Case Study: How Demojo Increased Participants by 2.8 times in Faber-Castell’s Young Artist Award 2024

Client Background

Faber-Castell is globally recognised for its high-quality writing and art supplies. Catering to all ages and skill levels, the company offers a wide range of products, encouraging artistic exploration and discovery. Beyond providing tools for creativity, Faber-Castell continuously seeks new ways to inspire and engage its community.

The Challenge

As Malaysia emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, brands were eager to regain lost momentum. Thus, Faber-Castell sought to strengthen brand engagement and brand recall among Malaysian families and particularly young artists. That’s when Faber-Castell collaborated with Demojo to create an unprecedented colouring contest campaign—one that not only nurtured young talent but also made history by being the biggest colouring contest ever in Malaysia.

Since its inception in 2021, the annual competition has inspired hundreds of thousands of young creatives. More and more students joined the competition each year, and in 2023, the competition was officially recorded in the Malaysian Book of Records for the biggest colouring contest ever held.

The 2024 Faber-Castell Young Artist Award had high expectations to do better than the previous year. With the success of 2023’s contest, we aimed to attract even more young artists and showcase their creativity on a larger scale. They hoped to break records in terms of participation, artwork submissions, and engagement across various platforms. So how do we make something that’s already great, greater?

The Solution

To elevate the Faber-Castell Young Artist Award, we introduced a first-ever physical creative event in collaboration with Gamuda Land. This immersive experience gave young artists and their families a day filled with creativity, learning, and fun—featuring eco-friendly crafts, puzzle art, an interactive art buffet, and an Eco-Info Hub to promote sustainability through art.

Building on our strong partnerships with the Ministry of Education (MoE), MY Art Studio, and MY Craft Studio, we expanded our exclusive workshops, equipping students with advanced colouring techniques to hone their artistic skills.

To maximise impact, we doubled down on social media marketing, crafting highly engaging content while fine-tuning our ad strategy for better reach, engagement, and conversions—ensuring that the campaign resonated with a wider audience and drove stronger participation than ever before. With the same budget given as the year before, we meticulously allocated across multiple digital platforms to optimise our performance marketing and maximise reach. We ensured that every ringgit spent contributed to brand engagement, visibility, and conversion, proving to be highly cost-effective compared to industry benchmarks. 

The Results

The Faber-Castell Young Artist Award was nothing short of remarkable. We saw exponential growth, with 2024 breaking all previous records set!

• We were able to garner a total of over 150,000 participants, which is 2.8x the number of participants the year before!
• Our ads performed remarkably, with 64k+ Clicks, 32.7% increase from 2023, 3m+ Reach, and  316k+ ad engagements.

The success of the Faber-Castell Young Artist Award campaign can be attributed to a well-structured and seamless execution—operating like a well-oiled machine, ensuring smooth participant onboarding, engagement, and workshop integration. The combination of a strong digital marketing strategy, meaningful brand partnerships, and value-driven content helped sustain momentum and establish long-term brand recall.

Lessons Learned

Strategic partnerships amplify credibility. Collaborating with the Ministry of Education not only added credibility but also expanded reach within schools nationwide, encouraging more students to participate and develop their artistic skills.

Content is king. High-quality, informative, and interactive content (workshops, social media engagement, and digital ads) played a crucial role in driving participation, ensuring that Faber-Castell remained a preferred choice for parents and educators.

Consistency breeds success. Running an annual event with continuous improvements and optimised marketing ensured year-over-year audience growth and stronger brand positioning. The ability to evolve and innovate within the campaign framework helped sustain excitement and relevance among participants and their families.

A well-oiled process leads to scalability. By refining logistical workflows, streamlining communication, and leveraging data insights, the campaign was able to handle increasing participant numbers efficiently, ensuring a seamless experience year after year.

Through innovation, strategic execution, and a commitment to nurturing young talent, Demojo and Faber-Castell successfully built a legacy event that continues to inspire creativity and break records year after year.