#MYCYBERSALE 2016: Malaysia's Biggest Influencer Campaign

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In September 2016, SushiVid ran the influencer video programme for #MYCYBERSALE, Malaysia's national online sale, backed by MDEC. This case study covers how brands were chosen, what brands and influencers each expected, which video formats worked best, the results for our top brands and creators, and the lessons we took into 2017.

What is #MYCYBERSALE?

Malaysians love shopping and sales. Traditionally they favoured weekends at the mall, but as more Malaysians got online, more of that shopping moved online too. To capitalise on this and drive more businesses online, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) launched #MYCYBERSALE in 2014.

#MYCYBERSALE is Malaysia's answer to Black Friday, except that every retailer is an e-commerce site. According to Digital News Asia, its aims are:

• Getting more buyers and sellers on board;
• Helping SMEs see the value of taking part in e-commerce; and
• Driving Malaysia towards becoming a net exporter in e-commerce.

The sale is held every September. The 2016 edition (26–30 September) attracted over 600 online retailers, and The Star reported that at least 150 Malaysian brands took part. With a record number of merchants, MDEC targeted RM200 million in sales.

How was SushiVid involved?

As an early adopter of influencer marketing, SushiVid was brought on board to help promote #MYCYBERSALE 2016. MDEC gave RM2,500 subsidies to YouTube influencers, who made marketing videos for some of the SMEs that MDEC represented. The goal was to drive more traffic to these brands' websites during the sale. Every video was made by a SushiVid influencer, and the set gave brands a chance to A/B test their campaigns. SushiVid CEO Yuhwen Foong saw the fit between the sale and influencers straight away:

“It's an easy linkage between a social media influencer and driving that traffic to your website. Every e-commerce client I know spends tons of money generating leads from remarketing, referral fees, affiliate marketing and first-time user coupons. SushiVid provides a less in-your-face way to market your brand and builds trust through endorsements by influencers, however big or small the influencer is. It puts their skin in the game while also giving you content that you can share, that people will watch, that is SEO friendly forever.”

How were brands selected?

Over 70 brands wanted to make videos with SushiVid and MDEC during #MYCYBERSALE, but only 27 received them. The key criteria were:

• A deal worth making a video for (50% off, cash back and so on);
• An influencer match;
• A substantial range of products in their online store;
• Being an MDEC-approved merchant.

Some brands were unsuccessful because no influencer was a good match. Others had fewer than 20 products on their e-commerce platform.

The SushiVid campaign stats

Chapter 1: The brands

Seventy brands applied for the MDEC influencer marketing subsidy. For a start-up less than one year old, this was validation of our concept and proof that Malaysian businesses were starting to embrace influencer marketing.

Given the big marketing budgets of larger brands, we weren't sure who would apply. But even some major international players did. The most activity came from online marketplaces, which already understand the importance of an online presence and tend to spend more on it. Beauty and fashion brands also responded strongly.

The brands selected for the video campaigns were Gamehypermart, Lelong.my, Jocom, Maxora, Watsons, Mosquitno, Youbeli, Pet Supplies Plus, FashionValet, Hermo, b.liv, Lazada, Motherhood.com.my, Big Big Place, Bonia, Original Sprout and Uniqlo.

What did brands expect?

Subtle, genuine and authentic are the driving principles of influencer videos. Even so, brands had some common expectations of what their videos should include and achieve:

• Logo inclusion
• A shout-out for their sale
• Short, straight-to-the-point and impactful videos
• Immediate results
• Reviews (these made up 25% of the videos created)

At times this clashed with our core value of letting the influencer shine. After all, that is how they earned their audience in the first place.

Production

In general, there were two draft submissions before brands gave influencers the green light.

Hard sell versus subtle sell

It was encouraging to see brands recognise the value of influencers. But many brands were still committed to the hard sell of the past. Millennials see right through this and are much more comfortable with subtle selling. So we were careful not to over-boost any videos or over-share the content. For us, it's all about letting the influencer speak.

Outcome: the early videos won

Brands that got involved early saw the most success and value for money, because the earlier a video goes online, the more views it gathers. In our experience YouTube views really do grow over time, so brands need to let go of the hope of immediate results and embrace the long tail.

Chapter 2: The influencers

The project was designed to boost #MYCYBERSALE sales, but it was also a big boost for influencers who were just finding their feet in Malaysia. They earned money, and many were exposed to new audiences, which means more people will see their content the next time they work with a brand. A win for everyone. (The full set of videos was published as a YouTube playlist.)

What did influencers expect?

• No logo
• No hard selling
• To perform in their own style
• Creative freedom

Influencers often find they get the most engagement when they stay true to their style. Compared with the brand expectations above, there were obvious points of tension. Our experience connecting brands and influencers meant we could explain the benefits of a subtle message.

Which video formats performed best?

Influencer marketing doesn't follow one set style; creators adapt the product to a format that suits them. The formats produced during #MYCYBERSALE were:

• Vlog
• B-roll
• Unboxing
• OOTD (outfit of the day)
• Haul
• Challenge
• Review
• Vlog + review
• Review + tutorial

Although 25% of the videos were reviews, our analytics showed that challenge videos got the most views, followed by vlogs, then reviews. Vlogs, however, did best for subscriber gains and likes, with challenges second and reviews third. On length, videos of 3 minutes performed best.

Impact on influencers

To date, the 35 videos produced for #MYCYBERSALE have been viewed 700,000 times, including on Facebook. Our influencers also gained 21,269 new subscribers during the sale period, largely because viewers moved from one #MYCYBERSALE video to the next. MDEC and SushiVid also helped promote the videos. On top of the new subscribers, each influencer earned around RM1,600 per video.

The most popular videos averaged about 2 minutes and were mostly challenges, reviews and vlogs. Other formats still worked, but YouTube viewers clearly preferred this style. Brands and influencers had slightly different expectations, but where brands gave influencers some control, the results were positive.

Chapter 3: Brands – our top picks

Brands still tied to traditional marketing can find the move to influencer marketing a struggle, and often miss the right feel for their audience. The most successful campaigns came from brands that embraced influencer marketing for what it is.

Uniqlo

As a major international brand, Uniqlo was a deal many of our influencers wanted. Uniqlo was open to new ideas: one influencer who was in Amsterdam suggested shooting the campaign as a vlog of his trip, and Uniqlo agreed. The one issue was that Uniqlo wanted at least part of the campaign to focus on its HEATTECH range, which was not very popular given Malaysia's climate.

Lazada

Having major brands apply for influencer campaigns showed the power of influencer marketing. Influencers were especially keen on the Nescafé Barista because it was new and they got to review it first. The Nescafé Barista machine sold like hot cakes during #MYCYBERSALE.

Bonia

Bonia was an easy shoot because influencers could choose from a wide range of products. There was a style for everyone, and most influencers made more than one. Bonia was also willing to explore the Singapore market by working with our favourite Singaporean influencer, Adlina Anis.

Hermo

Hermo was SushiVid's very first customer and has always supported the influencer ecosystem. In this series Hermo experimented with the standard make-up tutorial: in one video a boyfriend wore the make-up, and in another a boyfriend bravely tried to do his influencer girlfriend's make-up. The ideas were novel, but the videos didn't quite achieve the desired outcome. Still, the beauty of influencer campaigns is that you can A/B test until you strike the right note.

Chapter 4: Influencers – our top picks

The influencers in the #MYCYBERSALE 2016 campaign have amassed over 700,000 views on YouTube and Facebook, a strong return for the cost. A few stood out, and their work offers lessons for anyone entering the influencer ecosystem.

For all four, the main audience age group was 18–24. “Other” is shown as an unlabelled flag in the original report.

Vikarworld

Vikar's “Paranormal Activity Prank” video shows the power of the soft sell: nothing about it is obviously promotional, yet it got people talking and won the award for “Most Creative YouTube Campaign”. With 70,000+ views, it was a clear winner for brand awareness.

Tech Combo: The Kampung Nerd and TekGila

These two videos work because the influencers really know what they are talking about, and their engagement is strong for their audience size. The Kampung Nerd lives up to his name with old-school video game graphics as his credit reel (his video was an unboxing and review of a PlayStation Camera for Gamehypermart). TekGila caught our eye with his challenge to find three games for under RM100. With 1,800+ clicks and 98% of viewers in Malaysia, these videos were good for conversions.

Jessica Chaw

Jessica Chaw doesn't take herself seriously. In her trademark sarcastic style nothing is sacred, except the Nescafé Gold Blend Barista machine she promoted for #MYCYBERSALE. The video showed the most unconventional side of advertising.

Dikidi

From Indonesia, Dikidi's Zena is loved for her cute, slapstick humour. Her two videos (a challenge and a vlog) gathered over 90,000 views, giving great exposure to the brands she worked with. These were SushiVid's first campaigns in Indonesia, and clients saw significant traffic coming from Indonesia.

Best-performing Instagram posts

• Brandon Ma: more than 1,463 likes on a post for Love Earth Organic and Youbeli.my
• Brandon Ma: more than 1,105 likes on a post for Lelong.my
• Arisa Chow: more than 775 views on her Instagram video for Maxora

Lessons learned from #MYCYBERSALE 2016

Our experience with #MYCYBERSALE 2016 was brilliant, but it showed there is still a lot to learn about influencers in Asia. With MDEC assessing Malaysian e-commerce as being at an inflection point (ready for accelerated growth), getting the marketing right has never mattered more. These observations can help brands and influencers run a more successful sale season:

Start early

Videos are slow burners on likes: they usually peak within the first week, not on day one. The upside is longevity, as YouTube keeps them available today, tomorrow or next year. Don't upload on sale day. Post a week ahead so the video gains momentum and shares, and your brand is front and centre on sale day.

Communicate within SushiVid

Our team spent hours fine-tuning the platform to build the relationship between brands and influencers. Communicating through SushiVid is the most efficient way to work and avoids the confusion of using many channels.

Have a clear campaign goal and vision

This applies to both brands and influencers. Know what you want and how you will deliver it.

Experiment

Some ideas won't work, but the beauty of influencer marketing is the freedom to innovate. Brands are steadily getting more comfortable letting influencers take the reins, and the results speak for themselves.

There is an influencer gap

We knew influencer marketing was young in Asia, but tendering for these projects showed how few influencers there are in some niches. The “mommy blogger” space, for example, is wide open for quality campaigns that launch baby products and unbox toys.

Lack of guidelines and regulations

This concerned us greatly. Given our results, SushiVid is in a unique position to use its data to set benchmarks and guidelines that protect both brands and influencers.

Summary

#MYCYBERSALE was valuable for brands, influencers and SushiVid. We now understand the Asian influencer ecosystem much better and will use that to improve it for everyone. We were privileged to work with these influencers and brands, and grateful to MDEC for the opportunity.

Original report written by Beth O'Connor of Elle O'C Communications and designed by Jazel Lynne.

Plan your next sale-season campaign

SushiVid has run influencer campaigns in Malaysia since 2015. See more results in our case studies, or let us manage your next influencer campaign from brief to report.

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