DDB to advertise that added value services, including caller ID, call waiting and call divert, would be free of charge, while Maxis and Celcom charge up to RM 8 (about US$2).
Telcos in Malaysia are some of the biggest spenders on advertising, each spending up to RM 100 million per year. The number one spot in the March poll was scooped by a campaign for Pizza Hut, which launched a campaign for Rich Gold Crust pizza, a choice which has a ring of potato around the edge, in February.
"This pizza is an exciting fusion of tastes, textures and colours that burst into an exciting culinary journey," said Kok Peng, account manager, Ogilvy & Mather Malaysia. "It evokes not only our taste buds but also our imagination, which ties in with our TVC storyline." The TVC revolves around the idea of a man humouring his friends with a fictional story about a much-talked about product that everyone is into -- the Rich Gold Crust pizza. Other brands featured in the chart include petrol brand Petronas in fourth place, Rejoice in sixth, McDonald's in eighth place and Citibank Credit Card in 14th. sm