Case study of DBS' social media attempt to get youths to follow a certain brand on Twitter

1. Case Study: Social Media Strategy of DBS Cards (DBSFoodster)
By Donald Yeo
Background
This is a case study showcasing the efforts done by DBS over the last 8 months
(first check point in Aug 2009 and second check point in Apr 2010) in its venture
into leveraging on the social media to promote its cards business.
We will look at a few obvious examples and observations of how DBS carved
itself a sizeable chunk of online presence in the ever growing social media scene
in Singapore.

2. Observation 1 (DBSFoodster Twitter page as of Aug 29 2009)
DBS using Twitter as a platform to promote its cards
This is a screenshot from Twitter captured in Aug 24th 2009, then DBSFoodster
had 172 followers and only 35 Tweets (a tweet is a status update of a person’s
activities in less than 140 characters).
Exhibit 1 – Screen shot of DBSFoodster Twitter page (28th August 2009)
Some excerpts from the site:
DBSFoodster
1. 3 weekends have flown by! Thanks for this, DBS Take a look at my food
trail for the past 3 weeks here http://bit.ly/URWOm5:50 PM Aug 25th from web
2. Now I’m handing over the fork...I mean torch, to Brad ;-) To read my
reviews please go to http://bit.ly/URWOm3:38 PM Aug 25th from web

3. 3. Janice: sorting through the photos we shot @ Seafood International. So
many woah!! :D1:28 AM Aug 24th from web
4. Give your tastebuds the royal treatment at Summer Palace (The Regent
Singapore) w/ 25% off a la carte menu items http://bit.ly/QN7kw2:25 PM Aug
23rd from HootSuite
5. Janice: had a VERY VERY pampered nite at Seafood International
(Playground@BigSplash) SUPER! Reviews & photos will be out soon. Stay
tuned!4:37 AM Aug 23rd from web
6. It’s true that good things come in threes. 3 Premium Single-Malt Whiskey
for only S$44++ (UP S$60++) at Highlander. http://bit.ly/E7Hs23:15 PM Aug
22nd from HootSuite
7. Janice: The tag line reads - "If it swims we have it"! Counting down to the
last few hours before we go bingeout again! :D3:12 PM Aug 22nd from web
8. Janice: reminding her guests about tomorrow... turn up the heat! Lets
have some fun and seafood! :)1:14 AM Aug 22nd from web
9. Grab a friend and head to Al Forno for 1-for-1 Pizza/Pasta. Yummy!
http://bit.ly/TpUYH1:40 PM Aug 21st from HootSuite
10. Janice: is at the research stage. Praying Mantis + Prawn = Mantis Prawn!
And it's EDIBLE. Yikesss!!1:14 AM Aug 21st from web
11. Kia Hiang Restaurant ???? (Kim Tian Rd) http://tinyurl.com/lc796s5:39
PM Aug 20th from TweetDeck
12. @PeoGeo69 @opunkung @noohinter thank you for your
recommendation :)5:09 PM Aug 20th from HootSuite in reply to PeoGeo69
13. @ImWanting: Follow me and u will see how can i help u to find the good
places for singapore food :)5:07 PM Aug 20th from HootSuite
14. RT @roycheong1: Singapore Food Court coffee $0.805:06 PM Aug 20th
from HootSuite
15. Janice: More reasons to come back to Big O Cafe! $44 vouchers for
every $88 spent means there’s NO reason not to return. http://bit.ly/zgg2I2:29
PM Aug 20th from HootSuite
16. Janice: is looking at her nails, and decided she will skip the manicure this
week. Cos gonna eat CRABssss. Hahaha!5:37 PM Aug 19th from web

4. 17. Janice: It's wed! Are you salivating yet?? This sat, is SEAFOOD! My
favourite!1:12 PM Aug 19th from web
18. @carolynchan do you really love food? :)12:59 PM Aug 19th from web
19. Just added myself to the http://wefollow.com twitter directory under:
#dining #food #singapore12:53 PM Aug 19th from WeFollow
20. Janice: Spice up your tastebuds with Spice Café’s (Concorde Hotel)
Peranakan buffet at only S$19.65++ per pax. http://bit.ly/koYDY11:15 AM Aug
19th from web
Observation from the site and tweets
DBS is using viral marketing and stealth marketing by creating a food
connoisseur position in the social network site, Twitter, it has 172 followers (as of
28 August 2009) which will grow indefinitely in time to come. It is promoting
shops that are tied up with DBS cards and hence increasing the exposure level
of the shops tied up with DBS. The traffic referral from www.hungrygowhere.com
will have a positive effect on the site and DBS cards as a whole. The impartiality
of the reviews at www.hungrygowhere.com is questionable when there is a
significant interest of promoting the usage of DBS cards.

5. Something happened in December 2009
Hungrygowhere formed strategic partnership with Microsoft
Refer to this link
http://www.e27.sg/2009/12/11/hungrygowhere-announces-strategic-partnership-with-
microsoft/
And then in 2nd Q 2010
Inline with Microsoft Singapore’s strategy of constantly improving its local portal
(in this case, Singapore), Microsoft has created a new portal called xinmsn
(partnering with Mediacorp) http://sgcgo.com/microsoft-mediacorp-xinmsn/
What’s the impact?
Impact -> More traffic to hungrygowhere -> more viewers exposed to the
“benefits” offered by DBSCards
DBS is slowly (but surely) creating an image/reputation by capturing enough
mind share in the cyberspace/social media scene.

6. Observation 2 (DBSFoodster Twitter page as of April 29 2010)
Exhibit 2 – DBSFoodster as of 29th April 2010 – Meteoric rise of followers
In April 2010, DBSFoodster’s total followed grew up to 1030 followers, with 302
tweets. This means that from August 2009 until April 2010, it has achieved over 4
times growth in its exposure to fans/followers and being able to convey tweets
(marketing messages) to its customers/followers.
172 -> 1030 followers (858 new followers, greater than 4times its initial followers)
35 -> 302 tweets (267 news messages/tweets to its followers)

7. Other notable observations:
DBS bought the domain name www.foodster.com.sg and linked directly with
hungrygowhere.com
Here, you can see a combination of all popular social media providers like flickr,
youtube, google maps and twitter being used on the hungrygowhere.com site.
Together with msn Singapore’s push in the local portal scene, this will certainly
amplify DBS’ social media impact.

8. How to measure?
On Twitter
1) Growth of number of followers (fan base)
2) Number of Tweets and Retweets and mentions
On Facebook
1) Number of Likes (more recently, Fans) and it’s growth (Facebook will
update the owner of the page with a weekly fan base growth email (refer
Exhibit 3)
2) Information that can be retrieved via the email
a. Total visits to fan page
b. Increase or decrease in total number of fans
c. Total comments or Likes
3) Things that allow users/advertisers to interact with fans
a. Update fans by sending them a mass message
b. Using targeted ads on Facebook (can drill down to country, age
group, interests and other elements in terms of demography)
Exhibit 3
Facebook show details Apr 27 (2
days ago)
to John Doe
Hi John,
Here is this week's summary for the Facebook Page: JohnDoe.com
+10 Fans this week (58 total Fans)
1 Wall Posts, Comments, and Likes this week (0 last week)
90 visits to your page this week(117 visits last week)
Update your Fans:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?pages%2FJohnDoecom%2F319067610076&v=wall&mid=23fca93G5af32
eebe200G491f37G66&n_m=addme%40JohnDoe.com
Visit your Insights Page:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?business%2Finsights%2F&pages&i=319067610076&mid=23fca93G5af3
2eebe200G491f37G66&n_m=addme%40JohnDoe.com

9. Get more Fans with Facebook Ads:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?ads%2Fcreate%2F&src=pg_edit&fbid=319067610076&mid=23fca93G5af
32eebe200G491f37G66&n_m=addme%40JohnDoe.com
Thanks,
The Facebook Team