MAS launches 'digital business transformation’ with Adobe

• MAS to consolidate digital marketing across all group’s brands and platforms over next 3yrs
• Implementation to roll out three phases, deal notable for a number of ‘firsts,’ says Adobe

 

ADOBE Inc said that national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has signed “a major deal to implement a mission-critical technology refresh” fuelled by Adobe Marketing Cloud and Adobe Creative Cloud.
 
Financial terms were not disclosed, but Adobe said the enterprise licensing agreement is one of its largest in Asia Pacific to date.
 
In a tender that commenced in April 2013, MAS evaluated bids from incumbents and some of the industry’s leading solution and point product vendors, completing extensive assessment to determine the best technology to underpin its business-wide transformation, Adobe said in a statement.
 
MAS chief marketing officer Dean Dacko said 15 stakeholders across the business were involved in the selection process.
 
“With a project of this size and complexity, it’s critical to engage stakeholders from across the business. The marketing department worked closely with IT, Sales, Customer Experience and Product among others, to define needs, and evaluate tenders.
 
“We selected five solutions from Adobe Marketing Cloud, including Adobe Target, Adobe Social, Adobe Media Optimizer, Adobe Analytics and Adobe Experience Manager.
 
“We’ll also be deploying managed services for Experience Manager. The solution provided us with the most intuitive, easy-to-use user interface along with deep analytic power and robust delivery,” Dacko added.

Implementation will roll out in three phases, delivering the foundation to align digital marketing and customer engagement across all the company’s platforms and brands, including Firefly, MAS Wings, MAS Cargo and loyalty programme Enrich, Dacko said.
 
“We’re undertaking a huge digital marketing platform consolidation across the group over the next three years.
 
“The integration of off-line customer data from sources such as our loyalty programme and customer call centre, together with digital records and footprint, will give us access to a single customer view.
 
“This is going to allow us to deliver a whole new level of customer experience, through more personalised and customised content, offers and services,” he claimed.
 
At the heart of the digital strategy is MAS’ website, a mission-critical business channel delivering a significant share of the company’s revenue every day, Adobe said in its statement.
 
“A key element of our business turn-around was a boost to our brand campaign, backed up with strong customer experience management – delivering on a consistent brand promise across both real-world and digital touchpoints,” MAS’ Dacko said.
 
Engagement via social media is also critical to the transformation, and Malaysia Airlines celebrated the milestone of one million Facebook fans in October 2013.
 
“Social media is at the forefront of our marketing mix. Growing engagement with customers globally via social platforms has been a major contributor to our business turnaround,” said Dacko.
 
Stephen Hamill, director of Digital Marketing Cloud at Adobe South-East Asia & Hong Kong, said the deal was notable for a number of firsts for the region.
 
“We see this deal as a highly strategic partnership with an organisation that is not only a flagship regional brand, but also a digital visionary and leader.
 
“It’s the first managed services deal in South-East Asia, reflecting that customers are looking to implement more complex solutions across whole-of-business rather than deploy point products,” he said.
 
Hamill also said that a critical part of the decision-making process was to obtain consensus from all the business stakeholders.
 
“The IT team was very closely involved, ensuring the solution was a suitable technology fit. We undertook an extensive Value Engineering Services process as part of the tender, which helped deliver the data and proof points needed to validate the business decision for everyone from marketing to IT to finance,” he said.
 
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