Mediacorp unleashes new brand position, says it will 'go where its audiences go'

Mediacorp has launched a “Made for you” brand campaign which includes a new slogan, a music video and brand vignettes, reflecting a company-wide reinvention of Mediacorp. Confirming the move to Marketing in a statement, Mediacorp said the new campaign is aimed at strengthening its relevance to consumers, advertisers and the community.

Mediacorp explained that the launch of the brand positioning comes as the media conglomerate focuses on creating localised content and going beyond the stereotype of a broadcast-only company. Conceptualised by DDB Singapore, the ‘Made for You’ campaign will run for a year, with various phases rolled out periodically. The ads will run across Mediacorp's social and FTA channels. It will also make its mark across radio and OOH.

The director behind the film is Tai Heng of local production company Moviola, while the vocals of the song track were by local musician Glen Wee. Showcasing local talent, the music video manifests Mediacorp’s vision to "Create Connect Inspire".

Oliver Chong, head, marketing and communications of Mediacorp told Marketing that with this new marketing push, the company aims to reinforce its positioning as a holistic media company with both digital and traditional offerings. He explained that internal research conducted, prior to the campaign, showed that a large number of people in Singapore still relate Mediacorp as having only TV and radio channels, despite its growth in areas such as OTT platform Toggle, and having digital first news on outlets such as CNA, Today, Seithi, as well as digital audio service MeRadio.

"Over the past year, Mediacorp has been striving to demonstrate its commitment to become more digital, transmedia, open and collaborative," he explained. Chong added that with the new campaign, Mediacorp is declaring that it is "Made for You". Furthermore, the brand campaign is expected to refreshes Mediacorp's identity as the national media network delivering content and experiences designed around consumers’ preferences and consumption habits.

"Made for You’ defines the next stage of the company’s evolution, with Mediacorp creating more personalised experiences as we celebrate the significance to the everyday moments with you," he added. Given Mediacorp's channels and radio stations continue to have a strong brand following, Chong clarified that the new campaign will not impact the individual brands under its umbrella but will refine the company's brand repositioning.

Content push

Mediacorp also added that the "Made for You" campaign signals Mediacorp’s commitment to telling Singapore stories with Singapore talent. The company is presenting a series of productions that aims to tell distinctive Singapore stories and showcase the local talents. These include a multicultural drama 128 Circle, an M18-rated series Last Madame, a play about dating in the digital age called Mixed Signals, psychological thriller Arivaan and martial arts  drama The Good Fight among several others.

In line with the new releases, Mediacorp aims to create extensions of its products and IPs, taking storytelling across platforms and formats. Mediacorp's digital audio service MeRadio aims to produce over 70 podcast programmes this year, including audio interviews with the cast of long-form drama Jalan Jalan, a podcast series with the cast of Fried Rice Paradise – The Drama Series and a podcast series about hawker culture drawing inspiration from the drama series 128 Circle.

According to Mediacorp, the company is actively working with talents across the content ecosystem and telling stories that has multiple outings across its platforms - TV, radio, online and social media - to give existing consumers more of the stories they love.

In a bid to position itself as a brand that "goes where its audiences go", earlier this year, Mediacorp inked a partnership with YouTube. Mediacorp also partnered with VICE to offer Singaporeans access to the latter’s curated video series on Toggle. The partnership rides on VICE’s youth audience and authentic storytelling.

Earlier this year, Mediacorp also reworked its advertising rates where it announced "significant rate card changes that offer clients greater value, effectiveness and impact with their advertising spend". The company told Marketing that it had restructured TV rate card for parity with digital media. According to Mediacorp this can result in potential savings of up to 80% for clients and the new advertising rates are available from 1 April 2019.

Last month, the local media giant also recently faced scrutiny over an ad it had created in conjunction with clients NETS. In March, Mediacorp also launched Creative Central, an integrated creative powerhouse to meet its clients’ creative and content marketing needs.

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