Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched a revamped 1Malaysia logo to incorporate its Negaraku campaign launched earlier this year.The new "1Malaysia Negaraku" logo has the Jalur Gemilang or Malaysian flag wrapped around the number one figure. Whereas in the old version, it was embedded inside the logo. The logo also has the word Negaraku at its base.
A day after the launch, PM Razak also posted in a morning tweet, to further announce the new logo design, urging more support on this new initiative. In his post, Razak explained that the new logo is a symbol of strength towards unity and the continuous hard work on economic transformation.
Wajah baru 1Malaysia Negaraku, simbol kekuatan ke arah perpaduan & usaha transformasi pembangunan ekon. Marilah sama2 sokong inisiatif ini. pic.twitter.com/Zt0JsH2ol7
The Star reported that Razak hoped the spirit of unity, respect and cooperation that the 1Malaysia concept represents would continue with the new logo.
According to the Malay Mail, Razak shared that the rationale behind the redesign was also to avoid any confusion between its 1Malaysia and Negaraku initiatives. In February, the prime minister launched the Negaraku initiative to promote unity among Malaysians as part of the country's 60th Merdeka celebrations this year.
“As government, we see the 1Malaysia has been popularised, it has become a symbol that is close to Malaysians.[...].To avoid any confusion among the people, we have agreed to combine both of it into a single iconic symbol,” he said during the launch event, while thanking Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing and his university in designing the new "1Malaysia Negaraku" logo.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) is stamping a new seal for the nation, creating a new unified brand logo and tagline to market Singapore internationally for both tourism and business purposes.
The new tagline, “Passion Made Possible” was created to communicate Singapore’s value proposition in addressing both the needs of travellers and companies. It was created with the aim of helping Singapore stand out on the international stage, said Lynette Pang, assistant chief executive, marketing group at STB.
This is the fourth ever brand revamp the "Singapore brand" has undergone and was created keeping in mind Singapore's endearing nickname "the little red dot". It converges from STB’s “YourSingapore” and EDB’s “Future Ready Singapore” brand messages. Pang added that the two bodies wanted to create a new brand that resonated with three key audiences.
STB worked on two pieces of research prior to the launch. The first qualitative research spanned 11 markets and the second was quantitative with 4000 research to find out what Singapore stood for in their minds.
"We felt that it was time to do more and so EDB and STB got together," she said. She added that in recent times, more and more countries are branding themselves and chasing the business and travel dollar and "investments are being made towards a holistic, unified, strong brands." She added:
In the eyes of the global stage, while Singapore's strengths of safety and cleanliness were lauded, but on the flip side, questions arose as to whether or not Singapore was creative and interesting.
As such, the two government bodies saw a "huge opportunity" to create a unified brand targetting three core audiences: The international audience (to drive increased awareness, recognition and impact); The local Singapore audience (to create a holistic brand and make Singaporeans' the brand advocates for the nation); and The government agencies (to create a common narrative).
As such, in addition to STB and EDB, “Passion Made Possible” will be adopted by other statutory boards and agencies under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). It will be incorporated into their marketing campaigns and trade shows when reaching out to international audiences.
This was really to maximise our brand impact and better define our differentiated position.
The new brand was developed by TSLA Design, the branding and design practice of The Secret Little Agency (TSLA). TSLA was tasked with developing the new unified business and tourism brand identity, as well as the global branding guidelines for Singapore.The logo is also said to be an evolution of Singapore's golden jubilee logo SG50 which was plastered across the nation in 2015.
"The SG Mark expresses Singapore's coming of age with a quiet confidence, true to the national personality," said STB and EDB in a joint statement. It also behaves a Trust Mark after the trademark symbol (TM) and denotes the strong claim of trust while conveying Singapore's distinct brand of passion.
Pang added that the brands Singapore had were always descriptive. "This time we wanted to start inside out. We wanted to hear what Singaporeans believed in and wanted a brand that reflected what Singapore is today. It needed to stand for a belief and attitude," she added.
Along with a new identity, STB has worked with its creative agency TBWA to create a new spot. To promote the new brand, STB will be rolling out a global marketing campaign comprising of a series of films to show how Singapore embodies “Passion Made Possible”. The films feature close to 100 Singaporeans, residents and notable personalities representing Singapore’s diverse society. The films will be broadcast on various media channels, social media platforms, and Singapore’s destination website VisitSingapore.com.
"We felt very strongly that the real Singapore story needs to emerge. Global audiences were very familiar with our infrastructure but they wanted to hear more beyond the hard ware and wanted to know more about what the people did and thought," she said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJE3HIkQ4zU&t=2s
During the brand launch, Beh Swan Gin, chairman of EDB and Lionel Yeo, chief executive of STB, said the two bodies will look at metrics such as reach and impact to determine the effectiveness of the campaign. For tactical campaigns, the number of conversions will be considered in the measure for success. Meanwhile, brand effectiveness will be measured over a longer period of time.
The campaign will also be unveiled in various cities worldwide through consumer launches, trade events, industry partnerships, and global marketing campaigns featuring campaign films and visuals. This includes 15 markets worldwide through STB’s regional offices, such as Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Germany, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, South Korea, USA, Australia and India. Currently Zenith handles STB's media buying and planning duties.
Micro-campaigns created as part of the global launch
STB has also grouped potential visitors together based on their lifestyles, interests and reasons for travel to form seven major "Passion Tribes". This includes foodies, collectors, explorers, action seekers, culture shapers, socialisers and progressors. It is also launching brand personality films which feature Singaporeans and residents.
According to Pang, this was based on the desire to create customised experiences for tourists.
In the first phase of the launch, STB is unveiling three films representing the foodies, collector and explorer tribes in 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EClVy6sMBhY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJClaApzj88
“With Passion Made Possible, STB is presenting a brand that can tell a fuller Singapore story beyond just tourism. This brand articulates what we stand for as a country and supports the telling of many stories about this destination and its people,” Lionel Yeo, chief executive of STB, said.
“Singapore is making the shift from being primarily an investment-driven economy to one that will be led by innovation. In particular, local and international companies are seeking to create new products, services and solutions that will have a stronger impact in Asia. It is timely to send a strong and clear signal that companies can do this successfully from Singapore and turn possibilities into reality,” EDB’s Beh added.
Ansible and BPN, both part of the IPG Mediabrands network, have respectively been appointed as the new digital and media agency for Al-Ikhsan’s premium category outlet, Football Republic.
Ansible is tasked to launch Football Republic, which includes development of all digital assets, digital campaign strategy and execution, and will play the role of a consultant for the in-store experience. BPN will be responsible for managing media planning for the brand, providing media planning and buying across platforms.
The contract officially kick-started in July, and will involve the agencies driving retail success in a technological driven environment both in-store and online for Al-Ikhsan.
Al-Ikhsan’s CEO, Vach Pillutla said, “We believe that engagement with these target segments cannot just be restricted to the store, but needs to go beyond, especially through social media activation of our own assets as well as established content providers. This is where agencies with impressive credentials like Ansible and BPN come in, to ensure strong 360 degree engagement with all key segments.”
Managing director of Ansible, Manu Menon said Al-Ikhsan was looking for an agency to integrate the technological advancements in the communication space with the retail industry. The Ansible team is made up of sports fanatics, and this passion enabled us to truly understand their needs and deliver great ideas to help build the brand.
Al-Ikhsan holds a market leading position in the multi-brand sports retail industry, encompassing sports equipment, apparel and footwear, with over 100 outlets across Peninsular Malaysia. The concept of Al-Ikhsan’s Football Republic is to bring to life the first true football lifestyle experience store in Malaysia, with digital assets and elements that provide connectivity and interactivity across different levels of target audience.
Managing director of BPN, Darren Yuen said, “The opportunity to work with Football Republic is a unique one that allows BPN and Ansible to showcase our ideas and our combined holistic thinking. We look forward to supporting Football Republic with its ambitions to become the leading brand in this category.”
Kantar Worldpanel’s Winning Omnichannel – an annual report on FMCG trade channels – was published recently, revealing the shrinking market share of supermarkets and hypermarkets across the globe. 2016 hypermarket and supermarket FMCG value sales grew by just 0.7%, while online spending grew by 26%; discounters by 5.1% and cash and carry by 4.1%.
Table 1: Global FMCG value share and 2016 value growth, per channel
Channel Global value share 2015 Global value share 2016 Percentage value increase (yoy)
E-commerce
3.8%
4.6%
26%
Discounters
5.5%
5.6%
5.1%
Convenience
4.6%
4.6%
4.1%
Cash and carry
1.1%
1.4%
4.1%
Hypermarkets and supermarkets
53.2%
52%
0.7%
Traditional
26.1%
26.1%
3.2%
Door to door
0.8%
0.8%
0.7%
Drugstore and pharma
0.6%
0.6%
0.9%
The share of hypermarkets and supermarkets is predicted to reduce further, to just 48% of global FMCG spend by 2021, with e-commerce set to grow to 7.5% and discounters 6.5%.
E-commerce
The share of grocery shopping conducted online continues to rise, particularly in the world’s most advanced e-commerce markets, such as South Korea, China and the UK. In the UK, online sales grew from 6.7% to 7.3% value share in the last year alone. British shoppers are second only to South Koreans in the proportion of groceries they buy online.
Meanwhile, the countries with the slowest growing e-commerce include France, Argentina, Japan, and surprisingly, the U.S.
Discounters
Discounters are the second-fastest growing channel in 2016 with 5.1% value growth. Discounters saw the highest value growth in Colombia –124% – where over 600 stores were opened in 2016. Following Colombia are Argentina, Brazil, the U.K., and Ecuador.
Countries where discounters experience slow growth include Japan, Spain, Chile, Portugal, and France.
Traditional trade
In developing regions where modern trade would be the next practical step, traditional and other formats (comprising door-to-door, cash and carry and pharmacies) are still performing well. In Africa, for example, where price and connectivity are key factors, traditional trade accounts for an average of 69.4% value share).
FMCG spend through this channel is growing faster than total FMCG in 50% of regions across the globe.
Argentina, Brazil, Ghana, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines are the countries where traditional trade is still growing strong.
Stéphane Roger, global shopper and retail director, Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Channels which traditionally dominated the field – supermarkets, hypermarkets, drugstores – are in steady decline worldwide. Step forward the ‘new order’: e-commerce and discounters, cannibalising the big retailers with their promise of convenience and lower prices.
“Technology is fast changing the way people shop and, with e-commerce and discounters set to continue their march at the expense of large format retailers, there is an urgent need for retail reconfiguration across the world.”
Heineken has launched a new campaign titled “There’s More Behind the Star”. The campaign tells the many stories behind the premium global beer and reveals secrets of the beer, its rich heritage and Heineken’s unparalleled international footprint.
To share the stories behind this iconic red star, Heineken converted the outdoor space @ TREC KL into an immersive Heineken experience zone for consumers to discover more behind the star. The campaign runs until 26 August 2017.
Once inside, guests are greeted to a “multisensory” experience from the sensory wall, which reveals the brews three pure ingredients - malted barley, water and hops. Guests experienced Heineken’s first ever 270-degree projection room to discover more behind the star. The two-minute experience immerses guests with exciting stories brought to life behind this iconic brand.
“We are excited to bring these stories to life for our consumers and share the journey of Heineken. From the ingredients to the way it’s brewed, there are many reasons that make our five-point red star iconic and we look forward in creating even more with all our beer consumers in Malaysia”, Loh Ee Lin, Marketing Manager of Heineken Malaysia said.
To complete the experience, guests could also pour the Heineken Perfect Serve, with close guidance from Heineken’s Star Academy Trainers and Heineken’s World’s Best Bartender 2016 Champion- Eddy Jay.
Malaysia’s local DJs including HULKAS, CURZON, HYPEEMBEATS, JHIN, WH and XU as well as FLIPZE were invited to fill in the nights with their beats to liven the mood and entertain guests throughout the event.
Ben & Jerry's has launched a new campaign titled "Ben & Jerry's Cereal Splashback", taking fans on a nostalgic "feel trip" back to milk-splashed breakfast cereal meals. The campaign was launched with two new cereal milk ice cream flavours - Cocoa Loco and Frozen Flakes.
As part of the campaign, the company is hosting first-ever the Ben & Jerry's #CerealouslyGood Ice Cream Feast, offering unlimited scoops of cereal milk ice cream and unlimited toppings. The campaign will also be executed on social media and radio, and will run until the end of October, with the flavours permanently added to all Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops. Golin Singapore, Mindshare, Tiger Pistol and Concept Alliance are responsible for executing the campaign.
Ben & Jerry’s targets Millennials who value experiences, stand by what they believe and have a sense of spontaneity. Millennials take the concept of "You are what you eat" to a new level when it comes to food, by seeing it as another platform to explore and express their sense of identity. They are also "adventurous and bold, unafraid to try new and unique flavours".
“Ben & Jerry’s has always been about having fun and making it all better for our fans. And our fans are some of the most adventurous and bold when it comes to seeking out new flavours or unique experiences. With the #CerealouslyGood Ice Cream Feast, we hope to engage by providing a personalized experience and fun way of discovering the new flavours, and at the same time, give them something fresh and interesting to share with their friends and families," Ellen Yap, marketing manager (Foods & Refreshment), Unilever Singapore, said.
"By creating a surprising brand experience, we hope to generate positive brand connection that are memorable and talked about. By making our fans feel like they are part of something special, we can turn a one-off campaign, into a long-term relationship," Yap added.
McDonald's Malaysia is definitely upping its ante by tapping into the king of fruits. Weeks after its Singapore arm launched the Nasi Lemak Burger, McDonald's Malaysia decided to launch its D24 Durian McFlurry with real D24 durians, as part of the Merdeka campaign.
Speaking to A+M, Eugene Lee, marketing director of McDonald's Malaysia said the D24 Durian McFlurry launch was meant to celebrate Malaysian flavors, and it was rolled out together with the main campaign "Burger Syok", accompanied by two other desserts - the Pulut Hitam Pie and Kon Gemilang (corn-flavoured cone).
He added the product was soft launched earlier in East Malaysia on 21 August as an exclusive sneak preview, and Lee said the response has been "overwhelming so far". The whole campaign was originally scheduled for four weeks, throughout Merdeka and Malaysia Day from its official launch date on 24 August to 20 September 2017. However, Lee said there is a possibility that the campaign may end earlier than expected due to its rising popularity.
“We’re selling four times more per day than we anticipated. If this trend continues, we might run out as soon as two weeks instead of the planned four weeks," he said. He added that the product was first conceptualised back in September 2016, and planned for Merdeka/Malaysia period this year, and as such was separate from the ideation of the Nasi Lemak Burger that McDonald's Singapore unveiled.
“It was created as a tribute to the unique Malaysian taste, and to celebrate our love for durians. We would love to get more stocks of D24 Durian McFlurry in. However, as the puree is made from real fruits, and it requires approximately seven to eight months to grow them, we won’t be able to acquire more for 2017. But we are definitely excited about the response from Malaysians, and we’re looking forward to bringing it back in 2018,” he added.
On Facebook, its D24 Durian McFlurry is already making a buzz with more than 886,000 views and 2,600 shares since it was posted on 22 August.
Meanwhile, here are some social media metrics from Meltwater regarding consumer feedback on the new McFlurry. Top keywords searched were "Mcflurry" and "durian". The date parameter was from 20 August to 25 August.
Here are some of the trending keywords for McDonald's in Malaysia.
Majority of the conversation is also said to be happening on Twitter, followed by Instagram and Facebook.
Meanwhile, here is a look at the conversation that happened when McDonald's Singapore launched the Nasi Lemak Burger.
CNN International Commercial (CNNIC) has appointed Karen Vera as creative lead for Create, Asia Pacific.
Based in Hong Kong, Vera is responsible for leading CNN’s in-house brand studio Create across the APAC region. She will be working closely with CNNIC’s ad sales, content sales, licensing, audience and data teams to develop solutions for commercial clients.
Prior to joining Create, Vera worked as executive producer, media solutions at Yahoo Asia Pacific, where she developed branded content for clients such as Proctor & Gamble, Audi, Sony, Samsung and Singapore Airlines.
She was also creative lead at PRISM Content Factory, a WPP agency that developed and executed branded content for Ford vehicles and technology in nine markets in Asia Pacific.
Sunita Rajan, senior vice president, advertising sales, Asia Pacific, CNN International Commercial said, “CNNIC’s brand studio Create is an integral part of our success story and Karen’s industry knowledge and skill set will be a great value add to the team here in Asia.”
The Singapore Advertiser’s Association (SAA) has appointed elected Oliver Chong, VP of brand and marketing communications, StarHub, as its new president. He succeeds Benjamin Teh, general manager, Pilot Pen Singapore, who had served as president for eight years.
Chong, who has been with StarHub for over 17 years, was instrumental to the growth of the StarHub brand as VP of brand and marketing communications, according to the press statement. SAA will embark on a number of "exciting initiatives" to help marketing professionals better comprehend today's challenges and to develop professionally. It will also partner with leaders in the marketing and advertising industry to curate programmes that address the latest marketing challenges.
“I am honoured to be elected as president of the Singapore Advertisers Association. As the marketing landscape continues to evolve rapidly, my hope is that SAA will carry on to serve as a lighthouse, guiding advertisers to navigate in today’s digital world," Chong said. He added that SAA would like to encourage more advertisers to join and benefit from the power of collective learning.
"Together, we will push the boundaries as we seek to be effective marketing professionals," he added.
Teh added that currently, unprecedented changes are taking place in the advertising sector, not just in Singapore but around the world, and the media landscape is more complex than ever before.
"SAA will continue to support our members in facing these challenges. We will need to band together to help one another as we sail in uncharted waters," he added.
The Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA)’s programming advisory committees (PACs) have lauded Mediacorp for improving its content offering on various platforms. The PACs provide IMDA with feedback from a community perspective on content standards matters and the quality of broadcast content, particularly, locally-produced public service broadcast content.
According to the PACs' report, Mediacorp was lauded for featuring fresh concepts and better-crafted storylines, scripts and characters. These new concepts were more authentic and reflective of life in Singapore. Mediacorp was also praised for addressing previous concerns over the need for fairer racial representation in Mandarin dramas.
An increased breadth of issues was also found to be explored in public service broadcast dramas across languages. These dramas encompassed themes and subject matters which were timely, educational and of social or cultural significance.
However, greater consistency is still needed in the quality of scripting and technical standards.
According to the PACs, standards of scripting and technical aspects for dramas across the languages were still inconsistent, and that there were productions still lagging in these areas.
Rise of digital
Broadcasters were also commended for leveraging digital media to increase the reach of its current affairs programmes and content. This includes “CNA Insider”, which was found by PAC members to be “discoverable and shareable” on social media. However, for Mandarin current affairs programmes, more appealing ways to present facts and information was desired, such as infographics.
Despite the increased efforts through digital, PAC members found a gap in credible, creatively presented current affairs series that would appeal to younger audiences.
Meanwhile, PACs also commended PSB broadcasters and production partners for increasing the amount of PSB content on digital and social media space. This included the rise of PSB productions for Toggle, which explored topics relevant to digital natives, as well as short-form online content which resonated with Singaporean youths.
Further enhancements were also suggested for better user experience. Beyond developments to the Toggle interface and functions, such as better streaming quality and search functions, PACs saw the need for Mediacorp to monetise effectively without compromising the users’ viewing experience.
The report also commended the partnerships with new PSB players to better meet the demands of a mobile and more tech-savvy generation.
“As Mediacorp’s primary online platform reaching out to viewers, members emphasised the importance of continually improving Toggle to meet competition from other OTT platforms,” the report read.
Following IMDA’s partnership with Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), PACs recognised the potential of SPH as a PSB partner.
However, more targeted branding and presentation of content, along with better use of social media as publicity tools was suggested to better appeal to discerning digital audiences.
Feedback on content breaches and content standards
According to the report, PACs deliberated over 24 content standards and programming issues. The cases involved content on FTA TV, subscription TV, and radio platforms.
Mediacorp was issued a warning over an inappropriately rated Tamil movie on Vasantham for breaching the FTA TV Programme Code. It was also fined SG$5,500 for racially insensitive depiction on Toggle web drama “I Want To Be A Star”, following reports on one of the episodes with a “blackface” character.
Meanwhile, SPH Radio was fined SG$7,000 for remarks stereotyping races on morning show on Kiss 92. The segment breached the FTA Radio Programme Code which states that “Programmes which denigrate or are likely to offend the sensitivities of any racial or religious group should not be broadcast” and “Racial and religious stereotyping must be avoided”.
PACs also reviewed prank call segments aired across some Mediacorp radio stations, This followed public feedback received that these segments were “mean-spirited and should not be encouraged as impressionable younger listeners may imitate such behaviour”.
“IMDA has since conveyed the sentiments to Mediacorp and reminded that deejays should not bully, harass or offend the party on the other line and that consent must be sought from prank subjects for broadcast, to which the broadcaster duly acknowledged,” the report stated.
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has launched a new global advertising campaign developed in partnership with creative agency Studio Dangin.
Thuy Tranthi Rieder, group vice president, sales and marketing of Rosewood Hotel Group told Marketing that new campaign aims to position the hotel group as a "luxurious and stylish innovator", as well as distinguish itself from other hotel brands, as the campaign features each destination’s culture and history "in an authentic, unique and tasteful way".
It is also part of the group's plan to grow presence in Asia and Europe, she explained.
The campaign, which will be launched in September, is comprised of powerful photography and five short films that feature "The Rosewood Regulars" at Rosewood’s property in Paris, Hôtel de Crillon.
The photos and films focus on not the characteristics of the property, but the guest's personality, showcasing how the hotel group enables guests to be who they want to be, and encourages them to embody their most authentic self. Each story is then anchored by an adjective, including revolutionnaire (revolutionary), iconique (iconic), audacieux (audacious), diplomatique (diplomatic), and radical.
"Asia, particularly China, is a huge opportunity and source of growth for luxury travel, from both a macroeconomic and demographic perspective," Rieder said.
"To have properties in this part of the world is essential to establishing our brand. We are also seeing very good opportunities where developers are looking for new partners in the luxury segment."
OTAs might play a role, but it's not the only channel
Rieder said online travel agents (OTAs) are one important part of the group's partner ecosystem, but their contribution to the overall business varies from market to market, depending on local customer habits.
"For example, our property in Abu Dhabi has quite a strong OTA market coming out of Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, we see a lower percentage in the U.S. and Western Europe. We also observed that many people looking at ultra-luxury experiences tend not to book through OTAs. They want to speak to someone and want firsthand information; they want to make sure they are going to get that same villa and that specific spot on the beach."
Digital will become increasingly significant
Speaking on the right channels he would use to blast the campaign, Rieder said the group will encompass both print and digital advertisement placements in global publications.
"When it comes to research on where to go, where to stay and what to do, people these days tend to look at many sources for information before they make a decision. These include websites, travel commentary portals, social media, traditional media and, of course, friends' recommendations and insights," she explained.
"Therefore, it’s important for us to be able to establish different touchpoints with our customers and ensure we are continually engaging with them. Without a doubt, digital is an increasingly important part of our channel mix," she added.
Addressing that the group has successfully entered Beijing in 2014, Rieder said they will open four properties this year, and five more properties over the next two year, including Guangzhou, Bangkok, Hoi An, Siem Reap, and Hong Kong, which is set to occupy 27 floors of Victoria Dockside in Tsim Sha Tsui, adjacent to the Victoria Harbour waterfront, offering 398 guestrooms and 199 Rosewood Residences.
PHD China hired Paul Yan as general manager of performance. In his new role, he will report to Lars Bjorge, chief digital officer of PHD Greater China.
Yan joins PHD from Performics China, bringing experience in performance media planning and operations for brands such as Wrigley & Mars, Mead Johnson, Diageo, iRobot, Bacardi, Mercedes-Benz, Chanel, Microsoft and Uber.
He is tasked with building measurable demand generation and user acquisition for clients, ensuring that existing channels exceed ROI while driving use of new and emerging channels.
“Paul has extensive experience in the performance field, in addition to also having significant client side B2B sales experience, with the practical approach to building solutions that B2B marketing provides. We are delighted to have him on board as we look to take our digital expertise on to the next level,” said Bjorge.
“I’m delighted to join PHD, known for its unique culture and bold, out of the box media solutions. I look forward to working with my colleagues to expand on their performance marketing skills and closed loop marketing systems to enhance both brand equity and performance,” said Yan.
Mongoose Publishing CEO, Patrick Brennan, is leaving the company. Brennan commenced his tenure at Mongoose in October 2015 and was elevated to Group CEO in July 2016, leading the team through exponential digital growth, the expansion of Time Out Dine Out and the launch of the ELLE Style Awards.
Brennan stated “Working at Mongoose has been a wonderful experience, the team I’ve worked with and our advertisers and other supporters have been so welcoming and I wish them every success for the future. I am sad to be leaving but my wife could not move here with me due to her work commitments and I need to prioritise being with my family.”
Executive chairman, Graham Paling will take the helm at Mongoose, he stated “Brennan has been a great addition to Mongoose. He has led the business through great digital growth and brought renewed focus to our events and sales strategy. I’d like to thank him for his contributions.”
The news comes shortly after Mongoose Publishing Malaysia decided cease publication of Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazines in Malaysia.
Mongoose Publishing acquired Men’s Health Malaysia from Blu Inc. in August 2013, and published its first issue in January 2014. Following that, the publisher launched Women’s Health magazine on August 2014, which saw the debut of its first issue nationwide in March 2015.
You might have caught a glimpse of an Uber ad online throwing SMRT under the bus. The image in question mocks the recent train disruptions and breakdowns experienced by SMRT through the copy “SMRT break down again? Wait for what? UBER lah.”
SMRT has clarified that the ad is not one which is running on its platforms. Marketing understands it was fabricated online. Uber too confirmed that the ad was not created by the company.
On its Facebook page, Uber said:
“With one quarter of rides in Singapore starting and ending at a train station, we take pride in being able to complement public transit. We appreciate the work that SMRT is doing."
SMRT also followed up with a statement of its own while sharing Uber's statement on Facebook. This saw the company thanking Uber for clarifying the ad.
"The ad circulating online is in bad taste and it's not funny especially to our people who are working so hard 24/7," the SMRT Facebook post read.
Most recently, a possible "strategic alliance" between Uber and ComfortDelGo Corporation made news. This was over the management of fleet vehicles and booking software solutions in Singapore.
Earlier this month, with the help of BBH, Uber ran a social media campaign titled #NationalPoolDay to rally Singaporeans (and its competitor) to come together in the spirit of this year’s national day theme and share rides for a greener National Day.
Typhoon Hato, one of the fiercest storms to hit Hong Kong in recent years, did not only bring us Hong Kongers a typhoon signal No. 10 on Wednesday, but also a paralysed stock market, business closures, as well as public transport and flights suspensions.
Now that Hato is moving further away from Hong Kong, and the city has started cleaning up, one brand is still navigating extreme weather conditions on the internet.
It all started on Wednesday, when the Hong Kong observatory announced in the afternoon that it would change the weather signal from No. 8 to No. 3 in the evening.
A notice, which has Mannings' logo at the top, began circulating on the internet.
"Specific branches have to open the door right after No.8 signal has expired," the notice read.
"For example: if No.8 signal expires at 9am, the branch will be opened at 9am sharp. For other branches, staff have to resume duties within an hour."
The notice immediately drew the ire of netizens, with many criticising the brand for being cold-blooded. The netizens started flooding the brands' Facebook page with angry emoticons and aggressive comments.
"The brand is showing no mercy to its staff, urging them to go back to work under disastrous weather conditions" said one on Mannings' Facebook page.
The "disaster" escalated as Mannings published a post, addressing that signal 3 had been issued, and asking its customers to be careful if they were out. Netizens took the post as a hypocritical statement.
"Customers need to be careful, but their staff need not, and should go back to work immediately. How ironic!" wrote one comment.
Posts on Mannings' Facebook are still getting numerous angry reactions and comments.
Malaysian consumer confidence has been ranked the 28th globally, increasing by seven percentage points (pp) to 94, compared to Q2 2016.
Confidence levels in Southeast Asian countries continue to dominate the top 10 spots globally globally, with four out of six countries in the region scoring above the 100pp mark, according to the latest Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending. The average global consumer confidence is 104 pp, up by three compared to Q4 2016.
Despite its ranking at 28, Malaysia was the second lowest in Southeast Asia.
Consumers in the Philippines emerged the most confident globally at 130 pp, down by two from Q4 2016. Indonesians clinched the third place at 121 pp, up by one. The Vietnamese came in fifth at 117 pp, up by five, and Thais were ranked 10th at 107 pp, down by three. Meanwhile, Singapore was ranked 31st globally with a score of 89 pp, up by three compared to Q4 2016.
Richard Hall, MD of Nielsen Malaysia, however, remained confident saying the second quarter of consumer confidence in Malaysia has shown a positive improvement. He added that the increase in confidence is possibly a result of the improvement in key economic indicators, a stablising currency and no major shocks in the system.
"However, while the index remains marginally below the neutral level, we see that any increase in consumer spending towards the second half of the year will be driven by continued positive economic news and price stability," Hall said.
The economy, job security and increasing food prices key factors of concernfor Malaysians
The economy (47%), job security (22%) and increasing food prices (18%) have been listed as main concerns among Malaysian consumers in Q2 2017. Despite positive economic indicators, 83% of those surveyed said they believed that the nation is still in a recessionary state.
Nonetheless, 52% of Malaysian consumers perceived their state of personal finances to be either good or excellent in the next 12 months, which is a 7% increase compared to Q4 2016. Also, 44% of respondents indicated the employment outlook over the next 12 months to either be good or excellent, compared to 35% in Q4 2016. Other key areas of concern that saw a slight increase compared to the prior two quarters include work-life balance (15%), debt (15%) and crime (8%).
Hall noted that the question of the disconnect between the economic indicators and consumer sentiment still remains. Although both are increasing, they still show that the average Malaysian consumer is not experiencing the impact of the positive growth at a grassroots level.
"Whilst the economy remains the number one concern for half of the nation’s consumers, uncertainty will most likely intensify as the election period approaches, which is on the horizon,” Hall said.
Savings are a priority but Malaysians are also indulging
When it comes to saving intentions, consumers in five Southeast Asian countries continue to lead worldwide. Thais were ranked second globally (69%), while Indonesians and Singaporeans tied for fifth (66%). Malaysians and Vietnamese ranked seventh (63%), while Filipinos came in at 11th with 58%. According to the survey, the global average of consumers depositing spare cash into savings went up by 2% to 52%, compared to Q4 2016.
Whilst focusing on savings, Malaysian consumers are also seen to be planning for their golden age by stretching any extra cash into investing shares of stock/mutual funds (32%), paying medical insurance premiums (25%) and saving for their retirement fund (22%).
Meanwhile, when it comes to big-ticket items, 40% of Malaysians would spend on holidays/vacations and 32% on new clothes. The survey also revealed an increase in other self-indulgent expenses as compared to Q4 2016, with 21% spending on out-of-home entertainment and 19% on new technology products.
“Malaysian consumer’s intention on spending more is clear. However, this seems to be focused on more indulgent items – which may be due to a relief from the pressure they’ve felt at the start of this year. The spend, coupled with an increase in efforts to save and clearing of debts, may mean that we don’t see this impact at an everyday spending level," Hall explained.
Nonetheless, Malaysians still remain prudent about their spending habits, with 84% of respondents indicating they have changed their spending habits to improve household savings in the past 12 months, and 57% stating they have spent less on new clothes. More than half (56%) stated they spent less on out-of-home entertainment and 47% switched to cheaper grocery brands in the past year in an effort to cut back on household expenses
However, should economic conditions improve, at least one-third of Malaysian consumers are expected to continue to save on gas and electricity (33%) and reduce on out-of-home entertainment (33%), while about one-quarter of the respondents said that they will spend less on new clothes (28%) and switch to cheaper grocery brands (28%).
Slow growth for FMCB sector in Q2 2017
The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector registered a drop of 2.2% for year-to-date June 2017.
However, Nielsen noted a recovery in Q2 2017, where the market was flat at just a 0.2% decline compared to the same quarter in 2016.
Four in six of the FMCG super categories recorded a positive growth in Q2 2017 with health and wellness (10.4%) registering double-digit growth followed by snack and confectionery (5.5%), personal care (3.9%) and household (0.9%). On the contrary, both the beverage and grocery categories slipped slightly by 5.3% and 1.2% respectively, as compared to the same period in 2016.
“The improvement in sentiment has yet to filter through to the FMCG sector sales. The year to date indicates a sharp downturn – although the decline has slowed somewhat during the second quarter. Nevertheless, there’s hope the current positive economic environment will encourage increased consumer spending in the second half of the year,” Hall said.
Established in 2005, the Nielsen Consumer Confidence Index is published quarterly in 63 countries to measure the perceptions of local job prospects, personal finances, immediate spending intentions and related economic issues of real consumers around the world. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism. Within a country, period-to-period movements of seven points or more are considered statistically significant.
ION Orchard has appointed VML Singapore to handle its social media duties for a year. VML will support ION Orchard across all aspects of its social strategy, including content planning and asset development, community management, reporting and analytics, as well as strategic campaigns and related events.
In a bid to strengthen ION Orchard's identity through its social media channels to remain competitive, VML will develop strategies that increase top-of-mind awareness for the shopping mall among its target audience. The agency is also tasked with reaffirming ION Orchard's positioning as the destination of choice for both locals and tourists.
KRDS Singapore, which was the incumbent on the account, confirmed that the agency did not pitch again due to "reduced budgets", "differences in strategic direction" and a "non-compete agreement". Last year, ION Orchard renewed its contract with KRDS to manage its digital presence for another year.
“ION Orchard has very digital-savvy and socially-connected shoppers. We are excited to work with VML to explore new technologies and digital experiences which can translate to enhanced shopper experiences for our customers,” Chris Chong, CEO Orchard Turn Retail Investment, said.
“We are incredibly honored to partner with a brand as vibrant and inspiring as ION Orchard, as it makes waves in retail innovation. Consumers rely on digital for everything - from deal hunting to location mapping and information gathering when it comes to shopping these days. We look forward to helping ION Orchard join the dots for their consumers through the powerful use of their social channels that encompasses pre-shopping trip research to post check-out customer services," Tripti Lochan, CEO of VML in Southeast Asia and India, said.
In July, ION Orchard picked DDB's TRACK Singapore as its creative agency following a pitch, to manage its integrated advertising communications.
Earlier this year, VML was appointed by the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Peranakan Museum to revamp their digital platforms. The agency was responsible for the platform strategy, which includes consumer journeys, user experience, interaction design, and front-end development of both museum websites. The agency was also appointed as Innisfree's social media agency in Malaysia, following a competitive pitch. The engagement began in April 2017, with VML leading the brand’s digital marketing, including digital transformation, campaign concepts and creative, content marketing, social media management, analytics and reporting.
In March, VML named Donald Lim head of platforms and experiences (P&E) to lead initiatives and drive processes at the agency’s newly-established Centre of Excellence (COE) in Singapore. The P&E COE is one of the three that VML as a network is building globally, the other two based in Kansas City and London.
GroupM has announced the global rollout of viewability standards to support continued investment in digital media.
Key clients are supporting the demand for enhanced viewability and measurement in digital advertising, including Unilever, Campbell Soup Company, Church & Dwight, Shell, Subway and Volvo Cars. Unilever partnered with GroupM in 2014 when the company's viewability standards were originally announced in the U.S.
Media and technology partners supporting the viewability effort include Hulu, Spotify, Teads, comScore, DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science and Moat. GroupM is in active dialogue with all digital media partners worldwide about viewability measurement and delivery to the now global standards.
Viewability considers the area of the ad that can be seen within a browser or application (in percentage of pixels) and the duration of time that the pixels remain in view (in seconds). According to global verification providers, as much as 50% of all digital ads are not viewable, representing a significant accountability risk to advertising clients.
GroupM also announced an evolution of its standards and plans for studying the performance of video ads in social and newsfeed environments. The requirement that an ad must be 100% in view remains foundational to GroupM's standards for all ad formats. With user behaviors in mobile and social newsfeed environments, where they sometimes scroll too quickly to see ads, GroupM has strengthened its standard and now requires a one second duration for the time a display ad passes through the viewable screen.
GroupM, its clients and partners will also study the performance of social and newsfeed video, measuring more than 100 data points with DoubleVerify, Moat and IAS across Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Snapchat to identify which are most meaningful in evaluating different ad formats in these social platforms and in mobile environments. This analysis will be the foundation for the development of future social and newsfeed video duration metrics.
"Our ambition is to offer clients the absolute best quality digital media in every market," said John Montgomery, executive vice president, brand safety. "By working with clients and progressive media and technology partners, we can help shape the digital marketplace for the better, as we have seen in the U.S. It was always our goal to operate around a consistent standard globally and following many months of partner dialogue, now is the right time for us move forward with these enhanced standards that consider the evolution in social and mobile platforms, as well as user behaviors."
Mediacorp has revealed that it would be discontinuing TODAY’s print edition as the company looks towards becoming fully digital, the last print edition being in September 2017. The move will result in the redundancies of 40 roles. Marketing understands a majority of roles affected are in the circulation and print-specific functions.
The company will also look to explore options to redeploy the staff to other roles within the organisation. Where this is not possible, eligible staff will be offered severance packages and outplacement support.
"Mediacorp thanks all staff of the TODAY team for their contributions,” the press statement read.
In a statement to Marketing, Karen Yew, head of brand and communications at Mediacorp said that all ads booked for September will be published. She added that TODAY's print edition would still taking bookings for the month of September. Over the next two weeks, Mediacorp's commercial group teams will be in touch with advertisers to discuss how to best meet their needs in view of the changes after September.
“Readers increasingly want their news on the go. We are encouraged by the growth in engagement as seen with the digital weekend edition. Advertising revenues are following audiences to digital platforms. With that Mediacorp has strengthened its commercial offerings to enable advertisers to reach their clients digitally,” Yew explained.
These offerings, together with Mediacorp’s TV and Radio platforms, aim to offer clients integrated multi-platform marketing solutions.
The move follows a deal which was signed today which sees Mediacorp buying back a 40% stake of Mediacorp Press, held by Singapore Press Holdings since 2005. According to the statement, the completion of the deal is subject to regulatory approval and scheduled for the end of September 2017, coinciding with the last print edition of TODAY.
“With full ownership and control of Mediacorp Press, Mediacorp will restructure the TODAY business to better face the new digital-first media landscape,” the Mediacorp statement said.
It added that TODAY started preparing for its strategic digital pivot three years ago. In April 2017, TODAY launched a fully digital weekend edition. Moving forward, the next step for the publication would be turning its weekday editions fully digital as well.
“TODAY has earned a reputation for journalistic excellence. The product has won a slew of international and local awards for its reporting, digital initiatives, and visual journalism among others. As TODAY goes fully digital, it continues to uphold its commitment to journalistic excellence,” the statement read.
This is not the first time Mediacorp has made strides into going fully digital for its print publications. In March this year, the company discontinued the print editions of its Style brand of magazines. This saw the migration of its Style and Style: Men content to its digital portal styleXstyle.
The company also revealed plans discontinue the transmission radio station Lush 99.5FM, with effect from 1 September 2017. According to Mediacorp, this was “part of a rationalisation of its network of radio stations”. Prior to the move, the station had been around for 13 years. However, it saw a decline in listenership over the years, to numbers as low as 50,000 weekly.
Most recently, the company hired Tham Loke Kheng as its CEO and board director, effective 1 September 2017. She takes over from Shaun Seow, who took up a new role at Temasek Holdings. Seow joins Temasek’s telecom, media & technology investment team, which includes Mediacorp in its portfolio.
In March this year, the company also appointed Parminder Singh as its chief commercial and digital officer. Singh joins Mediacorp from Twitter, where he was managing director, Southeast Asia, Middle East, North Africa and India. Singh’s role combined what were previously two separate positions in the company and follows a series of recent hires reflecting Mediacorp’s move to bolster its digital capabilities.
Tehbotol Sosro has released a new spot in light of Indonesia’s Independence Day. The video was conceptualised by creative agency, Flock, and showcases Indonesia’s diverse cultures. This was in a bid to celebrate and remind a country of the country’s unity.
The video tells the story about Indonesia as a country, with a range of languages, religions, and ethnicities. The video stresses that apart from local ethnicity, Indonesia is also comprised of Chinese-Indonesian and a few Western ethnicities. The spot asks viewers to forget their differences and remember the nation’s official motto "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" - a phrase that translates to "Unity in Diversity".
Since its posting on 14 August 2017, the spot garnered 1,710,286 views on YouTube at the time of writing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPoiKxb3l3M
“The video talks about the issue in Indonesia, which are mostly about politics, race, and religion. These are things that can often make people feel very divided. For this reason, we thought it would be nice to instead discuss how we can be more unified on our Independence Day," Ronny Jatnika, marketing leader at Tehbotol Sosro, said.
