The Campaign

How does a 150-year old U.S telecommunications company showcase its focus on innovation in Malaysia as one of the fastest growing mobile technology markets in the world? Even more challenging, how does that company become employer-of-choice for in-demand mobile app developers critical to product and brand appeal and who can command great salaries and exciting work from any hot tech company? AT&T, while relatively low profile in Malaysia, courted the developers’ community with an irresistible offer to show off their talents in a first-of-its-kind Malaysia Developers’ Day to compete in developing a mobile app on entrepreneurship all by themselves within 24 hours. The stakes were high. Mobile penetration in Malaysia is more than 143%, stretching a pool of only 680 active app developers and creating a sweepstakes-like competition among service providers to win prized talent to fuel their offerings. With the potential to create new start-ups in Malaysia and boost the nation’s nascent mobile app development industry, AT&T collaborated with regulator Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to stage the event which ultimately attracted more than 120 developers. A PR-driven campaign included a pre-event Wall Street Journal exclusive story followed by high-impact print, broadcast and digital media reports, as well as social media engagement throughout the event, raising AT&T’s profile as an innovation catalyst in Asia Pacific and showing Malaysia as a hub of IT creativity. After the event, the winning teams also worked with AT&T and MCMC to fine-tune the apps for commercialized offerings in the future. The event helped AT&T forge relationships with the tech community and establish itself as a lead app innovator in the region.

The Brief

• Position AT&T as a catalyst for innovation in the technology-telecoms space and as a leader in the rapid innovation and commercialization of new apps and services. • Lay the groundwork for relationships with the developer community to lead to recruitment of top talent. • Differentiate and elevate AT&T’s approach to innovation, highlighting its focus on collaboration. • Champion Asia and Malaysia in particular as vibrant areas for innovation and well-positioned for leadership in mobile app development. • Encourage local entrepreneurs, inventors, academics, start-ups and others to actively participate in the AT&T innovation process.

Results

Event attracted 120 enthusiastic participants aged 15 to 50 (normal event has 50-60 participants), and won support from Ericsson, Digital News Asia, US Embassy Kuala Lumpur. The winning teams presented their apps to more than 100 global ICT audiences at APECTel in Hawaii in September. AT&T and MCMC provided further technical guidance to the winning teams to get the apps commercialized in future. Judge Karamjit Singh of Digital News Asia said, “The event was designed to be a catalyst for innovative thinking and entrepreneurship, and I feel it succeeded.” A total of 44+ print, broadcast and digital media reports were generated across Asia Pacific, with an exclusive curtain-raising WSJ story. Total media impressions exceeded USD 1 million. 5,000+ posts were found in AT&T and MCMC Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and post event YouTube video. The closed Facebook group continues to provide a platform for information and intelligence exchange

Execution

• Stage the Malaysia Developer Day on September 7, a 24-hour competition for developers to create a mobile app focusing on entrepreneurship. • Interviews with global tier-one press (Wall Street Journal and ComputerWorld) and local print, broadcast and digital prior to the event. • Reached out to local developers' communities and universities to engage with target audiences through emailers and flyers. • Two days before the event, AT&T held a press briefing to announce the participation rate and build momentum. • Select press attended the event to experience the camaraderie of the event and to witness the access to tools, knowledge and expert support of the competition. • AT&T and MCMC Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts were regularly updated. Participants had access to a closed Facebook group where they could share feedback, creating a collegial environment for sharing best practices. • Post-event montage video was shared via the AT&T newsroom and YouTube.

The Situation

AT&T has relatively low brand awareness in Malaysia. It seeks to build its brand footprint and innovation capabilities in the country along with its developer pool as the ultimate engine for success in a market focused on having the latest, hottest mobile apps. With developers key to the company’s inroads in Malaysia, AT&T gleaned the insight that reaching developers would be tough, requiring a customized challenge-oriented approach that would allow them to interact with their peers. For regulator MCMC, this was the first initiative to nurture the developer community in collaboration with a commercial entity.

The Strategy

• Create a competitive peer-to-peer event that would challenge developers to bring their A-Game to solve a set of real-world problems. • Capitalize on media-generating opportunities in each of three identified project phases -- initial announcement, hackathon event and post-event follow-up -- to tell the AT&T innovation story. • Differentiate AT&T’s approach to innovation as unique and successful by providing Tier 1 media with exclusive access to participants, judges and AT&T spokespersons.