Standard Chartered, WeChat and Sony Mobile in Unique Collaboration

Partnership to allow the Bank to offer promotions in conjunction with SCKLM

Petaling Jaya, 7 May 2014 – Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia (Standard Chartered) WeChat and Sony Mobile are working together to introduce innovative products and services in conjunction with the biggest running event in the country, Standard Chartered KL Marathon (SCKLM), to promote health and wellness.

This partnership reflects a strong, shared objective to reach out to the Gen-Y demographic. The collaboration will provide the opportunity to leverage on social media and to use a different approach to reach and engage customers.

Presenting the new Sony SmartBand together with the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact Smartphone.

The historical significance of this collaboration lies in the fact that Standard Chartered has become the first bank to work with one of the leading social messaging providers, WeChat, at the same time, the two parties will work with Sony Mobile to exclusively launch the global smartphone player’s SmartBand.

“Traditionally, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon has always been a corporate sponsorship event where Standard Chartered is the title sponsor and we promote our branding through the Race. This year, we are leveraging on the marathon to continue our commitment to serve our customers through innovative products and solutions.

“In order to do this, we have partnered with a social messaging provider, WeChat and via our official account – Standard Chartered MY to provide live updates of the marathon to our customers whilst driving our Standard Chartered JustOne Marathon account.

 (From L to R): Mr. Jason Smith, Director of Marketing, South East Asia and Oceania, Sony Mobile Communications, Ms. Amnah Ajmal, Head of Retail and Personal Banking, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, Mr. Lai Shu Wei, Head of Brand and Marketing, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and Mr. Louis Song, Country Manager, WeChat Malaysia and Singapore.

“We are also partnering with Sony Mobile to offer the SmartBand (exclusive to us) to all marathoners at a special price to bank on the health and wellness theme of the marathon,” said Amnah Ajmal, Head of Retail and Personal Banking, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia.

Recognising the huge potential of the marathon, the Bank has launched its JustOne Marathon Bonus Promotion. The first 5,000 new accountholders to sign up for the JustOne account will receive a RM120 discount to purchase the latest Sony SmartBand or Sony Xperia phones. Each successful application will receive the promotion code via SMS and customers can log on to www.sc.com/my/sonywechat to purchase the device.

Customers can further benefit from this promotion by making deposits into their account; the more they save, the higher the interest they will earn. This promotion will run from now till 31 July 2014.

In addition, customers and marathoners can follow the Official Account on WeChat (ID: standardcharteredmy) to receive a RM100 off the retail price for Sony Smartband which currently retails at RM399, and also the latest updates on other promotions and privileges, running tips, running clinics and the latest announcements on the Marathon.

“We are honoured to be the Social Media Partner for Standard Chartered Bank via their Official Account platform on WeChat. Besides receiving the latest content, users can now apply for a Standard Chartered credit card through the Official Account on WeChat. Our team is working closely with valuable content and services partners like Standard Chartered to enrich and enhance our application to WeChat users in Malaysia and we hope that Standard Chartered will continue to further leverage on our platform.”

“Our ultimate objective is to make WeChat more than just an instant communication application, but an all-in-one smart application that can cater for every user’s lifestyle and needs,” said Louis Song, Country Manager of WeChat, Malaysia and Singapore.

“We are honoured to be a part of this exciting partnership, alongside very dynamic partners like Standard Chartered and WeChat. Sony Mobile’s involvement in this partnership effortlessly embodies the Sony ethos by adding colour, fun and entertainment to the user experiences to create a perfect synergy with the health and wellness concept of the marathon,” said Jason Smith, Director of Marketing, South East Asia and Oceania, Sony Mobile Communications.

The Sony SmartBand and Core represent an entirely different proposition from other products in the “wearable” category. The Sony SmartBand is an innovative life logging wrist band that lets you keep track of everything you do. With lifelog, the Sony SmartBand is the perfect companion for the Standard Chartered marathon participant who wants to keep track of their lifestyle in line with their training regime for the marathon. It is discreet and designed to look great with any clothing style. To top it off, this piece of wearable technology is waterproof, allowing users to keep it on no matter what they are doing.

“The Sony SmartBand stands for a holistic life logging experience, diarising communication and entertainment and making that data accessible, useful and enjoyable for users in addition of course to tracking fitness and health,” Smith added.

With participation increasing every year since its inception, last year’s Standard Chartered KL Marathon registered more than 33,800 runners. This year, the organiser, Dirigo Events, is expecting more running enthusiasts to be part of Malaysia’s biggest running event with 35,000 slots opened to the public.

Six years running and with a new tagline, “Confident. Committed. Courageous,” the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2014 is set to encourage commitment to a healthy lifestyle, enhance people’s confidence, and to celebrate the courage of participants.