The telco has tapped word-of-mouth agency Vocanic to launch Ripplevox.com, an online platform that is reminiscent of Procter & Gamble's Tremor.com site in the US.
Ripplevox targets the 15- to 25-year-old demographic, and is also positioned to run projects for other brands.
While the site itself launched at the end of October, it is already running projects for Sony Ericsson's K610m phone, Gas jeans and MTV. For example, selected Ripplevox members are testing out the new Sony Ericsson phone, while others have reported for MTV's Pop Inc show.
StarHub vice-president of marketing Iris Wee explained Ripplevox would allow StarHub to both run word-of-mouth programmes, and gather feedback and opinions simultaneously.
"We see this as a valuable platform where eventually the youth become marketers themselves and ultimately have the power to shape and influence the way our products and services are introduced into the market," said Wee. "We felt we would not be successful employing traditional marketing tools, which can be perceived as irrelevant and (patronising). Importantly, we wanted to harness the dynamics of the huge influence of peers at play for this particular demographic group, to win the hearts and minds of youths."
Vocanic CEO Ian McKee added: "Youth research is notoriously hard to do because they are so fickle. Interviewing opinion leaders gives you a window into the future."
The site itself is notably free of StarHub branding, a "conscious choice", according to McKee. "We don't hide the fact it is a StarHub initiative, but we don't want it to be another StarHub website."
The site is also promising total honesty in terms of member views of brands and products, as long as it is factually correct.
"In order that Ripplevox is seen as balanced and not just a propaganda piece (even negative feedback) has to go up," said McKee.
