Telkomsel

The Objective

Expanding campaign reach for Indonesia’s largest digital telecommunications provider

Ramadan, a month-long period of fasting, prayer, and reflection observed by Muslims worldwide, typically sparks a surge in communication and entertainment activities among families across Indonesia.

To ensure seamless communication during this period, Telkomsel, Indonesia’s largest digital telecommunications service provider with over 159.9 million mobile customers and over 9.1 million fixed broadband customers worldwide, launched its annual Telkomsel Siaga Ramadan.

For 2024, the campaign introduced special internet packages, exclusive gifts, and Telkomsel Ramadan Points, helping customers stay connected, engaged, and entertained during this significant period. To reach millions of its customers across the archipelago, Telkomsel chose television as the primary channel for this campaign, given its longstanding effectiveness in reaching the masses, especially in Indonesia.

With a storytelling-focused branding strategy, Telkomsel launched an emotional TV ad highlighting mothers’ sacrifices during Ramadan—an enduring theme that resonates deeply with Indonesian audiences. The TV ads aired in 60-second and 30-second formats, fostering emotional connections that bolster lasting brand loyalty.

While TV ads are essential to reach the masses, Telkomsel also recognized the need to engage younger digital audiences—especially given Indonesia’s 212 million internet users, considered the fourth largest in the world. The goal was to drive emotional connections and drive sales to a wider audience in the TikTok ecosystem.

The Solution

Leveraging Full-Funnel Marketing on TikTok to Drive Awareness and Conversions

Telkomsel employed a full-funnel marketing strategy on TikTok, blending emotional branding with performance-driven campaigns to achieve both long-term brand loyalty and immediate sales conversions.

To build awareness and foster emotional connections with its audience, Telkomsel adapted its TV ad, centered on the sacrifices of mothers during Ramadan—a theme that resonates deeply with Indonesian audiences—into a series of short, vertical videos designed for TikTok’s quick-scroll format. The branding campaign, running from March 29 to April 27, 2024, utilized a mix of TikTok ad solutions, including TopView, Reach & Frequency (R&F), In-Feed Traffic, and In-Feed Video Views, all with a soft-sell approach. The emotional storytelling was the focal point, with the call to action appearing only at the end, directing users to the Telkomsel website.

To drive conversions and push users further down the funnel, Telkomsel complemented the branding campaign with performance-driven TikTok ads. These ads promoted specific offers, such as "Paket Internet 3GB for only IDR9,900/3GB Internet Package For Only IDR 9.900," and were designed to capture purchase intent. Using TikTok’s App Promotion, Telkomsel effectively targeted audiences ready to act, driving them to download the Telkomsel app and complete their purchases.

This full-funnel approach allowed Telkomsel to achieve comprehensive marketing goals—enhancing brand awareness and loyalty through emotional storytelling while driving direct conversions through performance marketing.

The Results

Integrating TV and TikTok ads Drives Significant Results In Awareness, Reach, and Brand Favorability

The Telkomsel Siaga Ramadan campaign is a testament to how brands can leverage the strengths of both TV and TikTok for maximizing impact to reach mass audiences, increase awareness, and build brand favorability. By combining the traditional reach of TV with the dynamic capabilities of TikTok, Telkomsel achieved impressive results that exceeded industry norms.

Overall, the TikTok + TV campaign reached 85% of its target audience, with TV driving 78% of the reach. By the end of the campaign, there was a +7.7% lift in unaided awareness and a 2x higher impact on brand favorability. The TikTok campaign, in particular, drove a 1.6x increase in online ad awareness and a +7% incremental reach on top of the TV campaign.

This campaign demonstrated how brands can effectively complement TV’s extensive reach with TikTok’s entertainment DNA. Brands can leverage TikTok’s cost efficiencies and increased reach to amplify the impact of TV ads. Adding TikTok to your media plan can improve cost efficiencies while driving campaign impact, highlighting the effective synergy between the two platforms. By blending TV’s emotional storytelling with TikTok’s audience-centric approach, Telkomsel didn’t just reach millions—they deeply engaged diverse users and drove conversions. This campaign showed that in marketing, the most effective strategies often involve finding the right balance between traditional and digital media to create compelling and cohesive brand experiences.

Beyond awareness, TikTok can also effectively address the brand's full-funnel marketing.

Beyond awareness, TikTok allows your brand to run an effective marketing strategy by combining Branding Campaigns with Performance-Marketing Campaigns (Full-Funnel Marketing). By amplifying its TV campaign on TikTok to a branding campaign supported by series of performance-marketing campaigns, Telkomsel successfully drove full-funnel impact, with awareness gaining 1.7x higher impact than industry norms. The full-funnel marketing campaign increased gross merchandise value (GMV) from app-related purchases by 16%, yielding 18% higher transactions than usual.

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