The Market Doesn’t Reward the Best—It Rewards the Best Marketed
In a fair world, the best product should win.
But in the real world especially one that scrolls, swipes, skips and shops on impulse—the best-known product wins.
The most visible brand outperforms the most virtuous one.
And the loudest message often drowns out the most meaningful one.
This may be marketing’s most inconvenient truth: People don’t always buy the best. They buy what they know.
It’s a truth that’s as relevant on the streets of Penang as it is in the supermarkets of Kuala Lumpur.
In Malaysia’s crowded, hyper-connected consumer landscape, it’s not the product that speaks for itself—it’s the advertising that speaks for it.
The best product doesn’t always win.
But the best communicated product almost always does.
We Buy What We Remember
Let’s unpack that with a little honesty.
When was the last time you bought a phone based purely on tech specs?
Or tried a new snack after carefully analysing its ingredients?
Chances are, you made the decision because you’d seen the ad five times already on YouTube, your favourite influencer mentioned it in passing, or a well-placed billboard planted the seed in your subconscious.
This isn’t irrational.
It’s human nature.
In marketing psychology, there’s something called the “mere exposure effect.”
The more we’re exposed to something, the more we tend to like it—or at least trust it.
That’s how unknown brands become household names.
Not by accident. By design.
From Air Fryers to Anime—The Battle of Brand Recall
Designed specifically for the 42% of Malaysian households that now own air fryers, the new marinades weren’t just product extensions—they were marketing weapons.
TV ads, recipe hacks, content collabs with food creators, and strong in-store visibility made sure it was impossible to miss.
Did it reinvent the wheel?
Not quite.
Did it dominate awareness?
Absolutely.
Another brilliant example is Farm Fresh.
This homegrown dairy disruptor didn’t beat Dutch Lady or Goodday by just being “fresher.”
It beat them by telling its story—loudly, proudly, and repeatedly.
The “From Our Farm to Your Fridge” promise, coupled with clever packaging, CSR storytelling, and cheeky ads, made Malaysians feel something.
And in doing so, it made them buy.
Then there’s TNG eWallet.
Objectively, it wasn’t the first digital wallet in Malaysia, nor the most technically superior.
But thanks to relentless marketing—everywhere from Ramadan bazaars to PETRONAS counters—it became the one Malaysians knew.
It turned functional convenience into top-of-mind dominance.
A win not of features, but familiarity.
Obscurity is Death—Even for the Best Products
Too often, Malaysian SMEs fall into the “build it and they will come” trap.
They pour their budgets into production, perfect the packaging, obsess over flavour, finish, or formula—but leave peanuts for promotion.
The result is a beautiful product that no one knows exists.
There’s a tragic assumption in many boardrooms: that the world will automatically discover quality.
It won’t.
The market doesn’t reward the best—it rewards the best marketed.
And in Malaysia’s fragmented media environment, from TikTok to TV3, if you’re not showing up where your audience is, someone else louder will.
Just look at the explosion of local snack brands like Bungkus Kaw Kaw and Ding Dang.
Many of them ride on nostalgia, packaging appeal, and viral moments—not just superior taste.
Similarly, Safi has held its ground in the skincare market not just because of ingredients, but because of presence.
It’s in every Watsons, on every billboard, and all over Malay drama product placements.
Being Great Silently is a Business Risk
If you’re a brand manager or entrepreneur still hoping “word of mouth” will carry your product to glory in 2025—think again.
We now live in a “word of algorithm” economy.
Visibility must be engineered, not hoped for.
That means media spend, influencer partnerships, viral hooks, storytelling campaigns,
Malaysian brands must also stop underestimating the power of emotional consistency.
Look at Petronas.
Every festive ad is not just a tearjerker; it’s a brand equity builder.
You might forget your fuel’s octane level.
But you remember the ad about the boy coming home to his kampung.
Emotion builds memory.
And memory builds market share.
Even global giants get it.
Shopee isn’t necessarily a better platform than Lazada—but it won Southeast Asia’s heart with consistent messaging, high-frequency visibility, and mascot-driven campaigns (“Shopee Pi Pi Pi” still haunts us).
When you’re remembered, you’re rewarded.
The Real Competition is Mindshare
Market share follows mindshare.
Always.
Think of your category as a mental supermarket shelf.
The brands that occupy that shelf whether through ads, TikToks, memes, or jingle, get picked.
The rest stays invisible.
And invisible brands don’t get sold.
If your product is amazing but unknown, it’s like whispering in a thunderstorm.
No one hears you.
Don’t Wait to Be Discovered. Demand Attention.
The biggest danger today is not being bad.
It’s being forgettable.
Here’s the wake-up call for Malaysian marketers: Stop spending 90% of your energy perfecting the product and only 10% amplifying it.
Flip the equation.
Because in this era, even a decent product with a great marketing engine will beat a great product in silence.
Do you want to be the best-kept secret?
Or the most bought brand?
The world isn’t fair.
And the market doesn’t reward quiet excellence.
It rewards visibility, relatability, and frequency.
The next time someone tells you, “But our product is better than Brand X,” ask them: “Yes, but are we louder than Brand X?”
Because at the end of the day, the winner isn’t the best.
The APPIES is an annual event that presents a rare opportunity for creative, media, digital and marketing agencies or brands to present their best campaigns to the industry.
This is the only event where Live Presentations meets Live Judging.
Similar to TED Talks, The APPIES is the chance for great presenters with outstanding work to show it off to some of the industry’s most important industry leaders.
This year’s winners will receive Gold, Silver or Bronze trophies for 21 categories, and 6 special Best of Best categories (red trophies) that require no submissions!
Campaign entries must have run between June 2024 to May 2025
