To drive a deeper connection with millennials, Häagen-Dazs has partnered with integrated creative agency Rice 5 to reinvigorate the brand through the launch of a coconut and passionfruit ice cream and new cup design.
Hitting a target audience who love unique and uplifting experiences, Rice 5 focused on creating a multi-sensory campaign bringing together summer passion points of great food, friends, and music.
The campaign kicked off in June with a social media campaign to tease the new flavour, followed by a collaboration with local band Supper Moment.
Inspired by Häagen-Dazs’ new flavour, Supper Moment composed and showcased what is most likely the first original song inspired by ice cream - a tropical anthem that echoes the unique experience brought by Häagen-Dazs’ coconut and passionfruit flavour.
Surprising their fans with the collaboration and fresh take, Supper Moment debuted the song at an exclusive in-store live performance at the Häagen-Dazs Causeway Bay store. More than 50 lucky guests got their hands on a ticket by participating in a Facebook contest, describing what flavour of ice cream best describes the Supper Moment band. Both Häagen-Dazs and Supper Moment promoted the event across social media channels, resulting in an overwhelming response and a queue of Häagen-Dazs lovers and music fans outside the store trying to get a sneak peek of the show.
For those who couldn’t be part of the on-ground experience, the event was broadcast live on Facebook, reaching 543,000 people with a real-time experience. Online viewers were rewarded for showing their love and support with an additional surprise performance of Supper Moment's newest chart release.
The campaign continues to encourage fans to ‘love & share’ with others. Via a mobile activation, fans are rewarded with further incentives for sharing the song with loved ones.
The summer 2017 campaign is showing success in boosting the Häagen-Dazs brand in Hong Kong, driving sales of the coconut and passionfruit ice-cream flavours with more than 50,000 mobile activations and a coupon redemption rate of more than 30%.
NIDA Rooms is in the process of restructuring its existing business model, which also saw the exit of its three senior employees. In fact, the restructuring exercise first started "quietly" back in July last year, but is in full swing now.
Speaking exclusively to A+M, Kaneswaran Avili, NIDA Rooms CEO and co-founder revealed that as part of its latest strategic move, where the company plans to launch its own NIDA budget hotel soon. With the new offering, it aims to be the largest budget hotel chain in Southeast Asia in the next three years, penetrating countries such as Indonesia and Thailand.
Having started with soft partnership with over 4000 hotels in Southeast Asia, Avili said NIDA Rooms is now focusing on deeper integration with its hotel partners, and will roll out new product offerings to attract more customers and hoteliers. Avili said the company will announce more details soon.
He confirmed that three senior employees have since departed the organisation. This includes senior vice president of marketing at NIDA Rooms, Carmen Wong; chief technology officer Sudhakar Kondisetti; and chief financial officer Jason Lee. He added that the company is not looking for replacements at the moment.
"They joined NIDA Rooms to help me to kick start the business and now that we are in stable position, they have also moved on to pursue their own dreams. I am grateful to them. The company, just like any other startup, have and will continue to restructure until we are happy with the productivity, innovations and performance. It's a continuous trial and error."
Meanwhile, Wong told A+M that she is taking a short break before embarking on her new role and adventure. She joined NIDA Rooms in September 2016 and left in May this year. Back in Nida Rooms, Wong reported to Avili, in which she was leading the overall marketing, advertising and public relations divisions covering Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Phillippines.
Prior to that, she was a general manager at McCann Erickson Malaysia. In fact, the marketing veteran was also the chief commercial officer for AsiaAsia BIG Loyalty programme back in 2014 and, for the period May 2006 to July 2009, Wong was the head of marketing at AirAsia.
CMOs are turning to trusted media partners to help solve real problems.
CMOs have more on their plates than ever before. As marketing technologies evolve, so do expectations, and challenges lie in how well they respond to change. This is coupled with the age-old problem of driving short-term results while building a long-term brand.
If that wasn’t enough, their roles are being impacted by industrywide issues, such as fake news, ad blocking, a perceived Facebook and Google duopoly and, of course, ad fraud.
[caption id="attachment_191455" align="alignnone" width="550"] Study conducted by the CMO Council and Dow Jones on Brand Safety, June 2017[/caption]
Major brands have been pulling millions of dollars in advertising this year amid rows over where their ads are ending up on YouTube – and sites that are driven by algorithms.
The digital technology which both empowers and enrages marketers is here to stay - thankfully. But when it comes to creating content and using it in the right medium, it doesn’t mean we should act like robots.
CMOs don’t want to be sold to
“CMOs don’t want to be sold to,” said Nicole Bales, Director, Asia Pacific, Integrated Marketing and WSJ. Custom Studios at The Wall Street Journal. “Instead, they are looking for trusted media partners who understand their needs and can work with them to develop genuine solutions.”
This is particularly true when a client has a complex issue to solve. WSJ. Custom Studios helped the Japan Cabinet Office spark conversations about the beneficial economic partnership between Japan and the United States.
Japanese companies like Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems America, Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America and Toyota Motor Manufacturing have been putting down roots in the U.S. heartland for years. According to official government data, some 840,000 jobs exist in the U.S. because of Japanese investment. Japan has consistently been the second-largest source of FDI; last year, Japanese FDI into the U.S. hit a record $411 billion.
This was the message of the Japan Cabinet Office’s recent ‘Greater Together’ campaign with WSJ. Custom Studios.
[caption id="attachment_191456" align="alignnone" width="500"] Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on stage at WSJ CEO Council, Tokyo[/caption]
“The campaign timing was critical in countering rhetoric and confronting the Trump administration on the issue of jobs,” said Bales. “Through targeted desktop and mobile placements, we invited readers to a campaign hub to view videos and articles which helped them understand the true value of Japanese investment. Then we brought this to life at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council meeting in Tokyo, at which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was a speaker.”
Other internationally-focused campaigns have been created for Tech Mahindra and Morgan Stanley.
India’s Tech Mahindra is driving game-changing customer-centric innovations and experiences. In 2016 U.S. growth became a priority, so together, Tech Mahindra and WSJ. Custom Studios created ‘In the Future’, a three-year digital content program of provocative, future-focused thought leadership content exploring transformative technology and global connectivity. The campaign was delivered straight to global private industry and political thinkers when launched at The World Economic Forum in Davos, and was front and center at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council meeting in Washington D.C. That content, and more, is permanently housed on the ‘In The Future’ portal, which is updated monthly. The brand partnership has already placed Tech Mahindra face-to-face with over 600 enterprise CXOs and resulted in millions of dollars of deals.
Immersive storytelling
WSJ. Custom Studios recently launched its first-ever virtual reality film series for Morgan Stanley, which has gone on to win multiple creative awards. ‘Capital Creates Change’ features stereoscopic 360 experiences, breath-taking video stories and challenging editorial. It takes readers to Kiribati, a Central Pacific island nation at the edge of climate change; the Nevada desert for an eagle-eye tour of First Solar’s 2,000-acre plant; and the iconic streets of San Francisco.
[caption id="attachment_191454" align="alignnone" width="500"] WSJCS Production team on location in Kiribati[/caption]
“The immersive storytelling examines how climate change impacts people around the world and how those affected have found opportunities to foster change,” said Bales.
The virtual reality execution was activated at The Wall Street Journal’s premier technology conference, D.Live in Laguna Beach, California, and at the inaugural D.Live Asia in Hong Kong event, plus has been used in a Times Square promotion in New York. The campaign has firmly positioned Morgan Stanley as a thought leader and responsible provider of finance to sustainability initiatives.
Campaigns created and delivered where clients need them
This level of storytelling is not confined to international campaigns.
Bales said: “In the last 12 months alone, The Wall Street Journal Japan edition has featured 35 campaigns, ranging from senior executive interviews on the digital transformation of the economy for HP Enterprises, to the spectacular launch of BMW’s 7 Series – all targeted at the domestic audience.
“It’s all about being with customers on the platforms they prefer. The Wall Street Journal is based on a membership model. So, we tailor our content to what our members want – be it smart words, spectacular visuals or the ability to network with like-minded people at our live journalism events.
“Clients are working with us because we can help them focus on being creative; develop content which carries real messages; and deliver that content in a trusted environment,” concluded Bales.
Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has come out in defence of a recent out-of-home execution for its upcoming Halloween Horror Nights event. The executions were found at bus stop shelters at Bugis Village, Clarke Quay and Hotel Rendezvous.
The bus stop execution features a marble wall commemorating lives which were “innocently taken in the Southpoint Mall collapse” (a fictional tragedy, of course). On the wall were misspelled names in alphabetical order followed by flowers and pictures of the “deceased” placed at the foot of the wall.
In a conversation with Marketing, a spokesperson from RWS said that the company was aware of the “variety of reactions on social media”. The objective of the campaign was also to creative drive awareness in an eye-catching, original and unconventional way. This was to give horror fans and the public a sneak preview of what they can expect at the event.
“The outdoor display ad has piqued public interest, especially as the Hungry Ghost Festival approaches. Commuters have been curious about the structure and seen taking pictures,” the spokesperson said.
The activation teases one of the attractions which will be found at the Halloween event, Southpoint Mall or a “death mall”. On a Facebook post promoting the execution, RWS also linked the post to a micro-site prompting users to buy tickets to the event.
Reactions to the execution were mixed, with some calling out the ad for its bad timing due to the approaching Seventh Month (or Ghost Month) festivities. Some users even threatened to report the ad while two netizens took pictures of the ad and criticised the ad for being “tasteless” on their Facebook pages.
However, there were also netizens who came to the defence of the ad, praising the ad for being “clever” and quickly recognising that the ad was a teaser for Halloween Horror Night.
Targeting young adults, the campaign runs on digital, outdoor and cinema ads throughout the duration of the campaign from 10 to 29 October 2017. The RWS spokesperson added that digital ads will be placed on various popular websites. This is to engage consumers through impactful, interactive formats and sounds through programmatic buys.
RWS also worked with Spotify to develop a series of customised playlists comprising tunes which reflect this year’s theme for Halloween Horror Nights - which is the seven new incarnations of deadly sins.
Scandinavian mobile operator Telenor Group is tipped to be launching a digital marketing unit in Singapore, led by Carrie Chen, head of trading desk operations, Asia Pacific, Marketing understands. Telenor declined to comment further.
Previously based in Bangkok, Thailand, Chen was the digital distribution manager at Telenor for more than one year. Before joining Telenor, she spent over two years with 701Search, with her last role being regional digital marketing manager. 701Search is a joint venture among Telenor, Schibsted Media Group and Singapore Press Holdings which operates online classifieds in Southeast Asia.
During her time there, Chen was responsible for strategy and operations as well as business development. To maximise conversions and boost top of mind awareness, she developed the overall marketing strategy that encompasses search, social, display, video, retargeting, mobile app installs and re-engagement.
Earlier this year, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) sold its stake in 701Search to Telenor for approximately US$109 million.
She also managed the Indonesian team to achieve traffic acquisition targets, and advised teams in Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam in their digital marketing efforts. Additionally, Chen also lead regional negotiations and managed vendor relationships for advertising and marketing technology contracts that amounted to annual values of more than US$1 million. Chen also worked at BNP Paribas.
With over 190 million subscribers in Asia alone, Telenor is a leading telco in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Myanmar. Last year, it launched a campaign titled #MoreThan across Malaysia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh featuring the personal stories of consumers. Created by creative agency The Secret Little Agency (TSLA), the campaign ran across across print, TV, digital, and social channels.
Telenor also added TSLA Design, the global branding and design practice of TSLA based out of Singapore and Shanghai, on to its global design and branding agency roster in 2016. The appointment came on top of an earlier integrated marketing appointment of TSLA as lead creative agency for Telenor Group.
Hang Lung Properties is set to mark a milestone in the history of its flagship Shanghai project, Plaza 66, to celebrate the completion of a transformation that looks to redefine luxury retail in mainland China.
Plaza 66 has undertaken a monumental asset enhancement initiative that will prepare this landmark of luxury for the future.
The transformation was spearheaded by US-based architecture firm, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF). Warm lighting illuminates the luster of the bronze and gold features used to create a unique ambiance that is contemporary, comfortable, and opulent as it unfolds its luxury into an extended retail gallery and expansive public enclosures.
In addition to a focus on optimising the shopping environment, Plaza 66 is also welcoming new international brands and new luxury flagship stores to China, consolidating the mall's unique position as the "home to luxury" on the Mainland.
The mall has over 100 fashion houses and their China flagship stores, including Berluti, Bottega Veneta, Bvlgari, Cartier, Chanel, Chopard, Dior, Hermes, Loro Piana, Louis Vuitton, Piaget, Prada, Van Cleef & Arpels, some of which are making their debut in China, such as Valextra and Chiara Ferragni.
Lazada, Zalora and 11 Street have been ranked the overall top three companies in Malaysia's e-commerce scene, according to a recent study by iPrice. Titled "Map of E-Commerce Malaysia", the study ranks Malaysia's top e-commerce companies based on their monthly traffic, number of social media followers and number of staff members.
Lazada, which received an overall average rank of 2.6, came out on top in monthly traffic ranking (29,367 million visits) and the number of Facebook followers (18,013 million). It took second place for app downloads (50 million) and Twitter (27,100 followers).
Zalora, which came in second place, scored an overall average rank of 4.4, and was fifth in terms of monthly traffic (2,383 million). It was ranked third for the number of app downloads (10 million) as well as followers on Twitter (27,000) and Facebook (6,262 million).
Clinching the third spot was 11 Street which had an overall average rank of 6.2 and 9,950 million monthly visits. It came out on top for Twitter (46,115 followers) and ranked fourth in the number of app downloads (1 million).
As the top three companies were all founded in Southeast Asia, it was highly likely that their knowledge of the local e-commerce scene gave them an advantage over companies such as eBay and Sephora which are also readily available to Malaysians, the study noted.
Malaysian fashion brands dominate Instagram
Bella Ammara, Naelofar Hijab, and Fashion Valet are the top three most popular e-commerce companies on Instagram, with over 800k followers, 556k followers and 518k followers respectively. According to iPrice, Bella Ammara was able to amass a huge following as it posted on Instagram 10 times lesser than Fashion Valet. Meanwhile, the study also noted that non-local fashion-centric brand Lazada came in sixth, with 350,000 followers, more than two times lesser compared to Bella Ammara.
Another reason why those three brands are popular among Instagrammers is due to their owners' large following on the social media platform. Carl Samsudin and Belle Al-Yahya, owners of Bella Ammara, have a combined number of 574k followers, while Naelofar Hijab's owner Neelofa has more than 4.9 million followers. Vivy Yusof, Fashion Valet's owner, has more than 1.2 million Instagram followers.
iPrice's study concluded that while not all fashion e-commerce companies received the same number of online traffic compared to their social media platforms, they still remained successful as their products are mostly sold through physical stores and e-commerce outlets such as Lazada and Zalora.
While Malaysian businesses are shifting from brick-and-mortar shops to e-commerce, Malaysian fashion e-commerce brands are doing the opposite. Naelofar Hijab, for example, began selling its products online in 2014 and opened its flagship store a year later. The e-commerce model is beneficial to the operations of fashion brands in Malaysia as it enables them to efficiently scale their business according to consumers' needs, said the study.
iPrice utilised public data provided by SimilarWeb, LinkedIn and social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to gather statistics regarding online traffic, number of staff and followers on social media.
Malindo Air has tied up with All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest and only 5-star airline, to offer passengers seamless travel and greater connectivity when travelling between ASEAN and over 200 routes on ANA’s network, according to The Star.
Quoted on The Star, Malindo Air CEO Chandran Rama Muthy said this will help push footfall in the number of transit passengers at KLIA. The airline currently serves over 46 cities in 16 countries, including 13 major airports in Malaysia.
The new bilateral interline deal is expected to allow "seamless" travel with the convenience of a single reservation across both airlines’ network. ANA is the fifth addition to Malindo Air’s interline partners, after Turkish Airline, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Oman Air. ANA passengers will be able to tap into Malindo Air’s growing regional network out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as well.
This comes at a point where Malindo Air was tipped to have a new name from second half of the year onwards. Earlier this year, The Star quoted the airline’s CEO Chandran Rama Muthy saying that the branding change will give the airline a better position in the Lion Air Group. Malindo is 49% held by Lion Group and the remaining 51% owned by Muthy. It will also ensure seamless domestic and international service.
Jakarta-based production company Seven Sunday Films has launched a new content division. Called The Eight Sunday, the new division will be led by Indonesian producer Yugi Darmawan (pictured left).
According to a press statement, the newly formed company aims to lead the way within the digital domain in the local market. This is to meet the increasing demand for quality online content delivered on time and on budget.
The new content division concentrates mainly on the Indonesian and Singapore markets. It also aims to fill a gap in the market for clients unable to commit to large-scale big budget commercials, but desire decent quality videos with concise and clear messaging.
The Eight Sunday will primarily concentrate on digital video content, and will also undertake some smaller budget TVC work, particularly when working with brands directly. It will also offer full service production, along with forming content ideas and providing copywriting services.
Seven Sunday Films most recently produced a regional spot for Uber, directed by Mark Toia, and shot in Indonesia. According to Rodney Vincent (pictured centre), executive producer of Seven Sunday Films, the spot is a good example of the type of projects The Eight Sunday will take on moving forward.
“At the end of the day, it all comes down to offering our clients solutions and managing their expectations. The digital wave in Indonesia is expanding by the day and there is a massive demand for quality digital content in this part of the world,” Vincent explained.
He added that there could be improvements made to the current quality of content surfacing out of the region, which he explained can be limited in production value and developed with unclear messaging.
“Since the core of our company’s philosophy has always been about quality and added value, we intend to make a difference and hopefully raise the production ante on digital films here in Indonesia,” Vincent added.
SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) said it has harnessed its digital core, bold technologies of the future, and its expertise in ERP to help customers make everything digital, programmable, and smarter. This is part of the company’s overall strategy to drive its innovation agenda and support customers’ digital transformation and journey to the cloud through its portfolio of solutions.
“As governments and businesses work towards a digitally-enabled ASEAN as outlined by the ASEAN ICT Masterplan 2020, we see plenty of opportunities for organizations from the public and private sectors alike to harness the power of data. In the digital economy today, data is the new gold for digital enterprises. SAP allows organizations to act instantly through real-time, data-driven insights to deliver delightful, meaningful experiences to their customers, employees, suppliers and partners,” said Claus Andresen, President and Managing Director, SAP Southeast Asia.
The ASEAN ICT Masterplan (AIM) 2020 was formulated and announced by telecommunications and IT ministers from ASEAN member states in November 2015 during the 15th ASEAN Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministers Meeting in Vietnam. The five-year plan provides guidelines to governments and businesses to drive the digital economy in ASEAN from 2016 to 2020.
In the Philippines, the government has set forward a “Philippine Digital Strategy” (PDS), a nationwide digital roadmap as outlined by the Department of Information and Communications Technology. The vision of the PDS is to move the Philippines towards being “a digitally empowered, innovative, globally competitive and prosperous society where everyone has reliable, affordable and secure information access”. Under this roadmap, the government is calling upon the private sector and civil society to partner with it in developing the country in all the elements of ICT.
According to IDC, organizations that capitalize and analyze all relevant data and deliver actionable information could achieve an extra $430 billion (on a worldwide basis) in productivity benefits over their less analytically oriented peers by 2020. "As more organizations in South East Asia become digitally-connected, they cannot escape this reality. The increasing volume and detail of information captured by enterprises, the rise of multimedia, social media, and the Internet of Things (IoT) will fuel exponential growth in data for the foreseeable future. Governments and businesses alike will need to be ready to leverage information and turn them into a key premise of competition, supporting new influxes of efficiency development, advancement, and customer surplus," says Chwee Kan Chua, Global Research Director, BDA and Cognitive/AI.
Defining the digital leader
According to a new global study by SAP, supported by Oxford Economics, 84 percent of global companies say that digital transformation is important to their survival in the next five years, but only three percent have completed company-wide efforts. The study was released at the SAP Asian Innovators Summit (AIS) at the Makati Shangri La, Philippines on August 17.
The global SAP Digital Transformation Executive Study: 4 Ways Leaders Set Themselves Apart is based on survey results from more than senior executives across 17 countries and regions, which include 195 business leaders from Southeast Asia. The research identifies the challenges, opportunities, value, and key technologies driving digital transformation.
Enterprises in the Philippines, meanwhile, are predicted to attain a macroeconomic scale over the next three to four years.
IDC said that as digital technologies emerge, they will also change the way local organizations operate. By 2020, 25 percent of top 1,000 companies in the country will be dependent on their ability to create products, services, and experiences that are digitally enhanced.
“As Philippines’ businesses transform to become digital enterprises, it is important for them to recalibrate their approach to technology and understand how digital solutions can help them intelligently connect people, things, and processes across the enterprise. This is the winning mindset that will help them become digital leaders in their respective industries and we are excited to work with our customers to help them define their digital future,” said Ryan Poggi, country managing director of SAP Philippines.
Taking customers to the next stage of their digital journey
To help customers harness the power of data and advance their digital enterprise, SAP recently launched a suite of IoT solutions. Part of the SAP Leonardo digital innovation system, these IoT solutions take advantage of advances in Big Data and analytics, the ability to connect people, things and business with SAP Cloud Platform, and technologies such as machine learning, to enable IoT and Industry 4.0 strategies across digital logistics, manufacturing and asset management.
The new solutions include:
SAP Leonardo IoT Bridge, a configurable role-based digital command center giving operations managers unprecedented visibility and ability to act in real time;
SAP Global Track and Trace, a cloud-based offering for unified, end-to-end tracking, monitoring and reporting of objects and business processes across supply chain networks;
SAP Leonardo IoT Edge software to bring compute, storage and business semantics via the cloud to where intelligent devices reside outside of the data center, for near real-time and deterministic performance of business processes;
SAP Digital Manufacturing Insights, a centralized, cloud-based manufacturing performance management solution that provides comprehensive visibility into manufacturing that enables process optimization; and
SAP Asset Manager, a cloud-based mobile app for managing asset health, inventory, maintenance and safety.
Digital Logistics with SAP Leonardo: Visibility, Insight and Impact
SAP Leonardo IoT Bridge is a live operations center that converges, correlates and contextualizes IoT sensor data with business processes and both structured and unstructured data. SAP Global Track and Trace provides modeling of tracked business processes, is designed to share data among the partners in the supply network, and is built on a Big Data architecture for high volume and throughput.
Together, the solutions are intended to integrate with SAP’s industry-leading portfolio to enable new scenarios such as outbound logistics. Using delivery, shipment, handling unit and vehicle number unit data from SAP Global Track and Trace, combined with information from SAP Connected Goods software such as pallet and container sensor data, information on transport location from the SAP Vehicle Insights application, and purchase order data from SAP S/4HANA® software in core enterprise systems, SAP Leonardo IoT Bridge can provide cross-process, cross-system visibility enterprise-wide so that command center and operations leads can know exactly where a shipment is in transit, what is in the shipment, and the condition and performance of the vehicle.
SAP is co-innovating on digital logistics with leading companies around the globe, including The Bosch Group, a leading global supplier of technology and services with roughly 390,000 associates worldwide. Bosch and SAP are collaborating on scenarios for delivery track and trace, exploring cloud-to-cloud integration with Bosch IoT Cloud.
Digital Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 with Intelligent Processing at the Edge
Using the container infrastructure of SAP Cloud Platform IoT services, SAP Leonardo IoT Edge is intended to seamlessly work with other line-of-business solutions such as SAP Digital Manufacturing Insights. Providing cloud-based, multi-tier analytics for full visibility into manufacturing on multiple levels, SAP Digital Manufacturing Insights is seamlessly and securely connected to the shop floor. This provides high-fidelity information overlaid with business data to enable effective decision making. Together, digital manufacturing and IoT solutions from SAP enable cohesive management of operations and effective Industry 4.0 strategies.
IoT-Enabled Asset Management
A result of SAP’s partnership with Apple, SAP Asset Manager supports highly skilled professionals by mobilizing key asset management processes. The enterprise-grade mobile app provides the ease of use of consumer apps and a delightful user experience available through the SAP Fiori® for iOS design language.
SAP intends to connect with digital solutions that leverage SAP Leonardo IoT capabilities, such as SAP Asset Intelligence Network and SAP Predictive Maintenance and Service, to further optimize asset management, mobile worker productivity and interoperability with the vast IoT ecosystem and developer network.
As the world is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to fuel the next wave of technological advance and economic growth, China has already positioned itself as a major player. Whereas it had to watch the West invent software and the processors powering the digital era we live in today, it is now the frontrunner in the development of what could become the most important scientific discipline of the future.
At the end of June, Wan Gang, minister of science and technology, announced that the government had drafted a national roadmap meant to guide the development of AI in the next decade. Such a move does not come as a surprise given the increasing significance of AI for the economy.
Indeed, research by McKinsey reveals that automation based on AI in workplaces could add 0.8 to 1.4 percentage points to GDP growth annually. Similarly, Accenture determined that AI would help accelerate China’s economic growth rate from 6.3% to 7.9% by 2035. Based on PwC’s findings, such growth could lead to an extra US$7 trillion in GDP from 2017 to 2030, making China the world top beneficiary of AI.
China has all it needs for AI
The reasons why China is particularly well-positioned in this race reside in the advantages it has in three key factors needed for AI:
1. Computing power: The top two fastest computers in the world are located in China.
[caption id="attachment_191703" align="alignnone" width="208"] Source: April Glaser, Recode[/caption]
2. Talent: According to Elsevier’s Scopus database, academics in China published about 41,000 papers on AI from 2011 to 2015, almost twice as many as the second most prolific country in terms of volume (namely, the United States).
3. Data: With an internet population of more than 710 million, China netizens produce terabytes of data every day, feeding the machine learning algorithms needed to create such intelligence.
BAT already in the starting blocks
Yet the government is not the only party active in this area. China’s technology companies are also investing heavily in AI. As expected, BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) are among the designated leaders.
Baidu, for example, invented a powerful supercomputer designed to understand speech, images, and written language. The company also opened its Silicon Valley AI Lab, which has the mission to develop AI technologies believed to have a significant impact on the lives of at least 100 million people (including autonomous cars).
Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms include a number of features that are based on AI, respectively machine learning or natural panguage processing. Recommender systems or the “autocomplete” function embedded in search engines allow to raise consumers’ attention on goods and services that they were not aware of, thus simplifying the shopping process. Furthermore, the information displayed on Alibaba’s virtual storefronts are typically tailored to individuals based on their characteristics and preferences (as determined by their past browsing and buying behaviours).
Using the millions of conversational messages exchanged on WeChat every day (many of which are voice-based), Tencent has access to enough data to train its speech recognition algorithms, a key application in AI. Furthermore, WeChat’s payment service is said to be able to predict consumer and financial market trends simply by analysing its users’ purchasing habits.
A local AI ecosystem is emerging
Aside from BAT, other large Chinese companies are putting substantial efforts and resources in the development of their AI own capabilities: Xiaomi, for example, established a special division dedicated to AI with the purpose to make its home devices “smarter” (in the sense of being capable of anticipating users’ needs and behaviours). Then, a number of young enterprises are on their way to become the local champions in specific areas, such as iFlytek for voice recognition or Face++ for face recognition. Publicis Media’s partners Hotnest (text mining and sentiment analysis), Robin8 (operates a web influencer search engine) are also worth a mention in this connection, as is Rikai Labs (with whom we developed the WeChat bot MeetTheLocal for Visa, which answers consumers’ questions and make recommendations about their travel).
Media and advertising the perfect playgrounds for AI
The applications of AI in advertising and media are as varied as they are numerous, ranging from ad targeting, content curation and creation, or dynamic pricing, through fraud prevention, predictive customer service and product recommendation, to programmatic buying, sales forecasting, and web/app personalisation. More concretely, Publicis Media’s content predictor employs machine learning algorithms to helps users prognosticate the ratings of upcoming TV dramas.
Then, through the combination of different AI technologies, consumer experience could be brought to the next level, as described in the following scenario: A customer enters a store where an image recognition system identifies her fashion style. The profile is then fed into another system that uses the preferences of consumers with similar tastes to recommend specific products or colours to her, or else to deliver the most relevant content via in-store displays. Adding further data points to her profile (for example, media consumption habits, social media activities), the brand can later re-target her in an individualised fashion – with the right message, at the right moment, through the right channel.
Opportunities and challenges for brands
Given the importance of understanding human behaviour in marketing, it is hardly surprising that advertisers are also putting a lot of effort in building in-house AI capacities. With benefits including cost savings on ad serving, leaner marketing operations (via automation) and improved consumer engagement through personalisation, the ROI prospects are rather appealing.
At the same time, however, one should remember that achieving AI maturity requires heavy investments in hardware (computing power), software (data collection and processing), and talent (for the invention of algorithms, as well as the training and evaluation of models). Furthermore, as in the case of human intelligence, artificial intelligence needs time to develop. An infant is naturally not as smart and knowledgeable as an adult – one must learn to walk before one can run.
Accordingly, companies and brands should resist the temptation to jump the gun and instead cautiously advance towards AI. Necessary steps on this path may include (but are not limited to) the automation of basic data processes and the implementation of integrated analytics. This is precisely where advertising agencies can help their clients, both as trusted advisers and execution partners.
By Olivier Maugain, general manager- analytics, analytics research and insight and Luo Wang, analytics director, Publicis Media Greater China.
Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled 366.2 million units in the second quarter of 2017, a 6.7% increase over the second quarter of 2016, according to Gartner, Inc.
In the smartphone operating system market, Android extended its lead with an 87.7% market share, while iOS accounted for 12.1%.
"Although demand for utility smartphones remains strong, there is growing demand in emerging markets for 4G smartphones, with more storage, better processors and more advanced cameras. This is translating into higher demand for mid-priced [$150 to $200] smartphones," said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner.
Sales of all types of smartphone grew in the second quarter of 2017, compared with the second quarter of 2016. However, there is a concern about rising component costs, as well as limited supply, due to the reduced availability of critical components. "We expect a shortage of flash memory and OLED [organic light-emitting diode] displays will affect premium smartphone supply in the second half of 2017," said Gupta. "We've already seen Huawei's P10 suffer from a flash memory shortage, and smaller, traditional brands, such as HTC, LG and Sony, are stuck between aggressive Chinese brands and the dominating market shares of Samsung and Apple in the premium smartphone segment."
Samsung's smartphone sales grew 7.5%, year over year, after three consecutive quarterly declines. The company had been hit hard by problems with the Galaxy Note 7, but the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are bringing back high demand for Samsung smartphones. "Despite growing competition from Chinese brands such as Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, we expect Samsung to register growth in 2017," said Gupta.
Despite clearing the distribution channel of iPhone inventory amounting to 3.3 million units during the second quarter, Apple's sales were flat (down 0.2%), year over year.
"Apple's sales in emerging markets are expected to grow as older-generation iPhones continue to attract buyers. The new iOS 11, which will include augmented reality, machine learning, an improved Siri and a new display design, will likely fuel strong iPhone sales in the fourth quarter of 2017, and help Apple increase its sales in 2017," he added.
Vivo and Oppo achieved the best performances in the second quarter of 2017, with year-over-year sales increases of 70.8% and 44.1%, respectively. Vivo's smartphones with front-facing cameras have carved out a niche for themselves.
"Vivo maintained second place in China and grew its sales internationally," said Gupta. Similarly, Oppo secured its leading position in China by offering dual rear-facing and front-facing cameras.
Greater China and emerging Asia Pacific markets accounted for nearly half of smartphone sales
Greater China and emerging Asia Pacific markets drove sales of smartphones in the second quarter of 2017, with market shares of 27.7% and 21.4% respectively.
However, smartphone sales in Greater China declined, year over year, primarily due to longer replacement cycles and as users prefer to buy better smartphones. "Large vendors continued to strengthen their positions by increasing their market share, while smaller brands lost ground in Greater China," said Gupta.
Sales in western Europe returned to year-over-year growth, fueled especially by strong sales of Huawei and Samsung smartphones.
To help Minute Maid launch its new drink "Triple-flavour pulpy" this summer, MullenLowe China created a magical world called "The pulpy factory", which takes the audience through an imaginative landscape that showcases what goes into the new pulpy drink.
In this new TV Spot, Chinese celebrity Hu Ge portrays the flamboyant role of president of pulpy factory, and shares the secrets behind the production of the new Minute Maid pulpy drink. As he journeys through the surrealistic pulpy factory adorned with colourful characters, he highlights the unique techniques are being used to create “Triple the pulp, triple the pleasure.”
Cheelip Ong, chief creative officer of MullenLowe China said: “Minute Maid has always been about breaking the dullness and injecting taste pleasure and positivity into the lives of its audience. By reimagining a Pulpy Factory that is filled with fun and fantastical elements, we were able to better engage our audience and let them learn about the product story in an entertaining way.”
Minute Maid’s "The pulpy factory" summer campaign will extend the brand experience through channels like TV, digital, social, content and on-ground events.
Credits
Title: Minute Maid summer campaign
Client: Minute Maid - The Coca-Cola Company
Agency: MullenLowe China
Chief creative officer: Cheelip Ong
Creative director: Diana Tan, Ewan Yap
Art directors: Ewan Yap, Cheelip Ong
Copywriter: Cheelip Ong, YP Chen
Account management: Jason Ng, Ole Luk, Sara Bao
Producer: Yimin Yang
Production company: A New Life Films
Director: Eric Will
Post-production company: Juice and Xiaowen
Alipay has partnered with local digital payment provider CC PAY to offer cashless payment services to Chinatown retailers. According to multiple media reports, Alipay and CC PAY have signed up approximately 300 merchants in Chinatown to the payment app, which targets Chinese nationals living in Singapore and Chinese tourists.
Jed Huang, founder and director of CC Financial Services, owner of CC PAY, said during a press conference that the use of Alipay will help "revitalise" shopping centres such as People's Park Complex, People's Park Centre and Chinatown, as well as attract more locals and tourists to shop there. He added that Alipay provides a form of convenience for Chinese tourists to carry out their shopping, dining and other activities in Singapore, while enabling merchants to facilitate fast, safe and cashless payments.
The news comes days after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's recent National Day Rally speech, where he 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. Moreover, according to Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) Q1 2017 Tourism Sector Performance report, China topped the list of tourism spending in Singapore, generating SG$1,075 million. Chinese tourists also topped the list of international visitor-generating markets, increasing by 14% to 851,000 in 2017.
The new partnership between Alipay and CC PAY will enable Alipay to expand its 20,000 acceptance points within the country to better serve Chinese tourists. While it already has touchpoints in major tourist hotspots such as Orchard Road and Sentosa, it plans to roll out its service to areas such as Bugis, Geylang, Jurong and the heartlands. Meanwhile, Alipay has also announced plans to launch a Singapore e-wallet for local consumers, following partnerships with taxi operators ComfortDelGro and Prime Taxis to offer the payment system to passengers.
Melvin Ooi, Alipay's country manager for Singapore, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, said during the press conference that the company "will soon offer a local wallet for Singapore consumers". Out of the 20,000 Alipay acceptance points in Singapore, 17,000 of them are taxis. Founded in March 2017, CC PAY created the first QR code payment in Singapore and works with 600 merchants. It intends to grow the number of merchants to 6,000.
Singapore is not the only country Alipay has set its sights on. Alipay has also expanded into other markets such as Malaysia, to offer a better customer experience. It recently partnered with Public Bank 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.
Coca-Cola Malaysia is bringing one of Malaysia's top artists Reggie Lee (pictured third from left) on board to launch a set of "The Merdeka" limited edition cans in commemorating the country's 60 years of independence. Launched on 22 August, The Merdeka edition Coca-Cola cans feature a set of four drawings in Lee’s unmistakeable style that depict popular topics among Malaysians - food, public holidays, badminton and a sense of community.
Coca-cola said Lee’s unique style often includes messages of unity and inclusiveness and it was these traits that made him an ideal partner for one of the world’s largest beverage companies, which has been present in what is now Malaysia since 1936.
“Lee’s insight into local culture complemented with his talent to bring them to life through his drawings made him the ideal partner for this Merdeka project and we are certain that Malaysians can relate to the series of cartoons he has created. This is a significant occasion and we have produced these commemorative cans to remind everyone of what makes Malaysia special,” said Ahmed Yehia (pictured second from left), country manager for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei for The Coca-Cola Company.
Lee, who is also one of the cartoonists involved in contributing the popular caricatures for Penang's Marking George Town project, is also known for his dry humour, as well as his takes on current issues and social commentary.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be part of Coca-Cola’s Merdeka campaign this year. I never dreamed that I would be so honoured by this request to have my cartoon characters on the cans of Coca-Cola. I intend to share my very first one with my mother back in Penang as she will be ever so proud of her son whom she thought might never amount to anything,” Lee said during the launch.
“My work over the years has always been to showcase the Muhibbah spirit of Malaysia, that we are a nation of people who celebrate our differences and bond over our love of good food and a good laugh. So, to be able to do this with Coca-Cola is an exceptional honour,” Lee added.
Available nationwide, the Merdeka edition can be found on the Coca-Cola Classic and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar cans.
In mid-July, the company entered a new deal with Zouk Kuala Lumpur to become its new beverage partner for a period of three years. As part of the partnership, Zouk will serve beverages such as Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Heaven & Earth Jasmine Green Tea and Schweppes Ginger Ale. This will also see Zouk promoting Coca-Cola Zero Sugar on its in-house TVs and social media platforms.
McDonald’s has revealed plans to shut all 169 outlets in India. This will apply to restaurants found in the northern and eastern regions and follows a fallout with franchise partner Connaught Plaza Restaurants (CPRL). Marketing has reached out to McDonald’s and CPRL for comment.
In a statement to Reuters, a McDonald’s spokesperson explained that its partner Connaught Plaza Restaurants had contravened franchise agreements and the move was in response to that. The move also potentially places the jobs of thousands of workers at risk, said Reuters.
Following the fallout, all the restaurants affected will have to stop using McDonald’s name, branding, designs, trademarks and recipes within 15 days of the termination notice. This was according to the McDonald’s spokesperson, who added that its search for a new partner has begun.
The move also follows a legal tussle between McDonald’s and CPRL which happened in 2013, involving Vikram Bakshi, managing director of CPRL. When contacted by Reuters, Bakshi said the decision came as big shock and that CPRL was studying its legal options.
IKEA plans to invest over RM900 million into establishing its regional distribution and supply chain centre for ASEAN in Malaysia. The project is facilitated by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.
According to the press statement, Malaysia has "always been a significant market" for the company, with its retail stores being one of the most visited stores globally. The new centre will enable the country to strengthen its role in supporting IKEA's growth in ASEAN, serving 12 retail stores in the region. IKEA plans to increase the number of stores in ASEAN to 20 by 2026.
The new 100,000m2 centre will adopt the structure and technology of IKEA's largest regional distribution centre in Germany, and will be among the top 10 largest regional distribution centres of IKEA Group worldwide. To reduce dependency on manpower and boost the efficiency and accuracy of its inventory management processes, IKEA's new centre will adopt integrated ICT systems and automation.
According to YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade & Industry, the new regional distribution centre "adds momentum" to the National Logistics and Trade Facilitation Masterplan and National E-Commerce Strategic Roadmap, which strives to transform Malaysia into a regional distribution hub and preferred logistics gateway to Asia.
“IKEA’s decision of selecting our country as a base to support retailers in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and India underscores the strategic fit of this country in supporting IKEA’s overall growth strategy in the ASEAN region," Mohamed said.
"Deployment of technology in the logistics chain has been identified as the key factor in strengthening the capabilities of logistics service providers towards enhancing trade facilitation mechanisms. Thus, IKEA’s high-flow and automated warehouse is certainly well-aligned to this agenda,” he added.
Earlier this year, IKEA Southeast Asia's head of marketing Tze Kuen Yeong left the company to take on a new marketing role at H&M Singapore. A+M understands that she is to replace Caroline Fersing, head of marketing of H&M Singapore and Malaysia, who is taking a new role internally. IKEA Group also named Jesper Brodin as its new president and CEO, replacing Peter Agnefjäll. Currently based in Älmhult, Sweden, Brodin will take up his new position in Leiden, The Netherlands, effective 1 September 2017.
Sharing fake news and misleading content can be detrimental to a brand’s image. This was according to a new study by YouGov, which found that 54% of APAC consumers surveyed would stop purchasing from a brand which promotes fake or misleading content. In addition to that, 51% of respondents will choose a different brand in the future or tell friends and family about it.
Meanwhile, 44% of respondents would stop following the brand on social media and 26% will delete the brand’s app from their phones. In addition:
29% of respondents would share that the brand is promoting fake news on social media.
Brands also need to take note of the platforms which they are advertising on. When it came to APAC respondents, over half (54%) were found to have a more negative perception of a brand advertising on a platform containing fake news. Additionally, two thirds of APAC residents (66%) were also found to trust a brand less when it advertises on a platform containing fake news.
Meanwhile, the study also showed consumers being more cautious online, with 56% of consumers surveyed conducting independent research to check the validity of news stories.
Trust in TV rising
The study also found television to be leading in terms of most trusted source for news. Three quarters of respondents (75%) were found to place little or a lot of trust in TV. Following behind is radio with 70%, and newspaper, which saw 68% of respondents placing trust in the medium.
In contrast, digital was found to be the least trusted source for news, with 60% of those surveyed saying that trust digital sources. For APAC residents, 68% of respondents were found to believe that there is a problem with fake news on digital platforms.
Despite reporting high levels of trust in TV, nearly half of respondents (47%) believe there is a problem with fake news on television. 49% of respondents also voiced similar concerns towards newspaper content, followed by radio content at which saw 41% of respondents showing concern. This shows consumers acknowledging that these traditional platforms are capable of spreading “fake news”.
Although 58% of respondents trust news which friends and family share on social media, only 13% of those surveyed placed “a lot” of trust in the news shared. Australians were found to be the least trusting, with only 7% of respondents not placing any trust in content shared by family and friends.
This is more than double the regional average when it comes to distrusting friends and family as a source for news. This comes as the study finds 37% of APAC residents sharing online news content on social media at least once a day. The figure was found to be higher in Asia countries such as Thailand (54%), Vietnam (50%), Indonesia (44%) and the Philippines (40%).
The YouGov study was conducted in July 2017 surveying 8,869 respondents from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Vietnam.
The latest deal will allow the Asian streaming service provider to start showing the studio's films across Southeast Asia. This will include Disney’s biggest films, which will now be incorporated onto iflix's streaming platform offering three new Disney-branded channels.
These new channels are the Marvel Studios (Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America, The Winter Soldier, Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 3); Disney-Pixar Animation Studios (Monsters Inc, Monsters University, Up and Wall-E) and of course, the Disney (Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, Cars, Lilo & Stitch, The Jungle Book and Cinderella).
The two companies will also extend its existing distribution deal for Disney's ABC Studios’ most popular shows, including Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Devious Maids, Quantico, Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Once Upon a Time.
iflix and Disney Distribution Deal
The agreement between iflix and Disney covers content distribution, early window movie availability, and will also include a project with Disney production arm and subsidiary, Maker Studios. The content will be released as an iflix original, exclusive to iflix.
Meanwhile, additional titles coming to the service from January 2018 include - Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Marvel blockbuster hits including Captain America: Civil War and Ant-Man, Disney’s The Jungle Book, Zootopia, and Tangled, and Disney-Pixar animation favorites such as Finding Dory, Finding Nemo, Inside Out, Good Dinosaur, and The Incredibles.
iflix group chief content officer, Sean Carey said: “Disney has a story for every age. iflix is committed to providing the best in entertainment from around the world and this SVOD partnership in the region will bring Disney brands and premium titles to our members across the region. At iflix, we have committed to offering the best content available to our subscribers, this new partnership with Disney is key to delivering on that promise.”
“We are pleased to partner with iflix to bring Disney content even closer to fans in Southeast Asia”, said Amit Malhotra, general manager of Media Networks at The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia. “Through the extensive library of content available on the new channels feature, fans of all ages will have a unique access to their favorite stories and characters anytime they want,” he added.
Now available to over one billion consumers across 20 territories throughout Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, iflix which has been aggressive in penetrating the emerging markets in the region, will make its service available in Sub-Saharan Africa in the coming weeks.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and Grey Group Hong Kong have launched a new campaign to transform two heritage neighbourhoods in Hong Kong - Sheung Wan and Central.
To encourage more people to visit the district, HKTB has revived interest in the area known as “Old Town Central” by introducing people to different thematic routes to explore including: tasting Hong Kong; crazy for art; time traveller (heritage); and treasure hunt.
Central and Sheung Wan are two of the oldest neighborhoods in Hong Kong, reflecting a history of over a 100 years, and were recently transformed into some of the hippest districts in the city. This is an area where past and present, East and West, coexist and collide.
There are colonial monuments, temples, art galleries, antique stores, street art displays, restaurants, rooftop bars, local delicacies, and many other hidden gems at every turn, representing the diverse elements of heritage, art, culture and dining.
To facilitate the experience, art-inspired QR Codes have been displayed at various locations within the district. Each element of design used to create the exclusive QR Codes are inspired by the real-life experiences on offer such as visiting a temple or drinking traditional Chinese Tea.
Once scanned, the QR Code takes you to a web page from where one can access the information to the four routes and locations for culture, art, heritage and dining.
Credits
HKTB marketing team
Tina Chao – general manager, marketing
Farrida Lui – manager, brand marketing
Kathy Lau – senior executive, brand marketing
Grey Group Hong Kong
Michael Knox, chief creative officer
Christopher Lee, group creative director
Jackie Wong, senior art director
Elsie Lau, art director
Grey Group APAC
Huma Qureshi, PR & corporate communications
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