#PRAwards highlight: How Touch 'n Go eWallet digitally won over Malaysians

The Touch ‘n Go eWallet is a well-known brand in Malaysia when it comes to eWallet service providers. Together with its PR agency Zeno Public Relations Malaysia, the brand was awarded the bronze award for "Best Launch/Re-Launch Campaign" at Marketing and A+M's inaugural PR Awards 2020. The eWallet company and agency won the award for its launch campaign of “Introducing Raya Sempoi”, which saw the eWallet service provider taking over an entire Ramadan bazaar in Kampong Bharu. Here's how Touch 'n Go eWallet got Malaysians tapping away for their everyday purchases.

Challenge

Although Malaysia has been progressively making its way to a cashless society, with over 42 e-wallets providers in Malaysia, 80% of transactions in Malaysia are still done via cash. The public is still more willing to use cash than an eWallet for small purchases. Touch ‘n Go eWallet then set out to defy the status-quo and get the public to adopt the usage of the its eWallet instead of cash. More importantly, it also looked to get Malaysians to make a habit of purchasing through its eWallet for their everyday item purchases.

Strategy

Collaborating with Zeno Public Relations (Malaysia), Touch’n Go eWallet decided to use the Ramadan month for its campaign. One of the must-have routines for Malaysians during Ramadan is purchasing meals for buka puasa (the breaking of fast) at Ramadan bazaars. Coupled with Malaysians’ unparalleled love for local food, this means a high traffic footfall at Ramadan bazaars during the month. With this, Touch ‘n Go saw the opportunity for it to deliver a culturally-relevant campaign that also addressed its intent to change the behaviour of consumers and the public. The campaign “Introducing Raya Sempoi” was positioned to appeal to Malaysians by touching on four key considerations: food, the spirit of togetherness, doing good and reducing food/plastic waste.

Execution

The eWallet company took over an entire Ramadan bazaar in Kampong Bharu, one of the largest in Klang Valley. Visitors of the bazaar paid for their iftar meals across 400 stalls using the Touch ‘n Go eWallet, and had a chance to earn cashbacks through various activities at the bazaar. At the bazaar, the company also provided visitors with a spacious, heritage area called “Halaman Sempoi” for them to break fast together. It also invited local celebrities to perform and break fast together with the community.

Additionally, Touch ‘n Go eWallet hosted a bubur lambuk distribution at Masjid Jamek Kampong Bahru, where visitors can make donations using the eWallet by scanning the QR codes available at the mosque. Touch ‘n Go eWallet also partnered with Kechara Soup Kitchen to ensure that any excess food at the bazaar were redistributed to the people in need. In its push for sustainability, visitors were also encouraged to bring their own food and water containers, as well as recycling bags.

Touch ‘n Go eWallet and Zeno Public Relations employed a three-pronged approach to ensure they created widespread awareness of the campaign:

Prior to the event, they sent out diary listings to announce the first-ever cashless bazaar in Malaysia, and released teasers to increase footfall to the bazaar.

After that, three large-scale launches were organised within the span of five days. The brand and agency also got Selangor royalty, relevant ministries, local celebrities and key opinion leaders (KOLs) to be involved for Malaysians to experience a new way of transacting or obtaining daily necessities such as buka puasa meals.

• The first event was held with Zatashah Binti Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, princess of Selangor and a strong advocate towards a zero-waste lifestyle. The launch encouraged Malaysians to stop using single-use plastics. This event was attended by 38 media titles, with 46 participants.
  
  
• The second media event was held with Rina Harun, minister of rural development and member of parliament for Titiwangsa. The event focused on the modernised “twist” that the Touch ‘n Go eWallet brought to a heritage area like Kampong Bharu to revitalise the area. This event was attended by over 20 media titles, with 28 participants.
  
  
• The third media event was held with Saifuddin Nasution Bin Ismail, minister of domestic trade and consumer affairs and Nik Nazmi Bin Nik Ahmad, member of parliament of Setiawangsa, to talk about providing a competitive edge to the traders of the Ramadan bazaar at Kampong Bharu through digitalisation. This event was attended by over 10 media titles, with 13 participants.

Touch ‘n Go eWallet and Zeno Public Relations further enticed the public by continuously posting shout-outs about the happenings at the bazaar through pitched content, photo releases of the different food at the bazaar and the act of paying with its eWallet. They also provide consumers with maps and guides on how to best enjoy the Ramadan bazaar.

On social media, various content was created with the intention of bringing consumers online to offline with the use of themed content series. This included initiatives such as weekly contests to review the vendors at the Raya Sempoi Ramadan Bazaar with weekly winners announced online, and weekly content series that highlighted various stalls from the Ramadan Bazaar bundled into different themes.

https://www.facebook.com/touchngoewallet/videos/523592694838878

Results

Throughout the Ramadan period, Touch ‘n Go eWallet achieved wide-scale coverage from the media, both traditional and digital with a total of 96 articles worth over RM100million in PR value. From a business standpoint, the campaign’s results garnered an ROI of 1,454%.

On social media, it had an engagement rate of 13.37% from all of the Ramadan posts with a reach of over 1,928,790. The bazaar also garnered a huge crowd of over 750,000 people, including the prime minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad.

Beyond awareness, through this campaign, Touch ‘n Go eWallet managed to convert a substantial number of Malaysians into eWallet users. As of July 2019, it has approximately onboarded five million users and 80,000 merchants.

A cashless Ramadan bazaar of 400 stalls was unprecedented. Through the widespread awareness and showcasing its usage of the eWallet at the bazaar, the eWallet company was able to fully communicate its role as an enabler of life’s moments through technology.

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