Maxis refreshes brand purpose and identity to help Malaysians 'always be ahead'

After 20 months in the making, Maxis has rolled out its new brand purpose "Always be ahead" in conjunction with its 25th anniversary and the upcoming Merdeka celebrations. According to the telco, the new brand purpose signifies the intertwining of Maxis’ and Malaysia’s past, present and future journeys together in this rapidly evolving digital age.

Along with the new brand purpose comes the roll out of a new corporate identity. Head of brand and marketing Tai Kam Leong said during the virtual press conference that the refreshed look will place emphasis on its iconic squiggle for Maxis' three core brands - Maxis, Maxis Business and Hotlink. Tai explained that the new corporate identity is more than just a logo refresh, but rather, it embodies the fact that these brands serve consumers under one company.

The soft launch for the brand identity began in March, allowing consumers to see new iterations of the identity and minute changes to the logo, font and colours. "Looking at the outcome, it is quite difficult to pinpoint just where the last 20 months has been. That is the beauty of good design and thoughtful engineering. It is very difficult to keep things simple and keep things on purpose. That is what we are particularly proud of," he explained.

According to Tai, raising brand awareness and marketing the new brand identity will be an ongoing journey but Maxis hopes that by the end of 2020, consumers will see a significant amount of the new brand identity in all aspects of the experience. Tai also stressed that it would be inappropriate to think of the new brand identity as a one-off campaign with a fixed budget, but rather an identity it embodies both as a company, in its brand ads and communications moving forward.

While Tai declined to name the specific agencies involved in the new brand purpose, he said Maxis "worked with a huge amount of local partners as well as regional and international partners to make this a reality". The telco appointed Publicis Groupe to manage integrated duties last year. Prior to that, it was working with IPG Mediabrand’s Ensemble Worldwide and Initiative, Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett, Kingdom Digital, APD and SearchGuru. 

On top of the brand refresh, Maxis has also launched a commercial titled "A nation that never stops" to kickstart its new brand identity. THe brand film captures inspiring stories of of individuals and social enterprises who have not only demonstrated the possibilities of what technology and the Internet can do for our lives, but importantly how they enriched communities around them.

According to Tai, Maxis is more than just advertising and producing brand acts, but also about acts. As such, it is also rolling out a series of initiatives to help offer assistance and fundamental skills for digital adoption and acceleration in communities across the country.

• Cyber safety with Maxis eKelas - Cyber safety and virtual learning programmes for eKelas students at schools and 82 Pusat Internet around the country.
• Digital 101 for SMEs - Putting together courses from Maxis Business to guide micro-SMEs on mastering digital marketing and eCommerce through workshops.
• Device tips - Upskilling families and tech enthusiasts on how to get more and do more on their devices in partnership with Samsung, Huawei and Apple.
• SME digitalisation grant - SMEs get to claim up to RM5,000 from the SME Digitalisation Grant. From finding the right solution to grant application, our SME Help Squad will assist from start to end.
• Maxis IoT challenge 2020 - Exciting industry-driven IoT challenge calling the most innovative minds in Malaysia to develop 5G-enabled IoT solutions to solve real business problems.
• Maxis digital readiness index - A dedicated SME Help Squad will assist SMEs in finding the right solutions for their business through a Digital Readiness Index, an interactive tool that helps businesses assess their digital readiness.
• Maxis business insights hub - A resource to help businesses gain insights via articles and videos on digital transformation for their business.

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, it is also launching special offers for Hotlink and Maxis Business customers.

CEO Gokhan Ogut said during the press conference that the new brand purpose is a reflection of its vision to go beyond connectivity and that Maxis wants to help Malaysians be ahead through solutions. "It is not just the ability to connect, but what you can do with the connectivity. In return, we believe this brand purpose is going to help us achieve our vision, hopefully even earlier than we think, which will result in better business results for the company," he said. While Ogut and Tai both declined to reveal a specific monetary amount set aside for the brand refresh, Ogut said the brand investment "will be insignificant within [its] total tech capital expenditure budget".

When asked about the percentage increase in customer base Maxis expects with the new brand identity, Ogut explained that it is difficult to measure a direct sales impact, let alone a direct customer impact when it comes to the brand identity. As such, he reiterated the company's vision of being the leading converged solutions provider. He also cited the M.A.X plan as an example, explaining that the "M" represents Maxis for all. Hence, its main aim with the new brand purpose is to reach all Malaysians.

That said, Maxis' economic outlook for the rest of the year is rather uncertain due to the unresolved COVID-19 situation. "We will be managing day by day with the focus of providing what our customers need today and at the same time, taking a broader view of the future, after the crisis. This is similar to what we are doing today with our new brand purpose, thinking about how we can help the nation be ahead and we will continue to do both of these," he added.

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