Telekom Malaysia and Lux Win Fans Through Social Gaming on Facebook

While it’s becoming a norm for brands to have a Facebook fan page, some corporations that may not typically associate themselves with a fun image are going one step further by exploring branding opportunities to engage consumers through social games on the social network.

Here are two case studies of social gaming campaigns – Malaysia’s biggest broadband provider tapping local traditions and a global soap brand that are taking gaming on Facebook seriously.

Telekom Malaysia Celebrates Ramadan With Virtual Raya Game

As Muslims around the world observe a month-long fasting tradition called Ramadan, Malaysia’s leading broadband service has rolled out a virtual Raya social game on Facebook targeting Millennials in Malaysia.

With a standalone social campaign, Telecom Malaysia is betting their audience will be the ‘key media’ to take the campaign viral.

In Malaysia, Open House is a practice where homes in villages have an open invite to anyone who wants to break fast with them.

The game mechanics of this campaign, which kicked off on the company’s Everyone Connects Facebook page, allows the player to hold a virtual open house and the ability to design the home, decorate the interiors, choose from a range of local dishes, and invite friends and family to share the feast.

UM Malaysia is the agency responsible for this Open House social game.

Prashant Kumar, CEO of Mediabrands Malaysia told ClickZ Asia in an email interview that the key goal of the campaign is about brand engagement that adds meaning to people’s lives.

Kumar described that its target audience are Millennials in Malaysia who are very contemporary in their outlook yet respect traditions. They are also expressive and love to repackage the core essence of culture that is in sync with their generation.

Through this social game, the agency wants to demonstrate that social media is not destroying age-old traditions but has the power to complement and amplify cultures, communities, and conversations to make bonding and connections location-agnostic.

According to UM, initial results revealed more than 5 million have participated in the game and several thousand open houses have been designed. Facebook stats also show the app has more than 29,000 active users.

Success metrics of the social campaign include the level of engagement that the game creates and its impact on brand attributes among the Millennial prospects, Kumar said. He added that the game has been receiving good PR coverage since it was unveiled.

Telekom Malaysia’s Open House game will end a few weeks after the final day of fasting.

A Lux Branded Farm and Celebrity to Woo Chinese Fans

With numerous offerings and intense competition in the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) sector, how do you build brand loyalty and raise awareness of your product?

For Unilever, Lux might be the world’s best-selling bar soap, based on Nielsen’s volume sales information, but it’s certainly not letting up on reinforcing awareness of its beauty soap brand to consumers in Asia by leveraging the stickiness of FarmVille and throwing in the celebrity factor.

In July, Lux rolled out a month-long social gaming campaign on FarmVille Chinese targeting players in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

The tie-in with game developer Zynga called “Lux Fantastical Manor” is created by ad agency JWT.

Players had to beautify their farms with Lux limited-edition beauty products as well as interact with its Asia brand ambassador, celebrity Shu Qi, on her Lux branded farm to earn virtual currency.

Severine Vauleon, global brand director for Lux, noted in a statement, “Many multinational brands have yet to tap into the massively growing Chinese speaking audience online”.

People are spending more and more time in social games and with FarmVille, the most popular game globally, Lux Fantastical Manor provides a fun and interactive way to engage Chinese-speaking consumers who are avid players in FarmVille Chinese, she added.