Huawei targets Malay market with Media Prima pact

By Digital News Asia November 25, 2015

Brand campaign aims to change the way Huawei is seen locally
Integration across TV, digital and social media

Huawei targets Malay market with Media Prima pact

MALAYSIAN media giant Media Prima Bhd’s subsidiary Media Prima Television Networks said it has entered into a comprehensive brand partnership with global technology giant Huawei to inject “local personality” to change the way Huawei is seen today.

Under this collaboration, Huawei has kicked off the ‘Huawei Best Wei’ brand campaign, playing on a commonly-used local expression, Media Prima Television Networks said in a statement.

Conceptualised by Media Prima Television Networks, the campaign integrates a broad array of creative content, local talents, media platforms and touchpoints to strengthen Huawei’s local association and engagement with the target audience, the Malay-Malaysian segment.

“Malaysia is an important market for Huawei,” said Danny Chin, Huawei Technologies Malaysia’s Consumer Business Group marketing director.

“With our content partner Media Prima Television Networks, we found that a localisation strategy was truly an effective way to leave a mark and build a strong association with the Malay audience,” he added.

The brand campaign encompasses sponsorship and creative capsules, to story-driven television commercials, with content created by Media Prima Television Networks.

Citing its reach across both traditional and digital media, Media Prima Television Networks said the content has the potential to reach over five million television viewers and up to four million online users.

Huawei got its first exposure by supporting the drama categories during the Anugerah Skrin 2015 awards on TV3 recently, which had over five million viewers, according to Media Prima Television Networks.

Most recently, Media Prima Television Networks and Huawei released a story-driven commercial for the Huawei ‘Mate S’ smartphone, featuring top trending Malay celebrities Siti Saleha and Syarul Ridzwan.

“Global brands are investing in localisation to maximise revenues across markets,” said Media Prima Television Networks chief executive officer Ahmad Izham Omar.

“A successful strategy largely depends on how well companies understand local audiences, and subsequently how relatable the adaptation and integration are,” he added.

Bursa Malaysia-listed Media Prima Bhd has businesses across television (TV3, TV9, 8TV and ntv7); radio (Fly FM, Hot FM, One FM); print (the English daily New Straits Times); and outdoor advertising.