#MarketingEventsAwards 2021 highlight: CapitaLand wins gold for Gen Z-targeted social contest

CapitaLand wanted to promote its lifestyle and shopping rewards programme CapitaStar. The programme currently has more than 1.1 million members who can access exclusive deals and promotions from more than 3,000 stores in 18 malls in Singapore. 

But it wanted to engage more Gen Zs in a creative manner, but found that mega influencer endorsement deals were too expensive for most of the boutique stores in its malls. Hence, it worked with Unearthed Productions to come up with the #HelloIAm contest to seek out a social media ambassador for CapitaStar. This led the team to win gold for Best Use of Influencers/KOLs at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s Marketing Events Awards 2021. 

Challenge 

CapitaLand’s app was further bolstered by the addition of the eCapitaMall and Capita3Eats platforms last year. The former is an online store featuring selected merchandise from retailers in CapitaLand’s malls, while the latter is an online food ordering and delivery service packed with choices from the malls’ F&B outlets. 

Each purchase on the platforms earns CapitaStar members STAR$, the currency used to redeem rewards on the app. CapitaLand had three main objectives for the #HelloIAm contest: 

1. Boost awareness and the brand recall rate of CapitaStar.

2. Identify CapitaStar’s social media ambassador, who would drive online sales on the eCapitaMall, and food orders on Capita3Eats via content.

3. Consolidate CapitaStar’s position as the leader in lifestyle and shopping rewards in Singapore.

Its target audience was Gen Z who are more likely to prioritise the intangible value of a product over its physical value. This predisposition has had retailers and brand owners scrambling for new and creative ways to interact with and engage with Gen Z. 

Apart from discounts and promotions, companies are now signing mega endorsement deals with the trendiest stars to appeal to Gen Z. However, mega endorsement deals with celebrities are simply too expensive for the many boutique and indie stores in CapitaLand’s malls. 

Strategy 

Through its #HelloIAm contest, CapitaLand sought to offer the winner a six-month paid stint as CapitaStar’s social media ambassador. More than 100 hopefuls submitted their auditions, but only six finalists aged 20 to 29 were picked. They were tasked to promote merchandise and food choices found on eCapitaMall and Capita3Eats in a series of pre-recorded content challenges. 

Each content challenge centred around one of CapitaStar’s niches: beauty and fashion, fitness, and food. Hosted by influencers who are leading voices in those niches, the challenges were a great opportunity for the finalists to practise their vlogging skills and test their creativity. 

The contest culminated in a grand final, which was live-streamed to more than 65,000 viewers on CapitaStar’s Facebook page. Influencers Aiken, Christabel, and Tyen were involved as hosts and mentors to six finalists. 

Each content challenge focused on the finalist’s ability to plan and create vlogs and Instagram posts around a selection of products and food choices, often under tight time constraints. The influencers would then judge their work and provide points for improvement. 

The pressure was ramped up in the grand final, where the finalists had to promote merchandise from eCapitaMall and dishes from Capita3Eats under the watchful eyes of both a live audience on CapitaStar’s Facebook page and the influencers. 

The winner of the grand final would go on to become CapitaStar’s social media ambassador, applying the skills they honed during the contest to create expert content on CapitaStar’s Instagram page, and drive sales and orders on eCapitaMall and Capita3Eats. 

But the #HelloIAm contest was always more than just finding a budding influencer. Like other competitions or reality shows, it was not without bits of drama and emotions. 

The content challenges were designed to help viewers understand each finalist on a more intimate level and choose someone to root for. By the time the grand final rolled around, the stakes were already raised. The winner of the contest would also receive more credence. 

Execution 

In the lead up to the event, each influencer did a shout-out of the #HelloIAm contest on Instagram just before each of their content challenges was slated to air on CapitaStar’s Facebook page. 

The influencers shared their experiences on the shows and encouraged their fans to tune in, garnering thousands of likes on their posts. This staggered approach was also advantageous in sustaining the publicity of the contest right up to the grand final on 24 July. 

The first content challenge was shot at NomadX in the CapitaLand-managed Plaza Singapura. Touted as an “etail” store, NomadX doesn’t actually house products that can be bought physically. Instead, shoppers scan a QR code tagged to a product to purchase it online. 

The showroom-like setting proved to be the perfect backdrop for the fashion and beauty content challenge, which tasked the finalists with creating one-minute vlogs of various beauty products. In addition, they had to craft outfit-of-the-day photos of themselves using the apparel and the themed corners in the store. 

The second content challenge revolved around wearable tech such as smartwatches and wireless sports earphones. As these products are designed to be part of everyday life, the finalists were challenged to incorporate them into their lifestyle as opposed to outright promoting them. 

Aptly, the content challenge was shot at lyf Funan Singapore, which is managed by CapitaLand subsidiary The Ascott. The co-living space is equipped with the amenities to simulate common use-case scenarios, including a communal lounge, a kitchen, workout areas, and an outdoor garden. 

The final content challenge featured three diverse segments. After dispensing a few nuggets of advice to the finalists, Aiken sent them off to review dishes from different F&B outlets on Capita3Eats. The second segment turned the audience’s attention to an air fryer, which the finalists also had to promote. Then came the trickiest part: the finalists had just five minutes to prepare for a one-minute, quick-fire food review. 

Not surprisingly, the content challenge was shot at Pit Stop at Plaza Singapura. The versatile event space doubles up as a dining area for takeaway food, letting the audience replicate the experience seen in the challenge. 

The grand final consisted of three one-hour live-streams at 2pm, 4pm and 7pm. Like each content challenge, every live-stream centred around one theme: beauty and fashion, food, and fitness. 

Because there was a live audience this time, the challenges were more dynamic. For example, audience members could interact with the finalists through live comments. In turn, the finalists could use these comments to gauge how well they were engaging their audience, and respond or adjust their performances on the fly. 

If rooting for their favourite finalists and catching the influencers in action wasn’t enough for the audience members, CapitaStar had another trick up its sleeve. During the live-streams, the influencers delivered a steady stream of offers and giveaways, including exclusive limited-time 50% off promo codes. 

In total, more than 65,000 viewers caught the live-streams on CapitaStar’s Facebook page. Anticipating the Gen Z target audience would view the live-streams on their smartphones, they were broadcast in portrait orientation. 

Shot on location at Clarke Quay, the production also involved state-of-the-art equipment such as 4K cameras and studio lighting with a diffuser from CapitaStar, and the Unearthed Productions-managed StarStudios. From a technical standpoint, this meant smooth and high-quality live-streams. 

Results 

From 25 July to 25 August this year, compared with the same period last year, eCapitaMall and Capita3Eats combined saw a six-times annual increase in sales, and a 12 times growth in the volume of transactions per week. Gross merchandise value also grew by 15 times.