Sprout 2020 On Demand

Actually kan, what is your story?

You probably know a diehard Apple fangirl/boy or two. Heck, you might be one yourself. Of course, they make fantastic products, but we’re also pretty sure there’s more to it than that. The secret? Their brand story. 

Consumers aren’t solely driven by price—otherwise they’d just get the cheapest version of literally everything. They’re driven by their emotions, their whys. So as a startup, being able to communicate to customers, partners, suppliers, your next door neighbour why you exist and why people should give a crap is a game changer.

In come our story-telling champions. Pick the brains of award-winning creative icons Sa’ad Hussein, Chief Marketing Officer of Asian stock image site PIXERF and Edmund Choe, Chief Creative Officer of Dentsu Aegis Network, who will take you through the importance of setting up your key brand pillars including vision, mission, values, essence, promise and voice.

Don’t be the hero; be the set - on the art of creating a customer-first product

Magazine covers, 40-under-40 lists, unicorn startups, apps of the month.

Championing a one-of-a-kind product that is the latest must-buy item that catapults founders and brands into stardom comes with bragging rights. However, with it comes the expectation of aiming to woo the wider public in an attempt to be “unique” and different. This steers founders away from its product purpose and forget who they aimed to serve in the first place, which can result in unfavourable backlash.

Think of some of the most successful (and profitable) technologies and services that have managed to become normal, mundane, often even invisible: electricity, Google, running water.

Many great products don’t hero; they just help users become better versions of themselves. In this session, product designer Sam Chua will explore product development approaches and customer-first strategies through a combination of case studies and interactive exercises.

Fireside Chat: Startups are the new punk rockers with Bryan Loo

If you’ve always dreamed of being a rock star, congratulations—you’re already one! As the founder of a startup, you disrupted the scene by throwing rules out the window, sticking it to the man and getting your hands dirty the only way you know how. If that’s not punk rock, we don’t know what is.

But being punk rock also means all eyes are on you, whether you like it or not. People love a good underdog story, so the expectation to constantly rock out with your socks out, can get overwhelming.

Join us to find out how you can become a punk rock founder from award-winning entrepreneur Bryan Loo of highly-recognised F&B brands including Tealive, Tearush by Tealive, Gindaco, Croissant Taiyaki, Define:food, Ko Ko Kai and Sodaxpress. Learn more about his experience and insights from his journey to becoming one of Malaysia’s most recognised entrepreneurs of his lifetime.

What the hell is PR and how can I do it myself?

If you made a great product but nobody knows about it, did you really make a great product? 

Far from just swag bags and ass-kissing, PR has the power to get people to shut up and listen. It helps build credibility and raise awareness—something you probably wanna do in the early stages of your startup. But in a world of takde bajet and little PR know-how, this begs the question: what is PR, and how can I use it for my startup?

Join Rengeeta Rendava, founder of award-winning creative communications agency Mad Hat Asia and lifestyle newswire Kepohchi as she shows you the ropes of PR. Tackle what it is, why it matters and how you can use it for your marketing plans.

Redefining #GirlBoss

Who run the world? According to Beyoncé and the ever-growing headcount of women entrepreneurs kicking ass left-right-centre—you already know. 

Despite the rise of businesses led by strong, ambitious women, the biases of being a woman in the workplace is still a painful reality. Throw personal and familial obligations into the mix and what do you get? A situation that frankly, we’re sick and tired of. 

We need to 
Shut. 
It.
Down.

Join #Girlboss Amy Zheng of healthy snack brand Amazin’ Graze as she shares her story of building a business as a woman, including the challenges that came with it, her tips on building resilience and confidence in the workplace and how she empowers the women in her workforce.

Fireside Chat: Hacking your startup’s growth with digital marketing with Xin-Ci Chin

Growth hacking is now all the rage in the startup world, and with good reason—it helps businesses spend less, make greater impact and find out more about their customers. 

It might sound fancy, but it’s really just a whole lot of marketing experiments driven by data, like tweaking the UX of a webpage, executing different online campaigns or tapping into a new audience for your product. Ok, perhaps it’s a little fancy but don’t worry, we’ve got you.

A major part of growth hacking is digital marketing, which can get a bit hairy as it involves practically everything on the internet and then some. Learn from growth hacker and digital marketer Xin-Ci Chin, Head of Marketing at Storehub, in a fireside chat as she reveals the top mistakes startups make when it comes to digital marketing and how digital marketing can contribute towards hacking the growth of your startup.

What founders should know before talking to agencies

Hey big spender, heard you’re in the market for an agency. Real talk—agencies have the power to put your brand on everybody’s lips but getting there isn’t always a walk in a park. 

Often you hear tales of startups at a disadvantage, from them doubting the outcomes that an agency delivers, to agencies wasting client budgets on ineffective digital ads. Tales which have zero happy endings for everybody involved.

Join Chan Woei Hern, Executive Creative Director at Ensemble, one of the country’s foremost creative agencies, as he helps you figure out exactly what your brand needs and what a good agency can deliver for you. He’ll also spill the beans on the delicate art of engaging with an agency and the host of interesting people that come with it.