CHRISTINNE LIM
MARKETING HEAD ASTRO
How is the company coping in the current economic climate without compromising its brand presence?
We grew up with TV viewing, radio listening, magazine reading and chatting as separate activities, independent of each other. In this new world, everything is intertwined. Likewise at Astro, we have expanded our brand presence across all touchpoints and screens including digital platforms, as well as live events to serve 23 million individuals in over 5.6 million homes. Our aspiration is to provide an immersive 360° experience for our customers.
Should brands be packaged differently, not only demographically but emotionally?
Our content brands have strong emotional connection with their fans. They make our customers cry, laugh and cheer, as well as keep them informed. Our vernacular originals like Maharaja Lawak
Mega made over 4.9 million fans laugh and cheer for their favourite talents. Our sports content also resonates strongly among sports fans. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, we kept over 13 million football fans up all night cheering for their favourite teams.
what is the most significant aspect of creating powerful, effective branding?
As a media company, key to effective branding is by delivering compelling content. We champion Malaysian movies, such as OlaBola and Paskal The Movie.
These movies struck the right chord with Malaysians, evoking emotions, paying tribute to unsung heroes and raising expectations on the standard of Malaysian movies. We truly appreciate that at the end of the movies, movie-goers stood up and applauded. To us, that is the best encouragement to do better.
In an increasingly transparent world, how can brands strengthen their brand equity?
The world is increasingly borderless and social. Social media empowers consumers by giving them direct connection to brands, amplifying their affirmation or rejection. Brands need to take heed of their instant feedback. Brands that don’t evolve, are in danger of becoming irrelevant.
what makes a brand memorable given the short attention span and all sort of content screaming at customers?
We create and curate a rich variety of content to serve all segments in a very diverse Malaysian and Asean market. We have short form and long form content in many genres, as well as movies and documentaries. In an era of abundant choices for the consumers, our task is to create and curate compelling content and to personalise them for each consumer.