By The Malketeer Every Merdeka season, brands scramble to find the right balance between nostalgia, patriotism and purpose. Some lean on familiar tropes, others borrow the language of sacrifice. Maxis, however, has chosen to tell two very different but equally stirring stories this year—reminding Malaysians that tomorrow’s progress begins with
By The Malketeer At a time when most brands lean on nostalgia or patriotic tropes to mark Merdeka, Boost has taken an unusually playful route: turning personal finances into a parliamentary-style debate. Its Hari Kebangsaan short film, 68 Merdeka Kewangan, casts fictional “YBs” – YB Savings, YB Shopping, and other
By The Malketeer Walk into McDonald’s Titiwangsa today and you might think you’ve stumbled onto the set of an ’80s sitcom. Neon pops of colour, nostalgic décor, and even the soundtrack conspire to transport visitors to a time before smartphones and food delivery apps. For regulars, it’s a jolt of
By The Malketeer What if you could relive the roar of 1992, when Malaysia finally lifted the Thomas Cup after a 25-year wait? That was the spirit of Bergema (Echoes of Victory), U Mobile channelled in their latest National Day short film. A moving blend of nostalgic reenactments and first-hand
Advertising in Malaysia doesn’t flow evenly across the year. It beats in rhythm with the nation’s cultural heartbeat. Hari Raya. Chinese New Year. Deepavali. Christmas. And, of course, Merdeka. These are the moments when adex explodes. Agencies sweat, media owners cash in, and brands deliver their most memorable work. Tens
By The Malketeer If the whispers around Shah Alam prove true, Sinar Harian may soon stop rolling off the presses. Sources suggest the Malay-language daily will first scrap its weekend editions before eventually phasing out weekday circulation entirely. The plan: run as a digital-only news portal, trimming both costs and
By The Malketeer Walk into any marketing brainstorm today and chances are the letters “A” and “I” will float onto the whiteboard within the first five minutes. Yet increasingly, audiences are rolling their eyes. A new insult has even entered the Gen Z lexicon: “clankers” – borrowed from Star Wars,
By The Malketeer When Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg unveiled AirBorneo’s Wings of Unity logo this week, it marked more than the birth of a new airline. It signalled the state’s ambition to turn aviation into both a cultural symbol and an economic engine, ahead
By The Malketeer Marketing has always been a high-wire act—balancing creativity, client demands, deadlines, and shifting technologies. But a new survey from Storyblok puts numbers behind the strain: one in four senior marketers say they are stressed all or most of the time, while only a third feel they’ve managed
By The Malketeer In the crowded, noisy space of modern advertising, originality is the most prized currency. Or so we tell ourselves. Which is why, when two iconic brands in different markets rolled out campaigns anchored on strikingly similar taglines—“It’s a McD Thing” and “That’s a Nando’s Thing”—it’s tempting to
