So, you have done your market study and found that your main target segment is the expatriate crowd. With that in mind, you can now design your marketing campaign better but do you know where your crowd is?
Reaching out to expats
Malaysia has a strong and active expatriate community. They come to Malaysia for work and in most cases, the foreigners bring their family members with them. This means they will be involved not only with work but leisure and education as well. If your brand appeals to this group of people, you might want to consider the following places.
Places where expats go
The easiest way to determine where expats are is by knowing where most of them live. Residential areas are the most common targets because that would mean they will eat and play there too. The top places to attract your expat crowd include:
- Mont Kiara Vicinity – This is the go-to place for advertisers when it comes to expatriates. The areas surrounding Mont Kiara and Sri Hartamas are known to be filled with expats as there are international schools, language centres, western food and many others. Your ads will surely make a difference here.
- Bangsar Village square – Formerly popular as Telawi Square, it now houses the Bangsar Village 1 and 2 Shopping Centre. The shops around here are always packed with expatriates who come here for shopping and food.
- Damansara Heights – The entire square that forms the main commercial centre of Damansara Heights is a popular hangout for foreigners. They live and work around this location.
- Changkat Tong Shin – Where night comes to life, this is a stretch of pubs frequented by many foreigners, most of them expatriates living around the Ceylon hill, just a stone’s throw away.
- Ampang Point Shopping Centre – Right opposite this mall is Klang Valley’s own Korean town. There is a large Korean family crowd here who uses the amenities such as convenient stores and restaurants, all operated by Koreans.
- Jalan Ampang – Jalan U-Thant – The surrounding areas have often been associated with expatriates because a lot of them work at the embassies and high commissions around this vicinity. As such, the malls and shops are used by them for daily purposes.
- Taman Tun Dr Ismail – TTDI has its own eco-system that includes a commercial center, office buildings, banks and food. Its location which is strategically not far from Bangsar and Damansara makes it a preferred residential choice among expatriates and their families.
- Tropicana Golf and Country Club – Offering single unit bungalows and not far from Bandar Utama, many expatriates like staying here because they get to be away from the traffic congestion while enjoying the benefits of the club, including the golf membership.
- Jalan Bukit Pantai – Just adjacent of Pantai and leading into Bangsar, expatriate residents here like the location of not being too far from the amenities like shops, shopping centre and food outlets of Lucky Garden, Telawi and Bangsar Shopping Complex. Houses here are mostly landed and are single unit bungalows too.
