The Chicken Rice Shop banks on guerrilla marketing to tug at consumers' heartstrings

The Chicken Rice Shop (TCRS) has shown that big budgets are not necessarily needed for videos to gain online chatter. According to the brand, its latest Merdeka Day campaign amassed 4.2 million organic views and 690k engagements across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and WhatsApp despite having no media spend or marketing budget allocated for it.

In the spirit of Merdeka, selected TCRS outlets broadcasted the Negaraku and secretly recorded customers' reactions. The footage was then pieced together to create a Merdeka video which was released on social media a few days before Merdeka Day. As seen in the video, when the anthem was played, employees and patrons stood at attention, albeit slightly confused, when the national anthem played. According to TCRS, the reactions in the video were real and unscripted. Although TCRS declined to comment on the sales impact of the campaign, the company said it plans to continue creating content and flavours that resonate with Malaysians.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=834445197092589

Marketing manager for TCRS June Song said the brand is proud of its Malaysian heritage. To ensure its campaigns are relevant and rooted in the Malaysian consciousness, it collaborated with Entropia on "a brutally simple idea" to showcase the love it has for the country".

"We did not expect such an overwhelming response from our patrons and the online community. We are truly humbled by Malaysians coming back stronger as ever in times like these, proving that our love for Malaysia unites us all," Song added.

Neeraj Gulati, partner at Entropia, said the campaign is a collection of the grit and perseverance they have shown and how, in true Malaysian spirit, they have united to help the community and the business.

“We knew our content had to be impactful, relevant and shareable, so people could become our media and do the work on behalf of the brand. And it worked! Malaysia’s Queen, Her Majesty, Raja Permaisuri Agong, even shared the video on her Instagram profile, garnering over 100k views on its own," Gulati said.

Piaget Wong, director, social at Entropia, added that social media is a channel to exchange human stories that go beyond the first and second degree of connection. According to Wong, the team worked around the clock to deliver content that resonated and brought Malaysians together during these challenging times.

"With our proprietary AI-based platform, we were able to identify the right channels to share and spread these inspiring stories. We are absolutely overwhelmed by the love, compassion and positive response from the online community. #AyamMalaysian," Wong said.

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