This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on October 12, 2017 - October 18, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, aggressively expanding in the digital space, is aiming to attract 16 million new users, as it adapts to an entertainment market filled with technological disruptions.

Astro chief operating officer Henry Tan said the group is undertaking a three-pronged strategy to achieve the target.

“Digital expansion is what we are doing and quite simply, Astro is undertaking three major thrusts, one is expanding from home to individual [users],” he said in his opening keynote address yesterday at the marketing conference “Quake” organised by Astro.

“Today, Astro is [present] in 5.2 million homes: we are telling our team that is good. However, let’s move on to winning over individual [users], and our target is to win over 16 million individuals through whatever devices and screens [available].”

Tan said the group is also expanding into the Asean region. “Why are we doing that? The only way for us to improve [our products’] quality is to get more scale. To do so, [we have] to go beyond Malaysia. I always tell people, Malaysia is not small with [a population of] 30 million; it is actually far smaller than that. When you look at the Malay market, it actually consists of 16 million to 18 million people. The Chinese market is even smaller.

“So, we are in a very unique country, where our population is segmented — that is the very real base we have to work with, which is why we have to go beyond Malaysia.”

Tan also said Astro, as a pay TV company, will go beyond just selling content. “We are transacting content, and our goal is to sell beyond just content to literally everything and anything [via] shopping, e-commerce and merchandise.”

Digitalisation has been Astro’s strategy in defending its leadership in pay TV and content creation in Malaysia against disruptors such as Netflix and iflix, as well as free content providers such as Facebook and YouTube.

Tan added that the marketing industry now has to focus on creating value for businesses — not necessarily a cost-saving measure. “We have enough talents in the finance and procurement team when it comes to saving money. Marketers have to create value for, and balance in, the management because cost savings are for the short term, and value creation is long term.”

The one-day conference, themed “Winning the Future”, drew some 500 participants, mainly marketing experts. It sought to address marketers’ need to change their mindsets in an age of technological disruptions.