The dream of cracking consumer behaviour down to a science.
Let’s face it, when everyone has access to the same tools, the same dashboards, and the same predictive models — what’s left to differentiate one brand from another?
Culture. That’s the real competitive edge in Malaysia.
Not code.
The Curse of “Premium Dullness”
Let’s be honest. We’ve all seen it.
Campaigns that look premium, sound clever, and check every box on the digital media plan.
And yet, they leave you… empty.
Safe, polished, optimised — but soulless.
Dentsu Creative Mexico’s Carlos Buenfil calls this “premium dullness”.
Malaysian brands are slipping dangerously close to it.
The chase for algorithmic approval is drowning out creativity with sameness.
When every brand starts sounding like a script written by ChatGPT on autopilot — we’ve got a serious problem.
Relevance is Local. Emotion is Personal.
Malaysia isn’t one market. It’s many.
You’ve got the Bangsar brunch crowd scrolling Instagram while sipping oat milk lattes.
You’ve got Pak Din in Kota Bharu who trusts what he hears on WhatsApp over Google.
You’ve got Gen Z kids on TikTok speaking in a rojak of Bahasa, English and sarcasm.
You cannot reach all of them with one message, one template, one tech stack.
What connects across this fragmentation?
Emotion. Culture. Stories.
Code Can’t Cook Rendang
Take this as metaphor and mantra.
AI can tell you when your customer buys rendang, how much they spend, and which outlet they visit.
But it cannot tell you what rendang means to them.
It cannot replicate the feeling of helping your mum stir the kuah lemak on Raya morning.
Or the quiet grief when the house is empty during a lockdown Raya.
Or the warmth of passing packed rendang to a neighbour during a flood.
That’s not data. That’s deep cultural memory.
Brands that connect to that memory — like Petronas with its timeless festive films — don’t just sell products.
They build love.
Fragmentation is Power, Not Problem
Carlos proposes embracing fragmentation like Kintsugi — the Japanese art of repairing cracks with gold.
In Malaysia, our “cracks” are our multi-ethnicity, our generational gaps, our East-West divides, even our slang.
But if you learn to speak within these fissures, magic happens.
That’s why campaigns like McDonald’s “Mekdi” localisation and Watsons’ CNY musical dramas work.
They speak the language of culture, not just marketing.
A New Malaysian Marketing Mantra
Carlos outlines three pillars to thrive in this algorithmic age.
Let’s localise them:
Distinctive Creativity
Brands must dare to be different. Look at Fishermen Integrated’s bold humour, or Naga DDB’s emotive scripts. Or even OLDTOWN White Coffee’s clever nostalgia-driven storytelling. Distinctiveness isn’t an option — it’s survival.
Cultural Agility
From #DuitRaya to #RayaOotd, trends move fast in Malaysia. But moving fast doesn’t mean losing soul. Cultural agility is knowing when to meme and when to mourn. When to launch a TikTok challenge and when to stay silent in solidarity.
Humanised Tech
AI is a tool. Not a truth. Use it to understand sentiment, surface insights, and personalise smartly but never let it replace lived human experience. Tech should amplify your heart, not replace it.
Growth Isn’t in the Graphs. It’s in the Guts.
Dentsu Creative’s Growth Spaces approach focuses on where culture meets commerce.
That’s exactly what Malaysian brands must do.
Find where cultural tension meets consumer aspiration. That’s your sweet spot.
In the rise of preloved fashion? A Gen Z rejection of wasteful consumerism.
In the K-drama obsession? A longing for escape and tenderness in a stressful world.
In the spike in durian delivery apps? A fusion of tradition and convenience.
Every trend hides a human truth. Dig for it.
Don’t just surf the wave — ask why the wave is rising.
Branding in Malaysia: A Love Story or a Spreadsheet?
Malaysians are lovers of stories.
Not slogans. Not pixels. Not dashboards.
We remember the ads that made us laugh, cry, reflect.
We quote them. We forward them.
We say, “This ad made me think of you.”
And in doing so, the brand becomes part of our lives.
So yes, use code. Use data. Use AI.
But use them to serve something bigger:
The messy, glorious, delicious culture that makes Malaysia truly Malaysia.
Because in the end, the brand that wins is not the one that reached the most screens.
