David Soo (pictured), managing director of Saatchi & Saatchi Arachnid, has left the Publicis network. Soo took on the role a year ago, after Publicis One Malaysia merged the Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia brand with the Arachnid brand. The collective was renamed to Saatchi & Saatchi Arachnid.
The consolidation was aimed to streamline operations in response to client and market demands. This saw the departure of former Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia managing director Adrian Sng leaving the network.
Soo has over 20 years of industry experience combining traditional and digital knowledge. He started his career in Bates Advertising in 1996. In the seven years there, he worked on Nokia, Dutch Lady, HSBC and Heineken. He then moved on to join Astana International in 2002, where he helped set up and run the Jakarta office for two years before joining Arachnid in 2004, where he worked with the brand for over 13 years.
As the GM of Saatchi & Saatchi Arachnid, he was part of the team to win 17 Agency of the Year titles across six agency categories in the last six years at the annual A+M Agency of the Year Awards. In 2016, he took over the reigns of the company from Chin Weng Keong, founder of the agency. He is also the chief integration officer of Publicis One Malaysia.
Since bringing on Soo as MD, Saatchi & Saatchi Arachnid has won advertising duties with the likes of TM and Drypers. It has also worked with BMW on several campaign executions. Other clients for the agency include Mead Johnson, Petronas and Mini.
In a statement to A+M, Soo said: "The experiences I have garnered over the years at Arachnid are priceless. Growing from a 20 man shop to about 70 with increased annual revenue of three times of what it used to be has been rewarding. Now that it is part of the Publicis Groupe, I believe Saatchi & Saatchi Arachnid will continue to grow beyond just digital marketing."
"As for me, 13 years has been a long time and it's definitely time for my next adventure in the marketing and communications industry. We all need to evolve and adapt in order to continuously grow and achieve greater things," he added.
We know leaks cause anticipation and according to data from Amobee Brand Intelligence, between the dates of 10 August to 10 September 2017, 36% of all digital content engagement around the iPhone 8 has been leak-related.
In fact, when compared with the product launches of competitors such as Samsung, the research found 18% more digital content engagement around iPhone 8 than Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8. This was over the time period of 23 August to 10 September 2017, since the Galaxy Note 8 has been officially announced.
According to Amobee, there was 3% more digital content engagement surrounding iPhone 8 in the two days before its official announcement, than Galaxy Note 8 during its announcement on 24 August 2017. The Galaxy Note 8 was unveiled on 23 August 2017, with digital interest only peaking the day after.
Currently, 45% of iPhone 8 digital content engagement has been price-related. A Bloomberg report said that this was a result of wide speculation online surrounding potential price increases which sees each new version of the iPhone (from previous models) costing at least US$1,000.
While the iPhone 8 is likely to be the biggest announcement Apple makes tomorrow (1 am SG time, in case you were wondering), it is not the only new product line by Apple which is expected to generate interest. Between the time period of 10 August to 10 September 2017, 52% of all digital content engagement surrounding the Apple Event mentioned the iPhone 8; 37% of Apple Event digital content mentioned the Apple Watch; and 23% of all Apple Event digital content engagement mentioned the Apple TV product.
Meanwhile, 22% of all Apple Event digital content engagement referenced Apple’s HomePod and 13% of digital content engagement touched on AirPods, Apple’s headphones. Other observations made during the same time period include that of the Apple Park campus which will be revealed, with 17% of all Apple Event digital content engagement referencing the campus.
What about iPhone 8 is trending online right now
In terms of topics surrounding iPhone 8, Amobee has found 52% of digital mentions on the iPhone being about its rumoured name to be iPhone X. This was during 8 to 10 September 2017.
Facial Recognition has been presumed to be the breakout feature of the new iPhone, with 65% of all digital content engagement being Facial Recognition related. Coming in close second is the new iPhone’s Wireless Charging feature, which saw 58% of mentions in digital content engagement.
Next are the new Dual Cameras which took on 48% of all iPhone 8 digital content engagement mentions, and All-Glass Design, which saw 24% of mentions. 10% of digital mentions were about the new iPhone’s OLED display.
Amobee’s Brand Intelligence platform analyses and correlates over 60 billion content engagements across web, video, mobile and social on a daily basis.
While we know instinctively that PR is one of the most cost effective marketing channels, many of us feel that we have lacked the tools to prove it. Quoting PR’s typical 300-800% ROI proven in market mix modelling studies by Procter & Gamble, SAB Miller and others can get your foot in the door at budget time, but isn’t granular enough to defend PR investment when it comes to the first round of budget cuts. As a result, there is now a much greater interest from communications professionals to prove that PR is a low cost revenue generation centre, not simply a cost centre. This has lead to many more requests in the past 12 months to guide our clients to smarter measurement frameworks and business metrics.
In my view, most marketers have a better business impact story to sell than they ever dreamed. The majority just don’t know how to prove it. Yet proving the impact of earned media on business results is their smartest path to secure essential funding. I would estimate a mere 25% of marketers understand this, so there is a clear role for AMEC (the International Association of Measurement & Evaluation of Communication), the only global communications measurement education body, in advancing the AMEC integrated measurement framework, a free online measurement tool found here.
We need more CMOs with confidence in earned media and that requires a simple way of summarising business goals, strategies, earned media touchpoints across the PESO model and capturing their business impact.
Earned media plays a much more critical conversion role than most CMOs realise. Earned media builds confidence and trust through peer-to-peer recommendation and positive impressions. Despite the rush of consumer brands to earn “free” media coverage to extend awareness of their integrated campaigns, it’s even more powerful in B2B where confidence and trust matter more than awareness. Yet, when it comes to measurement, they are slapping coverage with a cost instead of a value. Advertising value equivalents (AVE) are misnamed and confuse ‘cost’ with ‘value’, which are very different things and often bear no relation to each other. Have you ever placed an advert somewhere which cost money but received no response? Where was the value in that?
I recently heard the term earned media value (EMV), pretending to be a modern version of AVE. Frankly, I don’t see this as any more credible or useful than AVE. EMV is attempting to calculate the same thing as AVE now applied to social media cost per thousand (CPM) measures. The bigger problem is that EMV is still counting a cost and distracting marketers from getting any closer to an ROI.
Overall, we need to stop obsessing about coverage volume, cost per click, AVE, EMV or any other vanity metric that makes us feel famous for a week. We must be more focused on setting business objectives and goals upfront, and designing communications work that can be measured in a simple framework against those goals.
Marion McDonald is chief strategy officer, Asia Pacific for Ogilvy Public Relations, a member of the Council of Public Relations Firms of Hong Kong.
Government Technology Agency (GovTech) has appointed OMD Singapore to manage its media buying duties for a year, with the option to extend for another. According to GeBiz, a tender for the account was called on 25 July 2017, which saw three other agencies vying for the account. This included GroupM Singapore, Starcom Media and Vizeum Singapore.
Last year, a GovTech bill was approved by Parliament to further the Ministry of Communications and Information’s initiatives in digital transformation, which comes at a time where Singapore is looking to become a Smart Nation. According to Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information, GovTech will play an important role in driving the digital transformation of the public sector, with citizens at the centre.
This follows the reorganisation of the Infocomm Development Authority and Media Development Authority into GovTech and the Infocommunications and Media Development Authority in January 2016.
In June this year, GovTech's chief marketing and communications officer Lena Goh also moved to Temasek as director for its public affairs team.
Following the conclusion of the presidential elections, netizens have been found to have mixed reactions surrounding Halimah Yacob’s presidential victory, following a walkover. This came after Yacob was found to be the only presidential hopeful to meet the requirements out of five applicants, according to The Straits Times.
We checked in with global media monitoring house Meltwater on what the local sentiments have been so far. Meltwater said there has been an "extensive increase in social media chatter", observed around the Singapore Presidential Elections results.
The Meltwater data said there is a increase in negative sentiment surrounding the Presidential Elections 2017 over the dates of 11 to 12 September 2017 following the results. The data shows 83% of negative sentiment and 17% of positive sentiment.
Meanwhile, here are some of the trending talks surrounding the elections on an overall note.
Meltwater added that news mentions of Yacob peaked yesterday when the presidential election results were released, but tapered off today. Meanwhile, social media mentions of Yacob are still seeing traction, with social media sentiment on the word “Halimah” seeing a marked change from negative at 87% of mentions on 11 September, to slightly more positive at 63% on 12 September 2017.
Some Facebook posts on the move which also garnered traction were that of local playwright Alfian Sa'at and former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng.
There is a gap between corporate recognition of the importance of digital transformation and the execution, as most Hong Kong companies are spending on "basic" activities like website and content development, e-commerce, and CRM, according to Google Hong Kong’s “Smarter digital city whitepaper” conducted by Nielsen.
While 79% of Hong Kong corporates are currently managing digital initiatives, the research suggested that companies who are managing digital projects are primarily focused on “obvious” digital capabilities, such as marketing and digital content development, e-commerce, and customer relationship management.
Conversely, fewer companies are making investments in newer and more relevant technologies including big data/analytics, machine learning, and other digital initiatives that they say are crucial to personalising consumer relationships and driving digital utilisation.
Meanwhile, the data indicated that 83% of the companies will use external specialists in the future to help with digital solutions. Google suggested companies must look for internal and external expertise, for example, companies may want to train-up digital marketers while partnering with external data analysts and machine learning engineers to maximise efficiency and impact. Strategic partnerships and alliances can help companies move faster through their transformational journey. This strategy enables companies to be agile and highly responsive to a fast-changing landscape.
The whitepaper also stated that only 1 out of 5 consumers are highly satisfied with their digital experience with brands. Whereas, highly engaged consumers (18%) are three times more likely to be "highly satisfied" with digital transformation than those who are less engaged.
The search company said for the companies who understand that digital is critical to their future, most are already considering to invest in forward-looking technologies to satisfy consumer needs.
The study aims to identify some of the most pressing issues holding back Hong Kong’s digitisation, while also exploring the city’s areas of opportunity.
Y&R announced the appointment of Onat Roldan as the new Chief Executive Officer of Y&R Philippines.
Roldan’s extensive marketing communications experience spans over 20 years, having started out as a Copywriter, Creative Director, then Chief Creative Officer, before heading up a Business Unit and moving into management at some of the Philippines’ best-known agencies.
For the past six years, Roldan has been Managing Director at Cheil Philippines where he improved the office’s SEA contributions from fifth to second within three years. He also revitalized the creative, retail, digital, planning and media departments. During Roldan’s tenure, Cheil Philippines exponentially increased its relevance and competence to support the marketing communications platforms of Samsung, BPI-Philam, Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, Philippine Veterans Bank, Kakao Talk, and Citibank.
Sanjay Bhasin, CEO, Y&R Southeast Asia, commented, “Onat has a proven track record of expanding his previous networks’ business models through introducing digital and re-engineering activation & PR. These are exactly the skills necessary to lead Y&R Philippines into its next phase of growth as we continue to build out capabilities such as Labstore, to best meet the needs of our clients.”
Added Roldan, “My goal is to create solutions that help deliver Y&R’s business objectives. I believe strategic creativity and data-driven spontaneity are the most effective business solutions in today's landscape. I love working with passionate and curious people and look forward to making a positive impact with my new colleagues at Y&R Philippines.”
Roldan succeeds Randy Aquino, who is returning to his strategic consultancy.
Added Bhasin, “Randy stepped into an agency that required strong leadership, inspiration, encouragement and support, all of which he provided in spades. It has been a pleasure working with him and we wish him the best success. He will be on hand to assist Onat with his transition till mid-September.”
The Ministry of National Development (MND) has appointed Formul8 to manage its housing affordability campaign. The incumbent for the account, which is worth SG$3,799,629.10 on Gebiz, was DDB Singapore.
This followed a tender which was called on 15 June 2017, which also saw DDB Singapore and Qais Consulting vying for the account. According to GeBiz, Formul8 will be responsible for producing above-the-line print and TV collaterals in English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil, digital marketing in the areas of social media and video, as well as consumer insights and research. The agency is also in charge of post-campaign evaluation to measure the effectiveness of the campaign and recommend ways to bridge gaps, talent and uploading fees and account servicing.
Marketing understands that Formul8 has also partnered with its social media arm Type A, Maxus and Antzworkz Consultants to manage the account. The appointment is for a period of 10 months.
Last year, MND appointed Tribal Worldwide Singapore as its digital marketing agency for its Municipal Services Office. The appointment was for a period of one year and will be service digital channels. Other agencies that were pitching for the account include Atomz I!, Cubic Communications, Hamilton & Sherwind and Splash Productions.
Three statutory boards have also recently called for a tender. The Agency for Science, Technology and Research is on the lookout for an agency to handle its digital media duties for a year. The tender closes 15 September 2017. Meanwhile, the People’s Association is also on the lookout for an agency to manage its digital media buy for the 2018 Chingay Parade. The agency will be responsible for Google Search, YouTube TrueView and Google Display Network. The tender closes 8 September 2017.
This follows the Land Transport Authority’s 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.
Franklin Templeton Investments has appointed Avinash Satwalekar as the country head of Malaysia. On top of that, Satwalekar is also named the chief executive officer (CEO) of Franklin Templeton Asset Management Malaysia.
Satwalekar has relocated to Kuala Lumpur from Vietnam to take responsibility for leading the firm’s retail and institutional distribution efforts across Malaysia, and will now report to Adam Quaife, regional head for Southeast Asia at Franklin Templeton Investments.
He replaces Sandeep Singh who has moved to Dubai to take on the position of senior director and regional head for central Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA). In addition to his new role, Satwalekar will continue his involvement with the company’s business in Vietnam by serving as chairman of the board for Vietcombank Fund Management (VCBF), a joint venture between Franklin Templeton and Vietcombank in Vietnam.
Satwalekar was previously the CEO and chief investment officer (CIO) for VCBF and oversaw the combined business and investment activities of the group. Satwalekar had served as the lead portfolio manager for the two funds domiciled in Vietnam since their respective inceptions in 2013 and 2014. Satwalekar has over 20 years of experience at Franklin Templeton. Prior to his role in Vietnam, he was a portfolio manager and research analyst for Franklin Equity Group, based at the firm’s headquarters in San Mateo, California.
“Satwalekar is an experienced client-centric leader with a strong track record both in business development and in investment management. He brings valuable experience gained in roles across Franklin Templeton, both in the US and in Asia. Satwalekar is well placed to manage our existing Malaysia business and to leverage the firm’s global offerings to serve clients across multiple distribution channels,” Quaife said.
“With its expanding middle class, healthy growth rates in unit trust penetration, as well as an established infrastructure for Islamic finance, Malaysia is a critical part of our growth strategy in Asia. I am confident that with his background and expertise, Satwalekar will build on the momentum of this vibrant market and harness growth opportunities for our clients and distributors,” Mark Browning, managing director for Asia at Franklin Templeton Investments, added.
ESPN has named Manu Sanghi as its new head of ad sales for Southeast Asia (SEA). The new appointment is yet another addition to its recently aligned leadership team in the region.
Sanghi who started the new role on 4 September 2017, will be based in ESPN’s offices in Singapore. He reports to Joyee Biswas, head of ESPN SEA, and will be responsible for managing the expanding position of the ESPN business in the region.
Additionally, Sanghi will be focusing on custom content solutions and creating original programming for advertisers, as well as supporting various business partners in the region. ESPN said its ad sales business within SEA has seen significant growth over the last 12 months, with highlights including TCL’s Inspiring Bonding Moments and Heineken’s Champion The Match campaigns; both of which drove sports fan engagement using custom content and targeted media.
Sanghi brings over 15 years of experience managing global brands, having worked in media agencies across multiple markets including Dentsu, MEC and Havas. Prior to ESPN, Sanghi spent five years with MEC in Dubai before moving to Singapore to join Havas Media, where he managed Hyundai-Kia, Emirates Airlines and LG Electronics. A move to Scripps Networks in early 2015 saw Sanghi manage its regional business development with highlights including new business partnerships with Emborg, AccorHotels and Emirates.
“I am really excited about this opportunity to work with the ESPN SEA team. It’s a dream come true for a huge sports fan like me to be joining ESPN. I feel a combination of my passion for sports and media industry experience will help me deliver on my responsibilities and grow our business in SEA,” Sanghi added.
“We are so happy to welcome Sanghi to the ESPN SEA team. His new perspective and creative thinking will strengthen the great team we already have in place here,” Biswas said.
“Our business here in SEA has recently gone from strength to strength and due to increasing interest in ESPN’s content driven programs in market, we are looking forward to Manu taking the Sanghi sponsorship business to the next level," ESPN’s director of advertising and sponsorship sales for APAC, Marc Mallett, said.
The American sports media company made a slew of new appointments for content and strategy teams in June this year. This included announcing a change in the teams overseeing ESPN’s strategy and business development work. Among the changes of roles and duties, ESPN appointed Connor Schell as the executive vice president of content. Schell oversees all of ESPN’s content creation across ESPN’s television, digital and print platforms. He also undertakes additional responsibility for studio and remote production, and digital and print content creation.
As part of these overall changes, Ryan Spoon, senior vice president, product and digital media, will now report to Aaron LaBerge, executive vice president and chief technology officer, fully integrating product and technology development under LaBerge. Spoon will continue to lead the design, product management, and audience development for all of ESPN’s digital products and will add responsibility for digital media prioritisation and strategy.
The battle between Singapore’s ride sharing operators and taxi companies heated up last week. This was with Grab announcing that it will offer ComfortDelGro drivers substantial reductions in the cost of taxi rentals, with the hope they leave their bright, blue taxis in the garage and switch to a Grab vehicle. The aggressive poaching of drivers was unexpected and is indicative of the fierce level of competition so apparent on the streets of the city state.
I recently asked one of my colleagues whether the bus service from her home to our office had improved. She promptly responded that she doesn't bother with the bus anymore. For a similar price she can use a ride sharing service. When I asked which one, she duly informed me that it depended upon which operator was giving the most vouchers. At the end of our chat we estimated it was costing her less than four dollars to take an Uber, or Grab, a distance of about seven kilometres into the Central Business District (CBD). Once you factor in road tolls, there isn’t much margin left for the service provider.
Yet, here lies the mystery of the current shootout on the streets of Singapore. What is the end objective? If it’s loyalty, then the voucher system is quickly eroding that. If it’s market penetration, then it will come at an unsustainable cost. Finally, and I know in an Amazon market‐share‐obsessed world this is an unpopular perspective - if it’s profit, then the Grab-Uber showdown is very much a race to the bottom. Even though both companies have some big financial backers, pursuing a discounted revenue stream at the sacrifice of profit will only ensure neither party has anything to show for it in the long term. Anyone remember the tech-wreck in 2001? Financial backers are a fickle mob and, eventually, companies will be assessed on their capacity to generate profits – year in, year out.
The most confounding aspect to Uber in 2017 is this: What does the brand actually stand for? Is it an ex‐CEO with questions regarding the way he engages his employees? Is it a company that favours an international tax strategy to minimise local taxes? Or, is it drivers that feel frustrated the company may only be using them until driverless cars are permitted on normal roads?
Who is leveraging its brand better?
From a marketing perspective, Grab is leveraging its brand better when compared to Uber. Whilst Uber disrupted the taxi industry with savvy technology back in 2009 and a ground‐breaking mobile platform, Grab has now used similar technology but built a much more visible brand. With branding still a work in progress, both firms would be wise to consider what their respective brand’s sacred assets are.
In their simplest form, sacred assets reflect the most important expressions of a brand.
They are the elements— behavioural, visual, verbal and experiential—that truly distinguish a brand. For Tiffany, it’s their light blue box. For Nike, it’s the distinct swoosh that adorns its products, and for Harley-Davidson it’s the unique exhaust note on any one of their bikes.
It would appear neither Grab nor Uber have easily identifiable sacred assets. Although one could be excused for wondering if an urbane car, poorly parked in a CBD no standing zone, with its hazard lights on is fast becoming the most recognisable feature of the Uber brand.
It is surprising that neither Grab nor Uber have focused on what many would consider the most obvious of sacred assets in the ride sharing segment – the driver. Uber has tried to do this, but with limited success. In its early days of operation, it was not unusual to have an Uber driver extolling the virtues of freedom that came with the job. Those days now seem a long time ago.
In contrast to its newer rivals, ComfortDelGro has adapted well to the recent disruption. Out of all of Singapore’s taxi firms, it is the most popular. The distinct blue livery of its fleet is clearly visible and the company has started doing something that Uber cannot. With approximately 16,000 taxis on its ComfortDelGro/CityCab fleet, it’s now turning its cabs into moving billboards.
The messaging that’s prominent on ComfortDelGro’s fleet boasts “Flat fares. No surge pricing”. If you talk to users of Uber and Grab, one of the biggest pain points is the premium charged at the height of the peak. So, ComfortDelGro is understandably targeting its competitors where they are vulnerable. It is likely Grab may respond by using its fleet as a vehicle for communication. However, due to the open-source structure deployed by Uber, such a prominent mechanism for branding is simply not an option.
The events of the last week, with Grab’s promise of cheaper vehicle rentals, were an unusual move. Up until now, the focus has been on the demand side. Make no mistake, the lure of cheaper vehicles is all about negatively impacting ComfortDelGro's ability to provide a reliable service. It is calculated, functional and wholly concentrated on logistics. The higher order influence of the brand seems to be missing as Grab, Uber and ComfortDelGro currently slug it out.
As the focus eventually returns to each operator’s brand, I can't help but thinking Uber faces the toughest challenge. Great brands stand for something and they rarely stand still. For Uber, it’s very much a case of what got you here, won’t get you there.
If the company’s marketers want to stay top of mind with Singaporeans, they need to double down on defining what the brand stands for and then do everything they can to ensure it is much more prominent on city streets. ComfortDelGro must continue to lean in on mobile based technology so that relevance with a younger demographic is maintained. As for Grab, last week’s events signal that we should continue to expect the unexpected.
The writer is Nick Foley, president of Southeast Asia, Pacific and Japan for Landor.
The Singapore Red Cross and DDB Group Singapore have launched a new campaign featuring six bite-sized instructional first aid videos on Instagram. The initiative aims to empower Singaporeans to respond to emergencies – potentially saving lives, and is also in conjunction with the World First Aid Day.
Each of the videos cover one of the six common conditions of emergencies in Singapore, namely cardiac arrest, seizure, choking, severe bleeding, stroke and burn wounds. It also contains simple instructions which look to be dynamic and easy-to-follow.
The campaign also calls for Instagram users to tap the “Save for later” function on the social media platform to download the videos for easy access, in case of emergency. Users also encouraged to spread the word by sharing the videos with their followers, tagging @sgredcross, and including hashtags #instasave and #savenowtosavelater.
Through the campaign, the Singapore Red Cross hopes to equip every Singaporean Instagram users with life-saving first aid skills, and turn a photo-sharing community into a life-saving workforce. In order to boost reach and visibility of the content, brands in Singapore are also standing strong in support of the initiative through their Instagram accounts, the press statement read. Marketing has reached out to Singapore Red Cross and DDB Group Singapore for additional comment.
"I hope the community will find these neat videos starring our volunteer first aiders helpful and save them for use in case of an emergency," Benjamin William, secretary general and CEO for the Singapore Red Cross, said.
“In an emergency, every second matters. Faster response rates significantly increase a person’s chance of survival. However, more often than not, access to life-saving knowledge can be hard to follow and difficult to access. With 63% of Singaporeans on Instagram, the opportunity is huge,” Chris Chiu, chief creative officer at DDB Group Singapore, said.
In October last year, Singapore Red Cross launched a campaign to promote its suite of local community services and raise awareness to further its fundraising efforts. The campaign was conceptualised by MullenLowe Singapore and saw the the organisation launching TVCs, digital films and outdoor activations to promote its message.
EpiCentre Holdings has launched its first Live Out Loud (LOL) concept store, in a bid to reshape Singaporeans' digital lifestyle experience, by making a myriad of products readily available in a one-stop shop.
While often synonymous with the Apple brand, with the EpiCentre stores flaunting a similar, minimalist look, the new LOL concept store aims to offer products from dual platforms such as iOS and Android. Among the list of digital lifestyle products available include the 2017 Microsoft Surface Pro, Samsung and Huawei smartphones, in addition to the iPhone and Macbook. To keep up with the Singapore government's push towards Smart Nation, LOL is also offering smart gadgets such as wearables for correcting postures, smart doorbells and smart pet feeders that can be controlled using mobile devices.
In a conversation with Marketing, Kenneth Lim, chairman, EpiCentre Holdings said that with the opening of the Apple Store earlier this year, it was time for EpiCentre Holdings to review its strategy moving forward. According to Lim, EpiCentre Holdings named the new concept store LOL because it wanted a term that Singaporeans were familiar with to aid with brand recall. Going forward, 70% of its retail outfits will be changed to that name.
"We are moving towards selling both Apple and Android products. But we don't want to be like companies such as Harvey Norman or Courts, where you can find everything inside. We are more selective of the products we sell and look to offer premium, lifestyle-driven items," Lim said. He added that EpiCentre Holdings also wanted to leverage on its "strong branding" of being synonymous with Apple to launch LOL.
Moving forward, EpiCentre Holdings intends to roll out the full range of premium products at LOL. Lim said the company made the decision to unveil LOL a few months ago by closing its EpiCentre Apple Premium Reseller store at ION Orchard in April, to carry out an expedited revamp before launching the new concept store. He added:
You don't want too much of a down time in retail. You have to quickly renovate and bring it back.
EpiCentre Holdings chose to kick off the new concept store at ION Orchard as it was the company's flagship store back then. According to him, the EpiCentre Apple Premium Reseller stores in Singapore and Malaysia will be converted into LOL concept stores. The company is also looking expand into Cambodia and Vietnam.
With the launch of LOL, EpiCentre Holdings is also focusing on its membership platform, which offers tiered memberships to consumers. "This is something we are working on at the moment and are putting a lot of effort into it to offer more perks to our customer base," Lim said.
In China, advertisers’ increased focus on mobile, along with investments in video and social, will continue to boost overall digital ad spend, according to eMarketer’s latest forecast.
This year, eMarketer’s forecast estimates overall digital ad spend in China will reach US$50.31 billion — of which 72.0% will go to mobile channels. Video is the fastest growing ad format within digital, and by 2021 it expects it will overtake spending on traditional TV, accounting for 13.4% of all media ad expenditures.
“Advertising on digital video is growing at a faster rate than overall display ads, and strong content is a key driver for this growth as brands are willing to spend more money to appear alongside the most popular content,” said eMarketer forecasting analyst Cindy Liu. “As well as investing in original content, video platforms are looking to establish exclusive partnerships. For example, iQiyi, Baidu’s on-demand video streaming service, recently announced a deal with Netflix to license some of their premium content.”
Thanks to their continued innovations in mobile and high-profile partnerships, the BAT companies — Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, will continue to dominate the digital ad market in China. According to eMarketer’s latest forecast, the BAT companies combined will take in 64.1% of digital ad expenditures in China this year. Within the BAT companies, Alibaba will capture more than 35% of China’s digital ad spending in 2017, followed by Baidu with an 18.4% share and Tencent with a 10.4% slice.
By 2019, Alibaba’s digital ad revenues will reach US$28.93 billion, accounting for 38.0% of all digital ad spend in China.
“Alibaba continues to outperform expectations and is once again the strongest performer in terms of net digital ad revenues in China,” Liu said. “By incorporating social and video elements into its mobile shopping app - Taobao, Alibaba is able to capture more consumer time and thus attract more advertising spend. Meanwhile, Tencent, which is the fastest growing company in terms of net digital ad revenues, will fall short of Alibaba and Baidu through 2019, as the company errs on the conservative side when it comes to unloading its ad inventory.”
With three more days to go for the nation to celebrate Malaysia Day, Celcom has released a short fim titled "Lagenda 5 Sekawan" or The Notorious 5 to remind us of the things we love most about this country - its multi-racial and cultural diversity.
The nearly five minutes long ad gives an interesting twist on how our unity, friendship and love for each other could help build a better nation.
While its last short film "Emma" speaks about diversity and harmony seen through the eyes of a foreigner, inspired by the true story of a young British teacher who was sent to Malaysia in the 1970s to teach, and eventually makes Malaysia her home. Meanwhile, "Lagenda 5 Sekawan" film takes on a local perspective to drive the message of unity, while at the same time salutes the ones who taught and demonstrated the spirit of togetherness to help shape future generations.
In the story of "Lagenda 5 Sekawan" we are introduced to five good friends – Hasnah, Bom Bom, Maria, Kumari and Su Mei. Although mischievous in nature and hailing from different backgrounds, their close friendship kept them together in school and through the years. This was made more possible through their teacher, Cikgu Sabariah who taught them the meaning of camaraderie and instilled the value of staying together through good and bad times. Though narrated in Bahasa Malaysia, the multi-ethnic cast along with a mixture of Chinese music influences proudly shows the beauty of Malaysia and its uniqueness as a diverse nation.
Conceptualised by creative agency M&C Saatchi, the film has already been catching some buzz on its Facebook page just hours since it was first put up around the midnight of 12 September 2017, with more than 1.3 million views and over 21,700 shares. Watch the full video below:
"Lagenda 5 Sekawan is dedicated to every Malaysian as we remember the friendships we have and those who taught us the essence of racial unity. As a brand, Celcom embraces diversity and celebrates unity. Personally, I’m grateful to be Malaysian and I hope we can all be advocates for a happy and peaceful Malaysia.” Grace Chan, head of brand marketing at Celcom Axiata Berhad said.
Walt Disney International, a part of The Walt Disney Company, announced a new Asia management structure that will see the creation of North Asia and South Asia regional hubs.
North Asia will merge Japan, South Korea and Greater China under the leadership of Luke Kang, executive vice president and managing director of Walt Disney International, North Asia.
The South Asia hub merges India with the company’s integrated South East Asian regional markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam under the leadership of Mahesh Samat, senior vice president and managing director of Walt Disney International, South Asia.
“This new structure aligns and maximises efficiencies around regions with similar opportunities and creates the momentum to accelerate growth for the company in these markets,” said Andy Bird, chairman, Walt Disney International (WDI).
The restructure is an effort for the company to accelerate revenue in China, produce growth across Japan and Europe and provide access to emerging markets throughout Latin America and South East Asia.
In his current capacity of MD, The Walt Disney Company Greater China, Luke Kang has led the organisation (excluding Disney’s Parks and Resorts division) to achieve record growth across all business segments.
“The region’s ever-changing media and entertainment landscape as well as dynamic consumer products market provides incredible opportunity to continue to forge connections with our brands and franchises to drive growth,” said Kang.
Mahesh Samat returned to lead The Walt Disney Company India in November 2016, a position he previously held from 2008-2012.
“I am pleased to have the opportunity to lead both teams to create new, innovative ways for audiences to engage with our stories, brands and characters, and drive growth across our businesses,” said Samat.
Weber Shandwick has expanded its presence in China with the opening of an office in Shenzhen. Leo Tang has been appointed head of Shenzhen and will lead the new office.
Prior to his role with Weber Shandwick, Tang has held multiple roles at Chinese technology brands such as Huawei, TCL and Nubia. He will report to Rocky Wang, head of Southern China, Weber Shandwick.
“We continue to see opportunities for clients out of Shenzhen as Chinese companies expand both domestically and globally,” said Darren Burns, president, Weber Shandwick China. “Having a local presence there will help us more deeply embed in the culture and best solve client challenges.”
Weber Shandwick entered the China market in 1993 and currently has offices in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.
On the other hand, Ogilvy China also opened a new office in Shenzhen this month.
For years, Changi has held the gold standard as to what an ideal airport should look like. From having numerous eateries, beautiful gardens, snooze zones to being a retail paradise, the airport has its bases covered for all types of travellers. And while it is able to make the entire ecosystem look seamless, two very real issues Changi struggles with in its retail arena are the long queues and segmentation.
"At Changi, the offline checkout queue is the number one killer of sales," Jeffrey Loke, vice president, pricing and commercial strategy at Changi Airport Group said. The long checkout lines turn passengers away from making purchases, especially if they are in a hurry.
To counter this, Changi is now actively working towards making the salesperson the point of checkout/sale by establishing a mobile point-of-sale (POS) system. The system will allow consumers to skip the queue at the counter and work directly with the salesperson who served them to make payment.
Big believers of data collection
Keeping up with technology is a priority for the company which believes in testing and failing to work out its strategy. In 2015, in a bid to ride the e-commerce wave, Changi established the iShopChangi portal to enable travellers to buy their products even before coming into the terminal. All they need to do at the retail shop would be to pick up the product and as such, skip out on the dreaded lines.
The transportation hub also amasses data from its e-commerce portal iShopChangi, along with its iChangi mobile app, its retail promotion "Be a Changi Millionaire" and even carpark data. Information is also gathered from Changi's own POS system, which according to Loke, is being used by 99.5% of its retail stores.
"We have data down to what brands customers buy, which flight they are travelling on and when they buy it - morning or evening, on departure or arrival. So [the POS System] is one of the key pillars of our system," Loke said.
He added," When our members drive into the carpark, we will know where they are and we can send them an offer to get free parking for that day if they dine at the airport." This helps in creating a bond with the individual and delighting them in small way.
Segmentation an issue
However, unlike airlines or malls that can choose to target high-end or low-end markets, Changi has a myriad of people walking through its doors. It now looks to have 60 million travellers walk through its halls and create a personalised experience for each and every single one of them. As such, data segmentation remains a costly challenge.
Engaging consumers directly means reaching out to them as individuals, not as groups of passengers on a particular flight.
He added that it is no longer right to generalise individuals in clusters based on age groups or nationalities, and assume certain nationalities prefer buying certain products as they are not all similar. With the segmentation it has done to date, Changi hopes to democratise the data to help improve productivity and efficiency of its retail staff. Airport retailers in Changi are, as such, provided with data on the type of flights entering Singapore and passenger demographics via phone or iPad. From there, the shops can roster their staff to ensure they can better serve customers by speaking the same language, for example.
Technology for Changi is not just an enabler for customers, but also for the merchants in the airport. Loke said the group is “relentless” in getting customer feedback and sharing what it has learnt. Loke added that for Changi, at the end of the day, technology is used to “ease areas of friction” and boost efficiency and productivity.
A lot of people think about technology as reaching the passengers. But technology can be used to enable staff, or in this instance, our retailers’ staff.
Twitter has struck over 35 video content partnerships for the Asia Pacific region. The partnerships include extensions of existing global live deals and aims to bolster its premium video offering for advertisers in Asia Pacific. It also aims to bring exclusive video and live original programming, live games and events to the platform.
In a press statement, Matthew Derella, global VP of revenue and operations, Twitter, said that Asia Pacific is the “growth engine of Twitter”, which comes as the company looks to extend itself in the region with both live streaming and in-stream premium video content. Derella added that Live content is also the core of Twitter, with over 1,200 hours of live premium content globally being streamed in Q2. This consists of content from brands, eSports, news and entertainment.
The move also follows Twitter’s move to roll out in-stream video advertising in the region, starting with Australia. According to a blog post, the company has partnered BeIN Sports and Seven West media for content. Meanwhile, SportsBet, NAB and Woolworths have come on board as advertisers.
New sports partnerships which advertisers can leverage on include include Ashes/Cricket Australia, Australia Open with Channel 7 Sports, Breakfast with Champions with Gaurav Kapur, Cricbuzz, Fox Sport Asia, International Cricket Council, Premier Futsal India, Riot Games.
For news partnerships, Twitter struck deals with Bloomberg Asia Pacific, BuzzFeed Japan, Channel 7, NDTV and Network 18. Meanwhile, entertainment partnerships include ABS-CBN, Anupama Chopra & Film Companion, ARIA Awards, Filmfare Awards, Haylo Media Group, KBS Music Bank Weekly Shows, Live Nation Australia, 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards with CJ E&M, Red Chillies Entertainment, Rolling Stone India, Southern Cross Austereo, The Sound Campaign, Yash Raj Films and Channel 7.
Existing sports partnerships available to advertisers include Australian Football League with Channel 7 Sports, BeIN Sports Australia, MTG, National Basketball Association, National Football League and Women’s National Basketball Association. The company also has existing news partnerships with Bloomberg and BuzzFeed and an entertainment partnership with American Music Awards, with Dick Clark Productions.
“Introducing over 35 live and in-stream video sponsorship deals today to APAC advertisers will strengthen the success of our only-on-Twitter experience in the region and globally, combining high quality streaming video with conversation on what’s happening in the world right now,” Maya Hari, managing director of Asia Pacific, Twitter, said.
Marketing has reached out to Twitter for additional comment.
Sime Darby Property has appointed Celeste Koay as its general manager for brand and digital. Koay started her role last month and reports to Clare Kenny Tipton, Sime Darby's chief marketing and sales officer. In her new role, she is primarily tasked to revitalise the brand and its digital presence in a "hyper-competitive" industry.
Prior to this, she was the general manager and head of marketing at TGV Cinemas. Koay was with TGV since October 2013, where she led and developed the TGV Cinemas' brand and marketing strategy and initiatives. This includes achieving incremental market share growth, loyalty marketing, customer experience, partnerships, branding as well as public relations.
She was also previously the vice president of digital marketing and services at YTL Communications. Koay was in charge of strategic leadership development in digital marketing, services planning and implementations throughout YTL. She was tasked to strengthen the brand's presence and stimulate online revenue, among others. She joined YTL in March 2011.
The move saw Tan Sri Dr Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah appointed as the chairman for the leaner Sime Darby. For Sime Darby Property, the chairman will be Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar and the managing director will be Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin. Sime Darby Property is also on course for listing at the end of this year.
A Sime Darby spokesperson confirmed to A+M earlier that it will be status quo with each business unit having its own marketing division. The corporate restructuring plan will see the creation of three stand-alone listed entities - the Sime Darby Plantation, Sime Darby Property and a leaner and more focused Sime Darby on the main market of Bursa Malaysia (Bursa).
