It was a football celebration like never before. Never had I seen a celebration celebrated with such pompous and grandeur. Never had I seen so many people from all races and age gather in one location with one goal (pun intended). Never had I seen so many people from various profession from students to professionals to politicians in one hot location.

I commend Hotlink for a job well done.

Among the things they did right: 1. Spent a considerable amount of budget on such a massive scale on the right event. Hey, it only happens once every 4 years. Which event can be more eclusive? As the saying goes, if you want to create an impact, make sure it is unforgettable.

2. Tie in with a political agenda to get the Prime Minister to launch the event. Always look for a win-win situation.

3. Organized the right activities for the right target market. A huge Hotlink balloon rolling over the crowds, face-painting, fire performance, etc are all activities that will draw in the young crowds especially during World Cup when people tend to be a bit more adventurous.

4. Maintain satisfaction of high ARPU customers, aka the VIPs by inviting them to convene in special booths with food catered the whole night and a big screen specially for their viewing. There was a separate tent for the ministers as well, ah bu then!

5. Make full use of the massive and thirsty crowd by selling pre-paid SIM packs and various Hotlink products. Put up blogs in websites to draw in website traffic.

6. Tie in with various vendors to cross-sell chat services, wap downloads (eg. Zidane’s wallpaper) and friend-finder service, in case you lose your loved one among the crowds.

7. Great promotional strategies in which the event was televised lived on RTM with MCs and announcers urging the public to make their way to Bukit Bintang long before the event started. There were roadshows all over the place from Kuantan to Johor Bahru with the finale ending in Kuala Lumpur. Wap push was sent to encourage wap downloads and to inform customers to collect freebies from the various roadshows.

8. Last but not least, all this is useless if the ROI is negative. With such a massive budget allocated for this one event alone, did Hotlink profit from any of it? Yup, at an exorbitant amount at that. The amount will remain confidential but I am indeed proud of my previous company for launching such a successful event.

Rather than spending the money to endorse some famous celebrities like Rooney and Owen, guess you know who I am talking about, who locals cannot relate to, it would be better to sponsor local celebrities to grace a high-class event like this. Kudos to Maxis/Hotlink once again. The World Cup for a successful event for World Cup goes to them now. :)