Blast From the Past: The Duck that Helps You Shop

The Duck that Helps You Shop

Realising a great opportunity in the shopping-savvy market of Malaysia, a new hero had arrived; aiming to save Malaysians from deals-deprived shopping purchases. Saleduck, an online platform that specialises in coupon codes, discounts, and vouchers, teamed up with Orchan for its foray into Malaysia and the broader Asian region.

Originated from the Netherlands, Saleduck operates as an aggregator by working with various e-commerce merchants in bringing online shopping deals to consumers, all on one platform. Before making their purchases, consumers can grab offers in the form of discount codes, from names such as Lazada, Zalora, and AirAsia, among other e-shops. This approach; promoted by the brand as one of the best ways to save money shopping, was influenced by a gap in the shopping trend in Belgium, where major nationwide sales would only happen twice a year. Saleduck aimed to offer online shopping deals all year round instead; giving no room for consumers to miss out on sales and deals, and allowing better sale opportunities for merchants.

Building upon its astounding success in their home region of Europe, Saleduck wanted to establish their presence in Asia further after an initial pre-launch early 2016; that is by launching their website with an updated look and content. We offered our services for the project – a full-on media engagement initiative for the launch, along with other PR supports.

The launch was at Leaf & Co., a rustic Baba-Nyonya-style café located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur; a place where we at Orchan cherish as one of our preferred joints for great food, and our go-to ‘photoshoot studio’. Reminiscent of the old colonial shop lots, the place, along with its assortment of local and international offerings, has a simplicity and charm that resonates well with the Saleduck brand. The client fell in love at first sight upon being introduced to the place, particularly over a wall that stood-out as the main architectural feature of the café. There and then they decided to have the launch there.

The wall, which accentuates the ambience of the café, caught the client’s attention. It became one of the main reasons the place was chosen for the launch.

The launch served as an opportunity for the client to sit down with the media over coffee and talk about the behind-the-scenes of the company, as well as on the ways consumers can benefit from the service platform. Media from different desks – business, lifestyle, technology, education, and even fashion and beauty, attended the sessions with profound curiosity as to what Saleduck is. With small group for each session, the event allowed for Domingo Karsten, CEO and Co-Founder of Saleduck, and Rosanne Hortensius, General Manager of Saleduck Southeast Asia, to have a more personalised and engaging discussion with the media.

Domingo Karsten and Rosanne Hortensius with rubber ducks peeping from within the wall.

The Saleduck in discussions with the media.

The Edge TV, the video content arm of The Edge Markets, zeroed in on the business aspects of Saleduck and the coupon aggregation industry as a whole, through an exclusive interview with Domingo.

The interview by The Edge TV with host, Nadia Hassan.

To help the media experience for themselves, Saleduck sponsored vouchers for them to shop on the site, on-site. Most found the platform straightforward to use; citing the clear and easy-to-navigate interface helped them through from deciding on deals to making a purchase successfully. Some asked for more insights, to which the Saleduck and the Orchan team were glad to provide.

Aggregated online shopping deals is catching on among the online shopping community here in Malaysia, as well as among e-commerce industry players looking for better opportunities; and the media were glad to be looped in on the discussion.

Check out some of the coverage derived from the initiative: