CHANGES IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR: PENT-UP DEMAND

By Kunal Sinha

The world has FOMO fever.

Post-pandemic, we crave experiences, more than anything else.

We must all head out every long weekend, in the same direction. Traffic on the North-South highway during the weekend of September 12-14 was nightmarish, forcing Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow to miss two official engagements. A four-hour long journey turned into a twelve hour ordeal for many.

Uncle Roger’s new restaurant Fuiyoh was forced to close down, as fans of Darren Watkins Jr – better known as IShowSpeed flocked to the eatery after he rated the fried rice 9/10 and his stream was watched by over 30 million people. Rarely has a restaurant opening been as anticipated as this one.

Apple fans in Malaysia and India had their first opportunity to queue up for the release of a new phone – and boy, did they not disappoint in their enthusiasm. The first Malaysian walk-in buyer, a businessman named Hasif Kamal, 27, got in line at 3am. Apparently, he had previously done the same thing in Singapore.

In India, concert tickets for the upcoming Coldplay concert were sold out within 3 hours, only to be available at reseller sites at ten to fifteen times their price. This was one day when concert tickets delivered better same-day returns than crypto, quipped someone on LinkedIn.

There is a new facet of consumer behaviour that is sweeping Asia: the craze for “have-to-be-there” moments and experiences.

These occasions, this fervour is right here, right now for brands to make a killing.

Here’s one example of a brand (or two) that did.

As travellers across Indonesia returned to travel after the pandemic, Permata Bank sought to drive customer acquisition, build loyalty and stimulate spending through their co-branded AirAsia Cards.

The campaign harnessed the desire for “Revenge Spending” and channelized it into AirAsia’s offerings and products. The effort to unlock wallets was based on a powerful insight: “people are fed up with the outbreak, now is the time to outspend and make the most out of life”.

The co-branded card galvanized and rewarded the loyalty of customers with idea “Yok Berangkat” (Let’s get going). Through the spirit of #Yokberangkat, we attempted to arouse and trigger people’s urge to return to shopping, hang out, and take vacations, while earning more rewards.

Watch the campaign film here:

The campaign led to a 92% increase in customer acquisition for the PermataBank AirAsia card.

Online sales volume transactions increased by 1,035% year on year, with more individuals spending it on leading marketplaces such as Tokopedia, Shopee, and Blibli,

It didn’t stop there: the message conveyed through #yokberangkat and ‘it’s time to outspend’ was also a major factor to actually having the best record in terms of card transaction performance. The six months following the campaign saw a total transaction volume of IDR 123 billion from PermataBank AirAsia debit and credit cards, the highest ever in terms of product portfolio.

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Learn more about branding opportunities emerging from changes in consumer behaviour by attending my workshop The Codes of Asian Branding on November 6&7 at Eastin Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

Kunal Sinha is Chief Knowledge Officer at Ampersand Advisory, Kuala Lumpur. He has built brands across China, India and Indonesia, is the author of six books on creativity, consumers and marketing, and has spoken at the world’s top business schools, including Harvard, Cambridge, London Business School, University of New South Wales and CEIBS.

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