27 November 2009

Singapore, 27 November 2009– StarHub today announced that it has been named ‘Best Brand’ for the World Communications Awards 2009 (WCA), an independent global communications industry event held in London that recognises ‘the companies and individuals responsible for the achievements and great new services that are helping to build tomorrow's industry.’

The award was given for StarHub’s FREEDOM campaign that was launched in June 2008 during Singapore’s introduction of Full Mobile Number Portability (FMNP). In that campaign, StarHub launched its 'No Contract' mobile deal where customers had the freedom to trial StarHub’s mobile service for free. They also had the freedom to decide whether they wanted to continue with StarHub after three months and with FMNP, the freedom to switch mobile operators while maintaining their current mobile number, easily and quickly.

“The success we have had with the FREEDOM campaign was one of the highlights of StarHub’s nine-year history in the market; certainly one that generated the most buzz amongst our customers. We are privileged to be recognised by WCA for our efforts on the FREEDOM campaign; it is indeed an honour to be acknowledged on such a prestigious international platform. We have always had a strong history of introducing simple, ground-breaking ideas that empower our customers more. This award will certainly drive us to more innovative ideas that will capture the imagination of our customers,” said Ms Iris Wee, Head of Marketing at StarHub.

The WCA judges described the campaign as ‘innovative and bold’, and ‘a cool opportunistic campaign with great customer sign-up results’.

Commented David Tang, CEO & president of DDB Worldwide, the creative agency behind the campaign, “StarHub has been a trail-blazing brand which has connected with the new marketplace. It has not only prevailed through the test of number portability, but has continually kept ahead of the market challenges. The FREEDOM campaign has enhanced the brand asset for StarHub, and made it a favourite choice amongst consumers. We’re thrilled to see StarHub getting the world-class recognition.”

The FREEDOM campaign - lasting for over three months - was one of StarHub's most extensive marketing and advertising campaigns last year, a long-term plan that translated from concept to product idea to customer engagement, and at a number of touch points - from mass media advertising to stores, to streets, to web content, to online word-of-mouth.

In the end, the campaign helped StarHub in 2Q-2008 secure an additional 36,000 post-paid mobile customers - the largest net-add in a quarter for StarHub in its nine-year history.

The FREEDOM campaign is also a bronze winner in this year's Singapore EFFIE Awards 2009, the country’s most prestigious, and highly regarded advertisement and marketing award for marketers and advertisers.

For more information on StarHub, visit www.starhub.com.