MAM
Brands must identify, promote advocates for a better future
NEW DELHI: The ongoing Covid2019 crisis and lockdown is a difficult time for brands across the globe. Retail and D2C players are too faced with wide uncertainties as people are not willing to spend much. However, as per the Department of International Trade, UK, this time comes with a silver lining; as the consumers can’t go outside they have a lot of time in hand to explore, and brands, therefore, must pivot their focus from direct sales to focusing on digital customer engagement.
The department hosted a webinar on Thursday in association with brand advocacy firm Duel, highlighting how brands can utilise this opportunity to keep their user community engaged during the crisis with zero budgets. Speaking on the panel were Duel founder Paul Archer, and lead brand and community consultant Jaclyn Crocker.
As explained by Crocker, consumers of today no longer base their loyalty on price or product but instead on experiences they receive. Therefore, brands should be looking at consumer experience from a holistic perspective and build strong emotional connect with them. For this, brands will have to be very specific about their values, in not only what they stand for but also what they ‘rage against’.
She elaborated that what distinguishes a great brand from an average brand is its capability to turn consumers into advocates and creating an organic growth channel with minimal ad spends.
“At Duel, we believe that the greatest companies of the next decade will be those who focus on driving advocacy and word-of-mouth from those who love them. Therefore, the brands must be thinking long-term, maintaining a honest and generous outlook towards consumers, investing in remarkable consumer experience by constantly seeking feedback, and building strong networks and communities.” Crocker said.
She added that consumers today are looking for more transparency from businesses and more human connection.
She also shared a trick to segment the existing customer base into CRM, customers, loyalists, advocates, and super fans and acting proactively in a different manner for each subset.
She insisted that a brand must be investing in appraising and rewarding its advocates and also shared a formula to calculate the value of an advocate for a brand.
She added that brands can promote advocacy by rewarding the superfans and advocates via discounts, and special experiences. However, if as a brand one has not been giving discounts ever since, it might not be the right time to start doing that.
In conclusion, she insisted that brands should really be focussing on creating a strong user base that turns into advocates for them for a brighter future.
Brands
MEASAT names John Loke CTO to lead AI, multi-orbit growth strategy
Returning executive to steer innovation and satellite tech roadmap
KUALA LUMPUR: MEASAT Global Berhad has appointed John Loke as its chief technology officer, tasking the returning executive with steering its next phase of innovation and growth.
In his new role, Loke will lead the company’s digital evolution and regional strategy, with a focus on AI-led solutions and multi-orbit satellite capabilities. He will also oversee key divisions spanning satellite and network engineering, operations, and IT and digital transformation, while handling the technical side of satellite and launch procurement.
The appointment marks a homecoming of sorts. Loke previously spent a decade at MEASAT in senior leadership roles, including vice president of network engineering and operations and customer engineering. During that time, he played a key role in delivering major initiatives such as MEASAT-3a, MEASAT-3b and the CONNECTme service, strengthening the company’s position in the region.
Most recently, he served as CTO at a Singapore-based satellite operator, where he led the rollout of high-speed broadband services across the Asia-Pacific market. Earlier in his career, Loke was part of the pioneering team at Singapore Telecommunications Ltd that launched the ST-1 satellite operation.
With deep institutional knowledge and a broad regional lens, Loke’s return comes at a time when satellite players are rethinking strategy amid rapid technological change. His mandate is clear: align innovation with growth and ensure MEASAT stays firmly in orbit in an increasingly competitive spacetech landscape.
