Shopee MY gets in consumers' faces with optical illusion 11.11 print ad

Shopee Malaysia thought out of the box for its 11.11 activation by creating a 3D optical illusion page print ad on the cover page of The Star and The Sun featuring actor Jackie Chan. Shopee's creative lead, Aaron Wong, said in a LinkedIn post that the company was determined to create a print ad that creates an impact visually that justifies the size of the 11.11 mega campaign. Wong added that the concept of having a 3D optical illusion page print ad was rarely seen on a newspaper medium. 

The execution of the 3D optical illusion concept took three months and required several teams across the marketing department to make it happen. To achieve a real and convincing design, Shopee decided to work with an experienced retoucher for the finishing touches for the visual. Meanwhile, the design for the newspaper ad took a few weeks, and was done by the art director in Shopee's creative team. The individuals involved in the initiative included marketing lead Huiyan Pan, creative lead Aaron Wong, offline branding lead Chering Fong, art director Jackson Tee, retoucher Sammax Chong and media buyers Cherine Fong and Pang Liyin.

While Shopee is known to have campaigns for every month, its spokesperson told A+M that its 11.11 Big Sale is its largest shopping festival. "We wanted to do something eye-catching on a big scale, even on a print level where no one would miss it," said Shopee's spokesperson. The creative advertisement was part of its continuous efforts to impress and capture its users' attention. Aiming to be a brand that is bold, innovative, the creative advertisement also promoted Shopee as an exciting and cheerful brand that goes beyond online shopping, added the spokesperson.

Featured and circulated in half a million copies of The Star and The Sun newspapers, the spokesperson added that it had its 11.11 sale recorded visits spiking more than five times in the first two hours as compared to an average day.

Shopee has been working with Chan since 9.9, during which consumers in Southeast Asia region as well as in Brazil had the opportunity to play Jackie Chan-themed in-app games during the shopping day. Chan was featured in a kungfu-inspired commercial carrying out a range of activities across all its year-end shopping festivals. A+M has reached out to Shopee for more information.

Meanwhile, across the border in Singapore, Shopee and CapitaLand launched the second edition of the 11.11 campaign, creating an omnichannel experience to drive sales, traffic, and engagement for 29 retailers in eight CapitaLand malls. According to Shopee and CapitaLand, the 11.11 campaign marked an ongoing commitment to empower retailers to scale up their digitalisation efforts. After the campaign began on 22 October, retailers were provided with online marketing avenues to diversify and build holistic yet sustainable retail strategies that cater to the changing consumer needs. 

The eCommerce platform recently moved into the hospitality scene by partnering with global digital platforms such as Agoda and Booking.com to launch Shopee Hotel. This exclusive partnership will allow Shopee users to access the travel platforms' inventories of hotels, resorts, homes and apartments through the app. Shopee Hotel will be rolled out across seven Southeast Asian markets - Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. 

The launch of Shopee Hotel is timely, the eCommerce marketplace said, as it will be able to meet the needs of consumers since more of them are planning holidays amidst the gradual reopening of domestic and international travel in the region. Shopee's latest hotel offering is also a unique one for an eCommerce marketplace and comes as players in the eCommerce scene expand into other areas such as food vouchers and groceries. 

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