Malaysia Night 2012
For the third consecutive year, whynot! and Malaysia Kitchen took over London's most prestigious landmark; Trafalgar Square and presented Malaysia Night 2012.
On 5 October, 23,000 people braved the rain and came down to experience the vibrant culture and cuisine Malaysia has to offer.
Food was provided by 17 of London's leading Malaysian restaurants and a Product Market was stocked with Chuanglee Ltd. and Malay Taste food and drink. Product market sales exceeded all expectations and reached a 40% increase on Malaysia Night 2011.
Throughout the evening visitors were entertained by a jam packed programme of cultural performances, fashion shows and cooking demonstrations by celebrity chef Ian Pengelley.
The event was supported by a media campaign managed by whynot!, that included tube advertising, print ads in Time Out and the Metro and lively social media promotion.
To ensure this large-scale event ran to the highest standard, whynot! worked closely with the Greater London Authority (GLA), Metropolitan Police, Environmental Health and the London Fire Brigade. whynot! managed and produced this event end to end and dealt with all production, supplier liaison, PR and marketing involved.
The event was held as a pre-cursor to the five-day Malaysia Week celebration beginning on 6 October on London's South Bank.
Malaysia Week
Between 6 – 10th October whynot! brought Malaysia Week 2012 to London's buzzing South Bank. Immediately following the success of Malaysia Night 2012 on Trafalgar Square, Malaysia was once again ready to show London it's vibrant culture, cuisine and heritage. An estimated 150,000 people visited the event and had the opportunity to experience what Malaysia has to offer first hand. Guests included; Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim and globally renowned shoe designer Dato' Jimmy Choo.
whynot! recruited 7 Leading Malaysian chefs and restaurants to provide visitors with freshly prepared Malaysian dishes. This was accompanied by 15 trade stalls which presented a stunning range of traditional and contemporary Malaysian Arts, Crafts and Sculpture. Over the course of five days, visitors were treated to a fascinating and engaging display of Malaysian music, fashion and dance performances on the main stage.
Each attraction uniquely showcased Malaysia as a destination of choice and added to the ongoing campaign managed by whynot! to promote Malaysian cuisine and culture in the UK.
whynot! managed and produced this 5 day event to the uppermost standard and were responsible for all production elements and participant management and liaison. whynot! supported this event with print advertisements in the Metro newspaper and a substantial digital and social media campaign.
Malaysia Kitchen at the Olympics
To coincide with London’s 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games - whynot!, working with MATRADE, created a Malaysian Kitchen in Westfield Stratford City - the gateway to the Olympic Park from 23 July - 9 September. Situated in the bustling retail environment of Westfield’s Great Eastern Market, Malaysia Kitchen had access to the unprecedented increase in the shopping centre’s footfall.
In this historically unique seven week period, Malaysia Kitchen hosted 245 dynamic and engaging cooking demonstrations by 15 of Britain's top chefs and restaurants including; Tim Anderson, winner of Masterchef 2012, Norman Musa, the UK’s leading Malaysian chef and passionate ambassador for Malaysian cuisine and TV cook and Malaysian product developer Jennie Cook. Caroline Mi Li Artiss, celebrity TV chef and Youtube star made guest appearances throughout the seven week period and hosted the live demonstrations during the special ‘Malay Taste’ week.
A true example of experiential marketing, each day passing shoppers were able to enjoy an exciting live demonstration, tasty samples and pick up Malaysian recipe and discount cards for redemption in the neighbouring Waitrose supermarket. Visitors were also able to visit the Chuanglee Ltd stocked pop-up shop next door and buy all the ingredients necessary to make their own Malaysian feast at home. During the 49 day event over 15,000 consumers were recorded as active participants and approximately 24,500 samples were distributed.
whynot! successfully managed, promoted and produced this extensive event, liaising with the various stakeholders, restaurants, chefs and product market suppliers involved. The event was supported by an exciting media campaign that included tube advertising and engaging social media and digital promotion.
