KOTA BARU: An engineer has embarked on a new marketing strategy by dressing up like a Marvel Comics character.
It was done to help his mother’s nasi lemak business here.
The man’s move to don a Spiderman costume while selling nasi lemak at RM2 has gone viral after “webbing” his first appearance one week ago.
It was an idea mulled by Zawawi Ghazali, 29, for the past two years, but only recently did he put his marketing strategy into action.
This “Spidey” does not stay put at one place. Instead, he travels around the state capital and when he finds a place, he’ll set a table and start selling his “Nasi Lemak Spiderman” to fans and customers.
“I wanted to do something out of the ordinary to attract customers. Previously, my mother ran a small nasi lemak stall near our house but business was slow. So, I came up with this new idea and, Insyallah (God willing), it has been fruitful,” he said, describing his week-old operation in a Spider-man costume.
His mother, Rahimah Hassan, 53, had been operating the nasi lemak stall for almost eight years near their house in Kampung Kemubu near Ketereh.
The father of two said he bought the costume from China for RM500 through an online portal.
Zawawi, who owns a construction company in Ketereh, said since he wore the costume, the demand for his nasi lemak had increased up to 500 packets a day.
“In the past, we used to struggle to sell 130 packets, but now, our sales have hit 500 packets a day,” he said, adding that customers could also take photographs with the “Spider-man” for free when they bought the meal.
Zawawi said there were two other “Spider-men” — his cousins Mohd Irfan Shukri, 20, and Mohd Nablan Shukri, 18 — who take over his role when he was busy.
“I choose the Spider-man’s outfit as he is seen as a saviour to many and with that in mind, I hope the younger generation will take up similar strategies to improve their livelihood,” he said.
Zawawi said if the strategy proved to be effective, he might go to other districts in the state.
He said those who were interested to know about the “Nasi Lemak Spiderman RM2” location can log on to its Facebook site: Nasi Lemak Spiderman. By Kalbana Perimbanayagam