RHB TURNS MALAYSIAN ACTRESS SAZZY FALAK INTO A HYPER-LOCALISED SPOKESPERSON FOR MALAYSIAN SMES

Created by RHB as an initiative to help keep the doors of Malaysian businesses open during and after the pandemic, #JomSapot BeliLokal is a platform for SMEs to crowdsource support from RHB debit and credit cardholders. To date, the campaign has supported over 10,000 merchants around the nation and the numbers are still growing by the day.

To further evolve and expand #JomSapot BeliLokal, RHB and Star Media Group have collaborated to create a first-of-its-kind campaign in Malaysia, leveraging new technologies to connect more Malaysian consumers with Malaysian businesses.

Together with RHB’s creative agency, FCB SHOUT, this new iteration of the campaign features Malaysian actress, fashion icon, TV host and entrepreneur Sazzy Falak, who lends her face and voice to allow local merchants to create their own ads “starring” the the Malaysian entertainment icon to promote their brand without incurring any cost.

To create your own personalised ad with #JomSapot BeliLokal is simple – all you have to do is visit the campaign microsite and submit the details of your business. AI and machine learning are then implemented to recreate Sazzy Falak’s mouth movements and voice, with the end result being an ad that features the Malaysian superstar promoting your brand and business.

Beyond that, the video ads are also geographically contextualised, allowing Sazzy Falak to address viewers based on their location when viewing the ad. Supporting this is a print ad that is designed to be hyper-localised based on the reader’s location.

Scanning the print ad using a mobile device will prompt a video ad that features Sazzy Falak promoting a business that is in the vicinity of the audience.

Abdul Sani Abdul Murad, Group Chief Marketing Officer of RHB Group, said, “#JomSapot BeliLokal was introduced during the pandemic to help keep the doors of local businesses open. 3 years on, we’re proud to announce that we are more committed than ever to continuously evolve and improve the platform, so that Malaysian businesses can continue receiving the support they need and Malaysian consumers can continue enjoying better rewards by showing their support.

This year, we’ve taken a monumental step by adopting AI technology to help thousands of local SMEs in the country to do what they previously thought was impossible. Traditionally, small business owners are too resource-constrained to even think about running big marketing campaigns.

But today, with the #JomSapot BeliLokal campaign, they can have one of Malaysia’s biggest stars promoting their brand in an ad that is bespoke to their business… without even spending a single cent and more than 5 minutes of their time.

On top of that, RHB is consistently putting resources behind this campaign to ensure that the merchants gain as much visibility as possible. This campaign is a true demonstration of how man and machine can work together for the greater good.”

“Even though the days of the pandemic are thankfully behind us, we know that many Malaysian businesses, especially the smaller ones, still require support. And with consumers now resuming their normal lives of being out and about, they’re constantly on the lookout for new places to visit and new businesses to patronise.

Hence, I think that the evolution of this campaign is very timely, as it’s as much about delivering support to the SMEs as it is about providing the consumers with a definitive guide to all the good things around them via the power of artificial intelligence and the influence of Sazzy Falak,” said James Voon, Associate Creative Director of FCB SHOUT.

The RHB #JomSapot BeliLokal campaign was launched on 30 May 2023 and is driven by digital and social content on RHB’s social pages with support in print and on radio.

CAMPAIGN CREDITS

Title: #JomSapot BeliLokal
RHB Bank
Group Chief Marketing Officer: Abdul Sani
Head, Group Retail Banking Marketing: Wendy Tan
Head, Group Business Banking & Customer Insight: Gigi Lee
Marketing Manager, Group Business Banking & Customer Insight: Bryan Lim
Associate Specialist, Group Business Banking & Customer Insight: Celine Koh

FCB SHOUT
Co-owner & Chief Executive Officer: Shaun Tay
Co-owner & Chief Creative Officer: Ong Shi Ping
General Manager: Syahriza Badron
Head of Creative: Wang Ie Tjer
Associate Creative Directors: James Voon, Jonathan Chan
Designer: Tan Lai Kuen
Senior Brand Director: Timothy Teh
Brand Manager: Nik Nawwal
Project Executive: Ng Ju El

Media and Production Partner: Star Media Group