Life is Pauseable with Coffee

The following is a case study on Astro’s winning partnership with OLDTOWN White Coffee.

Overview

OLDTOWN White Coffee (OTWC) is a heritage brand that needed to future-proof itself by building affinity with Millennials, specifically the Malays, to remain relevant. In an attempt to position its brand as a spot for them to hang-out and get a drink or a get a bite to eat amidst their busy schedules, in 2017 OTWC launched a brand repositioning campaign called “Anything is Pauseable” which only achieved an average message cut through rate.

Determined to achieve higher numbers and impression rates, OTWC partnered with Astro to engage with its consumer group that live a fast-paced lifestyle by introducing new and catchy content for them to unwind to. 

Strategy and execution

Consumer research helped uncover a second coffee consumption period, untapped by competitors with huge budgets: the after work wave when they want to unwind. Another factor that was considered was that Malaynials spend a lot of their time connecting to celebrities and entertainment content, especially online.  

With that in mind, an original web series by Astro Gempak for Malaynials was born. As the ideal content partner, Gempak was chosen due to its strong brand proposition which was that Malaynials spent the most time watching videos on its platform and its young brand imagery. 

A four-episode telenovela, DuaTheSeries, mirroring the hecticness of Malaynial lives and their entrepreneurship drive became an instant hit. Characters were inspired by their favourite OTWC variants e.g. vibrant Luna loves Hazelnut while sensible Amelia loves LessSugar. 

OTWC was positioned as the antidote during the emotional investment viewers had with the drama series and its characters. Top Malay celebrities (12 million social media followings collectively) were identified as casts and consistently posted teasers, commentaries and advertorials to drive viewership.

As content creators, Astro Gempak’s strong platform with its large reach across young audiences was the perfect partner for OWTC.

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