In the words of Nuffnang’s Amanda Low: “Being a one-woman PR & Communications team is definitely not easy. As a Senior PR & Communications Executive, there’s always new projects and tasks to take care of; and press releases are one of them. So when Dini came on board as an intern to support me (Amanda Low) in daily tasks, I realised I could “outsource” this task to her and give her an opportunity to hone her writing skills. And since Nuffnang recently hosted a half-day client and influencer event jam-packed with talks and panel discussions, getting Dini’s fresh and real perspective on it seemed pretty exciting!”
This article is a glimpse into Dini’s journey as a Nuffnang intern during Nuffnang’s TMRW/TDY event. (Main Pic – Xamble Group’s Chairman, Ganesh Kumar Bangah sharing his opening remarks.)
I’ll let her introduce herself and take the stage:
Hi! I am Amirah Huda Dini and as a young intern, I walked into the event with the eagerness to learn and a sense of curiosity. As I have only been doing my internship for two months, I still lack knowledge in the world of digital marketing and content creation. It was actually such an insightful day! I was mesmerised by the amount of speakers that attended the event to share their insights, knowledge and experiences to the audience.
In the span of a few hours, we covered various topics including Online to Offline Influencer Marketing, live commerce, affiliate marketing, and the evolution of AI in content creation. With the rapid growth of technology and the internet, an overarching question arose in the back of my mind: “How will influencer marketing adapt to the changing landscape of social media and the increasing use of mobile applications?”
After Xamble Group’s (Nuffnang’s parent company) Chairman, Ganesh Kumar Bangah officially welcomed all guests and kicked off the event, Nuffnang introduced UPLIFT (Pertubuhan Bangkit); an inclusive, collaborative non-governmental organisation founded by BAC Education Group to raise awareness and to foster and advocate for action-oriented programmes that champion social, economic and humanitarian outreaches.
Mithila Narendran, BAC’s Senior Manager in Communications and Collaboration shared about the 1 Million Devices initiative that supports students ages 16 to 17 who face digital poverty. Soon after, Nuffnang shared about how clients and influencers can soon get on board the initiative. It was actually so cool! I thought that it was convenient that we’re still able to dedicate time and energy to supporting NGOs and Sustainable Development Goals even in the midst of our day-to-day.
One of the most memorable things I remember was said by Kausern, Chief Executive Officer of Nuffnang during his keynote address (pic). He shared, “It’s okay to fail. If it doesn’t work, it’s okay, because in company culture, we should believe in an innovative one where failure can be tolerated.” Isn’t that cool? I think I find it amazing because I believe in that mindset too, that we should value innovation and tolerate failure instead of being scared of it.
In light of the above, I’d like to share a few key insights I gained from the event.
Xamble is assembling our tomorrow in the creator economy.
Whenever I browse through social media, it is remarkable how frequently I come across numerous influencers in my feed. All those aesthetic lifestyle and beauty posts just amaze me because of how much effort they put into every photo. Not to mention that they are always slaying and serving in each of them! It’s no surprise that people are easily influenced by the products they promote.
Nuffnang’s sibling companies – Xamble Creators, Xamble Live, and Xamble Social Wallet – shared their perspectives on influencer attribution, live commerce and the creator economy, providing invaluable insights into the industry’s direction for the year to come. The term “O2O” was so new to me because it kind of sounds like a chemical formula! Then, I started to understand that it is a strategy of moving from online to offline marketing (O2O) that relies a lot on relationships with brands because 85% of customers are most likely to stick to brands with loyalty programs that they enjoy and resonate with.
Naven Prasad, Chief Technology Officer of Xamble Technologies also stressed that it is extremely important for brands to focus on strengthening their relationship with their customers on top of investing in influencer marketing.
Another interesting topic that I feel like I can easily understand in this session is about AI in content creation. Even the audience mostly agreed that they have used at least one AI-powered program recently. Yeah, me too actually! It is so convenient and makes life easier (but we’re not using it for this press release writing though, haha!) Sam Shin Gern, Chief Executive Officer of Xamble Creators explored AI’s role in optimising content production today and the impact of it towards audience engagement for tomorrow. In essence, those who use AI effectively can harness its strength to analyse social media algorithms and optimise their content creation process for social media success.
(pic – Moderator Amanda Low, content creator Ash Edward, Head of Marketing & Activism at The Body Shop Malaysia Eena Houzyama, and Chief Marketing Officer of XIXILI Intima Tara Tan in a panel discussion on inclusivity and diversity.)
Creators can gain extra income by doing affiliate marketing!
Is there a path to financial success as a creator in affiliate marketing? The panellists; Aaliyah Soraya, General Manager of Xamble Live Commerce and Seshmitaa Murali, Senior Partner Relations Executive and content creator from Nuffnang, unanimously agree that there is a path to financial success. I was a bit surprised when Aaliyah cited that there are ~1.7 million TikTok creators with iconic ‘beg kuning’ in Malaysia because I did not expect it to be that many! That alone already shows the future of financial success for Malaysian creators. Aaliyah definitely seemed really optimistic about the future of live commerce in Malaysia, especially based on the successful TikTok Live campaigns she has worked on.
Some key advice shared during the session are: 1) Creators should take advantage of TikTok’s dominance in online marketing through affiliate marketing, and 2) Creators need to be honest and know their audiences’ needs. Even though I am not a creator myself, I agreed that while there is a path to financial success as a creator in affiliate marketing, it is not without its challenges and considerations.
Stories change people’s lives.
The final session was one of my favourite sessions because storytelling is a very familiar topic to me. We tell, watch and listen to stories in our daily lives and knowing the impact of it towards people was such an eye-opener. Alvin Teoh, Chief Creative Officer at Naga DDB Tribal highlighted about the well of knowledge; repeat, refer, review and reflect. It made me realise that I do not really ask myself things like “How did that make me feel? What have I learnt from it” whenever I perceive something, which is something I can take note of and improve in.
All in all, TMRW/TDY provided me with valuable insights into the field, even though I’m not an influencer or content creator. It made me consider the intriguing aspects of being in this profession, including the potential benefits of affiliate marketing for income. However, I realise that the constant content creation grind and the responsibilities they hold as someone with influence can be very challenging. Hats off and salutes to everyone, especially the speakers for sharing their views and thoughts about all these topics that are now starting to become familiar to me!
