Proton Exora on the Net

Prior to the launch of Proton Holdings Bhd’s Exora multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) earlier this year, Universal McCann and creative agency McCann Erickson worked on a digital-based naming contest for the vehicle.

Because the MPV was going to be Proton’s first vehicle with fully homegrown technology, an ultrasound image of a partially complete Exora in a mother’s womb was used to attract participants for the naming contest.

Needless to say, the month-long campaign that ended in September last year was a hit, attracting 251,763 entries, 84% of which were online submissions while the rest were via SMS.

When the car was finally launched this year, it was almost simultaneously launched on Twitter to capture the fancies of the Twitterati, which comprise some of the leading influencers in Malaysia.

“The campaign was so successful that it even became a case study for social media. The ultra sound photo was used to show that it was Malaysia’s baby. We wanted to cultivate a reaction that Proton was homegrown,” says Prashant.

“The Twitter campaign elicited excellent reactions and even became a case study for social media.”

He adds that Proton spent very little on media in the campaign.

Universal McCann claims that even before the launch of the MPV in April this year, Google had showed 1.5 million links to Exora.

Another digital campaign that was worked by Universal McCann was an online game for insurance company, Axa Affin Insurance Bhd.

Called Turning Point, the online game allowed a person to experience life by managing his or her wealth while balancing it with the quality of the person’s life.

The ultrasound image of Exora.

The game challenges a person to manage their wealth at four different life stages – fresh graduate, newly married, married with children, and golden age, which were represented by four levels in the game.

The aim was to drive relevance among ‘digitally-savvy young white collars, who, unlike their parents’ generation, live in a world that does not save, plan or think about tomorrow. Whoever made the ‘most money’ in the game would be the winner – participants also stood a chance to win cash prizes.

The online gimmick, which was held in 2008, attracted over two million visits in just two months, with over 4,000 participants taking part. Over 10,000 referrals were generated.

Axa Affin’s gross premiums surged over 50% as a result of the campaign.

“People loved it,” says Prashant.