IT WAS a Saturday morning, but it wasn't a normal weekend. It was the day of the Sabah state election.
At about 10am, restaurant chain Nando's Malaysia posted on their official Twitter page, wishing Malaysians a Selamat Hari Raya.
Baffling, no doubt, considering that Hari Raya Aidilfitri was in May and Hari Raya AidilAdha was in July.
Social media users were wondering if the administrator of the Nando's account had made a mistake and the lack of reply from Nando's, and the fact that the post was not removed, led it to going viral. The curiousness of the post made for a lighthearted entertainment that morning.
The New Straits Times too saw the post and decided to play along.
"Happy New Year, Nando's. (Need a new calendar? We can help get you one.)," the NST replied to Nando's Malaysia's Selamat Hari Raya tweet.
While Nando's did not immediately address the out-of-season Hari Raya tweet, it became clear days later that they were kickstarting a "re-celebrate" campaign.
"Gotcha! Don't worry guys, there is no intern trapped in our basement, or scheduling error on our ends, or even relating to any deep 'message'. Just us trying to say that 2020 has been one big surprise, so we wanna spice things up and Re-Celebrate everything!" Nando's explained.
Yesterday, as part of their effort to re-celebrate, Nando's posted a few personalised tweets to several brands, the NST included.
This year is the NST's 175th anniversary, and the actual date was in July, in the midst of the recovery movement control order (RCMO).
"Come @NST_Online, we #ReCelebrate2020 and your 175th birthday also. Like you said, we #togetherwithyou
Surprised by the thoughtful gesture, the NST wasted no time in replying to the restaurant known for its Peri-Peri chicken, complete with a short "pantun" in English.
"2020 hasn't been so great, If Nando's pening, we can relate, Turns out they want to recelebrate, We say for Peri-Peri, it's a date!
"Dear @NandosMY, at first we thought you mixed up the dates, but now we know you have a big heart and just want to re-celebrate! We're in! Maybe @GrabMY can help deliver us some Peri-Peri awesomeness. Thank you for thinking of us! We love you Peri-Peri much!"
Having been tagged in the reply, Grab Malaysia jumped in and said, "Say no more. @NandosMY , u get the chicken ready. We will sort the delivery. As you wish, our friends in NST, Tomorrow your lunch will be delicious peri-peri. Because we also want to #ReCelebrate2020 #Togetherwithyou @NST_Online."
Nando's Malaysia and Singapore regional marketing director Chai Hui Fung said the NST was the first press company which they approached as a target for their recent marketing blitz.
"When we found out that the NST was among the first media companies to write about (Nando's #Recelebrate2020 campaign) and talk to us on social media, it just gave us more reasons to engage with them."
She said when the Covid-19 pandemic hit earlier this year, Nando's came up with the concept of "Keep The Flame Burning" to lift people's spirits and spread hope in a time of uncertainty.
"Now, that we've been in the new normal for a while, Nando's, together with our digital agency, Fishermen Integrated wanted to come up with a campaign that would put smiles on people's faces; and spread positivity based on the ethos of 'Keep The Flame Burning' and that's how #Recelebrate2020 happened.
"The marketing team is always looking to push the boundaries and try new ways to stay relevant and surprise customers. One of the strategies that we've found to be effective, regardless of the campaign, is to be dynamic and spontaneous when it comes to social media engagements," said Chai.
She said the restaurant chain decided to do #Recelebrate2020 teaser posts that were both relevant and heart-warming.
"Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Chinese New Year were the major celebrations that occurred around the height of the pandemic that truly affected Malaysians and we wanted to give everyone a chance to recelebrate it.
"We were surprised and humbled by the reactions we received from netizens. We were even more surprised when we had brands engaging with our posts.
"Everything that's happened since our teaser post and launch video has been organic and impromptu," she said.
Meanwhile, netizens praised the restaurant's positive messages.
"Seeing these posts makes me wanna go to Nando's to celebrate my daughters' birthday this weekend," said an Instragram user known as Atiqah Saad.
Another Nando's Instagram follower @nrzhusna commented: "Ok you win. I'm going to eat Nando's later. Take all my money."
