AIA Singapore recently unveiled a lenticular installation located at the Ocean Financial Centre, in what they claim to be Singapore’s first large-scale installation.
The lenticular approach was taken to highlight the dual-element effect of saving and investing which Savest brings to its customers.
Savest™, trademarked by AIA Singapore, is a fresh concept which adopts a balanced financial planning approach which allows individuals to reap the best of both long-term savings and growth potential of investments. It is featured as part of the new AIA Wealth Pro Advantage.
Another similar display is slated for installation at Suntec City from 13 April.
Bid4Ad has closed SGD 1million angel fundraising round.
The company's vision is to create a central marketplace where "traditional and digital media are bought seamlessly in a few clicks."
Under construction is a cloud-based inventory management system allowing users to log in from anywhere and manage sophisticated inventory profiles. In addition, it will also connect them directly to existing digital exchanges.
This will allow Bid4Ad to increase massively their inventory and crucially, keep it real-time.
“In the last few years, digital media ad technology has advanced relentlessly bringing higher efficiencies as well as cost savings to brands, ad agencies and media publishers," Christopher Yeo ex-CTO of SPH who joins Bid4Ad as a senior advisor, said.
"However, despite the growth of digital media, print media has not gone away, especially in Asia. Many niche print media titles, outdoor and transport media owners are still seeing demand for their products. Bid4Ad is now poised to deliver the same level of innovation, efficiencies and cost savings to the print media world through state-of-the-art, cloud-based big data and analytics software.”
“It brings us one step closer to bridging the gap between the digital world and traditional media,” Gregory Marchand co-Founder of Bid4Ad, said.
"Investors have recognised that Bid4Ad is a prime example of innovation and Bid4Ad will now accelerate their technology developments to tackle the markets inefficiencies further."
People are not sharing as much personal information as they used to on Facebook, say various media reports that have emerged over the weekend. The reports, first published on The Information said Facebook was in the midst of setting up a team to “stop the double-digit decline” in original updates being shared.
While Facebook has apparently said that original sharing of content remains “strong”, it is not difficult to see that people today are more concerned with sharing memes, videos, or articles – third party content which can be found anywhere in the world wide web.
Moreover the article stated that, in mid-2015, total sharing was said to have declined 5.5% from the previous year and “original broadcast sharing” was down 21% year over year. While Facebook has not yet responded to this point, it told Marketing that people still share "a ton on Facebook" and "the overall level of sharing has remained not only strong, but similar to levels in prior years."
Jamie Lewin, managing director of m/six told Marketing that Facebook’s power lies not in its scale or target-ability, but in its ability to connect individual users of the platform to actions and indicative behaviours.
He explained that as the network reaches saturation, in many ways it has become the de facto “easy” login solution for consumers who want to avoid the speed bumps of filling in profile information, additional insights and analytics needed by other apps and services.
“If Facebook were to lose its status and share of social content such as geographic data which comes with posts, likes and shares; and therefore context to an action, its impact in the marketing ecosystem would be diminished,” said Lewin.
While one can still argue that third-party data too gives insight for Facebook on its users’ lifestyle and habits’, having first hard personal information has unparalleled value from a data standpoint.
Agreeing to this point is We Are Social Asia’s regional managing partner, Simon Kemp.
“The more emotionally engaged people are, the better the marketing opportunity -almost all purchases are driven by emotions more than anything else,” said Kemp adding there’s no ‘social’ without emotion. Hence at this rate, Facebook could potentially lose its purpose of connecting people and merely be connecting people to content.
Prantik Mazumdar, managing partner at Happy Marketer added that a social network like Facebook thrives on the “dualism of exhibitionism and voyeurism in its truest sense” and if fewer people share personal updates, there is lesser reason for their friends to stick around and engage on the platform.
Reasons leading to the drop of original content
We Are Social Asia’s Kemp said Facebook is fast heading in the direction of what the Google Reader used to be where there are updates from friends, but those friends’ updates are from third-party content, rather than stories about their own lives.
If I were a product manager at Facebook I’d be worried.
"Beyond liking other people’s updates, there’s very little ‘social’ going on Facebook today - most meaningful conversations triggered by content or updates on Facebook have shifted to Facebook Messenger or other platforms," he added.
Kemp added that two biggest reasons people stopped sharing on Facebook could potentially be due to advertisements interrupting their experiences and the platform gaining more mass and hence the influx of older generations on the medium.
“More mass leads to more diluted content from people as they are probably more wary of sharing very personal information,” explained Kemp. As for advertising, Kemp says that social media is not where the traditional advertising models succeed.
The more people get interrupted by ads in social media, the less likely they are to engage emotionally, and feel comfortable sharing personal things. As soon as advertising arrives, the context changes, and the magic for the ‘user’ quickly evaporates.
“For that reason, all of us - brands, platforms, agencies - need to accept that interruptive advertising isn’t the right model for social media; we need to find better ways of adding meaningful value - in context - to our audience’s lives, instead of behaving in totally antisocial ways like interrupting people or trying to change the topic of conversation back to ourselves all the time,” Kemp adds.
Mazumdar agreed saying that on average, the 1.59 billion monthly active Facebook users have about 338 friends. Quoting a theory postulated by Robert Dunbar, an Oxford University anthropologist who studies social networks, he said that any grouping larger than 150, starts to strain the cognitive capacity of the human brain.
“This partially explains the "context collapse" phenomenon experienced by Facebook currently where people are more reluctant to share personal updates. As consumers’ social network expands beyond their inner circle, they can tend to be more hesitant and cautious to share episodes from their personal lives to protect their privacy or manage their personal brand image,” he said.
Combating the drop
Mazumdar, however, said that Facebook has acknowledged this challenge and is innovating to address it. Some ways noted recently include live broadcasting, nudging people to reminiscence and talk about old memories and prompting them to share photos in their camera roll.
“These behavorial economic experiments to prompt, suggest and nudge are critical to Facebook's fortune and am confident they will figure a way to reverse this trend,” said Mazumdar.
Kemp added the network still has a lot of other products such as Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp that it can use to engage audiences, although it might potentially be harder to use those platforms for advertising.
In a bid to rally Singaporeans to making kindness a personal responsibility, the Singapore Kindness Movement partnered with Mediacorp OOH Media to launch an outdoor campaign utilising six-sheet panels in the city.
According to Mediacorp, more than 5,800 people have already interacted with the panels since its launch last week.
The campaign, titled “Kindness. It’s up to us”, aims to challenge Singaporeans to not only acknowledge that a nation of kindness starts with every individual, but to make the conscious decision to act out one’s innate kindness despite their reservations.
Prominent bus shelter panels have been turned into interactive voting panels with electronic counters to show the public’s collective response. Interactive displays also allows the public to see their responses resonating with the rest of the community.
For example, upon seeing a scenario of an irate customer ranting off at the waitress for spilling his drink, members of the public can react to the situation by pressing one out of three buttons:
Take a video and post it online
Intervene and try to calm things down
Do nothing and mind their own business
Cesar Balota, associate general secretary, marketing & strategy, Singapore Kindness Movement said, "These interactive voting panels are part of our overall campaign challenging Singapore society to think about what we would do in situations where there is an opportunity to do something kind. The electronic counters jump with each vote, a reminder that our individual actions count towards the kind of Singapore we are shaping."
The strategically located panels can be found at bus shelters in front of International Plaza, Midpoint Orchard, Lucky Plaza, Royal Plaza on Scotts, and Singapore Management University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business.
Henry Goh, head of OOH Media at Mediacorp said, “We crafted a strategic network with high visibility placements in the heart of the city, thus enabling the campaign to effectively reach out and engage the public in an interactive manner, whilst delivering a memorable experience.”
To celebrate its 15th anniversary in Hong Kong, PizzaExpress has rolled out the marketing campaign "Stripes in Town" around the theme of its iconic black and white stripes brand identity.
The restaurant is taking its customers on a trip down memory lane, by serving the original menu at the original prices, for the first two weeks of April.
On the other hand, any guests wearing stripes will receive a complimentary bottle of Peroni beer throughout April.
“Our Stripes in Town campaign shows how well established the brand now is in Hong Kong and we are delighted to work with major partners who are also flourishing in Hong Kong to drive excitement and creativity around the PizzaExpress identity," Joan Cheng , brand and marketing manager of PizzaExpress Hong Kong said.
[embed]https://vimeo.com/160987876[/embed]
The brand is collaborating with Zalora, Canon and Uber to roll out various promotion campaigns for its celebration. For example, Uber is offering free rides for the pizza chain's customers and watch out for Uber’s special edition striped-up Tesla.
By encouraging customers to share ‘stripe’ images to its Facebook page, PizzaExpress said it has gained the highest reach at 1,177,969 for one week since opening the page.
The overall sales have increased by 5% for the same week as in April 2015, regardless of the generous 30-40% discounted price promotion on its retro menu.
City Serviced Offices (CSO) has launched a new campaign featuring intriguing stories detailing exceptional service from the CSO team.
The campaign will be executed across outdoor sites in the central business district, together with a refreshed website and printed collaterals. It is based on real-life experiences and created with the help of independent agency Blak Labs.
“Beyond office spaces, it’s our uncompromising approach to service that’s made us famous over the last 10 years,” Annie Abraham, vice president of CSO said. “No request is too small and our dedicated team takes pride in delivering results with a personal touch, so tenants can focus on what’s most important – growing their business.”
“Each ad in the campaign is a true account of how the City Serviced Offices team made the impossible truly possible,” Charlie Blower, managing partner of Blak Labs said.
A subsidiary of City Developments Limited, CSO provides business workplace solutions for both start-ups and multinational companies.
Beko, one of the best selling home appliances brand in Europe has re-appointed Carbon as its social media agency in Singapore and Malaysia.
Carbon will assist Beko with localisation of content, community management and engagement, social media buying and digital strategic counsel. This is the second time the agency has been appointed.
Most recently football team FC Barcelona and Beko inked a deal which saw the home appliance group sponsor the team for the next four years. Beko also has 14 production facilities in five countries and has presence in more than 100 countries. Beko is also the official sponsor of FC Barcelona along with Qatar Airways.
A few years ago, a spat within a family - a member of whom is a national leader - would have been nipped in bud for the fear of losing reputation.
In a matter of few years, both the spat and the attempt to counter it are on social media, consciously posted by the parties involved. This is the transformation social media has brought about.
Recently, Lee Wei Ling accused brother and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of trying to “establish a dynasty” when they came to odds on how the late Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s first year anniversary should be commemorated. This exchange came to light after a spat she had with The Straits Times over the draft of an opinion piece she had written objecting to the hero worship of the late Minister Mentor LKY.
The opinion was not published by ST and eventually made it to her Facebook page. While the post was later deleted, it had been widely circulated before being pulled. PM Lee took to social media, almost immediately to address the issue. In a Facebook post he said:
"I am deeply saddened by my sister Dr Lee Wei Ling’s claim that I have abused my power to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s passing in order to establish a dynasty. The accusations are completely untrue.
The first anniversary of a person’s passing is a significant moment to remember him and reflect on what he meant to us. The more so with Mr Lee Kuan Yew. The Cabinet had discussed how we should mark the occasion. My advice was that we should leave it to ground-up efforts. Groups should keep their observances in proportion, and focussed on the future.
The Cabinet recognised the strong desire of many Singaporeans to show their respect for Mr Lee, and honour what he did for us. We reviewed the events and observances that different groups had planned, and agreed that they were generally appropriate. They expressed the sincerely felt sentiments of Singaporeans, which my Cabinet colleagues and I deeply appreciate.
The idea that I should wish to establish a dynasty makes even less sense. Meritocracy is a fundamental value of our society, and neither I, the PAP, nor the Singapore public would tolerate any such attempt."
The use of social media as a communication tool for politicians has steadily rose over the years and leading by example are Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India), Shinzo Abe (Prime Minister of Japan) and PM Lee of Singapore.
"The fact that Lee Wei Ling has found Facebook to express her opinions after being shut out by the mainstream media shows the value of social media,” said PN Balji, editor of The Independent Singapore and senior media consultant at RHT ARC Comms & Relations.
It [social media] is a double-edged sword. It can cut both ways. She has found out the nasty consequences of not couching her responses in a rational way. Social media is a devil you must learn to dance with.
One of the core principles in politics is to be able to engage with your citizens, communicate your position to build support for your case so naturally social media makes sense.
“What social media has introduced for sure is an element of 'live' politics; you need to be able to react much faster - within hours - while bearing in the mind the consequences of what you are about to post,” Lawrence Chong, chief executive officer of Consulus, said.
PM Lee's recent Facebook post addressing Lee Wei Ling’s comments garnered 2,465 shares, over 18,000 likes and above 1,200 comments from netizens which has largely been supportive.
“Our Prime Minister is one of a growing pool of world leaders who make use of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to interact directly with the public – and he is definitely one of the few who has done so very successfully,” Cho Pei Lin, managing director of Asia PR Werkz, said.
Cho adds that Lee Wei Ling’s removal of her post from Facebook helps allude to the possibility that the latter never meant to publicly share what she felt about PM Lee, however, since it has been widely circulated, PM Lee has little choice but to address it.
Ryan Lim, principal consultant & founding partner of QED Consulting thinks that this should not be viewed as an isolated case as such exchanges are fast becoming the norm.
“While popularity need not always be the truth, respective parties will have their own version of the truth. Ultimately, it will descend into a battle of perception and online credibility,” he added.
Being one of the first women named on “China’s Women to Watch” in 2012 by Ad Age, there should be no doubt to the capabilities and professionalism of Elan Shou, executive vice president and managing director of Ruder Finn Greater China.
Originated from Shanghai, Shou first joined the company in 2001 and was appointed as head of Shanghai office for four years since 2004. After a short stint away from the agency, she rejoined Ruder Finn Asia in April 2010 as managing director, training and offering of Ruder Finn China. In 2011, she was promoted to managing director and senior vice president of Ruder Finn China.
Since rejoining the group, she has helped Ruder Finn China achieve tremendous growth with year-over-year, double-digit revenue increases, as well as extending its footprints throughout China.
Under her leadership, the 65-year company has now developed to be one of the leading PR agencies in China as well as in the Asia Pacific region.
Marketing talked to Shou to discover the story behind her success.
How did you get into the industry?
My first job was as an auditor at Ernst & Young. I quickly realised that dealing with figures and paperwork was not for me. A colorful life would fit me better. I prefer communicating with people and working on different assignments with new ideas and creativity. So PR was a natural choice. Twenty years ago, there were only a few PR firms in China, so I checked the phone book and contacted the only PR firm I could find and Jean-Michel Dumont, who was head of the Shanghai office, interviewed me. So that was how I got my foot in the door. And I’ve certainly had no regrets ever since.
What’s the best part about working in the marketing industry?
The creativity and having fun. New things are happening every day to open our minds. There are always great ideas and wonderful campaigns to work on. For example, in a recent Sephora campaign, we launched a new lip balm with a fun claw machine competition that you can play on your mobile. It generated millions of players, creating great excitement and competition among friends through score rankings and prizes. It was so much fun. In the Cartier Chengdu Exhibition, the newly created virtual online exhibition generated huge traffic. The people who could not visit the exhibition physically were able to virtually walk through the exhibition and see the beautiful jewellery.
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
I believe boundaries are meant to be broken, and certainly by us. There is always something new. Even in a stereotypical situation or in the most traditional media event, we can make it unique to engage the press. I remember at one event, we managed to get the reporters to dive into an aquarium to search for a diamond wedding ring for a proposal. Another was a Breitling campaign. To understand and experience the fun and spirit of Breitling, we invited the media to fly standing on the upper wing of a biplane, like one of the Breitling Wingwalkers. We were really impressed by the number of brave reporters who said ‘yes’.
How would you describe your management style?
Most of my team call me ‘Elan Mama’ in the office because at times I behave like a mom. I am tough but encouraging. I am always willing to listen to anyone but they must have solid evidence to back what they say, not mere words. I will not accept just complaints. Complaining gets you nowhere. I believe if there is a problem, you first need to think thoroughly how to solve it. If it cannot be solved, then forget about it. And then it is no longer a problem.
Creativity is wonderful, but it should always have a strong strategic foundation. When a team works with me, especially on proposals, they need to work very hard to find the data to back it up. Data needs to come from different sources, allowing cross comparison, with explanations on discrepancies to support the PR strategies. All suggestions or conclusions need to be data-based rather than just by experience, hearsay or instinct.
What’s the best career advice you have been given?
Focus on what you are good at, do it well and enjoy doing it.
What has been the proudest moment in your career so far?
The 2004 Michelin Challenge Bibendum: “Green Car Olympics”. It was the very first time this major international sustainable mobility event was held in China. Thirty Ruder Finn’s staff led four different affiliate agencies and successfully held the event in China. Over 3,000 guests from five continents attended. That was a fantastic achievement and a very proud moment for me.
Who was the mentor who most influenced you and why?
I’ve learnt from many people throughout my life, but Jean-Michel Dumont, Ruder Finn Asia Chairman, is definitely the mentor who influenced me the most, especially in the way he treats people ‒ with patience, tolerance and the ability to see the great attributes and potential in them. And that success comes not from a person being smart but from working with great people. In this perspective, I’m very lucky.
What keeps you inspired?
The younger generation. I love their passion, curiosity and ability to come up with fresh, eye-opening ideas to push the world forward.
What’s the best thing about living in China?
Chinese food. Er… though I have to lose weight. A battle impossible to win.
What is the biggest change would you like to see the industry in 2016?
That all PR agencies will recognise and understand that content is now “3-dimensional” – graphics, photos, videos, hand in hand with words.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone just starting out in the industry?
Have fun, but don’t expect fun to come from others. You are the one creating it.
Today, news broke that Mini Asia appointed local agency Govt as its new creative partner. Mini was last working with another local agency Kinetic Singapore on the same account for approximately six years.
While one might expect a little bit of rivalry and sadness over the move of the account, this was simply not the case. In what seemed like an incredibly gracious move, the incumbents posted a statement on their Facebook page saying:
//
Thank you for the 6 years of an amazing collaboration Mini Asia. There was nothing we would have changed. Not a single...
"You are an agency that we can only ever dream of emulating. The amount of respect we have for you cannot be put in words. Thank you for everything Kinetic Singapore."
In a competitive landscape such as Singapore, which is often deemed as a buyers' market, it is great to see such comradeship between local agencies.
Earlier this year, we saw something similar in Malaysia, when one adman Jeffrey Tay, from BBDO Malaysia moved on to Naga DDB. This prompted his former agency to write a “love note” to the folks at Naga.
Here's to more such camaraderie in the industry, guys!
To illustrate the downsides of credit, Interac Debit together with its agency Zulu Alpha Kilo has created “Pets with Credit”, a two-minute "dogumentary" that follows the life of Max – an 8-year old Australian Shepherd who struggled with the effects of credit card debt.
The short-film follows the life of Max throughout his journey into and out of debt. Through a tongue in cheek lens, the film explores the serious consequences of racking up debt, including depression, lethargy and even a decreased sex drive. It closes with the positive effects of being on a path to credit redemption. From a finance author to a psychologist through to a veterinarian, real experts were used in the film.
Watch the clip here:
https://youtu.be/axQhpQWzfIM
The creative and strategic platform encouraging Canadians to use their own money with Interac Debit is going into its third year in the market. It was recently shortlisted for this year’s Effie Awards for effectiveness.
The dogumentary that launched online on 10 April was produced through zulubot, the agency's content division. It will be supported through digital and social channels. Movie-style posters for the ‘dogumentary’ will run in Cineplex theatres across the country.
Media Experts was the media partner agency. French creative for the Quebec marketplace was handled by TANK.
Credits:
Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Client (Company): Interac Association
Chief Creative Officer: Zak Mroueh
Executive Creative Director: Allen Oke
Art Director: Fiorella Martinez
Writer: Jacob Pacey
Agency Producer: Tara Cochrane, Tara Handley
Account Team: Rob Feightner, Laura Robinson, Winnie Hsiao
Strategic Planner: Emma Brooks
Clients: Andrea Danovitch, Leslie Vera, Lauren McKay
Production House: zulubot
Executive Producer: Shaam Makan
Director: Sean Wainsteim
Line Producer: Marc Juliar
Director of Photography: Jackson Parrell
Casting Director: Andrew Hayes/Tristan Abraham, Powerhouse Casting
PCCW media’s OTT mobile video entertainment platform, Viu, has recorded over 1.2 million downloads in Hong Kong within six months after its launch last October.
The platform also said that it has been ranked first on the App Store and Google Play Store charts for free apps on iPhone, iPad and Android phone.
Janice Lee, managing director of PCCW media group said it is a milestone for the company, “Kudos to my committed team members who work relentlessly on developing and marketing the product,"
"It is reflective of the wide support of our app among consumers. Searching and accessing entertainment online through mobile devices is a dominant trend today so I have every confidence that Viu’s success will be replicated in other markets."
By offering traditional Chinese subtitles as fast as four hours after Korea telecast for selected latest Korean dramas, the latest Korean drama series, Descendants of the Sun, has surged to popularity in Hong Kong.
The OTT platform also claimed that it has topped the list for entertainment app downloads in Singapore, “Following Viu’s expansion to Singapore, Malaysia and India, it will be launched in Indonesia imminently,” said Lee.
Just four months after its debut take off, Rayani Air has been suspended by the Department of Civil Aviation of Malaysia (DCA) for failing to adhere to regulations.
This follows pilot strikes reported on Apr 8 which resulted in the cancellation of flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi and Kuching. DCA director-general Datuk Azharuddin also said an inquiry regarding the airline would be conducted on May 12.
The airline has issued an apology to customers and clients on its Facebook page on Apr 11:
Dear Valued Clients,
Firstly, we are very sorry for the inconveniences caused. We are working very hard to solve our internal matters and get Rayani back on track. We understand that your plans and scheduled agendas have been disrupted, we truly apologize. We will reply each and every email on your queries and refunds. We thank you for your understanding and support.
Meanwhile, competitors AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines have stepped in offering discounts on their flights to those affected by Rayani Air’s suspension. AirAsia will be offering 50% discounts to and from Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Kota Baharu, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, while Malaysia Airlines focuses on efforts to help those in need of immediate flights.
In statement to The Star Malaysia, MAS chief commercial officer Paul Simmons said that as a national carrier, it was the duty of MAS to extend assistance to Rayani Air passengers. The MAS discounted fares are available until April 30 for immediate travel until July 31 this year.
"In this case, we are offering affected passengers special fares to connect them to their intended destinations. We hope this offer will help alleviate the passengers' travel woes," said Simmons to The Star.
Rayani Air first gain public attention in December last year as the first Islamic airline which strictly follows Islamic laws, complete with a halal menu, prayer calls before flight take offs and a hijab-donned female Muslim flight crew.
Kao Singapore has launched a new campaign called ‘Bioré UV Perfect Spray’ to drive awareness and educate commuters on the damaging effects from exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) ray, which cannot be seen with a naked eye.
The campaign created with the help of Hakuhodo Singapore and IPG Mediabrands runs across both print and OOH platforms.
For its OOH executions, the brand leverages the contextual trigger of weather and time of day to deliver the right message at the right time and place and educate customers on the vital importance to protect their skin from the sun. Hourly readings of UV levels are displayed across Clear Channel Play digital screens to reinforce the importance of sunscreen. The UV readings are dynamically pulled from the National Environment Agency’s website which provides the ultraviolet index (UVI).
The Bioré UV Perfect Spray campaign features three different creatives dynamically according to the UVI readings. The levels 0-2 reflects a low reading and features a blue visual ad to prepare commuters to be ready when the sun is up; readings 3-7 reflects a moderate to high reading and displays a yellow visual ad to remind to protect the skin from sunburn and UV damage; and UVI 8 and above calls for alert with a red visual ad to remind to reapply for extra UV protection.
“The bus-shelter panels are impactful in demonstrating the efficacy of our product within the natural environment of commuters. This enables us to effectively reach a large audience, to educate them on the damaging effects of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays and the importance of using sunscreen,” Chua Hui Min, brand manager, Kao Singapore said.
The French Embassy in Singapore and Business France, France's national agency supporting the international development of the French economy, launched the Créative France campaign in Singapore.
With French creativity extending across a multitude of economic sectors, three focused industry fields, namely high technology, aeronautics and gastronomy, have been chosen to showcase French ingenuity. With France being the sixth largest economy in the world, the campaign also reinforces France as a leading destination for global businesses.
Business France has selected Singapore and nine other countries for the global campaign launch, based on longstanding cultural and creative bilateral ties, and potential for trade and investments across multiple sectors.
Moreover, four French global leaders (Thales, PSA Group, Veolia and Bouygues-Dragages) launched a brand new Innovation Platform dedicated to smart cities solutions, reinforcing the scope of the French-Singapore creative collaborations.
https://youtu.be/OTeKoUsKiL4
Singapore is the largest export destination for France in Southeast Asia and it is third largest in Asia. Among the European Union member states, France is Singapore’s third largest trading partner and fifth largest investor. There are more than 700 active French companies registered in Singapore, and local corporations such as Singapore Airlines and The Ascott Group, which owns and manages the Citadines hotels, are also well established in France.
Singapore is the largest export destination for France in South Asia, with 5.4 billion euros in 2015. A year after the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and France, the Créative France campaign showcases France’s key strengths in its industry, its innovation, particularly in research and development and in its vibrant arts and culture.
It aims to help the business environment in Singapore understand the opportunities offered by France, as an international investment location.
After 20 years working for Saatchi & Saatchi’s worldwide creative director Pablo Del Campo steps down with immediate effect.
He will be replaced by Kate Stanners (pictured), currently chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, London. Stanners will fulfil the role of global chief creative officer whilst retaining her London role.
Robert Senior, worldwide chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi said: "Pablo has been a source of inspiration, counsel, and delight, not just for me, but for thousands of brilliant creative people within our network. I'm sorry to see him go, but wish him all the best with this new chapter."
On Stanners’ appointment, Senior added: “Kate is a unique talent and a bundle of energy. Over the last couple of years, she has led the transformation of the creative work on some of our biggest global clients, such as Procter & Gamble. Her ability to apply innovative, market-leading creativity to the largest brands in the world will make her the perfect choice of creative leader for our network.
Kadence is changing its leadership team in Singapore as long time managing director Greg Clayton heads to UK to take up the managing director role. Clayton has been with the company since 2009
Replacing him in Singapore is Phil Steggals (pictured) who is currently insight director at Kadence. Steggals has been working in Singapore since 2011 and has been heading up the Insight function in the Singapore office, with a focus on growing the team through organic development – as well as successfully securing a number of new (and larger) clients.
In his new role, he will be reporting directly into the board of directors of Kadence globally. His remit as Singapore MD is to build stronger relationships with clients and to help raise the profile of strategic insight consultancy that Kadence has become known for.
“Our focus throughout the rest of 2016 is to introduce new services and approaches to our clients in order to help promote ad-hoc, actionable insight into the upper levels of management. With the strong team that we already have in place and with some key new hires our clients will benefit from joined up thinking at every stage of the research process,” Steggals told Marketing.
Meanwhile, Kadence has also hired Patrick Young. Young will take on the insights director role and is joining the team from Millward Brown in Australia where he spent three years.
“Kadence Singapore has seen some fantastic growth in the last few years with Clayton at the helm as we have cemented ourselves in the heart of the research community in Singapore. We have won awards for our HR and recruitment policies as well as our consultancy services and continue to deliver on our promise of Insight Worth Sharing through our info and video graphic approach to output. This platform will enable me to continue to develop market leading initiatives to further grow our client base as we look for ambitious growth throughout the region,” Steggals added.
As it looks to expand to Hong Kong, cloud video production platform 90 Seconds has raised US$7.5 million in Series A financing led by Sequoia India.
The round, supported by SKY TV NZ, Airtree Ventures, Beenext and Fotolia.com (sold to Adobe for $860m), will accelerate 90 Seconds’ global expansion.
90 Seconds software strips back the complexity of video production, giving brands and agencies access to a marketplace of creatives, and an automated, end-to-end suite of workflow tools. The 90 Seconds marketplace enables flexible and easy discovery of more than 5,000 video creative professionals in over 70 countries across 40 categories including videographers, directors, editors, producers, animators, drone operators, photographers and many more.
Tim Norton, founder and CEO of 90 Seconds, said Hong Kong is a huge focus for the company this year, adding existing clients include Cathay Pacific, DBS, NAB, Accenture, BBDO, Barclays and the Financial Times.
90 Seconds has over 250 creators and freelancers based in Hong Kong and have made over 300 videos in the region in the last two years.
Sequoia has invested in several of the world’s most famous companies including Apple, Google, YouTube and Airbnb.
Cloud video production company 90 Seconds has raised US$7.5million in Series A financing led by Sequoia India, which has invested in world renowned companies such as Apple, Google, YouTube and Airbnb.
90 Seconds' main clients are brands and agencies and it provides services in automated end-to-end suites of workflow tools. Current clients for the company include Visa, PayPal, Sony, Samsung, Barclays and Microsoft. 90 Seconds has also worked with agencies on global projects and the likes of YouTube, Video, Dropbox and Google Drive.
In a press statement, the company said it saw over 300% in revenue growth in the past year.
Founder and CEO of 90 Seconds, Tim Norton said: “Video content is a must have in today’s world and we are proud to have developed a solution that works for brands around the globe to deliver fast, affordable content. We are excited to work with our new and existing investors who understand the opportunity 90 Seconds has to completely change the global video production landscape.”
