The Brief

“Can You Serve?” is a reality TV show created to turn this misconception on its head - to show that service jobs in fact require exceptional skill. The TV show’s first season achieved a positive perception shift. But to increase viewership even further in the show’s second season - beyond the first season’s ratings - we strove to make people actively involved with the topic of customer service: to be a part of the conversation. To this end, we aimed to double the show’s Facebook fan base.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

The simple fact that service quality improves when customers actively show their appreciation of it led us to explore the behaviour of tipping – often the most tangible and simple way of showing appreciation. In Facebook’s ‘Like’ button, we saw an opportunity to link an entrenched digital behaviour on Facebook, ‘Liking’, to the equally entrenched real-world-behaviour of tipping. Wouldn’t it be great if we could turn a Facebook ‘Like’ into a real-life show of appreciation? To realise this thought, we created the World’s First Digital Tip Jar – a three-by-three meters, life-sized tip jar contraption, digitally controlled in real time via Facebook.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

People got actively involved with the topic of customer service: Over 235 different service establshments were ‘tipped’ by the public. The show’s Facebook fan base consequently increased by 400% from 2,983 to 15,164 within the seven-week campaign period, ultimately helping to increase viewership of the TV show by up to 67% compared to the previous season.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Tipping is generally frowned upon in Singapore, but it’s also one of the simplest ways of expressing an appreciation for good service. So what if we could combine the act of tipping with something every young Singaporean couldn’t do without – Facebook? By doing this, we would be able to both engage our clients’ desired target audience and increase their activity on the Can You Serve Facebook page.