Kuala Lumpur, 24 January 2022 – The recently concluded Alibaba Global Digital Talent (GDT) Global Challenge 2021 saw Malaysian teams excelling, with two entries being shortlisted as Global Top 10 out of more than 2,000 entries. Overall, a total of nine teams from Malaysia that stood out in the national round of the competition successfully entered the global finals, which featured 82 teams shortlisted from around the world.
The Global Challenge is an international entrepreneurial competition under Alibaba Group’s GDT Program. This year’s competition emphasised the power and potential of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, with a focus on putting digital at the forefront of sales and marketing strategies. Participating teams were tasked with developing sales and marketing solutions for established manufacturers recommended by Alibaba GDT Challenge or other high-potential product categories, and putting into practice their strategies to increase exposure and brand power of their target products in international markets.
More than 2,000 teams from over 10 markets such as China, Colombia, Malaysia, Mongolia, South Korea, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in the challenge this year. Contestants had access to live training from industry experts and entrepreneurs from the Alibaba GDT Network to learn about necessary skills in the journey of starting a business in the digital age. The Global Top 10 finalists were selected based on five broad criteria, namely consumer insight, innovation, business execution, digital marketing power and team execution power.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made evident the need for businesses to prioritise digital branding and marketing strategies to broaden their reach to end consumers. There is no better time than now to get our future talents to apply their creativity and digital savviness in a real-world setting to create viable solutions that appeal to today’s modern consumers,” said James Song, Secretary General of Alibaba’s Globalization Office.
The two Malaysian teams that made it to this year’s Global Top 10 are Team Quadrifoglio from University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Team Young Boss from Sunway University.
For their winning entry, Team Quadrifoglio created a complete digital branding and marketing proposal for an intelligent home hydroponic solution in collaboration with JTEC, a smart home hydroponic system manufacturer in Malaysia. The product is designed to make indoor planting more convenient and accessible with a real-time automated monitoring and control system. Their submission highlighted digital content produced entirely by the team such as blog posts, brand videos and social media posts, aimed at raising awareness not just of the product but also the brand and the benefits of a sustainable lifestyle.
Meanwhile, realising the potential of a booming pet industry in Malaysia, Team Young Boss centred their research on and developed relevant production and marketing strategies for customisable premium pet mattresses targeted at dog and cat owners. They leveraged social media posts to build brand awareness and introduce product features among young pet owners in Malaysia, who prioritise durability and affordable price.
“Being among the Global Top 10 finalists of the Alibaba GDT Global Challenge 2021 is an achievement that we never dreamed of. From app-building and producing brand and social media content to getting selected for the global finals, we have learned many valuable lessons, not just in terms of skills and knowledge, but also teamwork and resilience. The training, key learnings and best practices provided by the Alibaba GDT team as well as the guidance from our advisor at UTAR were also extremely helpful in ensuring we were on the right track,” said Team Quadrifoglio.
“It has been a tremendous journey for us participating in this year’s Alibaba GDT Global Challenge. The key learnings we have gained during the process has been very rewarding. From our research, we noticed a growing trend of pet humanisation and premiumisation, which has risen further during the pandemic especially amongst the millennials who are more willing to spend on their furkids. This made us realise the tremendous potential within the pet mattress market that is as yet untapped,” said Team Young Boss.
UTAR also entered a second team, RT4, which won third place in the national round. RT4 submitted their proposal on Comfort Care Product’s custom orthotic soles, which aims to provide personalised insoles at an affordable price by leveraging 3D design and printing technologies.
The Alibaba GDT Program (then “Alibaba GET Program”) was established in 2016 with a mission of promoting digital transformation and inclusive development through digital talent incubation. Through its global training network, the Program has to date benefitted 80 education partners and trained more than 1,000 lecturers and over 20,000 students and other participants from Colombia, Mexico, Mongolia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore and China.
In Malaysia, Alibaba GDT Program has been working with INTI University, HELP University, Sunway University, and UTAR to incubate local digital talents. To date, over 3,000 local students have been learning digital economy concept and exploring the opportunities in digital economy via the Program.
