Sanofi has appointed Mindshare to handle its US$1 billion ad planning and buying business for over 60 countries worldwide, except Japan and the US. Publicis Media's Zenith was the incumbent on the global account for 10 years.
Media duties for the company's consumer healthcare division will be managed by Hakuhodo in Japan, while Havas Media will be responsible for the prescription business and media planning for consumer healthcare in the US, according to multiple media reports. Incumbent KWG, an independent US agency, will remain Sanofi's media buying agency for consumer products.
While the division of work is unclear, the agencies will support all of Sanofi's integrated marketing services, such as digital, PR and consumer advertising, according to Adweek.
Ogilvy & Mather is undergoing a global transformation into one single Ogilvy brand as part of chairman and CEO John Seifert’s "next chapter" strategy, and in China, one of the first major markets to implement this new structure, last week unveiled the new structure to staff at a town hall meeting in Shanghai. The plan is to complete the full integration across China by the end of 2017.
Following the launch of the new structure in China, Ogilvy China today announced several leadership appointments to activate the company’s Next Chapter strategy.
Sheilen Rathod will be moving to Shanghai in September as president of customer engagement and commerce for China. Rathod is a 17-year digital marketing veteran who specialises in strategic brand development and data-driven digital marketing. He has worked for brands across the US, Europe and Greater China, and was previously the managing director of OgilvyOne Hong Kong and a vice president of OgilvyRED, Ogilvy’s consulting practice.
In Shanghai, Yong Yuan and Ella Chan were both promoted to group managing director, jointly managing the Shanghai office and reporting to Debby Cheung, president of Ogilvy Shanghai. Thomas Zhu was promoted to group executive creative director, and will work alongside the recently-hired Cheeguan Yue.
In Shenzhen, Angela Chou was promoted to managing director of the soon-to-be-opened Ogilvy Shenzhen office.
“We are very excited to finally launch this new structure in China,” said Chris Reitermann, CEO of Ogilvy China and co-CEO of Ogilvy APAC. “It will allow us to focus in much greater depth on our clients’ business while allowing our staff to have greater exposure across a wide range of skills and capabilities. We believe that brands need a new and more integrated model with the most modern specialist capabilities, which we are able to deliver through this new structure.”
Commenting on the Shanghai launch and key appointments, Debby Cheung, president of Ogilvy Shanghai, said, ”It is a well-deserved promotion for Yong and Ella, who have always been comrade-in-arms in growing our business in Shanghai. They are both sought-after talents who are close to our client’s business and understand modern marketing. Their joint leadership, and the new One Ogilvy set up, will enable us to unleash Ogilvy’s full power and potential, which in turn will bring our business and reputation to new heights.”
Sheilen Rathod and Yong Yuan will both join Ogilvy’s China Exco.
Parenting portal Tickled Media has made three hires to its leadership team - Adrian Watkins (pictured centre), Zafar Anjum (pictured left) and Toshak Jethwani (pictured right) - in a bid to ramp up its presence in Asia Pacific. All three report to founder and CEO Roshni Mahtani.
In his newly created role as head of data and strategy - regional, Watkins is charged with improving operation processes within the company. He is also responsible for boosting Tickled Media's client engagements, internal campaign delivery process and data driven efforts. Watkins has close to 20 years of experience across areas such as media, content, marketing, data and digital transformation within brands, publishers and agencies.
Anjum joins regional head of branded content and will oversee client campaigns on the publishing assets of Tickled Media. He replaces Dazzle Ng, who has taken on the role of PR and communications lead. Anjum was previously the founder director of startup Kitaab International and head of content services for Ying Communications. Prior to that, he was the online editor at Executive Networks Media, formerly known as Fairfax Business Media, Australia.
As head of sales, Singapore and Malaysia, Jethwani will lead the sales team for Tickled Media across Southeast Asia, and is charged with doubling the firm's year-on-year revenue by growing sales in new markets such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. In the newly created role, he will also implement internal efficiency measures such as restructuring the sales team and their roles, alongside streamlining the sales process.
Tickled Media works with Mutiny Consulting for regular and ongoing trainings as it aims to ramp up video production capabilities and other services within the company.
Carousell and Marina Mandarin Singapore have come into the spotlight following a Carousell posting, which saw a jilted groom-to-be attempting to sell off a hefty wedding banquet package, going viral.
Following the fall-through of his wedding, the groom-to-be had his friend post a Carousell listing, in a bid to sell off a wedding banquet package purchased at hotel Marina Mandarin Singapore. The listing went viral for its description of the events which unfolded, and garnered sympathy from netizens online, and praise for the groom’s generosity and good spirit.
Taking this opportunity to show its humane side, Carousell reached out to the owner of the listing and offered to send something to the heartbroken groom. The move garnered praise from netizens.
In a conversation with Marketing, a Carousell spokesperson said that the team sent a care package along with a note of support for the former groom-to-be. This included messages of affirmation and support from its community.
“We hope this small gift will go some way in helping him move on to better things in life,” the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson further explained that the Carousell community is one which is active and on a daily basis, it recognised that many users find meaningful experiences when using the platform.
“While we were quite saddened by this particular man’s story and plight, we were equally inspired by the outpouring of support for this man from our community,” the Carousell spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Marina Mandarin Singapore also came into the limelight when one user made a comment that the hotel had requested for the listing to be removed. A check by Marketing showed that the comment has since been deleted.
Nonetheless, many fellow Carousell users expressed surprise that the hotel did not use this as an opportunity to garner more publicity. When contacted by Marketing, a Marina Mandarin Singapore spokesperson simply said:
“We are looking into the matter and hope to continue working this out directly with the groom-to-be, so that both parties can come to a fair and reasonable outcome.”
In an follow up statement explaining the exchange, the spokesperson confirmed that the wedding dinner was booked for 13 October 2017 at Marina Mandarin Singapore.
Clarifying the series of events, the statement said that a tasting was conducted with the groom-to-be on 16 August 2017, which went smoothly with no mention of major issues regarding the wedding dinner. The next day, the hotel was informed of the groom-to-be's intention to cancel the wedding dinner altogether.
"We therefore did not expect the posting on Carousell on 17 August by a third party unknown to us, as we were already in talks with the client himself to resolve the situation," the spokesperson said.
Currently, the price of a wedding dinner package at Marina Mandarin Singapore starts from over SG$900, and is not transferable as per contract.
"Nonetheless, understanding the situation and being sympathetic to his plight, the hotel was agreeable to review his case and assist him through this difficult period," the spokesperson added.
313@Somerset has appointed boutique digital marketing consultancy Hashtag Interactive to manage its social media duties for a year. Hashtag Interactive will be responsible for 313@Somerset's Facebook and Instagram accounts, content design and development, media planning and community management.
"Hashtag Interactive is thrilled to be working with a dynamic, trend-setting company like 313@Somerset. Its diverse customer base and premium brand partners provide a unique value proposition that allows us to develop different campaigns and create interesting new content," Vincent Chin, managing partner, said in a statement confirming the move.
313@Somerset joints Hashtag Interactive's stable of clients including Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, Danone Singapore, the Singapore Airshow and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.
Mobme Asia has launched its lock screen application, Swype On, which will enable brands and publishers to inject content directly onto a consumer’s first point of engagement.
Research has shown that an average smartphone user unlocks his or her phone roughly 110 times a day spending an average of 3.5 hours on their phone. This behaviour has transformed the mobile screen into a 21st century billboard, on-the-go and always at hand, said Mobme Asia.
By using data, the company said Swype On is able to customise content for its users, bringing focused messaging and content to end consumers. The feature takes over the lock screen and delivers relevant content, specific to users’ categories of interest.
“Our vision when we developed Swype On was to put power back into the hands of our users. Power not in the sense of money earned, but the power to get the right messaging at the right time and place. This messaging can be anything from breaking news in your neighbourhood to your football club signing Lionel Messi or even weathercast within the hour,” said Felix Chu, chief executive officer and co-founder of Mobme Asia.
Swype On is Android-enabled, downloadable lock screen mobile application. A swipe to the left by users engages them directly with the advertisement displayed and transitions the action into direct cash reward that can be found in the built-in wallet known as Keys. Users will also automatically be entered into a monthly lucky draw of prizes, rebates and promotions.
Should the user be occupied and swipes right to unlock his or her smartphone, the content will be archived for later consumption while still earning cash rewards and chances for the monthly lucky draw. Redemption of cash rewards can only be claimed after RM100 is accumulated every month.
To ensure that users are only seeing relevant content, Mobme Asia has partnered with Have Halal, Will Travel (HHWT), a Malaysia-based content creator in the lucrative Muslim travel space, to create localised and meaningful content pertinent to Malaysians today. In the coming months, Mobme Asia said it will form more partnerships in the advertising, publishing, technology and services industries to bring more promotions, localised content and features to Swype On users.
Speaking on the limitations brands are facing in today’s advertising landscape, Chu said that when it comes to applicable and actionable messaging, traditional media spaces pose some restrictions in that there’s a clear disconnect between advertising message and consumer engagement.
“Swype On fills the necessary gap. We want to give brands the ability to direct meaningful messages to their consumers that can be acted upon. Swype On’s yet-to-be revealed partners have an aggressive growth plan that will provide access to more than 20 million Malaysians combined," she added.
Swype On is currently only available to Android OS devices in Malaysia.
Lenovo Data Center Group (DCG) has appointed B2B technology marketing agency GetIT Comms (GetIT) to manage its marketing duties in Asia Pacific. GetIT will be responsible for delivering focused messaging and tactical activation plans for the company's target markets across the region.
According to a press statement, GetIT helped Lenovo DCG with the setting up and running of ThinkCIO, a platform exclusive to chief information officers (CIOs). Through the platform, CIOs get access to a select collection of thought-leadership content to help drive digital transformation, as well as inspire and open new gateways of disruption.
GetIT also helped launch the new DCG Partner Program in Asia Pacific, a focused core solution microsite for lead generation, as well as injecting Asia Pacific context into Lenovo's global enterprise event. This is to drive awareness of Lenovo DCG's portfolio among the region's top CIOs.
“We required a strategic partner who could work as an extended marketing arm. GetIT proactively brings sharp insights, in-depth thinking and creative solutions to the table," Sachin Bhatia, CMO, Lenovo DCG, said.
“Our engagement with Lenovo DCG started with a small pilot and onto tactical programs. Lenovo’s zeal to disrupt the data center market spills over to their marketing thinking as well, and gave us the confidence to deliver results while exploring new ground,” Anol Bhattacharya, CEO of GetIT Comms, said.
Earlier this year, Lenovo appointed WE Communications (WE) as its communications agency to help the brand transform from a PC maker into a premium customer-centric brand across the Central Asia Pacific region. WE was tasked to lead the Asia Pacific strategic communications hub to drive Lenovo’s PR and communications strategy across its four Asia Pacific regional teams.
Lenovo's mobile business group also brought on board Simran Dhindsa as the digital marketing head for Asia Pacific region in May. Dhindsa is responsible for strategising and managing the digital presence of Moto and Lenovo mobiles in the Asia Pacific region including Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and India.
The much-anticipated SEA Games 2017 is finally here. While it is a great time for Malaysia to truly shine and promote the country to the world, especially after the slew of bad PR it had gotten in the recent years, the road to recovery has been bumpy so far.
It all started when Singapore swimmer Joseph Schooling was misquoted to be taking jibes at Malaysia for wanting to teach Malaysians "a thing or two" at the games. However, this was soon overshadowed by the news of the Indonesian flag, in the official souvenir book for the opening of Kuala Lumpur SEA Games 2017, being printed wrongly. In the souvenir guidebook, the Indonesian flag appears upside down and looked very much like the Polish flag instead.
In response to this incident, the SEA Games official organiser quickly issued an apology saying: "We would like to sincerely apologise to the people of Indonesia for the inadvertent error of publishing the wrong flag for Indonesia." It added, "We very much regret the mistake and trust the strong bond between the two countries will further strengthen in the spirit of the SEA Games."
Nonetheless, with the games being of such high profile, regional and global media outlets spread word of flaw in a matter of hours. The news was reported on Channel NewsAsia, The Straits Times, Reuters, ABCNews, Times of India and many other news outlets.
This led to Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, on Saturday, apologising to his Indonesian counterpart Imam Nahrawi, both on Twitter and in person. In Jakarta, Indonesian President Joko Widodo also told media that while the incident concerned national pride, all parties should refrain from exaggerating the issue and blowing it out of proportion, according to online media Detik.com.
However netizen sentiments have been harder to control with many taking their discontent to Twitter, and starting the hashtag #ShameOnYouMalaysia.
Missed opportunity?
Meanwhile PR and branding players such as Joseph Barratt, managing director of Mutant Communications agreed that the SEA Games could be a great opportunity for Malaysia to build greater cross-cultural and national understanding across the region. However, it is also a "shame something like this detracts" from all the positive exposure the nation could have gathered.
"It looks like a sloppy mistake that reflects poorly on Malaysia. But that's the extent of it - it is a mistake," he said, adding that this was clearly not a deliberate effort to disparage Indonesia.
"[The Malaysian authorities] clearly didn't have the right checks and balances in place, and in this instance, it translated into a minor diplomatic incident," Barratt added.
Nick Foley, president for Southeast Asia Pacific and Japan for Landor said this latest blunder signals an "unfortunate mistake" that raises questions on Malaysia’s ability to smoothly organise a global event.
"If this proves to be a one-off error, then the likelihood is the public will focus more on the event itself and less about what’s occurring off the field," he said.
Foley said overall, the SEA Games is still very much in its infancy.
"Whilst they’re not the Olympics, the event helps to prepare athletes to go above and beyond in their sporting ambitions. The key difference between the SEA Games and the Commonwealth Games is reputation and legacy. The SEA Games is still very much in its infancy."
Mobile platform Unlockd has partnered with Indonesia youth mobile brand AXIS, which is part of XL Axiata. The partnership resulted in the formation of “Swapps”, a mobile application which aims to help AXIS customers save more on mobile phone costs.
This allows customers to reduce the amount spent on their mobile phones in exchange for viewing targeted ads, news content and offers. According to a press statement, the company is aiming to give back US$500 million in value to mobile users by 2025, and claims it has already given tens of millions within the first 18 months.
The move also follows the recent investment of Malaysia’s Axiata Digital into Unlockd in May. This saw the former leading a funding round to help Unlockd with its Asia expansion plans. The strategic partnership provided direct access to the group’s carrier businesses and local knowledge and key talent in the region.
“Our partnership with AXIS in one of the world’s fastest growing smartphone markets will see us adding value to the country’s hyper-connected youth consumer segment. We understand this group of people is extremely driven by value and are glued to their mobile devices. We are confident that Swapps will be able to engage them in new and innovative ways,” Aliza Knox (pictured), COO of Unlockd said.
“AXIS is always looking at new and innovative ways to engage with our customers and give them the best value for money. We believe that our customers will welcome the opportunity to save even more on their mobile spend in exchange for viewing selected advertising,” Robert Langdon, head of AXIS, said.
In April this year, Unlockd hired Knox as the company’s chief operating officer. Prior to the appointment, Knox was APAC vice president at Twitter, where she built and led Twitter’s APAC sales teams and self-serve advertising business.
CtrlShift, an audience solutions company, has tied up with seven leading publishers in Malaysia to launch the region’s first independent private marketplace for digital advertising called “AMP”, an Asia’s by-invitation marketplace for premium inventory.
These seven publishers include MediaPrimaDigital, Star Media Group, RevAsia, MalayMail Online, SinChew Online, Tantannews.com and Cari.my. The marketplace offers marketers access to over 11 million monthly unique visitors in the country.
After Malaysia, CtrlShift said it plans to roll out AMP in other markets beginning with Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.
AMP basically gathers these leading publishers and media companies, to offer premium ad inventory (the most high-performing advertising space) and audience segments to marketers. It packages specific audience segments, for example digitally savvy moms seeking food products for their families - by allowing marketers to purchase brand safe ads (ads guaranteed to appear in well-known websites) across multiple websites, based on the audience segment they want to target.
To further explain, publishers are invited to a private virtual auction platform where they offer their premium (best performing and most valuable) ad inventory, packaged together with audience data. These data include the audiences’ interests, intent, habits and demographic information. CtrlShift does this with the help of a technology stack that includes data management platforms (DMP) and supply-side platforms (SSP).
Meanwhile, brand advertisers, trading desks or agencies have access to the inventory through their own trading platforms, where they bid for the inventory starting with a given floor price. The inventory goes to the highest bidder. Bidding for the inventory and audience segments is also available via The Hub, CtrlShift's media management platform.
Reza Behnam, co-founder and executive chairman at CtrlShift, said: “AMP is the answer to a strong call from Asia Pacific marketers to have access to audiences through a curated pool of high quality inventory from leading publishers. With AMP, they can be assured that they are getting a competitive, auction-derived price for brand-safe inventory while having the benefit of targeting nuanced audience profiles.
“The premium inventory, until recently mostly purchased by marketers directly from individual publishers, is now available in a secure, scalable and automated environment. While we are meeting marketers' needs, we are also championing the interests of premium publishers in our region, offering a competitive alternative to the current duopoly (Facebook and Google),” he said.
In France, Spain and the US, publishers’ alliances have been formed to address the challenges faced by marketers such as data transparency, brand safety and fake news. For publishers, it's the undervalued inventory and competition from bigger publishers, duopoly of Facebook and Google. However, these alliances can be complex to run and use as they require consensus of all publishers, CtrlShift said.
With AMP, CtrlShift said it manages the inventory of the different publishers in a neutral and unbiased manner. This allows premium inventory of multiple leading publications to be pooled together, offering a wide range of ads in different formats to marketers, without the need for publishers themselves to set up such complicated formal alliances.
Building programmatic expertise
CtrlShift said it also working with publishers to build their programmatic expertise around the AMP platform, and with agencies to facilitate the integration of the platform with agency trading desks. AMP can also generate insights such as details on audience value and demand, yield analysis and individual campaign learnings.
Diana Boo, head of publisher solutions, said: “AMP offers publishers a new sales channel for their premium ads, ensuring all premium ad inventory is fairly valued and providing higher yields compared to open real-time bidding (RTB) environments. AMP is also the solution to the widespread issue of brand safety, knowing that ads will appear in select websites and delivered to real audiences. We ensure this by maintaining AMP as a “invitation only” PMP, carefully selecting participating publishers.”
For marketers, the use of audience data to target ads at specific audience segments ensures that the ads are being delivered to relevant viewers. This increases the likelihood of viewers converting into buyers, resulting in better campaign outcomes. An alternative for marketers is to purchase inventory directly from the different publishers – a costly and time-consuming process as brands have to negotiate prices with each publisher individually.
Programmatic is increasingly recognised as an efficient way to buy digital ads. With the persistent issue of poor inventory quality, opportunities abound for private marketplaces, particularly in Southeast Asia where there is currently a lack of providers. Adweek also estimated that the private programmatic industry to be worth US$8.6 billion last year.
Ad tech firm Blis has launched operations in Malaysia and appointed Mohanarajah Visuvanathan (pictured) to lead as agency group head, amid further Asian expansion. The new role will see him leading Blis’ sales, operations and growth. He will report to Richard Andrew, regional business director Asia, Blis.
The expansion into Malaysia follows Blis’ recent opening of an office in Indonesia, underpinning a heightened commitment to the Asia Pacific market which will see additional offices opened in the Philippines and Thailand over the coming months.
With over 13 years of experience, Visuvanathan is an accomplished digital strategist and business leader, having held senior roles at Sizmek, Mkini Dotcom and Out There Media. He most recently joins from MobMe Asia where he was regional director, overseeing sales, partnerships, strategy and operations.
"I’m very excited to be joining Blis at a time where mobile and location data are becoming a core pillar of brands digital strategy in Malaysia,” Visuvanathan said.
“This year alone we’ve seen smartphone penetration grow to over 80%, and with this comes an enormous opportunity for marketers to better understand and engage Malaysian consumers. I’m excited to enable brands and media agencies to leverage Blis’ unique insight into movement data to do this," he added.
“Visuvanathan has a unique insight into the Malaysian market which makes him an invaluable partner in a time when Blis is undergoing heightened investment across the region. Establishing operations in Malaysia, one of the region’s fastest growing mobile markets, ensures we are well positioned to engage top media agencies who are increasingly shifting budget to programmatic spend,” Andrew added.
The Cooler Lumpur Festival, Kuala Lumpur’s annual multi-disciplinary celebration of culture and ideas, is once again partnering with TBWA\Kuala Lumpur (TBWA\KL), while PopDigital will curate the event.
Now in its fifth year, the festival took place over the weekend at the White Box, Publika. This year’s theme; "Notes from the Future" aims to capture the essence of Kuala Lumpur, providing an insight and understanding how the country will shape itself in the years to come, especially with rapid changes the city undergoes each year.
TBWA’s involvement includes re:cover, a creative interpretation of 12 local classic albums by 12 designers such as Driv Loo, Tan Sueh Li, Ellie See, NS Foon, Liana Azwa, Zoe Lee, Faridz Husaini, Amirul Halim, Izmeq Fenner, Chun Boon, Olivia Ariferiani and Aida Sa’ad (@yellowmushmellow). Supported by The Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM), the initiative looks to explore how music transcends time through creative interpretations.
In addition, TBWA\KL will introduce T.O.B.I, (TBWA’s Own Bot Implementation) a robot “from the future” that can converse with the audience; specially-designed enamel pins featuring art that reimagine the agency’s take on a futuristic Malaysia; a letter-writing booth for attendees to pen letters from their future selves, and a Disruption Talk featuring notable Women in Business, who will provide different perspectives on empowerment.
“We are very proud to partner The Cooler Lumpur Festival, for the second consecutive year, and our involvement has certainly expanded," Yee Hui Tsin, chief operating officer of TBWA\KL, said.
“The re:cover project has grown at least three times in size, and we’re really excited about T.O.B.I, our robot. As the Disruption agency, we hope to continue investing in this cultural platform, and provide some truly thought provoking content," she added.
Google has released its YouTube Ads Leaderboard for the first half of 2017, showcasing the top 10 most creative ads that resonated with Singaporean viewers between January to June 2017. Some key themes observed from the leaderboard for Singapore include catchy jingles to heartwarming short films.
1. [Singapore] Gillette Salutes the NSman in You - Long Version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smqvWniiMc8
Coming in first place is Gillette's #GilletteSalutes campaign, which was done in partnership with the Singapore Armed Forces. To resonate with the national serviceman (NSman) in every male Singaporean individual, Gillette released a spot of a man going through daily life with throwback memories to his time in national service. The spot is accompanied with a revamped version of a popular Hokkien song about soldiers and was directed by local director Jack Neo. The spot garnered 519,222 views at the time of writing.
2. SPARKS mini-series – Episode 6: New Beginnings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0eRYYm05Hc
Taking the second spot is DBS's SPARKS mini-series, which follows a group of young bankers as they navigate work and personal lives. According to the bank, the series is inspired by true stories where the bankers challenge the status quo to go above and beyond when solving unusual client challenges. The spot garnered 384,391 views on YouTube at the time of writing.
3. McDonald's Seoul Spicy Burger (30s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkcw7RQRfPo
Taking the third spot is McDonald's advertisement for its Seoul Spicy burger which was launched in March this year. Parodying Korean dramas, the commercial stars a lady smitten with an unconventional beau – the Seoul Spicy Burger. The campaign was conceptualised by DDB Singapore. The spot garnered 358,490 views at the time of writing.
4. Deja Cashback Comparison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDdOKvSsb_k
To promote its mobile app and inform consumers of the potential 5% cashback which can be earned when used, Deja launched a spot starring two ladies, one who uses the app, and one who doesn't. The spot garnered 256,573 views at the time of writing.
5. Together Apart: Beijing, Mumbai, Tampines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5BwLEaSDVM
Taking the fifth spot is Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI)'s "Together Apart". The spot focuses on a group of national service recruits who bicker during a week of training. The short film was directed by Kelvin Tong, based on the logline submitted by Alvona Loh to Project Lapis Sagu. It explores local-foreigner relations and issues of social integration through various lenses. The spot garnered 213,881 views at the time of writing.
6. Celebrate Togetherness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZgGWLqWEx4
As part of the Chinese New Year celebrations, Singtel released a spot which follows the journey of a lion dance troupe and the journey experience in the process. The spot explores the themes of joy and meaning when it comes to being together as a family. The spot garnered 181,761 views at the time of writing.
7. Our Everyday is Defending Yours (The Naval Diver)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_L9oCPFfaI
Coming in seventh place is a spot by the Ministry of Defence Singapore. The spot follows the career of naval divers from different perspectives. This includes being out to sea, training in a pool, diving and bomb defusion. The spot garnered 158,268 views at the time of writing.
8. BTS: Happy Can Already! with Chee Hong Tat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WezFgQ6Jsus
Taking the eight place spot is a video uploaded by Gov.sg. The video features Chee Hong Tat, Minister of State for Health and Communications and Information who makes a special appearance in "Happy Can Already!", a Singapore Chinese variety series. In the spot, Chee shares tips on active ageing and healthy eating in line with Chinese New Year festivities. The spot garnered 103,465 views at the time of writing.
9. Singaporeans Try: Reacting To Their Resumes | EP 98
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVrBpcw-j_k
Coming in ninth place is a content marketing piece by The Smart Local (TSL) which was done in collaboration with job portal Jobstreet. Part of TSL's Singaporeans Try series, the video sees members of the TSL crew reacting to the cover letters which got them an interview and position at the media company. The spot garnered 198,902 views at the time of writing.
10. Shop as you are with RedMart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLKXeUrcfS0
Coming in tenth place is Redmart. The video is part of a campaign which encourages consumers to “shop as you are”. This was in a bid to establish the brand’s image as an efficient and quick-solution platform for shopping at any given point of time. The campaign was launched in February together with JWT Singapore. The spot garnered 99,911 views at the time of writing.
Google's YouTube Ads Leaderboard is a half yearly list demonstrates the significant use of online videos in engaging with audiences locally and YouTube as a crucial platform in brands’ marketing strategies.
“Singaporeans love their online videos more than ever. With YouTube reaching more than 4 million people in Singapore every month, brands like Gillette, Singtel and DBS continue to use online video as a powerful medium to engage their audiences. The latest YouTube Ads Leaderboard demonstrates that Singaporeans are constantly looking to YouTube for music, entertainment and the best deals," Stephanie Davis, country director for Google Singapore, said.
Pan Pacific Hotels Group has appointed Cinn Tan as chief sales and marketing officer to oversee sales and marketing. Meanwhile, Kevin Croley has been hired as senior vice president, business development in a newly-created role in the executive management team.
Both roles are based out of Singapore. Croley will focus on developing strong relationships with third-party owners and the sourcing of new management agreement opportunities for the Group in key markets across Asia Pacific, North America and Europe.
He was previously senior vice president, marketing, with the Group, where he led the development of its brand strategies as well as its loyalty, distribution and digital platforms. Over a diverse 30-year career in hospitality, Croley spent 25 years of experience in the Asia Pacific region. He has held senior positions with Hilton Worldwide, Anantara and InterContinental Hotels Group.
Tan takes on the newly-created role of chief sales and marketing officer, where she will be responsible for driving the marketing and sales strategy and synergising efforts across the Group’s portfolio of Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL hotels, resorts, and serviced suites. Tan brings more than 20 years of Asia-focused sales and marketing management experience.
She was most recently chief operating and marketing officer at Yearth Alliance, a start-up she co-founded to provide online sales and marketing capabilities as well as a loyalty programme to individual hotels and boutique chains in the region. Prior to this, Tan was based out of Shanghai where she headed marketing and sales as senior vice president of marketing and sales for Jin Jiang International Hotels, the largest hotel group in China.
Tan started her career in hospitality with the Ascott Group, where she spent more than 10 years in Singapore and China leading its sales, revenue and distribution, as well as branding and marketing functions.
“In an ever-changing environment, we must constantly reposition ourselves to maintain our competitive edge, and the right people will help us manage change and achieve results. Croley and Tan are highly competent professionals in the hospitality sector with extensive business networks, deep knowledge and expansive skill sets, and we are delighted that they are taking up these strategic positions in our leadership team," Lothar Nessmann, chief executive officer, Pan Pacific Hotels Group, said.
"With a renewed growth strategy and a management team which is strengthened by the addition of these two experienced and capable leaders, we are in a stronger position to capture growth opportunities in the region and beyond, and to reinforce our brand presence as one of Asia’s most established hotel companies,” Nessmann added.
Qantas has partnered with Destination New South Wales (DNSW) to launch a new content series, geared towards Singaporean travellers. Titled “Meet the Sydneyporeans”, the three-part video mini-series features Singaporeans living in Sydney and beyond.
Produced by FALCON Agency, the series was launched today on Qantas’ YouTube channel and microsite. It stars MasterChef Australia 2012 contestant Audra Morrice, who was most recently also a judge on MasterChef Asia in 2015. It also features a family and a young couple. In each episode, the “Sydneyporeans” bring viewers on a tour of their favourite spots across New South Wales. Watch the trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45kfKzpf0Tw
According to the press statement, the series is designed to introduce the sights, sounds and flavours of New South Wales through the eyes of the featured Singaporeans. The website also features information about the locations showcased in the series so that travellers can customise their own itineraries.
Offerings featured have also been curated by Singaporeans who are now experts, having lived in New South Wales and discovered local gems which can appeal to fellow Singaporeans.
In a statement, Destination NSW CEO, Sandra Chipchase, explained that Singapore is an important source market for tourism to Sydney and New South Wales. This is with 120,500 overnight visitors travelling to New South Wales and staying more than 1.4 million nights in the year which ended March 2017.
“Singaporeans are sophisticated travellers and very familiar with New South Wales. In fact, almost 75% of overnight visitors from Singapore to New South Wales are repeat visitors. This campaign allows Destination NSW and Qantas to highlight what’s new, what the locals love, and what Singaporeans must see – all curated from a truly Singaporean perspective,” Chipchase added.
“As Australia’s national carrier, we are proud to share with Singaporeans the amazing natural beauty, incredible food and dining scene and popular beach spots in New South Wales. We are excited to be working with Destination New South Wales and Audra to help Singaporeans get the most out of their trip to Australia,” Benjamin Tan, Qantas SVP for Asia and Papua New Guinea, said.
Café de Coral Holdings Limited has just announced the appointment of Joyce Chiu as assistant corporate director, corporate communications.
In her new role, Chiu will oversee the communications department, and will be responsible for leading communications and public relations efforts including media relations, issues management, CSR strategy, and reputation management.
Prior to joining Café de Coral, Chiu was the associate PR director for LeEco (Letv) between 2014 and 2017.
Before that, Chiu was the vice president of Madison Communications Ltd, as well as senior PR manager at Shun Hing Group. She has also spent seven years in Ketchum Hong Kong leading the brand marketing team.
"With an experience of over 18 years in the agency and in-house environments, Joyce brings extensive experience in corporate communications, brand communications, B2C marketing, engagement planning, and influencer and social marketing to the company," said the release.
The topic of "Smart Nation" has been all the buzz lately, with the formation of the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group and GovTech, as well as initiatives such as Wireless@SG and plans for a fully cashless transport system by 2020. But what exactly is a "Smart Nation"?
Most recently in his National Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong defined the term as Singapore taking full advantage of IT, and using it to "comprehensively" create new jobs and business opportunities. This is in a bid to make Singapore's economy more productive and citizens' lives more convenient.
He cited being a Smart Nation as one of the long term objectives that is crucial to the success and well-being of Singapore. While Singaporeans have a natural advantage of being highly connected and digitally literate, Prime Minister Lee highlighted the importance of simplifying and integrating the electronic payments systems in Singapore, which is one area that the country is still lagging behind compared to China.
China has surpassed most countries in Asia Pacific with the implementation of frictionless payments through WeChat Pay and AliPay. According to brand consultancy Prophet's first China Brand Relevance Index, AliPay and WeChat are the top two most relevant brands in the Chinese market, with the former owning 70% of China's mobile payment market in 2015.
To offer a better purchasing experience, AliPay is expanding into other markets such as Malaysia. Public Bank, for example, recently partnered with Alibaba Group's affiliate company Ant Financial Services Group to offer Alipay mobile wallet services in Malaysia. Genting also collaborated with CIMB Bank to introduce Alipay at Resorts World Genting, targeting primarily at Chinese visitors.
Meanwhile, WeChat, which has 700 million monthly active users, also became an integral part of consumers' lives by addressing a variety of daily needs such as digital payments, e-commerce and B2C customer service.
And while e-payments are not rare in Singapore, there is no one single consolidated payment system yet. As a result, six in 10 transactions locally are cash and cheques, said Prime Minister Lee. To solve this problem, the Monetary Authority of Singapore is now working with banks to launch a new service known as PayNow, which allows consumers to pay and receive money using their mobile banking app, regardless of which banks they use.
Impact on retail as we know it
Being a Smart Nation not only benefits the consumers but also retailers. According to Prime Minister Lee, "traditional retail is being transformed by technology". He cited marketplaces such as Redmart, Honest Bee and Amazon Prime gaining popularity among consumers, as well as online retailers setting up brick-and-mortar stores.
Prime Minister Lee said:
This means retail stores will not disappear. But traditional stores and businesses must adapt and reinvent themselves.
He added there is a need to use technology to offer consumers more efficient and convenient services. Supermarkets now have self-service counters, and the unmanned, cashless Cheers store at Nanyang Polytechnic enables customers to do self-checkouts while a back-end system tracks the inventory and automatically restocks. The implementation of this new technology allows Cheers to save on manpower and costs, while offering convenience to customers.
However, as the Singapore government continues to push the country towards becoming a Smart Nation, retailers in Singapore might still be a little behind in adopting new technology.
During a recent retail conference hosted by Marketing, Lucy McCabe, president, OgilvyRED Asia Pacific, said that while Singapore is one of the most technology enabled societies and its government supports innovation, Singapore is missing an opportunity to create memorable customer experiences by not integrating technology into stores, even as the retail capital of the world.
"There are lots of simple ways that we could be making the most of technology for in-store experiences," McCabe said.
Michael Tan, CEO at Singapore Productivity Centre, stated return on investment and the "daunting" process of transforming a brick-and-mortar business to be the main reasons that are holding retailers back from investing in new technology. Companies with many brick-and-mortar stores might not know how to go about creating an omni-channel experience, he said.
"The assumption companies have at the moment is that when they have an e-commerce store, they expect sales to come in but that rarely happens even though companies have spent a lot of money on building their online store," Tan added.
However, he believes that technology provides retailers with a level playing field because a blog shop can emerge as a key player and a brick-and-mortar store can provide an omni-channel experience. "Technology is the enabler," he said.
Tencent has announced that its senior executive vice president SY Lau has been appointed as Tencent's chairman of advertising and chairman of group marketing and global branding.
The appointment is part of Tencent's plan to adjust its structure for new opportunities in China's internet advertising industry, the Chinese gaming and social media firm said in a release. The company expects that China's online advertising will account for 64% of the market share in advertising. With social advertising currently taking about 8% to 9% of the whole advertising pie, and more than 50% of that coming from Tencent, Lau said he sees huge market potential.
Lau's responsibilities will be to coordinate advertising business with other sectors in the company with the aim of enhancing Tencent's branding influence in the global market, and developing strategic cooperation with international partners.
"For Tencent, a company whose market value has pushed it into the world's top ten through recording breaking share prices, the appointment of Lau will strengthen Tencent's strategic power in digital entertainment and information, while further combining content and technology," said the release.
Lau joined Tencent in 2006, and was recognised in the company for leading a hundred-fold increase in Tencent's online advertising revenue within a decade, from RMB267 million in 2006 to RMB27 billion in 2016.
"This is an era of algorithms"
Speaking about opportunities in the advertising industry, Lau identified a few phenomenons.
"On the one hand, cost-per-action (CPA) advertisement is growing fast. On the other hand, the growth speed of branding advertisements is slowing down. With regards to newsfeed advertising, cost-per-time (CPT) advertising is switching to cost-per-action. There's a great demand for news aggregation advertising. This has huge business potential. Short-form video advertising has also become a global trend on social media."
"I think what all of the internet companies agree on is that this is an era of algorithms", said Lau.
Quoting statistics that China's mobile newsfeed advertising witnessing a 110% growth rate over the year, bringing in almost 4 billion dollars of revenue in 2016, Lau said the revenue is expected to reach 6.6 billion dollars in 2017, meaning that algorithm-based intelligent push and newsfeed advertising is the mainstream model for Internet CPA advertising.
In Lau's opinion, Tencent could differentiate its advertising model in two ways: the value it brings for the stockholders as a stable source of revenue, as well as its role as a "connector", which combines different businesses through advertising.
"The future of Tencent advertising is to fully embrace social networks, video and mobile advertising. What I care about most is the coverage, as well as the penetration and retention rate."
Lau said the future directions of Tencent advertising's integration lies in first providing a comprehensive solution for big clients, by combining branding and performance-based advertisements to achieve high penetration rates; and second, raising the amount of small and regional advertisers for long tail clients by optimising and upgrading sales management and self-service tools to valuate advertising efficiency.
To promote its newly-launched "wedding gift card", Chow Tai Fook has rolled out a video series called “One Life. One Love” (一生一愛) which aims to stimulate couples at every stage of their marriage to ponder the true meaning of love, emphasising the importance of commitment in marriage.
The campaign consists of three chapters, namely, The Proposal, The Marriage and The Wedding Anniversary. Each chapter features a mini-film about the common issues that many couples encounter.
The first chapter, The Proposal starring Elva Ni (actress) and 6 Ho (leading vocalist of “RubberBand’) was launched in March. The story is about redefining the role of a “soulmate” in a relationship. The message is that a 'soulmate' is not merely the person who fulfills all the requirements on your checklist, but one that gives you the freedom to become a better person.
Chow Tai Fook invited Kate Yeung (actress) and Jason Wu (model) for the second chapter which rolled out in May. The Marriage illustrates that a “perfect marriage” does not mean looking for perfection at every turn, and instead appreciating that moments spent with a beloved are the happiest ones.
Continuing the momentum of the first two episodes, the last episode - The Wedding Anniversary - features Kearen Pang (Nice International Film Festival 2017 - award-winning director) as part of the creative effort, while also featuring her as the main character in the video. The story revolves around the concept of romance, and remembering your love every step of the way, regardless of the length of the marriage. The three online mini-films have racked up more than 4 million views over the past few months.
The recently launched wedding gift card introduced a new consumption model by offering one-stop services for all wedding essentials such as jewellery, wedding gowns, banquet arrangements and other services.
The campaign has received positive feedback and is bringing in considerable sales for wedding gift cards and bridal jewellery collections.
Desmond So, CEO of Uth Creative Group said, ‘The campaign of “One Life. One Love.” does not only utilise an unconventional approach to engage the younger segment, but also advocates a new consumption trend for couples to embrace. Both agency and client are thrilled by the remarkable results achieved in sales and brand building."
Credits
Client – Chow Tai Fook
Deputy head of marketing and PR: Angela Wong
Assistant marketing manager: Charmaine Leung
Agency – Uth Creative Group Limited
Chief executive officer: Desmond So
Associate creative director: Benny Yau
Senior art director: Joy Wong
Senior copywriter: Yan Yeung
Account director: Maggie Yuen
Account manager: Stella Fung
Senior account executive: Isabelle Wu
Film production
Director: Mo Chan (Yamanyamo)
Production: Yamanyamo Co. Ltd.
Art director: Wy Chan (Yamanyamo)
Line producer: Gu (Yamanyamo)
Production manager: Shay Chow (Yamanyamo)
Director of photography: A Kai @ Xex
Post-production: Seesaw Post Production
Editor: Saikei (Seesaw Post Production)
Assistant Editor: Patrick (Seesaw Post Production)
Visual Fx: Wing (Seesaw Post Production)
Sound effects and mixing: Gary (Giggle Music)
Co-shoot photography
Photography company: SAMAGANA
Photographer: The Buffacow
