Grab has launched a campaign for the week of National Day to spread some Singaporean joy and national pride, by gifting durians to consumers.
Known as #GrabDurian, the third annual campaign allows Singaporeans to order a box of Mao Shan Wang durians via the Grab app, which will then be delivered by one of the company's #GrabDurian drivers. As part of the campaign, which ends on 13 August, Grab has wrapped 35 of its fleet with #GrabDurian branding. #GrabDurian will also run on social media and online channels.
To mark National Day, the Grab app also made use of Singlish to communicate with commuters, using phrases such as "Yay, driver here liao!" and "Wait ah, finding driver." According to Ershad Ahamed, head of marketing, Grab Singapore, passengers loved the use of Singlish on the app. As a result, the ride-sharing company will be extending it for a few weeks after National Day.
The Grab-led campaign will also celebrate Grab's Platinum and Gold members by providing them an exclusive GrabReward offer, ahead of the broader public release.
“National Day is a very special opportunity to celebrate all things Singaporean – and what’s more quintessentially Singaporean than durian? #GrabDurian has been incredibly popular for the last two years, which is why we’re so excited to bring it back this year," Ershad Ahamed, head of marketing, Grab Singapore.
Japanese consumer electronics company Sharp has appointed Lion & Lion as its digital agency in Malaysia. The agency will be responsible for helping Sharp establish a strong online footprint, utilising its integrated capabilities to strengthen Sharp's online presence, starting with Facebook. Social media work for Sharp first rolled out during the Raya period in the form of a Facebook campaign.
Roxy Sales & Service Company (SRSSC), Sharp's brand marketing arm in Malaysia, is also further narrowing its digital efforts to ensure the company is engaging consumers with relevant content at optimum times, as well as through the right channels.
According to the press statement, the new digital marketing strategy will provide consumers with access to more information on the products they love. Thus, boosting sales and making room for growth. Sharp hopes to connect with consumers through a "fresh and carefully crafted" digital activation.
“We are excited to be working with an innovator in such a competitive and aggressive category. This partnership is a great opportunity to further drive Sharp's philosophy of outstanding customer service and the delivery of high-quality products and solutions in the digital space," Cyrus Yeoh, Lion & Lion’s client lead in Malaysia, said.
“We appointed Lion & Lion due to their strategic thinking and creative ideas which we believe will bring results. We are confident that through mutual collaboration we will establish a stronger digital presence and connect with our audience on a new level," Bob Kahar, SRSSC’s head of PR and advertising, said.
A+M has reached out to Lion & Lion for further comment.
Happy Marketer has launched a content marketing division, which will be led by its director of marketing, Joe Escobedo (pictured), who has been with the agency since 2015. The team, which consists of eight employees, will help clients with content strategy, creation and measurement.
The new content marketing team will also help clients build their thought leadership, boost their social selling and enhance their digital PR efforts. This is in a bid to help brands tell their story, break through the clutter and win more customers through content.
It will also leverage on the company’s marketing automation, search engine optimisation (SEO), social media marketing, performance marketing and analytics capabilities to drive business goals.
Prior to Happy Marketer, Escobedo held stints in marketing and communications at Jack Morton Worldwide, InterContinental Hotels Group and Weber Shandwick.
“Content is the fuel that drives the marketing funnel. And we want to help our clients create ridiculously valuable content that impacts their bottom line. Because at the end of the day, our content should engage their customers and ignite their business,” Joe Escobedo, director of content marketing at Happy Marketer said.
“There’s quite a lot of innovation happening in the world of content in terms of richer formats, targeted distribution and optimisation. That’s why we think this is the right time to set up this practice to help our clients create, manage and distribute content. We believe Escobedo’s credentials as a globally acclaimed writer and brand builder combined with our data-driven, analytical marketing services will help us differentiate our offerings compared to the traditional content marketing agencies in the market,” Prantik Mazumdar, managing partner at Happy Marketer, added.
The London-based International Public Relations Association (IPRA) has awarded Campaigns & Grey(C&G) a Golden World Award for Excellence 2017 for its “On-The Go Pants” advocacy.
C&G was the lone Philippine agency recognized by the IPRA for “PR on a Shoestring Budget” category. On-The-Go Pants was developed to improve mobility and restore dignity among patients with urinary retention problems, as well as those suffering from renal disease and prostate problems. The apparel, manufactured by top Filipino couturier Dennis Lustico, affords patients convenience and discretion, and allows them to take part in professional and social activities without compromising the critical daily maintenance that comes with wearing catheter bags.
Using traditional and online media, C&G launched On-The-Go Pants and received extensive coverage from news media, as well as inquiries and orders from patients in the Philippines and other countries.
The IPRA Golden World Awards for Excellence is an award-giving body that offers worldwide recognition and acclaim to public relations programs. Recipients of the IPRA Golden World Awards for Excellence take particular pride in the recognition granted to their entries as meeting international standards of excellence in public relations.
The Award Ceremony and Gala Dinner will be held on October 13th, in Sofia, Bulgaria.
evian has appointed antics@play to launch its Oversize campaign which spans across Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The six-month appointment will see antics@play managing evian's creative vision, public relations counsel and media communications strategy.
A pitch for the account was held from March to April this year which saw evian selecting agency partners which were strong in PR and creative support, with regional management capabilities. The campaign will be heavily digital, with a strong presence on social media platforms and online channels, as well as in-store marketing channels.
In a statement to Marketing, Winnie Pua, MD at antics@play, said the agency was chosen due to its wealth of experience in regional management, making it suitable for companies that are looking to chart new grounds and strategically grow their brands.
The second and third wave of the campaign will launch in Hong Kong and Singapore in mid-August and early September respectively. K-Concepts Communications Consultants from Taiwan and Madbox Communications from Hong Kong were involved in evian's Oversize campaign.
The Oversize campaign aims to bring to life an oversized world seen through the eyes of a baby and kicked off in Taiwan with the launch of evian's first-ever oversized fashion wardrobe during the press event. Ella Chen (pictured), a member of Mandopop group S.H.E, graced the event to talk about her recent evian spa experience in Seoul and the importance of the “Live young” spirit in life.
“In continued efforts to surprise and push boundaries, this year’s Oversize campaign gets consumers to experience their world from a different perspective. Whether you are a tennis champion, an actress, a business professional or regular Joe, the message remains the same: youth lies within each of us and all we need to do is embrace this 'Live young' spirit every day," Gianluca Ferrante, head of marketing and trade marketing Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Evian Volvic International, said.
“The bold and vivacious evian brand inspires our creative as well as PR consultants. We look forward to growing the brand spirit together with our client regionally,” Pua said.
If you’ve been watching the mobile industry to understand business opportunities, these infographics from Vpon's latest "2017 H1 APAC Mobile Advertising Statistics and Trends Report" might generate some new insights.
1. China and India are now generating the most biddable mobile advertising inventory, occupying over one-third of inventory in APAC.
2. Generally speaking, mobile apps are more widely used than the mobile web. This is especially the case in Mainland China(64% mobile app), Hong Kong(64% mobile app) and Taiwan(73% mobile app).
3. Android system is generally more widely used. 64%, 72% and 64% of the customers in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, are using Android as their operating system.
4. Well-developed regions have a higher effective cost per mille than developing regions do. Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are the top three regions with the highest CPM index while Hong Kong ranks fifth.
5. Currently, banner ads are the most common type of mobile advertising format in APAC.
Lindt Chocolate has just appointed Leo Burnett Hong Kong as its creative partner to launch a regional campaign for Lindor across Asia. The appointment followed a four-way pitch in early June this year.
Lindt is currently one of the top three chocolate players in terms of market share in Hong Kong, according to Nielsen’s latest data report in June.
Through the regional campaign, Leo Burnett Hong Kong is tasked with further increasing Lindor’s brand awareness across Asia, and boosting the positive momentum of people’s love and passion for sophisticated Lindor pralines across Asia.
Jeff Ho, managing director of Leo Burnett Hong Kong, said, “Lindt is an iconic brand in the chocolate market, and we are thrilled to be working on such a significant regional assignment. And I believe our creative solutions, which is developed based on Leo Burnett’s unique Human Kind approach, will help Lindor achieve its goal effectively.”
Microsoft has appointed Publicis Media's commerce division to manage its digital merchandising business. The partnership will focus on e-content delivery for e-retailers, with Publicis Media responsible for seven markets across Asia Pacific. This includes Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea. Work will be carried out across several lines of businesses including Windows, Office, Xbox and Surface.
Publicis Media most recently made three senior hires for its commerce division. Ranuak Mehta was appointed head of e-commerce strategy and consulting; Gosia Rakowska as head of e-merchandising; and Kate Tan as e-commerce strategy. All three report to Ken Mandel, president of innovation and commerce, Publicis Media Asia Pacific.
Prior to his new appointment, Mehta worked at Zalora for over two years as category director, during which he was responsible for end-to-end ownership of the categories in the men's fashion and sports businesses, ranging from business strategy and development to profit and loss management. Before joining Zalora, Mehta worked at Flipkart for over three years, and also held stints at Cognizant Business Consulting and Tata Consultancy Services.
Rakowska leads the e-merchandising solutions division to work closely with brands and e-retailers. Before joining Publicis Media, she worked as a digital director at Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore. Prior to that, Rakowska was with Polish ad network Businesses Ad Network for over two years, where she was responsible for the sale of advertising space. Rakowska also worked at Nasza Klasa Sp as a senior client consultant for more than four years, and was also responsible for selling advertising space on Nasza Klasa's online portal, as well as its mobile site.
Meanwhile, Tan hails from a background in start-ups, e-commerce and tech, from starting her own online retail store, Eriin Creatives, which was eventually acquired by an Indonesian e-retailer. Among the list of clients she currently services include P&G and Lazada. Prior to joining Publicis Media, Tan was a creative director at Eriin Creatives for more than five years, and her past clients included Flutes, Pomelo Fashion, The Change School and One Cent Movement. Before that, she was international manager for Netccentric's microblogging platform Dayre, and an APAC role for Santa Monica-based mobile platform Victorious.
“We are thrilled to have Microsoft come on board. Publicis Media is the first to offer comprehensive support and offerings at the intersection of media and commerce. We look forward to putting this expertise to work for Microsoft and driving more frictionless experiences and accountable spends,” Ken Mandel, president of innovation and commerce, Publicis Media Asia Pacific, said.
Publicis Media’s commerce division was first launched in Asia Pacific in partnership with Interactive Solutions. By combining Publicis Media’s media buying, planning and analytic capabilities, the commerce division aims to position itself to provide businesses a unique service offer that holistically blends demand generation and e-merchandising services.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has partnered exclusively with Germs Digital to launch a Facebook Messenger chatbot called "Singapaw Citizens". This is to raise awareness about "community animals", which is referred to as strays or street animals.
Designed by Germs Digital, the chatbot features dogs and cats in the community interacting and engaging users in entertaining yet educational conversations. In addition to being engaged in a lighthearted manner, "Singapaw Citizens" will also provide users with information on ways to interact with and help community animals. This includes responsible feeding, the importance of sterilisation, and how to report welfare and abuse cases. According to the press statement, the SPCA receives regular feedback from members of the public to remove community animals.
In celebration of National Day, "Singapaw Citizens" also injected local slang and lyrics from iconic National Day songs in its conversations with users.
"The SPCA is always looking for new ways to spread our animal welfare messages using innovative methods, so we are thrilled to partner with Germs Digital, who had the expertise to develop this creative product. Our hope is for the chatbot to raise the profile of the cats and dogs who share our environment, and inspire the public to help them," Jaipal Singh Gill, executive director of the SPCA, said.
“We realised that community dogs and cats are generally perceived as pests, and are mostly misunderstood. Hence, we decided to partner SPCA to give these animals a voice to raise awareness about them. And what better way to do so than by using chatbot technology, so people can ‘communicate’ with our community animals while learning about them,” James Chua, MD at Germs Digital, said.
Hotel brands recognise that apart from price, location, good reviews and recommendations, loyalty programmes play a very important role in securing customer bookings.
However, the hospitality industry these days is also saturated with loyalty programmes that offer confusing reward categories, and in some cases causing the devaluation of points. Many of these programmes also have a tendency on targeting the wealthier travellers, with a less focus on travellers with lower budget. In recognising this, Wyndham Hotel Group has stepped up with its Wyndham Rewards to focus on targeting the "everyday" travellers.
This post was done in conjunction with Wyndham Hotel Group. The campaign won a gold in Best Use of Rewards and Incentives; and bronze in Best Loyalty Programme in Travel/Hospitality at the Loyalty & Engagement Awards 2017.
BACKGROUND
Loyalty is a vital piece of the hospitality space yet, for too long, programmes have centred solely on hotels and the travelling elites.
SOLUTION
Wyndham Hotel Group re-strategised its loyalty program, Wyndham Rewards, in 2015 to focus on the everyday traveller. The program was overhauled to deliver simplicity and value for members, rewarding them with what they want most, a free night stay.
On this, Wyndham Hotel said its rewards programme also became the first global hotel loyalty program with an unprecedented scale to offer a flat redemption rate (15,000 points = 1 free night).
In 2016, the program was expanded to give members more redemption options, and it included not just across the hotel portfolio but all aspirational vacation ownership and vacation rental properties.
This unlocks the full potential of Wyndham Rewards and opens a world of new experiences, giving members the ability to travel where and how they want based on their individual needs.
HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:
go freeSM: With just 15,000 points, members can redeem a free night with no confusing tiers or blackout dates.
go fastSM: For just 3,000 points plus some cash, members can redeem a go fast award. This option gives members the flexibility to redeem free nights faster, especially for those that travel less frequently.
go get ‘emSM: For every qualified stay, members earn a minimum of 1,000 points with every day, or 10 points per dollar spent - whichever is more.
go freeSM home and go freeSM condo: 15,000 points, per bedroom, members get a free night at its loyalty program’s hotels, homes and condominiums.
go fastSM home and go fastSM condo: Get a night for just 3,000 points, per bedroom plus some cash, at participating hotels, homes and condominiums.
STRATEGY
The hotel group also wanted to position its loyalty program, Wyndham Rewards, as one of the blue threads that connects its 19 iconic brands from economy, mid-scale and upscale brand segments across Wyndham Hotel Group’s portfolio in the Southeast Asia and Pacific Rim region.
Its campaigns are fronted by an inspiring Wyzard who makes "magical" things happen for those who have earned it. To inject some pop culture into the campaign, it cast Kristofer Hivju, most notably known as Tormund Giantsbane in HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones. The Wyndham Wyzard delivers its brand message with a bit of wittiness to make guests smile.
To boost greater consumer awareness in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, it also ran a two month-long social media campaign last year titled “Tour the World with Wyndham”. Generous prizes were given out to encourage participation including a grand prize of one million Wyndham Rewards points (66 free room nights) and a total of 110 free room nights as part of the daily giveaway.
Participating in the contest was simple - consumers had to follow its page and submit a creative post on what they would do with a million Wyndham Rewards points as well as include its campaign hashtags.
The simple mechanics of the contest gave its Facebook followers a fun way to engage with the hotel company and reinforce its message, "we are simple to use and generous."
Late last year, the hotel group expanded its award-winning program, Wyndham Rewards, across one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide. This adds more than 17,000 condos and homes to the program’s already-impressive, redemption portfolio of over 8,000 hotels.
The move is an industry-first both in terms of scale and global impact. With more than 120,000 properties across 100 countries spanning hotels, vacation ownership and professionally managed vacation rentals, Wyndham Worldwide offers travelers something no other provider can: the opportunity to experience travel the way they want regardless of location or type of accommodation.
RESULTS
The results have been very encouraging. Member occupancy levels are at the highest they’ve ever been as we’ve changed “elite” programs and special member experiences to extend beyond only the rich and well-travelled.
Its new member base has increased by 26%, and more than a third of its existing members have been active for the past year. Most of all, its award night redemptions have seen a near nine-fold increase.
"Our program also achieved the top spot on the US News and World Report’s Best Travel Rewards Program ranking, unseating the previously undefeated holder. Across the globe, Wyndham Rewards has been repeatedly recognised as the simplest, most rewarding program in the industry - collecting more than 40 awards and accolades in a little over two years," the hotel group said.
Catchy song, a fancy performance and adorable kids - IKEA has a recipe for a viral video on its hands for its latest online platform launch.
The result: over 850,000 views and 4,200 engagements have been generated within one week on IKEA Hong Kong Facebook page and YouTube channel with paid boost. Plans are to spread the video to other online channels and distrubute it outdoors.
The 30-second video, launched last Monday, adapts a well-known local kid song "何家公鷄何家猜" while replacing its lyrics with the new online sales services benefits and adds a call to action.
The song is sung by kids from Hong Kong Rope Skipping Academy also perform enthusiastically as they sing the song in the video.
"We understood that it’s getting harder and harder to grab people’s awareness from online nowadays that with tons of things they can choose," said Andrew Lee, Metta Communications' representative, the creative agency of the video.
"However that’s also the most exciting part for us to WOW people with such unexpected and entertaining way for IKEA to advertise. Besides, IKEA is like a 'good friend' to all people of Hong Kong for long, so kids and classic child song are the elements that we want to resonate with our customers no matter which ages you are, you can still enjoy, follow the lyrics, sing and dance along."
Regarding media plan and buy, Mandy Lam, partner (client leadership) of Mindshare added that before the campaign launch, the team foresaw that the video would likely go viral as almost every local knows the song. "Instead of tapping into popular portals only, we strategically focus on IKEA owned social platforms – Facebook and Youtube, with high fans base and explored a proper weight to trigger conversation, supported by drama content portal and OOH media to extend reach. We are happy to see the positive response so far."
IKEA HK's country marketing manager, Janet Lai, said the brand would now be able to enhance its present customer shopping journey with even more convenient service online. "Customers can now shop anytime anywhere for our good quality yet low price products, complimented with the inspiring home furnishing solutions that we have on offer," she said.
Credit
Client: IKEA Hong Kong
Creative: Metta Communications
Media: Mindshare Hong Kong Ltd
Haw Par Corporation has revealed a 7.3% in net profit in the second quarter of this year due to a rise in demand for its Tiger Balm products. This followed an increase in marketing activities and expansion in its distribution network, according to its recent financial report.
Distribution and marketing expenses increased 18.1% to SG$14.6 million due to higher marketing expenses to drive sales growth.
Overall, the group’s revenue increased 15% to SG$60.5 million mainly due to higher sales from its healthcare segment, which was also partially offset by lower revenue from its leisure segment. Gross profit rose 23.8% with higher sales and absence of one-off costs incurred. Meanwhile, general and administrative expenses increased 13.6% to SG$3.8 million due to higher staff costs and unfavourable exchange differences in the quarter.
Last year, Haw Par closed Underwater World Singapore after 25 years of service. In a SGX filing, the group said that the closure is “not expected to be material to the group’s earnings or net asset per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2016.”
The attraction ceased operations ahead of the expiry of its lease to facilitate the transfer of the endangered attraction animals to their new home in Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, China. UWS saw an increase in competition over the years, with the arrival of Genting’s Resort World Sentosa on the island which in turn added a slew of attractions from an integrated resort, theme park Universal Studios Singapore and competition attractions such as SEA Aquarium and Marine Life Park.
COURTS Asia has made a net profit of SG$6.1 million for the first quarter, which ended on 30 June 2017, compared to SG$8.8 million in Q1 FY 2016-2017. This is coupled with an increase in the company's distribution and marketing expenses by 0.5% to SG$16.2 million in Q1 FY 2017-2018.
This was mainly attributed to higher warehousing expenses in Singapore, as well as higher branch salaries for newly opened stores in Malaysia and Indonesia, partially offset by lower distribution and marketing expenses in Malaysia. The company's overall revenue dropped by 4.5% from SG$195.4 million in Q1 FY2016-2017 to SG$186.6 million in Q1 FY2017-2018.
According to Terence Donald O’Connor, COURTS Asia’s executive director and group CEO, the company needs to be "relentless" on maintaining the right cost structure, given the weak retail outlook. To revitalise its brand, the company is launching a new brand campaign across Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia in the second half of 2017.
O’Connor added that COURTS intends to leverage on the "soft retail environment" and seize the opportunities to set up new stores at "attractive" locations. In a bid to deliver an integrated online-to-offline customer experience, it also plans to transform its physical stories into experience centres with a "next-generation concept", drive its omni-channel strategy as well as expand solutions-selling in all categories.
COURTS recently expanded its footprint in East Malaysia with the addition of two stores, namely Courts Keningau and Semporna in Sabah, bringing the total number of stores in Malaysia to 71. This comes after it unveiled plans to invest in new store openings across Malaysia and Indonesia in June.
According to O'Connor, Courts will carry on with its "pop-up" store strategy in Indonesia to supplement the existing stores to boost market share, and are also on track to add at least five permanent, new stores in the country. The company will also continue to transform its Megastores in Malaysia and Indonesia into destination "retail-tainment centres" by bringing in new tenants to attract a wider shopper base and share rental overheads.
To better manage the anticipated uncertain regional retail landscape and stronger competition over the short term, O'Connor said that the company will strengthen its solutions leadership strategy through five key pillars. This is to encompass the expansion of its category solutions-selling, delivering a robust omni-channel solution and enabling its offline stores experience centres.
COURTS Asia will also focus on the higher-margin furniture segment and tap on its unique selling proposition in in-house credit.
"We are confident that this strategy will position us well to deliver better user experience and build greater brand loyalty with our customers," O'Connor added.
Recently, COURTS announced plans for a SG$10 million revamp of seven of its outlets in Singapore, beginning with an “overhaul” of its Tampines flagship megastore. The revamp for the flagship megastore is said to be completed by the fourth quarter.
Earlier this year, COURTS Singapore appointed Jasmine Seow as merchandise director to drive the company’s commercial strategies and bolster COURTS’ merchandise and services in the new financial year. She continues to report to Tan. Prior to her new role, Seow was marketing director for around three years.
Changi Airport Group (CAG) has called for a creative and digital pitch. Marketing understands that a tender briefing will occur this Wednesday, 16 August 2017, and the pitch will be managed by R3. The incumbent on the account is J. Walter Thompson Singapore.
The appointed agency will be responsible for strategic planning and creative services, as well as offer digital marketing and maintenance services for CAG's digital assets. R3 could not be reached at the time of writing. A spokesperson for CAG declined to comment on the pitch.
JWT Singapore was re-appointed early last year as CAG's creative agency for another three years, following a pitch that involved three other agencies. The appointment saw JWT continuing its role in advancing CAG's communication vision across all parts of the business, including operations, commercial and air hub services.
In May 2015, CAG appointed Havas Media Singapore to handle its media buying duties for a period of two years, with an option to extend for another two. The account is reported to be valued at SG$16 million. The pitch for the account was held in March 2015 and the process was internally managed. The incumbent agency on the account was ZenithOptimedia, which did not pitch for the account.
Public broadcaster RTHK is set to drop its 24-hour BBC World Service broadcast and replace it with programming from China's state radio channel after BBC's nearly four decades of continuous broadcast in Hong Kong.
The new programme will be introduced on AM Radio 6 starting September 4, and contents will focus on news, finance, arts and culture programming. It is broadcast almost entirely in Mandarin, but may include some Cantonese broadcasting.
The news follows Hong Kong government's announcement last Friday that it would stop its Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) services due to a lack of demand in the city.
"This channel is tailor made for RTHK when we first introduced DAB," said RTHK spokesperson Amen Ng , adding that the swap was meant to "enhance the cultural exchange between the mainland and Hong Kong". Eight hours of the BBC World Service will still be played overnight from 11pm to 7am local time, Ng added.
Earlier this year, RTHK replaced its RTHK 33 TV channel from the English-language Chinese state broadcaster CGTN Documentary to the Mandarin-language CCTV1.
“No idea is a bad idea”. An open mind and a willingness to explore are crucial factors to being a marketer in Malaysia, Eugene Lee, marketing director of McDonald's (McD) Malaysia, said.
In an exclusive interview with A+M, Lee said he has always believed that “no idea is a bad idea”, and he constantly encourages his team to take risks when it comes to campaign ideas.
In fact, Lee said this approach has paid off with its recent successes on the McChicken #3biteschallenge, Big Mac Chant-Smule partnership, as well as the Ayam Goreng McD re-launch which for the first time ever, the local fast food chain filmed a commercial absolutely without any voiceover. Check out the said ad below:
https://youtu.be/QjrXt-jvWaw
To other marketers here, Lee has another tip.
Forget all “romantic” feelings about past successes and always move forward.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. I’ve seen far too many examples of successful marketers that have fallen into the trap of repeating the same ideas and executions again year-after-year, causing advertising fatigue, and resulting in disastrous results,” Lee said.
So always maintain an open mind, and do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. Feeling uncomfortable is a good thing. It means you are doing something different that challenges both yourself, as well as the status quo, he added.
Localisation, an antidote of success
As a global fast food chain and brand, McD understands that success will only come if it captures the liking of the locals in all markets.
Hence, the re-launch of Ayam Goreng McD also forms part of its efforts on localising a global brand operating in Malaysia, an area which the fast food chain has been putting a lot of effort on. It also introduced a local favourite “cakoi” or “youtiao”, tailoring its breakfast menu and promotions to Malaysian’s needs.
Perhaps one of the reasons why McD is so successful in marketing products in both Malaysia and Singapore is probably because it understands the importance of localising taste buds. Hence, giving each of its markets the freedom and liberty to operate independently. After all, who would know more about the local consumers’ food preference than its staff operating in the respective markets?
“McD has always operated independently in every market, and the local teams are given full liberty to execute marketing plans that are relevant in their own countries. This gives McD the unique advantage of being an international brand, but at the same time remain locally relevant in different countries,” Lee added.
But again, it is probably the culture and spirit of fearlessness and willingness to take risks in their marketing campaigns or even just a re-launch of its original McD Ayam Goreng with an interesting twist, which makes McD well known within the local marketing industry.
In neighboring Singapore, McD also just had another round of marketing success on its Nasi Lemak burger, Chendol flavoured ice-cream and Bandung McFizz, as part of a campaign with NS50 and the Singapore Food Festival 2017. Be it content or native marketing, the campaign created a lot buzz especially on social media and even caught the attention of local and international press.
A paradigm shift in media buys
It is also true that social media and mobile are increasingly becoming a critical platform to Malaysians these days. The country is quickly transforming into a mobile tech-savvy country, with more Malaysians owning smartphones and having access to the internet.
On trends unique to Malaysia, Lee said, just three years ago, traditional media such as television and newspapers were considered the “go-to” media of choice to reach consumers. But today, especially in urban settings, it is almost impossible to reach a young working adult if you are not in the digital sphere.
As such, there has been a major paradigm shift at McD in terms of its media buying patterns. Lee said, "Three years ago, we were spending 80% of our media budgets on traditional platforms, with digital buys often being an afterthought.
Today, McD Malaysia has completely flipped its media strategy around, and focusing 70% of its budgets on digital platforms such as Facebook and Google.
He added that this shift is timely, and is also a major part of McD Malaysia's marketing success in recent years.
In executing various campaigns, Lee and his team work closely with its creative agency Leo Burnett, media agency OMD, and iDotYou as our digital and social media agency.
Is there a perfect agency-client relationship?
In Lee’s mind, the perfect agency-client relationship is like any other relationship that needs a compromise and balance. He said: “As a client, we have to be willing to step out of our comfort zones to explore new and innovative ways to approach marketing. It’s very easy to say NO to agency ideas because they are too 'out there' or make us feel uncomfortable. However, being brave, taking risks and challenging the status quo are crucial to producing stand-out marketing campaigns that customers pay attention to.”
On another note, it is crucial that agencies are not being too “hung up” or attached to a creative idea.
“At the end of the day, the client has sales and business targets to answer for. Asking for the company logo to be '20% bigger' for the sake of visibility and top-of-mind awareness is not a deliberate attempt to ruin their beautifully crafted visuals,” he added.
Therefore, a perfect agency-client relationship occurs when that balance is achieved.
It’s a "perfect" match when clients that are willing to explore and experiment, meet with agency teams that are willing to leave "creative-ego" at the door.
Lee was promoted to his current role in November last year from his prior role at McD Malaysia as senior marketing manager. He joined the company in July 2009 as marketing officer before climbing up the ranks.
As marketing director at McD Malaysia, Lee is in charge of everything that its customers see, be it a point of sale material at the restaurant, a billboard on the highway, or a banner on a website. Lee also works closely with its agency partners to ensure effective communications in reaching out to its customers.
The company works closely as a cross-functional unit, where no department is above the other. Because marketing is always the focal point, Lee said the biggest challenge for him, is managing the different departments that encompasses supply chain, finance, IT, and operations.
Reporting to CMO Melati Abdul Hai who leads marketing, corporate communications, and consumer and business insights, Lee’s team currently consists of seven marketers that manage the campaigns nationwide for McD Malaysia.
Stakk Factory Limited has sacked almost all its staff, leaving only seven logistics staff in the company, one of its celebrity staff member's Facebook LIVE video (pictured) revealed last Friday.
The media company, which is backed by telcom giant PCCW's chairman Richard Li, already cut 24 IT staff, including its technical director, in June as part of the company's restructuring to lure more Chinese readers.
Friday's staff cut once again reflect its shift in priorities towards Chinese readers, and away from localised content.
A Stakk spokesman said that the company is in the process of restructuring to revamp its content, and that it will bring new experiences to its audience in the future.
Stakk, which targets young audiences through interesting video content, was first launched in April 2016. Its Facebook page currently has around 7.58 million followers on Facebook.
SuperCharger FinTech Accelerator is seeking applications from international fintech start-ups and scale-up companies to participate in its first fintech accelerator in Malaysia. The objective of the complimentary, 12-week programme is primarily to help promising fintech companies grow their business in Asia.
Following its second accelerator programme in Hong Kong, SuperCharger makes the move to Malaysia with founding partner, Standard Chartered Bank. This is in collaboration with local partners, Allianz Malaysia and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). The programme looks to provide participating fintech companies with market entry resources, outstanding mentorship and strategic counsel from industry experts and venture capitalists.
According to a press statement, SuperCharger said it is searching for fintech companies that will shape the digital economy with next generation solutions. Applicants across all verticals of fintech, including WealthTech, InsurTech, payments and alternative lending, and TechFin, including AI, distributed ledger and cloud-based applications, are welcome to apply to the no-fee, no-equity programme.
“Malaysia is a key market for us and has established itself as a global centre for Islamic finance. These initiatives give us the opportunity to uncover the brightest fintech companies which will help us deliver the best finance solutions for our customers," Shameek Kundu, Standard Chartered’s global head of data, technology strategy and innovation, said.
“We are currently collaborating on a proof of concept project with Standard Chartered which could potentially transform the bank’s global client onboarding process through the application of blockchain technology. The partnership with Standard Chartered has made an impact on our business because we had to build bank-level infrastructure, security, availability and reliability while also being focused on what the customer needs," KYC-Chain’s founder and CEO Edmund Lovell, said. Lovell is an alumnus of the 2017 cohort of SuperCharger FinTech Accelerator Hong Kong.
“It’s very encouraging to see a number of early adopters fully embrace digitisation in the finance industry, having recognised its potential and risks in the context of their existing business models. MDEC has helped several financial institutions to work with start-ups and co-develop FinTech solutions that have helped them develop their own in-house innovation framework. However, many are still lagging behind and they need to change and embrace disruption," Dato’ Ng Wan Peng, chief operating officer of MDEC, added.
“FinTech companies have a growing influence on financial services and we are very keen to partner with some of these start-up companies to come up with new and exciting products and solutions for our customers. We are confident that our partnership with Standard Chartered and MDEC will help Allianz Malaysia tap into some of the best innovations and ideas made available by fintech companies today,” Allianz Malaysia’s chief executive officer, Zakri Khir, said.
SuperCharger’s expansion into Malaysia comes at a time when the country is experiencing a flurry of activity in fintech. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) admitted start-ups into its regulatory sandbox for the first time earlier this year and the Securities Commission continues to push for supportive regulation on new innovations, like equity crowdfunding. Moreover, Malaysia is exploring how to become a conduit for new financial innovations, including growing interest in Sharia-compliant fintech services.
SuperCharger FinTech Accelerator is open for applications until 18 August 2017. The programme will commence in Kuala Lumpur on 25 September 2017 and conclude with Demo Day in December 2017. SuperCharger was first launched in Hong Kong in 2015 to discover, train and scale promising fintech companies focused on Asia. To date, 16 companies have undergone the programme.
GroupM Malaysia CEO, Girish Menon (pictured), will be taking on a new role as vice president, client development, [m]PLATFORM APAC, effective October this year. Prior to the move, Menon held the role for over seven years.
Meanwhile, GroupM APAC COO, Jon Thurlow, will take on the role of interim CEO for GroupM Malaysia, in addition to his existing responsibilities, while potential successors are considered. According to Mark Patterson, CEO Asia Pacific & chairman China for GroupM in a press statement, Thurlow will work with Menon over the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition.
“Of course, Menon remains in the family and closely associated with our Malaysia operations to provide continuity. Our company is evolving and it is our imperative to infuse our leadership with fresh thinking on the challenges marketers face today,” Patterson explained.
According to the statement, GroupM’s search for Menon’s successor will include candidates from a range of backgrounds that it believes “can add real value for clients”. Menon’s move to [m]PLATFORM reflects his desire to play an active role in expanding this offering, which is designed to help clients continue achieving their marketing objectives. This comes as consumer media consumption becomes ever more personal, Patterson explained.
“Our [m]PLATFORM team and our clients in the region will greatly benefit from a leader of Menon’s calibre focused in this area,” Patterson said.
“Working with GroupM in Malaysia has been an amazing experience for me personally and professionally over the past seven years. We have an incredibly capable and committed leadership across our agencies and specialist units. I am proud of what we have collectively achieved for our clients. GroupM in Malaysia has been a pioneer in the digital space over the past 10 or more years and I look forward to playing a role in the expansion of our [m]PLATFORM capabilities here in the coming months,” Menon said.
Most recently in Singapore, GroupM appointed Regan Baillie as the managing director for [m]PLATFORM Singapore. In a statement to Marketing, a spokesperson from Xaxis said that Baillie will helm the role of MD of Xaxis Singapore for now while the agency looks for a successor. Baillie was appointed to the role in 2015 and leads the overall business strategy and operations as well as spearheading future digital development in Singapore.
Earlier this year, Jenny Bullis was promoted to global chief strategy officer for [m]PLATFORM. In her new role, Bullis was charged with creating the strategy for the global roll out of [m]PLATFORM, ensuring that the data sets and the technology suite are the most powerful in every market in which GroupM’s agencies deliver media services.
[m]PLATFORM is the recently launched unit of GroupM which unifies all of the company’s data analytics, technology and digital activation capabilities in one team focused on helping clients to reach their targeted audiences across all addressable media.
