MEC creates All in Nets game showBy Sharon Desker Shaw

The launch of the All in Nets show on MediaCorp TV is a culmination of the service's 'Nets it' relaunch campaign, which kicked off in December 2003. The show airs on the Chinese-language Channel 8 in the 8.30pm prime-time slot. During its six-week run, the show's co-hosts will each lead a team, comprising a local celebrity and a member of the public, to compete in a board-style game at a different retail mall each week. According to MEC, the show is set against a busy retail environment to highlight the convenience and choice Nets offers as a payment tool. "It's a creative media solution that perfectly showcases the many facets and applications of Nets payment service," said Nets CEO Poh Mui Hoon. MEC Singapore managing director Bertilla Teo added: "The value of editorial/programming versus advertising message is of course far greater, though difficult to quantify, but the programme strategy was key to Nets' relaunch and repositioning. "We calculated media exposure generated by this new TV game show, including, on-the-ground explosure, trailers for the TV show across MediaCorp's TV, radio and press (properties) is worth up to three times the budget." The 18-year-old Nets -- owned by Singapore's three banks -- DBS/POSB, OCBC and OUB -- invested in a facelift to encourage greater usage by merchants and consumers, especially in places which were not considered before. The operator also launched the Nets rewards scheme in March for its 11 million subscribers to drive usage. "The show is part of our effort to educate consumers on the benefits of going cashless," said Poh. Added Teo: "The new CEO saw the need to create a personality for the card. The 'Nets it' campaign was about getting people to use it in uncommon categories -- such as bookshops, jewellery stores and travel agencies -- beyond supermarkets, where Nets has a strong foothold." Nets payment is accepted by 12,500 merchants in 19,000 locations in the country.