Challenge

The Home Internet landscape is dominated by juggernauts and swims in a sea of sameness. Time Internet – a David amongst goliaths struggled to reach urban Malay families against competitors with 10x marketing budgets, 80+% market share and dominant brands.

 

While Time had successfully launched Kabel Besar in November 2021, storm clouds were looming. CNY festivities halted internet installs, consumers were intent on ignoring non-festive marketing. Traditional advertising wasn’t cutting-through and reaching Time’s core urban Malay family audience during this highly cluttered festive season.  

 

Solution

Using a key insight – A Family That Watches Together, Grows Together. We knew that Malay urban families were seeking family-friendly local entertainment that they could enjoy together.

 

To amplify Kabel Besar beyond traditional advertising, we needed to tell Time’s brand story through authentically engaging content. Time strategically invested into Take CTRL, a six-episode futuristic action comedy family sitcom that was the foundational original franchise for TA-DAA!, Astro’s latest channel targeting urban families with kids.

 

First, Time narrowed their target audience into 3 distinct segments with differentiated purchase drivers:

  • MEGABYTE MANAGERS (Entry-Level Value Seekers)
  • GIGABYTE SHARERS (High-Volume Upsell)
  • TERABYTE TROOPERS (High-Value ARPU)

 

Take CTRL was designed from its inception, to entertain first, and sell later. Every facet, from the casting of superstar Shaheizy Sam and social media stars such as Jenn Chia and Jinnyboy, to the detailed scripting and even the international outsourcing of the visual effects work, quality was prioritised. Take CTRL was brought to life with a comprehensive communications strategy that focused on moving a customer through the entire full funnel brand journey.

 

Awareness: Always-On Product Placement & High Impact TVCs

  • Subtle, always-on product placements of TIME’s logo, or magenta branding in Aunty Siow’s vegan restaurant and its related Wi-Fi signage.
  • Time was also present in opening and closing ad units that were present when the show began and ended, to continually reinforce Time’s presence at both the start and the beginning of each episode and maximise the primacy and recency effect of communications.
  • Besides this, Time’s brand and offerings was also highlighted in high-impact TVC spots and Take CTRL branded promos across key channels – AXN, Prima, Nickelodeon, Boomerang, Ceria.

These creatives were strategically based on an extension of Time’s bold Kabel Besar campaign.

Consideration: Seamless Brand Integration

  • To move our urban Malay families further down the consideration funnel, Time was always seamlessly woven into the plotlines of Take CTRL. From the usage of the Time app to upgrade speeds, to the Time branded speedtest, there was always a raison d’etre for the Time brand to be on-screen and to move the narrative forward.
  • To further enhance consideration, lower third banners with QR codes were shown on screen to maximise any direct response that might result from these brand scenarios.
  • Besides this, to increase cross viewership, Time was also showcased in an ASTRO MeleTOP (Astro’s Top Celebrity News Channel) Talkset to highlight both Take CTRL as well as Time’s speedy Internet service through a live speedtest demonstration.

Conversion: Self-Aware, Innovative ‘Hard-Selling’ Digital Extensions

  • To further drive conversion, Take CTRL went above and beyond by creating 3 innovative digital short videos. Inspired in part by SNL’s Digital Shorts series, all this ‘extended content’ was designed to ‘hard-sell’ Time’s services but in the most entertaining, self-aware and self-deprecating ways possible.
  • The 3 digital shorts themselves were crafted based on viral and trending content formats – a video listicle from Jinnyboy, a game walkthrough with the two main teen protagonists as well as a parody music video with Jenn Chia’s ever-popular Aunty Siow character.

Needless to say, there was a liberal amount of 4th wall breaking and nudge-nudge-wink-wink moments in these videos.

Results

From subtle product placements, seamless integration, and self-aware selling through innovative digital shorts; Take CTRL went beyond traditional branded entertainment. The campaign ignited a strong connection between Time and urban Malay families – for the love of great entertainment and togetherness.  

 

The results? Record highs in awareness, traffic and sales that ultimately drove an unprecedented 25% increase in Q1 2022 revenues.