#MarketingExcellenceAwards SG 2021 highlight: Poh Heng focuses on racial harmony to grow domestic market

Despite being a "small dot on the map", Singapore has always had a racially diverse population and racial harmony remains a core component in the fabric of our society. For local jeweller Poh Heng, racial harmony and celebration of diversity has always been a key component in its marketing, and even more so when the pandemic hit in 2020. While purchasing jewellery is a norm regardless of race, the brand found that consumers often frequent brands that they feel align more to their own races. Wanting to showcase Poh Heng as a "jewellery brand loved by all Singaporeans regardless of race, religion and culture", the brand created a campaign called "We are created for love".

The campaign wanted to feature individuals from all demographics to bring this idea forward. The campaign resonated with judges at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Marketing Excellence Awards 2021 and clinched the silver award for Excellence in TV/Video Advertising. Here's how Poh Heng brought the campaign to life.

Challenge

As the pandemic caused borders to close, it also placed a temporary halt on tourism dollars. This prompted Poh Heng to find white spaces of growth, and tap on to new demographics within the domestic market. According to Poh Heng, the gold jewellery industry is unfortunately one that is still segmented by race.

In fact, when it came to jewellery purchases, 70% of Chinese consumers, 17% of Malay consumers and 13% of Indian consumers were accustomed to buying from companies they felt represented their own races best.  Aware of the segmentation, and wanting to be a brand loved by all, Poh Heng looked to break the stereotype to resonate with all Singaporeans - regardless of race, religion and culture. 

Strategy 

To achieve the objective of engaging Singaporean jewellery purchasers of all races, Poh Heng and agency Ace of Hearts focused on the most common entry point for customers - wedding jewellery. By focusing on wedding jewellery, Poh Heng started targeting primarily women who were aged 25 to 29 years old, who were the key decision-makers when it came to choosing a wedding band. 

From years of speaking to couples who were preparing for their wedding, Poh Heng found that despite the difference in wedding styles, there were still many uncelebrated similarities in wedding traditions. One clear similarity lay in the fundamental vow of love expressed by the exchange of rings. This insight then led to Poh Heng to conceptualise the campaign "We are created for love". Poh Heng wanted to bring to life the love story of three weddings through TVCs and video content and weave in the fact that the company's jewellery complements every culture. Through the campaign, the brand wanted to generate mass awareness.

Execution 

Poh Heng launched an emotional video, titled "Our Singapore Wedding Story" and the campaign was then aired across MediaCorp's free-to-air channels. On the execution front, Poh Heng chose artists from each race for different channels. 

1. Eswari leading the TVC on Vasantham

2. Fang Rong leading the TVC on Channel 5, Channel 8 and Channel U



3. Azura leading the TVC on Suria

The campaign was also complemented digitally where Poh Heng employed a targeted video-led strategy via platforms such as YouTube, Viu and Ogury. 

Results 

Overall, the campaign proved to be a success, garnering more three million in video views, more than 18 million in impressions and more than 35,000 clicks. Poh Heng found that post the campaign, more Singaporeans were regarding the brand as a jeweller with a Singaporean identity despite having a Chinese name. The brand saw an increase in the number of Malay and Indian consumers purchasing its products. The brand added that by engaging the entire domestic market, business-wise, Poh Heng managed to weather the "lockdowns" and the retail downturn.