#MARKiesAwards MY 2021 highlight: MDEC's secret sauce in helping firms pivot to live commerce

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) wanted to rise to the challenges imposed by the pandemic and assist businesses in Malaysia with adopting livestreaming in its work model. It worked with Be Strategic to launch Go-eCommerce Expo, a multi-channel communication campaign that encouraged businesses to adopt eCommerce in response to the effects of the pandemic. MDEC's initiative to organise a virtual event and assist fellow SMEs and micro-businesses impressed the judges and secured the team the bronze award for Most Effective Use – Government Sector / Non-Profit Marketing at A+M's MARKies Awards Malaysia 2021. 

Challenge

MDEC wanted to rise to the challenges imposed by the pandemic to provide a friendly, educational experience that would benefit SMEs and micro-businesses, which contribute nearly 40% to the national GDP. The event would provide solutions for ongoing economic uncertainties and assist with eCommerce adoption, specifically with livestreaming eCommerce as a new sales source.

To that end, MDEC wanted to attract attendees that could benefit from digital transformation, and continue to develop and introduce initiatives that can help build sustainable digital businesses and sustain, as well as expand the digital economy; for Malaysia to fully realise its potential in digital.

Strategy 

MDEC worked with Be Strategic to understand the needs of Malaysia's businesses. The three-day online event would promote and encourage the adoption of livestreaming eCommerce as a new sales channel for Malaysian businesses; share the latest skills, techniques, best practices and platforms that support live selling. It would also allow participants to network and pair up with solution providers that help users better understand their platform and service offerings; give away special deals to lighten the cost of adoption; and give special vouchers to participants that they can use to shop during the live selling session. 

MDEC positioned the Go-eCommerce Expo as a place to keep up with the evolving marketplace, using peers and recognisable business figures who had found success in eCommerce as a source of inspiration. It also focused on delivering a holistic digital experience by leveraging the increased media consumption through connected devices caused by the pandemic. The team also drove interest through the convenience of a digitally-led event, creating a unique event that captured the essence of the modern shopping experience; providing an exciting outlet during the pandemic.

MDEC furthered its reach by partnering with local, successful eCommerce entrepreneurs with a substantial social media following, such as Shalma Alma, Harris Annuar, and Ben Ali - bringing a stable of eEntrepreneurs to bring legitimacy and a sense of excitement to the campaign. The team wanted to secure an audience from both traditional and digital media readers across English, Chinese, and Bahasa Melayu. 

To that end, it secured placements in major tier-one publications such as The Star, Berita SME, Business Today, Sin Chew Daily, and a host of major digital publications around Go-eCommerce Expo's offerings. 

Execution 

The campaign execution was structured through three key events - a virtual press conference, webinar sessions and a live selling carnival. The virtual press conference saw six media personnel from tier-one print and digital media. Due to safety restrictions, the virtual press conference was hosted and conducted by MDEC director of eCommerce Hock Koon Song. 

The 12 webinar sessions featured 23 speakers who addressed the pressing need for platforms that allow businesses to learn, network and receive support when they deploy digital tools into their operations or strengthen their digitisation capabilities. At the same time, it also helped address entrepreneurs'' trepidation to go online. 

The live selling carnival was the finale of the expo and featured participants from the Perkhidmatan e-Dagang Setempat (PeDAS) platform, an initiative that MDEC developed to galvanise digital transformation amongst businesses in rural areas. This was in line with the rapid development of the eCommerce industry. The two-hour-long sales festival showcased products from PeDAS entrepreneurs, selling footwear, coffee beans, baking goods, and more. 

The virtual carnival saw over 10,000 participants, and proceeds from the sale went towards supporting rural businesses in Malaysia.

Results 

MDEC saw more than 3.3k sign-ups for the event with a unique reach of over 8.1 million. Overall, it had a unique reach of more than 206k from marketing via key opinion leaders, and close to 1.5 million impressions via media buys. It also attained a unique reach and click count of more than 637k and 19k respectively from its social media ads.