#MarketingEventsAwards 2020 highlight: How Always Marketing Malaysia 'extended hearts' during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic this year has sent businesses and society as a whole into a disarray. Like many agencies, Always Marketing Malaysia was looking to keep its business afloat amidst the uncertainty. However, it also wanted to take the time to give back to society and help the less-fortunate communities that are even more negatively affected by the pandemic.

Patrick Goh, managing director at Always Marketing Malaysia, wanted to introduce the initiative “‘Extending Hearts, Always”, which if successful would be made a yearly event. With this initiative, he wanted the team to go above and beyond, and be leaders in the market who also care and champion for humanity.

Always Marketing Malaysia’s efforts came into fruition. Besides leaving a positive impact on various communities, it also won the bronze award for the Best Event on a Budget category in MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s Marketing Events Awards 2020. The agency’s uplifting campaign also saw it becoming a finalist in the Best Business Event: Internal category.

Challenge

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Always Marketing Malaysia struggled with business due to affected sales. Its employees’ morale was also poor from the lack of socialisation due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) and the work-from-home arrangement. Additionally, with the downturn of economy, the agency and its partners were sensitive towards spending and budgets were being controlled.

Given the situation, the agency wanted to kickstart an initiative that had not yet been seen during this time, and hoped that it would highlight the innate generosity in humans. The campaign was to be executed on a controlled budget as well, considering the economic situation during the COVID-19 period.

Strategy

Always Marketing set out to complete three primary objectives: to give to the communities less fortunate and in need, to connect with these communities, as well as to raise awareness of the act of giving and the awareness of these communities.

The campaign was birthed out of three key words: Humanistic, empathetic, and heartfelt. The agency aimed to champion generosity within communities, as well as walk the talk itself.      

To meet its objectives, the agency decided to hold charity visits to orphanages and nursing homes. This activity was decided as it was an efficient and budget-friendly method of outreach and getting donations to the communities. It was also a timely opportunity to visit the communities since the pandemic and an outreach that Always Marketing’s employees can participate in.

There were two tiers of target audiences: the less fortunate communities, as well as secondary target audiences: its clients, employees, and the mass.

Execution

Tailoring to the COVID-19 situation, the team at Always Marketing made sure proper measures were in place such as having smaller teams and shorter lengths of charity visits.

The campaign was also executed at a budget of RM 7000, including cost of video production. This saw the team garnering RM 1,260 worth of sponsorships from 11 brands including Alif, Teo Seng, TC Boy, and Nestle, as well as a lower cost for its video production. Last but not least, the agency immortalised the event by creating a film documenting the process and posting it on its Facebook and YouTube channels.

The film took two weeks to be produced, with the agency meeting the production house on 22 June to it posting and sharing the film on 6 July. 

https://www.facebook.com/515857385166301/videos/871337430042605

Results

The orphanages and nursing homes welcomed the agency’s charity visits, and appreciated its time and effort as there was a lack in outreach and donation since the pandemic. The campaign also boosted employees’ morale levels as the initiative had them inspired, motivated, and engaged.

The film documenting the event also allowed Always Marketing to showcase to its clients the level of proactivity and adaptability it had during the COVID-19 pandemic. The public has also responded well to the film that the agency posted on its social media channels.