CASE STUDY: Astro and Malaysia partner up to get Malaysians to speak English

Background

Malaysia has always had a national emphasis on the value of learning English and the many degrees to which English can be used. However in the suburban and rural communities of Malaysia, Malaysians don't believe English is useful for day-to-day activities.

Aim

Astro set out to promote Oh My English! as a demonstration of Malaysian students learning how to speak good English at school. It emphasised the benefits of learning good English compared with speaking poor English and showed situations where one wouldn’t be able to share as many good or new experiences, in comparison to someone who can speak well.  

Execution
Through a series of TVC and online videos posted on YouTube, the campaign dramatised travelling or conversational “fears” of being misunderstood or being left out of conversations due to poor English.  After watching the show, inspired viewers could then pledge to speak better English on the Oh My English! website. NagaDDB also created a Facebook page that featured videos of local Malaysian celebrities encouraging Malaysians to improve their spoken English. The show also engages and chats with fans via its Twitter feed. 

Results
Since its launch of May 20, the show has drawn over 2.2 million viewers on Astro. Its YouTube channel has received 3.3 million views and the show has picked up 87,428 fans on Facebook and more than 20,600 followers on Twitter. Plus, more than 3,000 Malaysians have pledged to learn to speak better English.