Video ad tech company Unruly has launched a new targeting capability which helps advertisers across Southeast Asia connect with consumers most likely to emotionally engage with a specific ad.
The company said its Unruly Custom Audiences (UCA) can help marketers target light buyers of a brand; consumers who have a preference for competitors’ brands and hard-to-reach, customised audiences such as business decision-makers and movie-goers. Campaigns using UCA have seen significant uplifts in campaign performance, up to more than 74% in brand favorability and over 80% in purchase intent.
UCA uses data from the company’s content evaluation tool Unruly EQ which was created using almost 2 million consumer data points - to target people most likely to engage emotionally with a specific video. This leads to an increase in earned media impressions, brand recall and purchase intent, an Unruly spokesperson said.
GroupM is the first agency group to use new tool, with ten of its clients already adopting this new targeting technology. They include leading multinational FMCG, QSR, automotive and financial service brands, across multiple markets including Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Matt Wigham, GroupM deputy head of investment for Asia Pacific (APAC), said: “One of the key areas of focus for our business is to find innovative and ground-breaking solutions for our clients.[...]Data insights and targeting capabilities are core components of our agencies offerings enabled by [m]PLATFORM, and this partnership signals our intent to remain at the cutting edge.”
Wigham also added that its clients are in the midst of trial and evaluation stages on this new methodology - to identify and target key audiences at a campaign level, enhance brand impact and drive greater returns in their campaigns.
"In today’s frenetic media landscape, brands that want success on social media and memorability at the point of purchase need to create and distribute contagious content that makes a deep emotional connection with their audiences," Unruly’s chief commercial officer for APAC, Phil Townend (pictured), said.
Hitz FM has apologised over a video sketch which had angered some netizens, with some saying it could promote negative perception against the transgender community in Malaysia. Owned by Astro, the popular radio station posted a video on its Facebook yesterday, but has since taken down the controversial content.
In the short sketch, Hitz FM’s morning crew deejays Arnold Loh and RD (Ryan De Alwis) were seen crossing paths and checking out someone, presumably an attractive long-haired lady, but the person turned out to be transgendered. Both DJs were seen vomiting upon seeing her, because they had mistaken the person to be female.
Despite the fact that the video is no longer available on its official pages, savvy internet users have managed to download and repost it on Twitter and Facebook, with some calling it "transphobic" in nature.
“We at Hitz would like to apologise for the said video, and have since removed it," a spokesperson from Hitz FM told A+M.
Transgender activist Nisha Ayub was among those who condemned the said video. Ayub expressed that she's sad to see that the transgender community in Malaysia which already faces much discrimination, potential violence and hate crimes, now having the media jumping on the bandwagon to perpetuate such messages. She added it could be a joke to the radio station, but the "joke could also effect someone else's life".
Below are some of the posts by netizen expressing disappointment, circulating on Twitter:
Hey @hitzdotfm, perhaps in the time that you replay the same 5 songs for 10 hours you could take a moment to learn some ethics https://t.co/4QjfxnfaDE
— alia ✊
Astro Radio said earlier this year it remains the most popular radio network in Malaysia, with 15.6 million listeners every week accumulatively through its nine brands. This makes up 77.8% of Malaysia's radio-listening audience. It added that Hitz FM, ERA fm, MY fm and THR Raaga are once again the No.1 radio brands in their respective language. The network has gained over 13.4 million social media fans, with its nine radio stations gathering digital listenership of over 17 million streaming sessions.
LaLiga has appointed former OPPO Singapore marketing lead Russell Tan (pictured) as its senior regional account manager, to aid in its regional growth through strategic partnerships and branding. Tan will be responsible for seeking partnership opportunities, managing and growing relationships with existing partners, as well as growing fans and brand exposure.
He reports to Ivan Codina, managing director for Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and Australia. LaLiga launched its Asia Pacific office four months ago and Tan will first focus on establishing the Singapore market.
Prior to his latest appointment Tan was the marketing manager at OPPO Singapore, where he was responsible for growing the team locally. Before joining OPPO, Tan was an account manager at 360 digital marketing agency IH Digital for more than two years, where he oversaw the Philippines and Malaysia markets, as well as regional accounts. He managed clients and partners such as Ayala Land Corporate, Metrobank, Walt Disney Studios Philippines, Columbia Pictures Philippines, Cebu Pacific Air and J.CO Donuts. Tan was the point of contact for regional campaigns across all platforms such as Baidu, Weibo and Naver.
In a statement to Marketing, Codina said LaLiga "definitely" wants to increase its brand exposure in the region, work closer with its existing stakeholders and partners, and get closer to fans. "We will be adopting a global but geo-localised strategy for each market, with emphasis on digital content. We will also be working with the grassroots and engaging with general football fans," he said.
"We are really excited to incorporate local talent into the regional office in Singapore, and we are fully aware of the work that Tan has done with OPPO in the past. We hope that his past experiences and market knowledge will help us achieve our objectives not just in Singapore, but in the region," he added.
British Council has appointed integrated communications agency AKA Asia as its PR agency for a year, following a pitch held in June 2017. The agency, which was chosen for its creative ability and being digitally savvy, is responsible for providing creative counsel and execution spanning social and traditional communications. The incumbent is Asia PR Werkz.
According to Regina Goh, director, marketing and communications, British Council, it is shifting from a traditional PR focus to a more campaign-driven support that drives 360-degree awareness. "We are looking forward to building a strong partnership with the team at AKA Asia," Goh added.
“We are thrilled to be supporting British Council in championing life-long learning for children and adults in Singapore. Developing interactive and thought-provoking campaigns is our forté and we look forward to working with British Council to spotlight their initiatives into 2018,” Amy Wright, co-founder of AKA Asia, said.
British Council joins AKA Asia's list of clients, which includes Jetstar Asia, Fitness First, MARS and Costa Coffee. Earlier this year, Deliveroo named AKA Asia as its PR partner for the Singapore market for a year, following a pitch. In April, Discovery Networks Asia Pacific appointed the agency to drive its PR duties from Singapore, which focuses on reshaping the brand’s narrative and driving a meaningful brand story for Discovery SEA. Sony Mobile Singapore and Sony Electronics Singapore also named AKA Asia as its PR agency in February, following an open tender in Q4 2016, which saw 28 agencies respond.
This case study post is sponsored by FOX Networks Group.
Problem
With a large variety of properties attracting a wide range of clientele, accorhotels.com is the online destination for travellers who want to feel inspired and welcomed in AccorHotels across Asia Pacific.
Objectives
With this campaign, AccorHotels needed to drive awareness and preference of its booking platform, and demonstrate high quality service of AccorHotels' properties and staff in key markets.
Solution
Insight: Being busy is the norm. Everyone is busy. Increasingly, we seek products and services that fulfill our needs quickly and conveniently. A remedy to busy is ease. To accomplish more, you have to do less. How can AccorHotels’ offering help consumers to choose and book a hotel in an increasingly busy world?
By increasing brand awareness, communicating the "Feel Welcome" brand story and promoting their one-stop booking platform accorhotels.com, AccorHotels will facilitate a quicker decision-making journey for consumers, who will book via one destination with confidence.
FOX Sports, the perfect team mate: At FOX Sports, our core business is content. We are storytellers, creators and curators. We understand how to craft a narrative that will captivate an audience. The strength of the credibility and affinity associated with the FOX Sports brand, plus the access received as the leading global sports broadcaster coupled with our extensive distribution network, provides a compelling opportunity for our partnership clients.
Execution
The campaign solution - #OneClickWelcome
Create and distribute world class branded content pieces to communicate AccorHotels’ USP’s
Provide broadcast partnership and integration into top tier Sport events, to activate AccorHotels’ sponsorships
Based on the "Busy vs Easy" insight, we developed a series of content pieces featuring three FOX Sports presenters, showcasing how they manage their time to get the best out of life, while travelling abroad on an assignment. Faced with so many options, they choose the simple way to organise their trip and their lives. Each presenter and their story was selected specifically to resonate with the three target audiences - sports enthusiast, frequent travellers and Millennials.
Whilst showcasing the functionality of the travel involved in the presenters’ roles, the pieces also provided the audience a glimpse of the personalities behind the presenters, their passions and lifestyles.
The content catalogue comprised of short-form vignettes, cut downs, animated pieces, stills and gifs, distributed via FOX Network Groups (FNG) assets spanning;
Premium TV placement on FOX Sports, Nat Geo, StarWorld and FOX channels – reaching over 47 million households across 22 countries.
com, natgeo.com and FOX Sports social media channels with over 1.7 million followers.
AccorHotels sponsorships of the Australian Open and French Open Grand Slam Tennis events provides an exceptional platform to communicate their USPs. As the official broadcaster of these major events, FOX Sports was the ideal partner to activate these sponsorships to share AccorHotels’ brand story and reach a much larger audience.
The activation plan included:
High impact broadcast and digital sponsorship of the Australian Open and French Open on FOX Sports.
Branded content pieces shot at AccorHotels in Melbourne and Paris featuring tennis stars such as Serena and Venus Williams, integrated into the broadcast as part of the event coverage.
The branded content and sponsorship campaigns were supported by a targeted commercial media schedule across FNGs TV and digital platforms, reaching over 47 million households across 22 countries.
In addition, we contributed to AccorHotels’ below the line VIP rewards program. FNG facilitated a money-can’t-buy experiential packages for VIP tickets to premier live sporting events including F1 Singapore, MotoGP Malaysia, UFC & Rugby Sevens, plus Nat Geo Live events.
Results
The campaign reached nearly 8 million fans in Asia during the Australian Open tennis and over 5.5 million for the French Open. Half-way through the year, AccorHotels TV, digital and branded content have reached:
6+ million affluent individuals
755K+ frequent travellers
500K+ millennials
It generated near 65 million in TV impact (source: IPSOS Affluent Asia Survey, 01-Jan to 30-Jun, 2017).
“Since the AccorHotels.com awareness campaign commenced on the FOX Network TV channels and through the FOX Network digital platforms AccorHotels has seen a number of positive trends and results through awareness tracking for AccorHotels and through website visitations and bookings," Michael Parsons, VP marketing and strategic relationships – AccorHotels Asia Pacific, said.
An initial brand awareness survey was conducted post the Australian Open 2017 which showcased a heightened awareness for AccorHotels and the brands within the hotel portfolio. A significant impact followed the Serena Williams partnership with creative assets featuring the tennis star. A record CTR was directly linked to the Serena digital banners and through the exclusive TV content created for Serena Williams with FOX Sports. The synergies were evident in the sentiment of the consumer survey results.
From an accorhotels.com website visitation and booking analysis, while half year results are pending, the correlation to visitations directly aligned to key TV promotional spots, especially over the Australian Open. Visitation spikes were evident during the major airing of AccorHotels' content, and AccorHotels and accorHotels.com took a front of mind approach with exclusive content supporting traditional TV spots, as well as through commentator verbal reference.
Bloomberg has reported that Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Singapore's largest publishing house, is tipped to be cutting jobs as part of an organisational restructure. The report added that the organisation had 4,473 employees at the end of May, this was with a total wage billing of SG$276 million.
When asked by Marketing about the news, a spokesperson from SPH declined to comment. In a statement to Bloomberg, SPH said it does not comment "on market rumors".
The move comes amid the company’s recent financial results for the third quarter, which saw the media owner experiencing a 45.2% drop in net profit when compared to the same period last year. The drop in profit was attributed to its declining magazine business which incurred impairment charges of SG$37.8 million, along with advertisement and circulation revenue declines. Other reasons SPH cited then for its lacklustre performance were “disruption of the media industry” and a “muted economic environment”.
The drop in ad revenue is not a new problem for SPH. On top of a 18.7% yoy drop in ad revenue in the most recent Q3 when compared against the Q3-2016 results, the company also experienced a 16.8% drop in Q2 this year, and a 13.5% drop in Q1. Last year, SPH also revealed staff reduction of up to 10% over two years following the merger of My Paper and The New Paper (TNP). This is through attrition, retirement, non-renewal of contracts, outplacement and retrenchment, the publishing house had then said.
The news of the new round of job culls come shortly after the appointment of a new CEO, Ng Yat Chung, in July this year. Ng took on the role from Alan Chan Heng Loon. Along with Chan's departure, the organisation also saw the exit of Patrick Daniel this month. This made room for Anthony Tan, deputy chief executive officer in SPH, to take charge of both the English, Malay and Tamil Media Group and the Chinese Media Group, along with lead the media strategy and analytics (MSA) division.
However, amidst the challenging times, SPH found solace in its property segment to help bolster the dip in ad revenue. Some of this was contributed from its Orange Valley Healthcare acquisition which was partially offset by lower revenue from the exhibitions business.
An expected restructure?
Media industry veterans Marketing spoke to said the restructure did not come as a surprise. Speaking to Marketing under anonymity, one industry veteran who has closely worked with SPH said that the organisation is currently “bloated and suffers from groupthink”. As such, SPH needs to move away from its focus on diversifying its assets, and instead focus on being a content and data company.
He added that SPH needs to look towards reinventing itself by looking externally rather than internally when it comes to change and reorganisation. This needs to result in a change of culture which affects the whole hall of people in the company.
Also speaking to Marketing was Richard Bleasdale, managing partner, Asia Pacific, The Observatory International, who explained that "the move signals a period of huge change for SPH". Hence, SPH needs to either stay relevant within its primary category, media, or to diversify further into other categories, such as property, which is something it has been looking at.
“Change is uncomfortable, challenging and costly. As such, effective change management and powerful change leadership will also be critical areas for SPH to look at,” Bleasedale added.
Melvin Kwek, former marketing professional from Citi and UBS, and now with a major international bank, said many companies are going through a transformation. As such, companies need to be ready for the digital economy and shift towards how audiences are consuming content today.
Media companies in Singapore, including SPH, have been working to adapt their business models to the digital economy.
"This will help sharpen their competitive edge in the media business. As such, any potential moves may indicate that SPH is aligning itself to its consumer base and ensuring that they remain relevant ahead," Kwek explained.
“In banking, we have an old saying – ‘The trend is your friend’. Organisations need to evolve according to the business environment and consumers’ shifting paradigms, we all do, or get left behind,” Kwek said.
How should companies evolve to keep up with the changing media landscape?
Many say that SPH should now be taking a leaf out of South China Morning Post (SCMP)’s book, which has positioned itself as more of a content and data company as opposed to simply a publishing house. Following the publication’s acquisition by Alibaba Group last year, the company took down its paywall, with a new focus on finding the right media business model.
For media companies to stay resilient in the face of disruption today in the landscape, Bleasedale outlined three key focus areas. The first is setting a strong and clear vision for the business and ensuring employees, business partners and consumers understand it. Next is operationalising and celebrating change, which has to be part of the everyday culture, not an off-to-the-side project. Lastly, companies such as SPH need to invest in its people and take them on the journey for change.
“The SPH brand carries a lot of weight and prestige. It is known as a strong and powerful force within the industry. It has a celebrated history and heritage. All of these factors count strongly in SPH’s favour as it looks to stay resilient in the face of the disruption it is going through,” Bleasedale added.
SPH is also not the only media owner which is facing challenges in the media landscape. Another local media owner, Mediacorp, recently made strides to fully digitise some of its print offerings, the most recent being its decision to bring its TODAY newspaper fully digital. The move resulted in a redundancy of 40 roles. Mediacorp also recently hired Tham Loke Kheng, with senior level experience in both FTA and Pay TV, as its CEO and board director. She took over from Shaun Seow, who departed to join Temasek’s telecom, media & technology investment team, which includes Mediacorp in its portfolio.
Kantar Worldpanel, the global expert in shoppers’ behaviour, recently showed a seven (7) percent growth in three beauty care categories in the Philippine FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) industry, namely hair care, bath soap, and oral care. These categories contributed to a five (5) percent increase in sales of the total beauty care sector in 2016.
Kantar Worldpanel, which tracks in-home shopping behaviour of 3,000 homes in urban and rural areas across the country, revealed that bath essentials dominated the Filipinos’ beauty care habits. Spending on shampoo and hair conditioner grew by 6 and 7 percent, respectively. Bar soaps, which registered 94.3 percent of the total bath soap sales, also saw a 7 percent increase in spending by Filipinos. Meanwhile, in terms of oral care, 90.3 percent of their spending was allocated for toothpaste alone.
However, Kantar Worldpanel added that the beauty regimen of Filipinos is getting more complex with smaller but noteworthy beauty product purchases. For example, hair colorants only accounted for 0.6 percent sales of total hair care category spend in 2016. However, Filipinos spent 22% more on hair colorants compared to 2015. Increase in spending was also seen in hair treatments (6 percent), liquid soap (34 percent) and mouthwash products (13 percent).
Despite the growth in bath essentials, data from Kantar Worldpanel indicated a decline in the total deodorant and cologne/fragrance category by 5 percent. Purchases of deodorant decreased by one percent, while spending for cologne/fragrance dipped by eleven percent.
“Interestingly, we have seen a sixteen percent rise in fabric conditioner sales which may be attributed to the recent aggressive launches of fabric conditioners with scented variants,” Gladys Pantastico, Kantar Worldpanel Senior Account Manager and Beauty Insights Expert, said. “This may be an indication that shoppers have opted to purchase these products more due to its long-lasting scent and cheaper price.”
While there was a slight decline in total skin care sales by 3 percent, Kantar Worldpanel saw a growing trend of purchase sophistication among Filipino homes. In particular, Filipino consumers showed the importance in the three-step facial care regimen with 13 percent increase in buyers for facial wash, toner, and moisturizer. In addition, there was a 14 percent increase in spending for sun protection products and 17 percent change in eye cosmetics purchases by Filipino households.
“According to the Philippine Statistics office, 36 percent of the Filipino population is from young households. This may explain the pragmatic yet sophisticated view of Filipinos when it comes to their beauty product priorities. Filipino shoppers want value for their money, but they are willing to spend on smaller formats that appeal to their needs and desires. These findings offer great points for brands to explore and take advantage of in the local FMCG market,” Ms. Pantastico said.
Gavin Lum, former digital director of JWT Shanghai, has rejoined adidas China for the role of brand communication director for the running category.
Lum has long served on the front line of the digital marketing industry, before JWT, he worked at APD Singapore, Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai and AKQA Shanghai.
In 2012, he worked at adidas China but left after one year. "I rejoined adidas because I believe in the power of sports to change lives. I also believe in the core values within adidas which we uphold and celebrate, which are creativity, collaboration and confidence and above all deep integration as we reach out and inspire the athletes in China."
Lum told Marketing his position with adidas aims to inspire and enable runners in China "to run harder, better and faster through category break through brand marketing activities".
He added he always has had roots in the sports category, but above all believes that now is the time to bake digital into everything that people do and not treat it as a separate silo.
"There is no such thing as a digital champion anymore and organisations who believe in that are actually just creating a reason to make it someone else’s business."
How to deal with negative social comments and new ways to manage loyalty programmes are two of marketers’ most widely discussed topics at this year’s Customer Engagement conference, Angel Tang reports.
As the digital landscape evolves, brands strive to deliver creative and remarkable customer engagement to constitute brand allegiance. From traditional to social, what are the best practices in connecting with your current customers to keep them coming back?
At Marketing’s Customer Engagement Hong Kong 2017 conference, Alexandre De Saint-Léon, managing director, Asia Pacific - Ipsos Loyalty, Ipsos, classified elements that define customer-brand relationships into two aspects: functional and emotional.
Quoting a study from the research company, Saint-Léon says they did 8000 interviews in three industries across four countries, only to find that customers who were satisfied emotionally (88%) would be 18% more likely to stay loyal with the brand than those who were only functionally satisfied (70%).
“To keep customers functionally satisfied should always come first as an objective in a business, but the study also states that emotions matter in customer relationships,” he explained.
The opportunities to create emotional connections come through fulfilling functional needs in the right way, Saint-Léon added.
For example, brands should resolve a problem that was its fault for the customer in a timely, organised manner.
Clarins Hong Kong’s CRM and e-commerce manager, Myriam Tzinmann-Rebibo, agrees brands should always be flexible when it comes to their services.
“You should offer exceptional handling of an issue when you see an upset customer, because that’s when they will remember,” she says.
You should offer exceptional handling of an issue when you see an upset customer, because that’s when they will remember.
Pure Group International’s director of customer experience, Cristiane Ross, wishes to evoke emotions in an even more active way.
“Emotion also plays as crucial a role in good marketing content,” she told the audience.
With 65% of the fitness company’s customers comes from referral, the company has to stay relevant in their engagement planning. The company’s latest campaign in June, dubbed #yogaforall, targeted people of different ages and abilities, for example dog lovers, and encouraged them to try doing yoga.
“The best way to engage is always to create organic content whenever possible,” Ross explains. “In the campaign, we invite the customers to share their experience themselves, so people will see the contents as a reference that they can relate to.”
It would be even better if marketers can deliver experiences that are capturable on social media.
Marriott International Hong Kong’s regional director of loyalty marketing and programmes APAC, Cherry Tsui, shared an example of how Chinese travellers often choose to stay with the hotel group for one night, so they can take beautiful pictures in the property and share them on WeChat or Instagram.
“Just because it’s picture-worthy, it drove more business,” she explains. “This is just how powerful the right social content is.”
Just because it’s picture-worth it, it drove more business.
Lan Kwai Fong Group’s deputy director, marketing and events (HK), Julieta Leong, shares similar views after the group’s Valentine’s day campaign turned out very successful.
The group invited couples to take and then share their pictures on Instagram, then created a user-generated mosaic wall at the local hot spot.
The campaign inspired more than 29,000 engagements on Facebook and Instagram, and the hot spot saw more than 20% increase in traffic.
If you wish to link users on Facebook with the CRM to more effectively track users, Jeffrey Hau, co-founder and director of Prizm Digital shared a clue on where to get started.
“In one successful case, we’ve asked customers to register for loyalty programmes or mini campaigns with their social media accounts, then encourage them to engage with the pages by rewarding them with loyalty points,” he explains.
“Then, we started to see huge jump in social interactions. People engage with the brand even on promotion posts just to get more membership points, which is very much like a token economy model.”
Not to mention the insights that marketers can gain from social media data.
- Draw insights from social and multi-channel data
You Find’s founder and director, Jeffrey Chu, advises marketers to classify sentiments they obtain from social listening to actually make them valuable from a marketing perspective.
Is it something about the price, the services the brand provides, or is it simply PR?
“50% of the mainland consumers are looking for deals and promotions on social. In contrast, 50% of the Hong Kong consumers want to know if the product fits their functional needs,” Chu explained, which gives us a sense of the kind of content that local customers will usually initiate on social media.
Parijat Priyadarshini, head of loyalty business consulting, Asia, Aimia, further points out several directions that would help to identify relevant segments, touch-points and the right value exchange in a loyalty programme.
“You have to identify behavior modification that you would like to encourage in each segment, know the touch-points that are critical to each segment, then specify the financial impact that you are anticipating from this,” she advised.
- Use marketing automation with a plan - don't just jump in
While marketing automation technology will let marketing leverage the massive amount of data, it’s not smart to dive in without a plan.
XGATE’s strategic marketing director Xen Chia shared the company’s experience with Timberland, to show how marketers can enhance their CRM programmes with other technology to make sure all investment can be measured and result in profitable products.
“You are required to have a visual marketing platform: using multi-channel and automation within the same environment,” he explains. “You also need a life-cycle approach, which covers specifically how to build customer loyalty in the process of growing customer value.”
For instance, marketers should manage tier upgrades or downgrades based on the customers’ spending, and in effect their current lifecycle status.
Several key metrics Chia mentions include conversion rate, repurchase rate, retention rate and re-activation rate.
Marketers should also make sure that the marketing channels employed and the customers’ preferred channels are in alignment, Stephane Sanchez, APAC practice lead customer strategies at KANTAR suggests.
For example, Hong Kong customers usually prefer asking product-related questions on websites (25%) and in stores (23%), while lodging complaints about product or services through email (30%) and hotlines (25%), the Kantar TNS pulse survey September 2017 revealed.
“If a brand’s Facebook page is flooded with customer complaints on a product, that means its customers prefer lodging complaints on the brand’s social media page,” he suggested. “There the brand will have to solve the misalignment.”
If a brand’s Facebook page is flooded with customer complaints on a product, that means its customers prefer lodging complaints on the brand’s social media page. There the brand will have to solve the misalignment.
On the other hand, marketers, especially managers, should always expect negativities, and equip their teams of the ability to cope with unexpected comments on social.
- Keep a cool head when it comes to negative comments
To enhance its social listening ability, Sony Corporation of Hong Kong limited’s head of marketing communications, Simois Ng, says the company consolidated its CRM team with the communication team five years ago.
The result: Facebook figures suggest that Sony is now the most engaged consumer electronics brand on the platform.
“Social media is very transparent, and you’ll have to deal with the rumours directly,” Ng explains.
“The key is therefore to be open and change your mentality, which is to either admit or respond to the customers’ enquiries if you wish to prevent PR risks.”
Drawing references from her junior staff, Ng says marketers need to use the right language to communicate with customers on the internet.
In one occasion, Ng has witnessed her staff replied to one negative comment, which used a meme picture to blame Sony’s product for being too expensive, by sharing another humorous meme in response.
“It’s never what I would have done, so I was really surprised. Yet, the result was positive,” she recalls.
“Using the right language can help to humanise and localise your brand, so do depend on your junior staff,” she advised.
Another mentality change is to stay calm when it comes to negative reviews and comments on social.
“The best tips I could give is: keep calm and let your haters motivate you,” suggests Ng.
The best tips I could give is: keep calm and let your haters motivate you.
Similarly, Prizm Digital’s Hau, suggests that marketers could actually benefit from the comments they got online.
Quoting an analysis his company recently did, Hau says he has seen a 25% increase in customer inquiries and engagement compared to 2016, of which 18% can be classified as negative content.
“If more customers are talking about the same issue, it can be analysed in a way that would cultivate a culture of the users giving constructive comments.”
DBS was once again named Event Marketer of the Year in front of a crowd of 300 marketing and events professional from across South Asia, Southeast Asia and ANZ who came together to celebrate the sixth year’s leading events at the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore.
The bank walked away with five gold (Best Event – Branding, Best Event - Games/Contests, Best Event – Home-Grown, Best Event – Use of Mobile/Apps and Best Event – Use of Venue), and two silver (Best Event – Ambience and Best Event – Targeted Community). Check out the full list of winners here.
The wins were for the campaign "DBS Marina Regatta" that wowed the judges the most for branding.
HP Asia Pacific & Japan was the second-highest scoring brand of the night with a trophy haul which included three Gold for Best Event - B2B, Best Event – Exhibition and Best Event – Retail/Shopper Marketing and one Silver for Best Event – Use of Venue. This gave them a score of 14 according to the Awards’ standard exponential-weighted point system (four points for Gold, two points for Silver and one point for Bronze).
Other brands that won awards include Select Group, Central Singapore CDC, People’s Association and Diageo, amongst many others.
On the agency front, Unearthed Productions grabbed the title of Event Agency of the Year, bringing home the metal on behalf of clients including Gardens by the Bay, Central Singapore CDC, People’s Association and Orchard Road Business Association. Its impressive trophy haul included three golds for Best Event - Community Service, Best Event – Pop-Up Shop and Best Event – Venue Experience. The Events Network (TEN), Pico Art International and DSTNCT achieved impressive results for their brands’ events.
The 2017 judging panel was made up of senior marketing experts from brands across South Asia, Southeast Asia and ANZ including AirAsia Australia, Grab, NTUC Link, Sime Darby Property and The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia. Check out the full list of judges here.
A total of 86 trophies were presented to the leading event marketers, planners and agencies from across Southeast Asia, South Asia and ANZ. The Marketing Events Awards 2017 was supported by partners Cellarmaster Wines, Graphiss Media and Live!Studios.
72andSunny has named Chiew Ling Tan as director of talent and operations for its Singapore arm. In the role of director of talent and operations, Chiew Ling Tan will help anchor Singapore as the Asia base for clients, talents and partners. This will expand the footprint for the company, allowing 72andSunny to be truly global with a presence in North America, Europe, Pacific and Asia.
As one of the first employees in Singapore, Tan will work with Johnny Tan, ECD of APAC, Chris Kay who is managing director and partner of APAC, Mollie Hill, director of strategy and her counterpart in the Sydney office, Ngaio McCreadie who is director of talent and operations. This is to develop the right talent recruitment strategy and develop the processes needed to attain operational excellence in Asia.
“Tan is super smart, hyper connected, culturally astute, and I can't wait to see how her wealth of experience, entrepreneurial drive, and all-round good human-ness are going to help shape who we are in the region,” Kay said.
Prior to joining 72andSunny Singapore, Tan helped open two China offices for creative agencies - being one of the founding members to start up BBH China in 2005 and helped open The Secret Little Agency in China in 2016. Her entrepreneurial spirit has also lead her to co-found a fashion boutique called nana & bird (nanaandbird.com) in 2011.
“I am looking forward to building a diverse pool of talent for 72andSunny in Singapore and establishing an agency environment where great creative work will thrive,” Tan said.
Orchard Road Business Association has appointed PR agency Saffron Communications and media agency BlackBlue Media Group (BBMG) to manage public relations and marketing duties for its signature "Christmas on A Great Street" campaign across Singapore, Indonesia and China.
PUMA Singapore has also picked Saffron Communications to handle its public relations and content marketing duties. Meanwhile, JBL, Martin Modern by Guocoland, Systema by Lion Corporation Singapore and The Jelly Bean Factory have appointed BBMG to manage their social media duties.
Additionally, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, AIA Singapore, UOB and Far East Organization have appointed creative agency TMRW to manage their creative and digital development projects, while Aalst Chocolates named Different its creative agency. The Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre and Shiseido collaborated with event agency I_Possible for their official opening and recent coffee festival respectively.
Set up to offer a holistic one-stop suite in 2016, the collective offers services such as creative, events, public relations, entertainment, digital engagement, strategic planning and media buying.
The agencies are part of Better Together, an agency consortium of seven local independent agencies. Founded in 2016, Better Together offers services such as creative, events, PR, entertainment, digital engagement, strategic planning and media buying.
“The consortium’s growth continues to outpace expectations. A year on, the agencies have created a winning formula by combining its individual expertise and working processes. With clients increasingly on the lookout for a onestop solution that is filled with true segment expertise, the Better Together consortium has proven time and again that it’s indeed a better solution," Shaun Quek, group managing director, said.
The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has partnered with KRDS Singapore and MullenLowe Singapore to develop its first Facebook Messenger chatbot "Ella". Ella is designed to communicate and connect with senior citizens living alone in Singapore.
It messages the community on a daily basis to check on their mood and remind them to consume their medication. If the users respond "I'm not okay", Ella automatically sends an email alert to SRC, so volunteers can reach them instantly. The chatbot also allows users to sign up as volunteers for Home Monitoring and Eldercare, SRC's social and wellness programme.
According to the press statement, Ella is an example of how technology and Facebook chatbots, specifically, can potentially be used in social service to help those in need.
“The Singapore Red Cross has been instrumental in assisting the community of citizens in Singapore that need special assistance. Ella was designed with a simple user interface to deliver its objective of lending a helpful hand at all times. We are positive that this will have a considerable impact on assisting this community in Singapore," Preetham Venkky, director at KRDS Singapore, said.
From former beauty queen to cupcake shop founder, Jaime Teo has worn many hats in the span of her public career. She was crowned Miss Singapore Universe in 2001 and eventually ventured into music, where she sang for the Singapore National Day Parade in 2002.
Her music career also saw her debut as part of a five-member girl band, One-Fifth, in April 2003. Teo has also made her way onto the silver screen, starring in a variety of shows such as Mr Kiasu, I Not Stupid 2, Double Happiness and Switched.
Venturing online, Teo has over the years built a following based on her fitness and motherhood pursuits. Some of her most recent clients include L’Oreal, Dyson, Metro, 3M, DBS and Polar, to name a few.
Teo sits down with Marketing in this edition of Now following, to share how her journey as a social media influencer been so far and her views on the landscape.
Marketing: When and how did you start out as an influencer?
This is interesting because I’ve never really thought of myself of an influencer, maybe more a cupcake baker or artiste? But I guess with the work I’ve been doing on social media, I might have to start embracing this new job designation!
Marketing: What is your “claim to fame?”
I think most people remember me as Miss Singapore Universe 2001 (this was way before being an influencer was a thing on social media!) or as a founder of Twelve Cupcakes.
Marketing: What do you do to strike a connection with your followers?
I think my content is quite diverse so they appeal to different groups of people. I mainly do my own thing and those who follow my social media account will share that they want to workout more like I do, or spend more time creating music or art.
Marketing: Which platform gives you the highest engagement with your readers?
Instagram, because that is the platform I update the most. Furthermore, pictures and videos speak a thousand words!
Marketing: What are some of the challenges of being an influencer in Singapore? Any outrageous demands?
I think it’s about being genuine with the products that you share or talk about. I do turn down jobs that don’t align with my lifestyle.
I am very thankful to Fly Entertainment because it makes sure I don’t have to worry or at least deal with any outrageous demands. But on social media, I get requests from followers to marry them or buy them things (both true stories both!).
Marketing: Favourite or memorable brand assignment?
I like sport-related brand assignments because they keep in tune with my lifestyle, so sharing those posts are not contrived as they are a genuine part of my life. It doesn’t feel like work at all!
It has been a collection of many memorable moments and jobs – I especially love jobs that have a mother-daughter theme (such as work I have done with Metro or Vichy) because they allow me to create and keep more memories for Renee (daughter) and I.
Marketing: What should clients take note of when engaging influencers?
Any direction that is too contrived is going to be a turnoff for followers.
So it’s better to give a brief with room for creativity for the influencer.
Marketing: What are some of your views on the influencer landscape locally and globally?
They are giving professional photographers, videographers, cinematographers a run for their money! Creating content everyday is no mean feat so I really give credit to influencers who continually find new ways to create and deliver fresh content.
Marketing: What’s next for you?
Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get so keep honing your skills, keep healthy, keep learning and improving so that whatever comes, you are ready for it.
Edelman has named Mazuin Zin as the managing director for Edelman Malaysia, as part of its effort to strengthen its regional communications marketing capabilities.
Zin (pictured) replaces Rob Kay, who has decided to expand his horizons beyond Malaysia outside of Edelman. Her role will be effective in mid-October, and she will report to chief operations officer of Edelman's Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APACMEA), Bob Grove.
The former managing director of MullenLowe Malaysia, is recognised for leading transformation both in terms of the agency’s growth and industry reputation. Edelman said Zin's effort in helping to reshape a 40-member team, almost doubling in size, sets a clear offer as a creatively integrated, consultancy based and content-led offering. Her 20-year career in the industry also spans Leo Burnett Group in which she was engaged with the organisation from 2000 to 2012. Zin's last role there was as the general manager of Leo Burnett Malaysia.
“Zin is a transformational leader. She leads from the front and understands how to partner with clients on their overall marketing and communications strategy at the most senior level. She is a proven business leader who cares deeply about the growth and development of her teams. She is a perfect addition to our company, as we embark on our next phase of growth,” Grove said.
“I continue to believe that clients and businesses will not need to choose between compelling storytelling and creative/ad tech solutions that take these brand stories forward,” Zin said.
“In my view, Edelman successfully demonstrated at a global level how these two worlds can be seamlessly connected with ‘earned at its core’. I’m thrilled to be part of the company that is giving clients ‘holistic creative business solutions’ bringing in the best and proven practices from the worlds of digital, data, analytics, brand and reputation building. I look forward to partnering with both our Malaysian and international clients on creating brand stories that connect and resonate across their stakeholder systems,” she added.
On Kay's contribution to the company, Grove said, “I’d like to thank Kay for being a catalyst for our business in Malaysia as we started the journey from being a PR firm to a forward-thinking communications and marketing agency that solves our clients’ communications and business needs.”
Desai, who used to lead the global teams on Unilever’s “Dirt is good” campaign across 80 countries, is now tasked to secure and partner clients across the region.
Audi Hong Kong appointed Lothar Korn as new managing director of Audi Hong Kong. He will succeed Rene Koneberg as he takes over the role of group managing director of Audi Volkswagen Korea this month.
Korn has held various senior positions across sales and marketing at Audi AG, most recently as head of sales and marketing for quattro GmbH for the past three years, based in Ingolstadt, Germany. The role saw him overseeing all sales and marketing activities for the brands Audi Sport, Audi exclusive and Audi collection across all regions. Prior to that, he was head of marketing communications for Audi AG for six years, responsible for all marketing activity globally.
“Lothar Korn joins Audi Hong Kong at an exciting time as it continues its successful development in this key market,” said Horst Hanschur, senior director sales China/Hong Kong, Audi AG.
“We warmly welcome him to Hong Kong and appreciate his extensive experience in previous leadership roles at AUDI AG globally will further enhance our development in Hong Kong and Macau. I wish Lothar a lot of success in his new position and I’m sure he will successfully drive Audi’s performance in Hong Kong”.
“I’m a big fan of the region and I like the city; it is a lighthouse for the rest of Asia, a unique and exhilarating environment that combines dense urbanism and the embrace of innovation. I look forward to extending Audi’s reputation as the city’s leading premium auto brand in the next stage of Audi Hong Kong’s growth,” said the new managing director of Audi Hong Kong.
DBS has recently extended its branding message into "live more" with its new O2O campaign launch.
The extended branding messages would further aspire the customers, as it "characterise the way DBS works", according to DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited's head of group strategic marketing & communications Glendy Chu.
"People don’t bank to transact. They bank because they want to get the most out of life," she explains.
While last year's campaign saw the company teamed with several local influencers in a series of videos, the bank taps Canto-pop lyricist Wyman Wong in its "live more" videos this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zNmcbsxIWQ
The bank also sets three instant photo printers at The ONE, Windsor House and Langham Place, to encourage the public sharing the video's promoted philosophy through uploading photos to social media based on four weekly themes - "live Wow" (travel, lifestyle, food), "live Well" (health, sports, inspiration), "live Connected" (friendship, relationship, love) and "live Creative" (creativity, technology, arts). Participants would be rewarded with offers and prizes.
The company invited Tracy Chu (朱千雪), an actress and beauty queen, as well as Oomeisaya, a star of the highest grossing Thai movie of 2017, to fuel talks during last week's launch.
HPE garnered a net revenue of US$8.2 billion in Q3 ending 31 July 2017, a 3% increase from the same period last year. Enterprise Group revenue increased by 3% year-over-year (yoy) to US$6.8 billion, while software revenue dropped 3% yoy to US$718 million. It financial services revenue saw a 10% yoy increase to US$897 million.
Last month, HPE's former VP, marketing, Asia Pacific and Japan, Karen Holland, departed after more than five years with the company. During her time there, Holland was responsible for driving marketing-led profitable growth for HPE’s businesses across Asia Pacific and Japan, including Hybrid IT and Intelligent Edge, according to her LinkedIn.
In Hong Kong, Cally Chan, former vice president of enterprise group and managing director for Hong Kong and Macau of HPE left the company for Microsoft Hong Kong in July.
In 2016, HPE picked Publicis Worldwide as its lead marketing agency following a review. Publicis Groupe agencies DigitasLBi and Optimedia were also named to the brand’s roster and together will serve as the brand’s strategic marketing partners. Razorfish will continue leading HPE’s website efforts.
FALCON has appointed Avtar Ram Singh as its head of strategy. The role is newly created and will see him leading digital strategy for FALCON across its offices in Singapore and Malaysia. Prior to the appointment, Singh was head of social at Publicis Singapore for approximately three years.
Singh will be based in Singapore and will report directly to Singapore MD, Kelvin Koo. He will also be responsible for working with Koo on building FALCON’s consulting arm and leading the social and content team, according to a press statement from FALCON confirming the move.
At Publicis Singapore, Singh was the business lead for its social media practice and was responsible for the social media team and clients. Before that, Singh was senior manager, social media and content at Publicis Singapore, and has also held stints at Circus Social for Ogilvy Mather, Rocket Internet and the International Data Corporation.
“We are very excited to extend our leadership team with Singh who has a proven track-record in leading digital and social media strategy. We look forward to the value he will add in growing our strategic and consulting arm as we move closer towards our vision of being a results-led agency that is able to bring together strategy and creativity with technology and data to deliver results for our clients,” Max-F. Scheichenost, co-founder of FALCON Agency, said.
“When I spoke with Scheichenost, Koo and Endres - it was incredible how aligned our vision for the agency of the future was. One of the key reasons I’m here today is because of the way FALCON approaches digital and social media marketing, with an obsessive focus on business results for our partners,” Singh said.
MediaCom has appointed regional client director Charlotte Goddard to the role of head of business development, Asia Pacific. She reports to Mark Heap, CEO, Asia Pacific, MediaCom.
With 10 years of industry experience, Goddard brings a broad and deep level of integrated media experience to her new role, the press statement read. Goddard is already involved in new business endeavours that have resulted in more than 50 pitch wins in Asia Pacific in 2017, and will continue to lead the APAC arm of global pitches and oversee all regional and "game-changing" local pitches in her new role.
She is also tasked with executing business development training initiatives, spearheading pitch collaborations with sister WPP companies, and leveraging new tools and technology to optimise the region’s new business infrastructure.
Goddard joined from MediaCom London, where she spent more than four years, with her last role being associate director, according to her LinkedIn. During her time as associate director, Goddard was responsible for the multi-media implementational planning across a large and varied group of clients, ensuring their strategies were implemented and rolled out through the right media partners and channels.
Prior to becoming the associate director, Goddard assumed the role of media manager at MediaCom for more than two years, where she was responsible for all press planning output for clients including GSK, CRUK, Brita, EON, and Merlin Entertainment. She also worked as a media executive at Carat for over three years.
“Since joining the regional team from MediaCom London, Goddard has proven to be a very effective leader, with an intelligent, progressive approach that impresses not only her peers but the numerous clients she works with. She’s never hesitated to roll up her sleeves and get involved in many of our biggest pitches, from developing brilliant content through to coaching pitch teams. This promotion is another example of MediaCom’s ‘People first’ philosophy in action," Heap said.
MediaCom made a senior management hire last month by appointing Peter Diermayr as regional APAC lead for MediaCom’s DELL account. He is tasked with such as communication strategy and media delivery across Asia Pacific, and reports to Heap as well.
