In many ancient cities, there were governing priesthoods to help to connect their people with cosmological developments that were mathematically discoverable. Etymologists have found that such practices were commonplace even in disparate societies to help people intimately experience and feel belonged to their environments so that they could play constructive roles in that society.
For example, the cyclical theme of life, death and resurrection can be found in societies where agriculture is the pre-dominant means of survival. In these societies, it would be common to experience a mythology that made references to the seasons, and the cycle of crop seeding. Adolf Bastian calls these common themes elementary ideas. Psycho-analyst Carl Jung refers to a similar interpretation of elementary ideas as “archetypes of the unconscious”.
Brand builders should appreciate the psychological basis of Bastian’s discovery and work toward reaching into these elementary frames of references that are commonly held in our inner consciousness. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson once said: “There are the laws of physics, and everything else is opinion.”
Yet mankind’s celebration and observance of mythology proves that opinion matters. Those that stand the test of time are myths which have evolved to reflect the science of the day – many of which might well be represented in some of the strongest brands we know today.
Mythological responses to strong brands
In BBC’s “Secret of the Superbrands”, series creator Alex Riley shared: “The Bishop of Buckingham – who reads his Bible on an iPad - explained to me the similarities between Apple and a religion. And when a team of neuroscientists with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner took a look inside the brain of an Apple fanatic..."
The results suggested that Apple was actually stimulating the same parts of the brain as religious imagery does in people of faith.
These findings were consistent with research conducted by author Martin Lindstrom for his book, Buy-ology, who found that there was virtually no difference in how our brain responds to strong brands, such as Apple, and religious images. Strong brands produced increased activity in areas of the brain associated with memory, decision-making, emotion, and religious experience.
On the other hand, weaker brands, showed activity in entirely different regions of the brain.
In the same way that myths of the past have helped man to experience and find meaning in his surroundings, Michael Shevack, a former advertising man-turned religious clergy man, believes that brands today can fulfil the sense of desire for belonging.
“There are pleasures, qualities, drives within the person, even unbeknownst to the person consciously, that interface with the phenomenon which is a brand, and which determine the person’s relationship not merely with the brand, but the entire world, both inwardly, and outwardly, unconsciously and consciously, that the person inhabits and en-globes,” he said.
Much like mythic symbols, strong brands can become metaphorical references that tap on man’s inner consciousness to inspire an outward desire for aspiration and belonging.
From USPs to brand universe
Winning enterprises today have evolved from makers of product to designers of platforms and creators of ecosystems. The business models of Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft – Fortune 500’s top three companies by market value in 2016 – reflect this reality.
Brands today that still perpetuate ideas such as the “unique selling proposition” or “USP” in short, another Mad Men rubric from the 1960s, are akin to embracing the cosmography of a “flat-earth”. One brand which has been able to break through and resonate is Dove.
Building on its particular resonance with women, beauty brand Dove has reframed the elementary idea of “the rite of passage from childhood, into adult initiation” into a compelling movement for the modern age. Dove launched the Self-Esteem Project “to ensure the next generation grows up enjoying a positive relationship with the way they look – helping girls to raise their self-esteem and realise their full potential.” 11 years on, the brand helped 17 million young people in 112 countries.
It claims that: “No other organisation is acting on this important issue on the same scale or with the same impact. We are also proud to say that by working with independent academic experts and conducting rigorous scientific research, we have been able to show that Dove’s self-esteem education is world-class and scientifically proven to significantly increase body confidence and self-esteem in young people.”
By making beauty a source of confidence, not anxiety, Dove has reframed this elementary idea into a global movement that co-opts partners, organisations, parents and institutions into its brand universe, where its mythology can be experienced – beyond having a USP of “the soap with one-quarter moisturising cream”.
Strong brands today need to personify these new business models by constructing mythologies that can be experienced in a universe of touch points.
The author is Marcus Loh, VP of marketing and corporate communication at PSB Academy.
OPPO Singapore's marketing lead Russell Tan (pictured) has moved on from the company after nearly two years. Tan reported to OPPO Singapore's managing director Sean Deng. He will be taking on a regional marketing role, effective 4 September.
OPPO confirmed to Marketing that a replacement has already been named. The brand has appointed He Meng Xiao to replace Tan. Marketing understands that she was previously based in Shenzhen and worked at the agency that was handling the OPPO account. She reports to Deng.
Marketing has reached out to OPPO for more comments.
As marketing manager for close to two years, Tan was responsible for growing the team and elevating the company's brand name to become the one of the largest smartphone brand in Singapore, through calculated ad buys, strategic partnerships and creative localised campaigns. His role also included areas such as brand development, digital and social media marketing and public relations. Tan was also involved in sports marketing where he worked with FC Barcelona, the English Premier League, Masters Football and La Liga.
Before joining OPPO, Tan was an account manager at 360 digital marketing agency IH Digital for more than two years, where he oversaw the Philippines and Malaysia markets, as well as regional accounts. He managed clients and partners such as Ayala Land Corporate, Metrobank, Walt Disney Studios Philippines, Columbia Pictures Philippines, Cebu Pacific Air and J.CO Donuts. Tan was the point of contact for regional campaigns across all platforms such as Baidu, Weibo and Naver.
Meanwhile, the brand also recently sponsored SingtelTV’s Premier League 2017/2018 season.
OPPO Malaysia is led by Chen Lu, who is the branding director for the market. Last year OPPO unveiled plans to invest RM42 million in advertising and promotion activities in Malaysia. Chief executive officer William Fang said the phone brand had at that point, owned a 13% market share in the country and it plans to increase the share in over five to 10 years.
ComfortDelGro Corporation has signed an "exclusivity letter" with Uber for talks regarding the formation of a "potential strategic alliance" for the management of fleet vehicles and booking software solutions in Singapore.
The alliance may also see ComfortDelGro's fleet of more than 15,000 vehicles be made available on Uber's app. According to the announcement on Singapore Exchange, ComfortDelGro believes the potential strategic alliance will "strengthen" its position as a "major mobility service provider" in Singapore.
The announcement also stated that there is "no certainty or assurance" that the discussions will result in a "definitive agreement or transaction". It also added that none of ComfortDelGro's directors or shareholders have an interest in the alliance.
In the recent year, ComfortDelGro has also taken steps to reinforce its position as an important player in Singapore's transportation industry. Last month, ComfortDelGro and Mastercard announced Masterpass, a digital payment service, for street hail in August 2017. Last year, its advertising arm, Moove Media, paired up with Network For Electronic Transfers (Singapore) to provide passengers with unlimited wifi on board 100 taxis until January 2017 for the first time.
CapitaLand has struck partnerships with Alibaba in China and Lazada in Singapore. It will manage the Alibaba Shanghai Center, the organisation’s new Shanghai headquarters. CapitaLand will oversee the pre-opening and management of the shopping podium and one of the four office towers in Alibaba Shanghai Center.
In Singapore, CapitaLand will collaborate with Lazada to launch an exclusive online mall on Lazada Singapore. The shop-in-shop on Lazada Singapore’s site looks to position CapitaLand as an omni-channel retail landlord connecting retailers to shoppers both offline and online. It aims to aggregate the offerings of retailers in its Singapore malls on Lazada Singapore’s platform by the end of this year.
This will allow shoppers who patronise the CapitaLand official store on Lazada.SG to the option to collect their purchases in CapitaLand malls. In doing so, customers will also be rewarded with STAR$, the membership points of the CapitaStar programme.
Both CapitaLand and Lazada will allocate resources to onboard retailers and promote the platform to shoppers, with the intention of rapidly scaling up the initiative in the next two years. CapitaLand will roll out two unmanned click-and-collect lounges at Plaza Singapura and Bugis+ for shoppers to collect and return their parcels. In addition to collection lockers, the lounges will feature fitting rooms and a product-testing bench to enhance the overall shopping experience.
“Even as new technologies disrupt traditional business models, real estate remains an important part of a holistic customer journey, as affirmed by leading digital players who are seeking to gain a foothold in the physical space,” Lim Ming Yan, president and group CEO of CapitaLand, said.
“Shanghai is one of the important platforms to Alibaba and our new headquarters here will serve as our strategic nerve centre for rolling out our new retail strategy. We are delighted to partner with CapitaLand on this project, as they are a leading property developer and manager in Asia with industry-leading physical retail capabilities,” Wang Tao, head of intelligent building at Alibaba Group, said.
“Our collaboration with CapitaLand offers shoppers in Singapore the ease of accessing their favourite shops online and enjoying an integrated shopping experience," Alexis Lanternier (pictured right), CEO of Lazada Singapore, said.
Publicis One Vietnam launches Prodigious Brand Logistics
Prodigious will offer its services across Publicis One’s agencies Leo Burnett, Saatchi, Publicis, Zenith, Starcom, Performics and MSLGROUP, as well as to direct clients.
R3 elevates Seema Punwani to partner role
She has led global initiatives for clients like MasterCard, Economic Development Board of Singapore, Fonterra and Suntory amongst others.
Lazada and Samsung sign first regional deal
The expanded partnership marks the first ever regional contract between both parties spanning six countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Havas Group acquires Sorento
This strategic acquisition will allow Havas to further develop its regional presence and add to its depth and breadth in India to deliver for global clients.
ONE Championship partners GoDaddy
GoDaddy branding is set to be featured at ONE: DYNASTY OF HEROES which will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 26 May.
OMD makes appointments to strategy team
He has extensive experience across the globe, having worked for OMD in the region as the strategy lead for OMD APAC as well as the global VP of marketing for HTC.
Sizmek appoints general manager for APAC region
He will be responsible for managing the company’s operations across the Asia-Pacific region, including customer engagement, sales development and innovation, strategic planning, and revenue growth.
Singtel partners NYP to help SMEs in the retail and F&B sectors
SMEs can also seek additional support on social media marketing, online merchandising and analysis of online consumers from students and lecturers at the NYP’s customer experience and analytics centre.
The agency would begin work immediately across strategy development, creative, execution, partnerships, influencer relationships and experiential platforms.
Tapad hires Andrew Tu as APAC VP
Tapad’s APAC team is currently headquartered in Singapore with plans to expand into Japan and Australia in the coming months.
Alibaba Cloud partners with NUS and EZ-Link
Alibaba Cloud will contribute US$500,000 in cloud credits towards the use of its cloud platform and data centres by students and researchers from NUS for academic and research purposes.
EZ-Link introduces NFC enabled card readers
In March 2016, EZ-Link launched the EZ-Link NFC SIM, pioneering the use of compatible mobile phones with NFC technology for making public transport payments.
Amobee names global innovations lead Chu will be charged with leading Amobee's new product offerings that are driven by and utilise telecommunications operator assets.
Amnet and RadiumOne partner up
The partnership will see RadiumOne’s proprietary mobile and sharing analytics software deployed across Amnet‘s clients, complementing existing technology to fuel paid media effectiveness.
Freeman launches brand experience agency in China and Singapore
The global provider of brand experiences has integrated several of its creative services across the Asia Pacific region, including China and Singapore, under the company’s agency division, FreemanXP.
Sitecore appoints The Hoffman Agency
The appointment comes as Sitecore plans to further establish its presence in this region and meet the ever increasing digital marketing needs of brands with context marketing.
McCann Worldgroup Japan appoints new CCO
Antony Cundy will be responsible for overseeing excellence in the targeted and efficient delivery of campaigns for clients who work across multiple MWG disciplines.
Ogilvy Public Relations Australia appoints new director
In this new role, he will oversee the consultancy’s social, content and digital practice - Social@Ogilvy, and will lead the Microsoft account as the key client relationship manager.
Adknowledge announces country head for India
He has over 20 years of experience in building and scaling businesses and brands, defining strategy, and running operations for companies.
WWF and Toyota head towards a zero carbon society
The project will take place in WWF priority places such as Borneo and Sumatra. In the future, the project will expand to the Greater Mekong region.
Outbrain renews multi-year deal with SPH
With the extended partnership with SPH, Outbrain continues to demonstrate significant momentum with its publishing partners.
NTUC FairPrice hosts first ever Facebook Live event
Food channel, co-owned by NTUC FairPrice, and operated by content marketing agency Brand New Media, will be hosting its first Facebook Live event entitled Live Healthy, Eat Healthy.
Outbrain partners up with Mediacorp
Outbrain will aggregate Mediacorp’s coveted audiences with those from its previous local publishers and global site wins.
L'Oreal Paris Singapore employs star power
L’Oréal Paris Singapore has launched an interactive out-of-home (OOH) panel featuring brand ambassador and local celebrity Rui En.
SPHMBO shows off latest OOH offering in VivoCity
Since its inception, the digital advertising network has played host to Seiko, Rado and Walt Disney's Finding Dory, which will be screening in local cinemas later this month.
Yesterday, news broke that ComfortDelGro Corporation had signed an “exclusivity letter” with Uber. The talks were regarding the formation of a “potential strategic alliance” for the management of fleet vehicles, and booking software solutions in Singapore.
According to an article on Channel NewsAsia, this led to the stocks of the taxi operator increasing a good 8.76% to conclude SG$2.36. The alliance would see ComfortDelGro’s fleet of more than 15,000 vehicles be made available on Uber’s app. According to the announcement on Singapore Exchange, ComfortDelGro believes the potential strategic alliance will “strengthen” its position as a “major mobility service provider” in Singapore.
While many were surprised by the move, Lawrence Chong, chief executive officer of Consulus said the move was expected, given ComfortDelGro is one of the last taxi operators to have tied up with a major ride-booking app.
However, he was quick to add that the company needs to holistically rethink its entire business model, as it is the largest operator for taxis in Singapore. It needs to revaluate not only how it shifts with consumer habits but also rethink its relationship with internal staff, operators and drivers.
“The company has to reassess its role in the rapid transformation that is impacting how Singaporeans move, and use a total value chain approach to redesign its value,” he said.
Prantik Mazumdar, managing partner of Happy Marketer, deemed it a “desperate move by Comfort to counter the existing partnership between Grab and the other local taxi companies”. He added that it is worrisome that such a deal, could indicate that Comfort is not willing to invest in its own innovation and may just become a player that supplies inventory to the system.
As for Uber, he added this could be a positive move as it could gain access to a large fleet and consumers would benefit with additional options. This would also shed a positive light on Uber and portray the company, often surrounded by PR issues, as "cooperating" with the taxi community - which has been a major opponent for them globally.
The future of the taxi industry
“In a way [the move by Comfort] also signals that if you can't beat them, join them,” Mazumdar said, adding that the partnership will at least help Comfort monetise its existing fleet of 15,000 taxis by leveraging on Uber's booking platform, as well as data management solutions.
“If the taxi industry is to survive another decade, operators have to innovate through technology, people and partnerships,” Mazumdar said. These companies need to invest in their own R&D or license technology that helps them with booking, dynamic pricing, pooling, increase of utilisation rates through delivery offerings as well, preparing for the upcoming driverless era.
Moving forward, companies will need to motivate and train the driver community to be more professional and service oriented. Another area worth venturing into would be creating meaningful partnerships with adjacent businesses such as MRTs, hotels, schools, airlines and others to be potential feeder systems to make the most of all their land transport assets.
“It's an uphill battle but one taxi operators must prepare to fight sooner than later,” Mazumdar added.
Several brands have signed a pledge to show their cooperation in reducing the amount of sugar in sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). According to Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH), these brands are Coca-Cola, F&N Foods, Malaysia Dairy Industries, Nestle, PepsiCo, Pokka, and Yeo Hiap Seng.
The move follows a recent national day rally speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who urged consumers to cut their sugar intake to reduce risk of diabetes. The brands, which currently make up 70% of the total pre-packaged SSBs, have committed to a maximum sugar content of 12% for all drinks sold in Singapore by 2020. The move looks to potentially sugar consumption from SSBs by about 300,000kg per year.
“We are heartened to receive the strong support from industry players on sugar reduction efforts,” the MOH statement read.
Brands which Marketing reached out to say they are in support of the new guidelines and will work to support the government’s measures in fighting diabetes and promote healthier living. In a conversation with Marketing, Alain Ong, CEO at POKKA International, said that currently only 5% of its beverages are affected by the new sugar guidelines, and hence needs to be reformulated.
When it comes to impact on sales or earnings, Ong explained that the company is seeing “good growth in healthier choice options” in the past decade. This comes as Singaporeans increasingly become more health-conscious and continue to shift from soft drinks with empty calories to healthier beverages such as tea and juice.
“We are not worried that sales would be negatively affected as we will still aim to ensure the beverages taste good to consumers while being healthier at the same time,” Ong said. Responding to Marketing’s queries, a Coca-Cola spokesperson said that the company will look towards reducing sugar content in its SSBs by 10% by 2020. This is on top of its current pledge of not having more than 12% sugar in its portfolio of products.
“As part of this, we are rethinking many of our recipes to reduce sugar and are innovating to launch new lower or no-sugar drinks, because while sugar in moderation is fine, too much of it is not good for anyone,” the Coca-Cola spokesperson said. Currently, 97% of the company’s drinks sold in Singapore have less than 12% sugar, said the company.
The three drinks in its portfolio which exceed the 12% sugar cap are A&W Sarsaparilla, Schweppes Bitter Lemon and Fanta Strawberry. As such, the Coca-Cola will be rethinking the recipes for these drinks.
Other actions the company has taken include the creation of smaller, more convenient packaging to make managing sugar easier.
Coca-cola said it is also continuing in its policy not to target advertising at children under 12 years old globally.
Echoing similar sentiments is Nestle. In a statement to Marketing, Chow Phee Chat, director of marketing communications and corporate affairs, said that Nestlé will continue to commit to provide healthier and tastier choices to meet the requirements of the Health Promotion Board.
“Inspired by our global commitment to reducing added sugars in our products by 5% by 2020, we have made further sugar reductions through several exciting product launches in Singapore,” Chow said.
“We want to provide consumers with the relevant information they need to make healthier choices. We believe this can be done through providing transparent and easy to understand nutrition information on all our products, such as Guideline Daily Amount (GDA)-based label on the front of our products,” Chow added.
When contacted by Marketing, a spokesperson from Malaysia Dairy Industries (MDI) said that the company is committed to collaborate with MOH and HPB. Currently, all beverages from MDI under the Marigold and Vitagen brands are below HPB;s 12% sugar target for the industry.
“MDI is committed to contribute positively to the long-term well-being of the people of Singapore. It will continue its efforts, in areas of product innovation, educational programmes and communication initiatives to drive towards a healthier nation,” the MDI spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, a PepsiCo spokesperson said that the company has voluntarily committed to meet the Singapore government’s goal in the arena of SSBs. Currently, 80% of PepsiCo’s beverages sold in Singapore already contain 12% or less added sugars.
The spokesperson added that PepsiCo has made significant progress on portfolio transformation in Singapore. In April 2017, it opened a new concentrate plant in Singapore to support the company’s goal of transforming its beverage portfolio to reduce calories and added sugars.
“We will continue this work with the goal of meeting the Singapore government’s goal by 2020, if not earlier,” the PepsiCo spokesperson said.
Also responding to Marketing’s queries is Melvin Teo, group CEO of Yeo Hiap Seng. Currently, less than 1% of the company’s product volume contains more than 12% sugar. Hence, there is minimal impact on the company’s drink portfolio.
“Currently, over 60% of our product volume is with Healthier Choice Symbol endorsement and less than 1% of our range is above 12% sugar level. We will continue our efforts in developing products with health and wellness in mind,” Teo explained.
Moving forward, Teo added that the company’s marketing strategy would be to increase consumers’ awareness of these healthier options.
Marketing has reached out to F&N Foods for comment.
Supermarket brands also get in on the action
To show their support for PM Lee's call for healthier dietary habits, supermarkets such as NTUC FairPrice and Sheng Shiong have started offering discounts on its brown rice products. This comes as PM Lee urged Singaporeans to replace white rice in their diet for brown rice.
According to ChannelNews Asia, eight rice brands will be on discount this week at NTUC FairPrice. This includes brown and red rice from its housebrand as well as a brand of rice which has a lower glycemic index (GI). Similarly, Sheng Shiong is offering a 10% discount on its house brand rice products, namely Royal Golden Grain and Happy Family Red Cargo, according to a report by TODAY.
Both brands said this was in support of PM Lee's words to get Singaporeans to eat healthier. Marketing has reached out to NTUC FairPrice and Sheng Shiong for comment.
Star Media Group and Shanghai Media Group (SMG) have collaborated to provide a series of A-list and exclusive Chinese content produced by SMG. The memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday formalised the tie-up between the groups which began earlier this year. The deal finalised an initial cooperation term of two years of exchange of content on each other's digital distribution platforms.
During this period, both parties will explore more areas of cooperation. At the same time, they will be committed to jointly promote content across the Southeast Asia.
A partnership agreement was also signed between Shanghai Media Group's Shanghai Wings Media and dimsum, operated by SMG Entertainment, to provide simulcast titles including variety shows, documentaries, lifestyle programmes, film and drama series.
Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai (pictured: first from right), group managing director and CEO of Star Media Group said, “We are excited with the addition of more premium and popular Chinese content for dimsum subscribers. This partnership is an affirmation of dimsum’s commitment to bring the 'best' Asian content and streaming experience.”
Some of the content which are currently available on dimsum are Go Fighting! Season 1, 2 and 3; Flowers on Trip with China, Who’s the King, Talent Singer Season 2, House of Dreams Season 2, Super Asia and Golden Night.
“This partnership represents our commitment through our media groups via content exchange to enhance our relationship. This is also aligned with our plans on bringing China to Southeast Asia via our 'One Belt, One Road', said He Xiao Lan (pictured second from right), vice president of Oriental Pearl Group and general manager of Shanghai Wings Media.
dimsum is currently available in Malaysia and Brunei via mobile and web applications as well as Chromecast and AirPlay, with subscription priced at RM15 a month.
The digital economy has been built on ratings and reviews to enable people to ‘window shop’ online. Research by BrightLocal shows that if a hotel's star rating increases from two to three stars on review sites, business goes up by around 33%.
However, it only takes one disgruntled former client or customer to ruin a good reputation by posting a negative review, no matter how false or misleading that review might be, said Alyssa Antcliffe, the principal of Antcliffes Legal at a webinar held by MyTravelResearch.com.
"Usually, what is published online is not intended to be malicious, but is someone’s honestly held opinion," she explained.
However, if brands believe that their business are the victim of unfair, untrue and or defamatory remarks as a result of an online review, they should act quickly to minimise the damage, Antcliffe said.
She suggested six strategies designed to help minimise damage and avoid costly legal proceedings:
1. Contact the website which has published the review to ask that the material be removed,
2. Contact the client or customer who has left the review and try to resolve the issue that has arisen,
3. Request that the client or customer remove the review or write a further positive review about the way the issue has been handled and resolved,
4. Write a short and factual online response to the review addressing the issue, or inform the public that the reviewer’s comments are unfounded and what the facts are,
5. Update your website, publish an article, run a promotion or launch a new product. The aim here is to create online news and chatter that will divert attention from the negative review and add new positive reviews and announcements, and/or
6. Seek independent legal advice.
Don't respond to reviews while you are angry
On the other hand, Carolyn Childs, co-founder of MyTravelResearch.com, said it was vital not to respond to reviews while angry. Make the effort to be unemotional, level-headed and empathetic when responding.
Childs noted that an online response that addresses a complaint in a cool and reasonable way often transforms the negative review into a marketing positive for the travel brand.
Teens seem to be un-friending Facebook as the social networking giant sees a slowdown in user growth in UK and US, attributed to the drop in usage from teens, said the latest study by eMarketers. Monthly Facebook usage in the US has reduced for age groups 12 to 17 and 18 to 24.
The social network’s monthly user base among the marketer-coveted 12 to 17 age group will fall 3.4% versus 2016 to 14.5 million people - the second consecutive year of expected usage declines by this group and one that will have accelerated from the 1.2% slip seen in 2016. The study however sees a spike in usage on platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat.
"We see teens and tweens migrating to Snapchat and Instagram. Both platforms have found success with this demographic since they are more aligned with how they communicate - that is, using visual content," said eMarketer senior forecasting analyst Oscar Orozco. He added that outside of those who have already left, teens and tweens remaining on Facebook seem to be less engaged - logging in less frequently and spending less time on the platform.
Meanwhile eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson added that Facebook is fortunate that it owns Instagram, which remains a strong platform for the teens. “Although usage of the main Facebook app is declining among teens, marketers will still be able to reach them on Instagram,” she added.
While eMarketers said it currently does not have the figures for the Asia Pacific region, Eugene Lee, marketing director of McDonald's Malaysia said Facebook is still a hot favourite for consumers. However, McDonald’s is also on Instagram which is widely popular amongst the younger crowd, he said. He said that the platform offers a different way to engage through pictures and video. He also added:
But as far as we know, Facebook is still currently the number one social media platform in Malaysia, and has the widest reach. It also offers the best targeting abilities compared to other social media platforms.
As for Kuala-Lumpur headquarted iflix, which has been aggressive in expanding in emerging markets within the region, its Asia marketing director Jason Monteiro said the company's social media strategy means a commitment to continuously adapt to its consumers’ digital lifestyle and preferences.
Platform popularity is fleeting, as illustrated by the rapid rise of mediums such as Snapchat and Instagram Stories, alongside the shift towards video on social.
"Our next preferred platforms would be wherever our customers are, so that we may continue to drive a two-way conversation between consumer and brand," Monteiro said.
Meanwhile, in Singapore, Marcus Loh, vice president of marketing and corporate communication at PSB Academy said Facebook remains a critical tool for the company which actively targets the teen community.
“Facebook remains a consistently strong engagement and conversion tool for us, where our target youth segment in Singapore is concerned. In fact, about 30% of our programme enquiries come from Facebook, and our community engages with us directly on Messenger to request for information on a regular basis,” he said. Nonetheless much like Mcdonald’s Lee, Loh said the academy doesn’t dependent on a singular channel for its marketing needs.
Currently the academy also uses Instagram to promote its events and school activities and ads, as well as to drive the overall awareness of its facilities.
"We have invested in a mix of platforms, and are always on a lookout to optimise the variety of mediums in response to consumer trends in the market, depending on how and when our target audience looks for, consumes and responds to data and information," Loh said.
"I don't see the e-marketer statistics impacting our region yet," he added. One platform PSB is however looking at putting more weight behind is LinkedIn for its slightly older audiences and young working professionals. Loh added that LinkedIn is one platform which holds much potential as a conversion tool and engagement platform for many brands.
The platform, he said, is especially useful when fresh school-leavers have engaged with the academy and shared more on their personal preferences, when it comes to education.
Loh said with the ability to harness the data available on Linkedin, such as the academic history, endorsed skills, recommendations and professional accomplishments of each prospective student, PSB Academy’s marketing team has been able to cleverly adopt a targeted and data-guided approach to consulting.
Former Starcom lead Jeffrey Seah has joined Gravity4 (G4), a marketing cloud platform specialising in artificial intelligence and big data. Seah will join the company’s advisory board, which is now focused on developing blockchain technologies to eliminate ad fraud.
Seah has been tasked with advising the G4 management on the upcoming token sale for Lydian, a subsidiary of Gravity 4 Software Ventures, where he will utilise his experience in domain and venture capital. According to a company press statement, Seah’s appointment to the board is a continuation of his recent work with Pixels Asia and Kevin Huang.
Currently, Seah is a partner at Mettle and Salt Partners, and also serves as a venture partner at IncuVest and Quest Ventures.
Prior to leaving Starcom, Seah was Southeast Asia CEO, a role he had held for over seven years. He has had 15 years of association in two stints, being part of the management team that launched Starcom and Starcom IP Digital Services in Asia Pacific. He set up the company’s inaugural Singapore operation, and returned to helm the Southeast Asia operations and the VivaKi chair. Before Starcom, Seah was with Mindshare as regional lead for Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. He was also CEO of Mindshare Singapore.
In a statement on the new move, Seah said that blockchain has the ability to address the “unwieldy and opaque supply chain” in marketing and advertising technology. Through the technology, the company aims to establish transparency and trust by creating a central and secure way to record, review and execute deals.
“With Gravity4 heavily investing in blockchain, we’ll be able to eliminate ad fraud and provide personalised experiences to eliminate the need for ad blockers, a solution the industry desperately needs,” Seah said.
Twitter has revealed the top most used hashtags over the past 10 years in Singapore and globally. This comes hot on the heels of the social platform’s celebration of the hashtag’s tenth anniversary yesterday. For its anniversary, it has also created a customised emoji.
In Singapore, some of the top tweeted hashtags include #SG50, in celebration of the nation’s 50th birthday and #RememberingLKY, in memory of the country’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. Maya Hari, managing director, Asia Pacific at Twitter, said hashtags have become an indispensable way for users on Twitter to rally around trending conversations.
“These hashtags unite people in Singapore around important milestones, showing them what’s happening around the world and what people are talking about right now,” Hari explained.
Around 125 million hashtags are being shared on Twitter every day, according to Twitter. Globally, the top most used hashtags are #FollowFriday, #NowPlaying, #ThrowbackThursday and #OOTD ( which stands for outfit of the day).
The top 4 hashtags, in order of popularity, on Twitter are:
#FollowFriday
The first #FollowFriday was on Jan 16, 2009, and there have been over half a billion #FF (or #followfriday) uses since then.
#NowPlaying
The first use of #NowPlaying or #NP was a Tweet about the song “Open your Heart” by Lavender Diamond in 2007. #NowPlaying or #NP has been Tweeted more than 1 billion times.
#ThrowbackThursday
#ThrowbackThursday and #TBT have been Tweeted 120M times.
#OOTD
#OOTD has been Tweeted over 2 million times.
Globally, an average of 125 million hashtags are shared every day on Twitter. This is to help people on Twitter to keep tabs on what’s happening in the world and explore what’s being talked about at the moment. According to Twitter, the most tweeted hashtag was used around 9,000 times. Today, the most-used hashtag so far in 2017 was used over 300 million times.
Y&R has launched Labstore, Y&R’s digitally-led retail and shopper marketing network in Guangzhou. It has now extended across six markets in Asia Pacific – China, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Australia.
Y&R Labstore GZ’s seven-staff design team is headed up by chief art officer Dicky Meng, former creative department director at Y&R GZ.
Labstore GZ’s portfolio includes some clients shared with Y&R GZ such as Arawana and Nairobi Global Trade Center. New design and retail projects such as Tencent Greater Bay and Zhongtian Finance will be managed independently.
Y&R GZ CEO Michael Xia said, "While design is the key business right now, we look forward to expanding its shopper and retail marketing capabilities into retail strategy and planning."
HMD Global, licensee of Nokia-branded smartphones and tablets, has appointed Shane Chiang (pictured) as its head of marketing for Asia Pacific. Chiang, in this newly created role, reports to James Rutherfoord, VP, Asia Pacific at HMD Global.
As head of marketing, he will be leading a team of marketers to handle digital, social, channel and product marketing. Marketing understands he is also in charge of agency relations working with Gloo PR as its communications agency in Singapore. HMD Global did not comment on agency partnerships.
Chiang was previously head of marketing and VP of cities with Honestbee. In his role, he handled a number of functions ranging from PR to business development and country management.
Before joining the online delivery services platform, Chiang worked at HTC for nearly four years, before leaving the company as head of marketing communications for South Asia. He also held the global communications role prior to his departure from HTC. Chiang also worked at SANDS Harvest International, Next Generation Media and Zhanjiang OEM Electric Equipment.
Finnish start-up HMD Global was founded nine months ago to create a new generation of Nokia-branded smartphones. It recently launched its flagship Android smartphone Nokia 8.
Following Nokia's launch of the android smartphone Nokia 8 last week, Samsung has just introduced the new Galaxy Note 8 in New York on Wednesday.
The new Note smartphone comes a year after the massive recall of its explosive predecessor in the Note smartphone brand series.
The Note 8, introduced in the launch event dubbed "Do bigger things", features an infinity display, no physical home button, a finger print scanner, a better camera, no physical home button, and an S pen.
While the smartphone is not the most revolutionary in the brand series, it might imply that the company wants to get the latest version right to regain consumer trust.
“With [innovation] comes stumbles sometimes, and that’s what happened last fall. Part of Samsung’s recommitment was to innovate on process and quality, in addition to just technology," said Drew Blackard, Samsung senior director of product marketing, ahead of Wednesday’s event.
The company added that Note 8's battery has undergone an eight-step battery safety check process , as well as additional testing from a third-party safety company.
"We have been closely working with Samsung to make meaningful advancements in the science of smartphone quality and safety evaluation. As a result, the Galaxy Note8 has successfully completed a rigorous series of device and battery safety compatibility test protocols. We look forward to maintaining our strategic relationship with Samsung and helping ensure device safety for all consumers. Sajeev Jesudas, President, UL International, said in the release.
The Galaxy Note8 will be available starting in mid-September, but the pricing is yet to be announced. Website in Canada offering pre-sales suggests that the smartphone will go for CA$1299.99 (around HK$8106).
Singapore-based corporate communications firm Helix PR has appointed Valerie Lim as general manager, with immediate effect. Lim first joined the company as a consultant in 2011, and was subsequently promoted to senior consultant.
She will be responsible for overseeing the management of the agency’s public relations and maritime crisis accounts. In addition, she will assist the directors in corporate development, financial planning and the delivery of bottom line profit. According to the agency, Lim will continue to be involved in the servicing of Helix PR’s key accounts.
The agency currently works with clients in the maritime and insurance sector. This includes, Markel International, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, Peak Re and La Spezia, to name a few.
“Having grown with Helix and our clients through the company’s formative years, I feel privileged to accept my new appointment. As forerunners in the maritime and insurance specialist PR business in Asia, this is where we will continue to make our mark and grow our business further,” Lim said.
“This appointment is a natural progression for Lim and Helix. With her strong background in business and finance combined with her in-depth knowledge of maritime and insurance public relations in Asia, Lim is a great fit for this job,” Edward Ion, managing director of Helix PR, said.
The Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) has launched a public tender for the management and maintenance of bus shelters and their advertising spaces.
According to Gebiz, only tenderers with relevant experience in outdoor advertisement will be considered for the contract. Additionally, tenderers need to have a minimum share capital of SG$10million and minimum net assets of SG$10 million.
If tenderers are unable to comply with the second requirement, the company needs to provide a performance guarantee acceptable by LTA. Instead, the entity providing the performance guarantee needs to at least have a minimum share capital of SG$10 million and minimum net assets of SG$10 million.
Current major players in the OOH space in Singapore include JCDecaux, The X Collective (XCO), Mediacorp OOH Media, Moove Media, Clear Channel and SPHMBO, to name a few. Competition in the space is also heating up.
Meanwhile, SPHMBO made several strides in boosting its OOH offering the past year. In July 2016, it re-launched a new indoor digital advertising screen at 313@somerset and set up OOH spaces at VivoCity. It also struck a partnership with South Beach Consortium to market a suite of digital advertising screens.
Hong Kong broadcasting giant TVB reported its half year net profit decline of 43.7% to HK$170 million, and yet its advertising income exhibited signs of stabilisation with an increase of 0.6% to HK$1,130 million from HK$1,122 million in 2016.
The increase was due to the ad spend from government/quasi-government organisations and finance companies - the former recorded a nearly 100% increase in revenue, while finance companies were aggressive spenders, recording more than 40% growth in advertising spend during the first half of 2017.
The broadcaster said it also took advantage of the events celebrating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR to recruit governmental and related advertising budgets.
However, traditional big spenders like milk powder and skin care brands did not perform so well, recording declines of 11% and 12%, respectively.
TVB also said the increasing subscriber numbers and stream views on myTV SUPER are helping advertising sales growth and its negotiations with advertisers.
It added that digital new media business remains one of its key growth drivers. During the period, segment revenue increased by 46% from HK$84 million to HK$122 million. Together with Big Big Channel, TVB anticipates further expansion of its digital new media business as it looks to cover a larger demographic of the viewing population.
Meanwhile, revenue from continuing operations climbed by 3% to HK$2.02 billion. TV broadcasting revenue as a whole was HK$81.7 million.
Unilever’s Knorr has partnered with Mediacorp OOH Media to launch its new product called Golden Salted Egg Powder via bus shelters. This saw the transformation of Mediacorp OOH Media’s panel into a giant chips dispensing machine.
Replicating the packaging of the new Golden Salted Egg Powder, the advertising panel transformed into a vending machine with integrated EZ-Link technology. This allowed members of the public to collect a packet of chips from the dispenser after tapping their EZ-link cards at the panels.
According to a press statement, the “chips dispenser” will be rotated island-wide across bus shelters at four locations, namely Paya Lebar Square, Ang Mo Kio MRT Station, Opposite Tiong Bahru Plaza and Fullerton Square. The campaign runs from 3 to 30 August 2017. The panels were also strategically located near supermarkets to lead the female target audience and grocery buyers towards the product.
Knorr and Mediacorp OOH Media also engaged in a 150 6-sheet panel activation island-wide during the campaign period. This was to supplement the creative buy and amplify the brand’s message island-wide.
“We wanted to revolutionise product sampling and deliver it to the public in a fun and interactive way,” Ellen Yap, marketing manager – Unilever Foods & Refreshments, Knorr, said.
“For Knorr, the locations of our outdoor panel enables them to have maximum reach to their target audience and the creative execution will drive interest to try the new product at nearby stores,” Henry Goh, head of OOH Media, said.
WPP is expecting flat revenue growth of between 0% and 1% in 2017, stating that "growth has become even more difficult to find" in the last year.
This can not only be attributed to increasing social, political and economic volatility, but also fierce competition in the market, according to WPP's latest results. All regions, except the United Kingdom, Latin America and Central & Eastern Europe, showed less revenue than the prior year, with advertising and media investment management and data investment management the most affected.
The effects of reduced client spending, negligible inflation and anaemic top line growth, have been intensified by the recent development of three "significant forces", WPP said. These forces were identified as digital disruption, cheap money driving asset purchases, and zero-based budgeting, said the company.
Despite the rise of the consultants and digital disruption, WPP remains bullish on the fact that consultancies are not a threat. Digital currently makes up 41% of WPP’s revenues and while digital disruption has demanded that legacy businesses "reboot" their structures and target consumers in new, primarily digital driven methods, “there is little evidence” so far of significant threat from consultancies such as Accenture and Deloitte, Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP said.
“Much has been made about the potential negative impact of the growth of digital marketing on our business model and the move by consultants, principally Accenture and Deloitte (our current auditors), into our industrial spaces. […]," he said, adding:
The consultants have certainly been mopping up some small, fragmented digital agencies but there is little evidence so far of significant competitive penetration.
For WPP, Google and Facebook are still two of its largest spenders, with Google topping the chart and Facebook likely to become its second largest this year. Moreover, combined with the increasing penetration of digital media and e-commerce, in markets such as the BRICs, Next 11, CIVETS and MIST, digital will be an area the group will continue banking on.
Pressures from FMCG
Following the pressure on client spending in the second quarter, particularly in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) or packaged goods sector, the second quarter full year revised forecast has been revised down further.
One area that WPP is heavily hit in is consumer packaged goods (CPG), which accounts for approximately one-third of WPP's revenue. WPP describes the sector as facing "consistent pressure", resulting in spending cuts that produced "little if any volume gains". WPP's two major CPG clients - P&G and Unilever - have also embarked on cost-cutting drives in recent times.
Earlier this year, P&G revealed that it intends to reduce its marketing spend by US$2 billion in the next five years. This is part of a broader US$10 billion cost reduction plan it launched one year ago, according to several media reports. Unilever stated it is looking to double savings in overheads and advertising before 2020. It plans to reduce the number of advertisements it commissions by 30% as part of a cost-cutting drive.
WPP added that investment groups practicing the art of zero-based budgeting also puts pressure on marketing costs, at least in the short-term. Unilever is one of the few clients leading in this space.
“For the short-term, therefore, we have to weather the storm, focusing even more on our four core strategic objectives,” said Sorrell.
These four pillars are of horizontality (or providing clients with a seamlessly integrated effective and efficient marketing offer); on fast growth markets, where the new middle-class consumers will flourish; on digital as it becomes even more pervasive; and on technology, data and content, as they become even more integral to clients’ marketing success.
Constant change of guard and undercutting
Looking at its top 20 or so clients over the last two to three quarters, top line growth has been in the 2-3% range, with most if not all of it coming from pricing increases usually in Asia Pacific or Latin America, the company said. However, the average life of C-Suites dropping globally is also creating a problem for the ad industry.
Currently, the CEO role lasts approximately six to seven years while the CMO role lasts two to three. For the CFOs, this number averages four to five years. This is not helping companies focus on the long term, said WPP.
According to WPP, the fierce competition within the advertising and marketing industry has seen major networks being prepared to offer clients up-front discounts as an incentive to renew contracts, and other practices such as drastically reduced creative and media fees and extended payment terms. According to the statement, such practices "cannot last and will only result eventually in poor financial performance and further consolidation". Sorrell said:
Once you accept benchmarking as a means of evaluation you become a cost and are viewed as a source of funding or insurance, rather than an investment or value added and recent industry results have reflected this increased pressure and inconsistencies.
Overall WPP's advertising and media investment management revenue grew by 5.2% in the second quarter, with a like-for-like growth of -0.2%, a dip compared to the first quarter. Its branding and identity, healthcare and specialist communications businesses including digital, e-commerce and shopper marketing, saw a like-for-like net sales growth of 0.1% compared with 2.2% in the first quarter.
Revenue for its PR and public affairs, which according to the statement was the strongest performing sector, saw a like-for-like revenue increase of 0.6% compared with 4.4% in the first quarter. Lastly, data investment management revenue dropped 4.6%, with Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East and Western Continental Europe seeing slower growth.
What is next for 2018?
2017 saw a considerable amount of structural changes within WPP agencies, beyond the creation of Teams and appointment of Country and Sub-Regional managers. This includes One Ogilvy; the merger of MEC/Maxus to NewCo; Essence expansion; Kantar First; WPP Health & Wellness; B to D Group; Wunderman and POSSIBLE; Wunderman and Salmon.
Nonetheless, WPP's operating companies are still hiring "cautiously" and responding to regional, functional and client changes in revenue, as client spending seems to be less predictable.
“Not surprising then that your company's top line revenue and net sales organic growth continues to be under pressure,” Sorrell added. WPP added that next year, it predicts it will be tough to find stronger growth outside the US due to continued political uncertainties in regions such as China, the Korean Peninsula and Europe, which focus on qualitative growth.
2018 will be stimulated by events such as the Russian World Cup, PyeongChang Winter Olympics and the midterm Congressional elections. Hence, nominal GDP growth is expected to continue to grow in the 3.0 to 4.0% range, with advertising remaining constant overall.
