The Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) has appointed creative digital agency Techlyon to manage social media duties for the Media Literacy Council (MLC) for a year. The account is valued at SG$152,000 and work is expected to roll out in February, IMDA's spokesperson said in a statement to Marketing. The spokesperson added that Techlyon was chosen for its clear social media strategy and proposal.
This follows a tender called on 30 June 2017, which saw 16 other agencies vying for the account, including GroupM Singapore, Type A, Happy Marketer, KRDS Digital, Carbon Interactive, Dstnct and Hashtag Interactive.
MLC was formed in 2012 to spearhead public education on media literacy and cyber wellness, as well as advise the government on the appropriate policy response to the evolving world of media, technology, consumer expectations and participation. It builds on the foundation of initiatives previously put in place by IMDA to actively develop public education programmes that will help the public navigate media, especially the Internet, safely and responsibly.
Search remains an essential component of every marketer’s arsenal, yet in China there is little understanding of the practice beyond spends, keywords and bidding.
Bhasker Jaiswal, managing partner of marketing sciences at OMD China, added that China's search landscape has changed so fast that generic (pay-per-click) strategies don’t suffice.
Generic PPC strategies just don't suffice anymore.
And it was marketers' duties to delve further. The latest industry research report from OMD China, dubbed "DIVE SEARCH", tracked search behaviors of 150 individuals for two weeks across all their devices, collecting over 13,000 search strings to shred some lights on consumer search behaviours, as well as how search advertising influences their purchase decisions.
According to the study, a majority of the consumer searches are actually about basic life necessities. Product and service related searches only make up 19% of total search.
Interestingly, females search far more than males in the automotive category (8.1 vs 5.8) and males search more on skincare than females (6 vs 4.7), indicating that those who actively search your products online are not always your target customers.
Consumers switch search device depending on time of the day, but in general, mobile is used for its availability and PC for viewability. Mobile has exceeded PC to become the number one device used for search (52% vs 41%).
Impact of search advertising on consumer purchase decision is still significant, and it's figure-proven. For the auto category, 69% of users find Brandzone more attractive than regular search pages, and 83% of them will click on promotional links to get more information.
Older generations adopt audio-search more than younger ones
Consumers are adopting new search technology; 97% of searchers use auto-completion while searching, and 68% use voice or picture search. Older generations use these features more often than the young for convenience.
Following the Chinese government's announcement in July last year which laid out plans for the country to become a world leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) by 2025, with an additional aim of making the industry worth RMB1 trillion, Beijing is now planning to build a RMB13.8 billion AI development park, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The park will be built within five years, situated in Mentougou district (pictured) in western Beijing. It will cover 54.87 hectares, and house up to 400 enterprises, which have an estimated annual output of RMB 50 billion, according to the report.
The developer of the project, Zhongguancun Development Group, said it will look to partner with foreign universities and build a "national-level" AI lab in the area.
The campus will fuel China's expected growth in the local industry to over RMB150 billion by 2020 and RMB400 billion by 2025, according to the State Council.
More than three quarters (87%) of the C-Suite believe that live events will become increasingly important to the success of their organisation.
According to a new report titled "Event Marketing 2018: Benchmarks and Trends" published by Bizzabo, which surveyed 400 mid- to senior-level event marketers, 84% of the C-Suite surveyed plan to increase the number of events they organise.
The report also stated that 63% of event marketers surveyed intend to invest more in live events in the future both in budget and the number of events.
Also, live events is believed to be the single-most effective marketing channel by 31% of event marketers over content marketing (27%) and email marketing (25%).
About 86% of event marketers believe that event technology will have a major positive impact on the success of their events. Likewise, 91% of overperforming business place a greater emphasis on live events as a marketing channel as compared to underperforming businesses (65%) and those that are performing as expected (80%).
Also, 80% of overperforming businesses plan to increase spend on event technology by US$4,500 more than underperforming businesses (54%) and those performing as expected (60%).
Investing in live events
Despite the positive attitude towards live events, only 23% of the companies surveyed allocate only 20% to 50% of their marketing budgets to organising events, meanwhile 22% set aside 10% to 20% of their marketing budgets. Also, 28% of companies allocate only 1% to 5% of their marketing budget to attending or exhibiting at live events that are not organised by the marketers themselves.
According to Bizzabo, there is plenty of room for growth when it comes to exhibiting at events, and that it is worthwhile for marketers to increase investment in this area if they are looking to get ahead of the competition. Alternatively, Bizzabo noted that the findings might be a result of the fact that marketers are not receiving the same level of return from exhibiting at live events as compared to organising them.
Live event promotion and trends
Most respondents (40%) view email marketing as the best channel to promote their live events, with 62% more likely to use event management software (EMS). According to Bizzado, this correlation between email marketing and the use of EMS can be attributed to EMS integrations, making it easier for event marketers to pursue email marketing strategies. Alternatively, companies that use EMS may have more effective event promotion systems in place, and in turn rely on email marketing.
Personal relationships (16%) came in second, followed by content marketing and word of mouth (9%), organic social media and direct mail (8%) and paid social media (5%). The ultimate goals for companies when organising events are lead generation (25%) and community building (25%).
However, the goals may be hampered by the main challenge still faced by event marketers - increasing event registrations (36%), followed by increasing revenue from events (29%). As a result, marketers have to learn to embrace innovative approaches to event promotion and attendee engagement, according to Bizzabo.
Live streaming (30%) was ranked as most impactful to events, followed by social networks (24%) and virtual and augmented reality (20%).
They call me the “Nasi Lemak” girl on my team. That’s because every morning at 8.45am, I cross the road to grab my favourite dish or breakfast.
In case you are new to the region and have not heard of our famous Nasi Lemak, let me break it down for you. It is essentially a Malay fragrant rice dish, cooked in coconut milk and a pandan leaf. The most basic ingredients that go along with the coconut rice are fried anchovies, roasted peanuts, cucumber slices, fried or boiled egg and, very importantly, the “sambal” or chili paste. Sounds delicious, right?
Currently, it’s the hottest marketing gimmick in town. Many brands are incorporating the Nasi Lemak dish into their products. And while I initially enjoyed McDonald’s Singapore’s Nasi Lemak burger, which even “inspired” neighbouring Malaysian burger joint myBurgerLab to launch its Nasi Lemak Ayam Rendang burger ahead of Merdeka Day, I did question the purity of my favourite meal in a “burger-ized” form.
In fact recently, we’ve been bombarded with all sorts of Nasi Lemak-related products. Sadly, as a Nasi Lemak purist, I can’t help, but feel a little put off by some.
Take for example the creation of the limited edition of Nasi Lemak condoms by Malaysian condom giant Karex. The product is expected to hit the market at the end of 2017 in a bid to spice up the bedroom scene (yes, pun intended). Err – creative or crazy? You decide. But to the brand’s credit, it has always thought box and has in the past even jumped on the durian bandwagon with durian-flavoured condoms.
Since then, the internet has spat out numerous articles to me about products such as Nasi Lemak cheesecake (oh no!), sushi, phone covers, bed sheets and even a movie called Nasi Lemak 2.0! I even read on Mashable that luxury fashion house Hermès has a handbag that resembled the Nasi Lemak Bungkus as part of its 2010 Spring Collection designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier. While I am aware some of these of these products were created before the food item gained popularity, I still can’t fathom why we can’t just appreciate the meal without corrupting it.
I guess what really pushed me over the edge was when I saw Malaysian beauty pageant contestant Samantha Katie James walk the stage during the 66th Miss Universe 2017 competition in Las Vegas, donning a glittery Nasi Lemak-inspired outfit.
“Seriously?” I asked my team. I couldn’t believe it. While a large part of me ridiculed the idea, another part of me was blown away by the extent the dish has had an impact on our markets.
I guess I remain in awe at how a simple dish can make such a massive impact, and the amazing powers of marketing.
And while I chuckle at the creativity of folks out there, I can’t wait for the excitement to die down. I suppose, I would like to just go back to loving our beloved dish in its pure, rich, creamy and uncorrupted form.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has vowed to "fix" Facebook, in what he described as his personal challenge for 2018.
"The world feels anxious and divided, and Facebook has a lot of work to do," Zuckerberg wrote in a post on his Facebook page.
He pointed to the abuse and hate on the platform, along with foreign attempts to spread misinformation, and social networking's effect on a person's well being. Last month, the company acknowledged that passively reading your Facebook news feed isn't always good for your mental health.
Social media firms have come under fire for allowing so-called fake news ahead of US and foreign interference on the platform, and ongoing instances of harassment.
He said it was making too many errors enforcing policies and preventing misuse of its tools. "If we're successful this year then we'll end 2018 on a much better trajectory."
He said one of the issues he intended to tackle was the debate about centralisation and decentralisation.
Technology had the promise of putting more power into people's hands but many people had now lost faith in that promise and thought technology actually centralised power, he said.
Zuckerberg added that encryption and digital currency had the power to counter this trend, and said he would explore how to use them at Facebook.
"This will be a serious year of self-improvement and I'm looking forward to learning from working to fix our issues together," he concluded.
Axiata Group (Axiata) has appointed of two key positions at its newest subsidiary and at group level, as part of its transformation effort into a "new generation digital champion".
Asri Hassan Sabri (pictured left), Axiata’s group chief business operations officer has been appointed as chief executive officer (CEO) of Axiata Business Services, effective 1 January 2018.
Operating under the brand Xpand, this new entity is tasked to drive the group’s enterprise and internet of things (IoT) business across all of Axiata’s footprint in ASEAN and south asia. The subsidiary was established in 2017 as a new area of focus for the group, one which is earmarked to achieve double-digit growth and holds great promise as a multi-billion dollar addressable market within the next few years, Axiata's spokesperson said.
Asri Hassan Sabri has almost 30 years of experience in various management, consulting and entrepreneur engagements in the IT and telecom industries. Prior to joining Axiata, he was a strategic partner with Provident Capital Partners, a private equity firm. He was also the former country president for Motorola Malaysia, a position he held from 2006 till 2008. Besides Motorola, he has also held senior management and regional positions with other multinational corporations (MNCs) including Nokia.
Meanwhile, Axiata has appointed Abid Abdul Adam (pictured right) as group chief information security officer. He will also assume the position of group head of privacy given the increasingly critical nature of data privacy and protection. His appointment, according to Axiata, is part of its effort to improve cyber security capabilities, amid the growing importance of information security.
Abid Abdul Adam joins the group from South Africa where he was the chief information security officer and deputy information protection officer for a financial services organisation. He brings over 15 years of experience in developing, implementing, and leading an information security and technology risk management function.
Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim, president and group CEO of Axiata said, the two appointments are in line with its hope to build a leading digital company, beyond its core mobile business.
"Asri’s role as CEO of Axiata Business Solutions is to scale up this addressable area of growth in the enterprise and IoT space and to ensure that the group aggressively capitalises on the opportunities in the ASEAN and South Asia market, to eventually bring a significant uplift in revenue," he said.
“As the telecommunication industry is evolving at a rapid rate, we are also placing significant importance and operationally strengthening the two areas that impact our business; IT security and data protection. Abid’s two led functions work in tandem to help us to achieve cyber resilience and data privacy across the group,” he added.
The Law Society is ceasing the print version of its official journal the Singapore Law Gazette, also known as the Law Gazette. The announcement comes as its publisher LexisNexis has decided not to renew its contract to publish the print version of the Law Gazette.
Following this announcement, the official journal will be published fully online beginning this month and will be compatible across platforms such as mobile, tablet and desktop. The Law Society is currently working on relaunching a "modern, interactive and user friendly" website, featuring keyword searches, article recommendations and listing of articles by popularity.
In a letter to its members, president Gregory Vijayendran and chair, publications committee Malathi Das wrote that "it will no longer be viable or sustainable for the Society to bear the costs for hard copies of the Law Gazette, going forward".
"We will also be brainstorming creative new ideas for columns, features and content post- transition. We are excited to unveil the new website and look forward to sharing with members a brand new identity and user experience," the statement read.
According to The Straits Times (ST), LexisNexis informed its advertisers in a letter dated 2 January 2018 that the Law Society is resuming ownership of the official journal and its advertisements. ST quoted Das saying that while the decision was "not anticipated", she stated that the move to online publishing is a chance to engage its members through a platform that is "fast becoming the norm".
LANEIGE has revealed Korean actress You-Jung Kim to be its next ambassador after a decade of working with hallyu star Song Hye Kyo. This comes as Song moves on to become the next ambassador of Sulwhasoo, which also falls under AmorePacific, the parent company of LANEIGE. The move was confirmed by Song in a recent Instagram post.
“I am so grateful for the amazing 10 years with relationship LANEIGE built over trust and love! And now I am excited to start this new journey with Sulwhasoo,” Song said in the post.
Song was most recently known for her role in Korean drama series “Descendants of the Sun”, where she played the female lead role. In 2016, Song and LANEIGE garnered media attention after makeup worn by Song during one of the show’s episodes sold out and became a bestseller during the March period.
In a statement to Marketing at the time, Doreen Chia, then-brand manager of LANEIGE Singapore, shared the positive impact the Korean drama had on their brand awareness and products. This translated into boosting sales and expanding their customer base to reach those who have never used its products.
Speaking about Kim’s new appointment as a brand representative, a LANEIGE spokesperson said that Kim’s image fits well with LANEIGE’s vision to “unleash the sparkling beauty within every young woman”. She will also be joining another Korean actress Lee Sung Kyung in modelling for the beauty brand.
“You-Jung Kim is expected to show great synergy with the brand’s young and trendy image,” the statement said.
Kim gained recognition following her lead role in Korean drama series “Love in the Moonlight”. She is also known for her previous roles as a child actor in films and dramas such as “Moon Embracing the Sun” and “Angry Mom”.
Singapore Airlines has decided not to implement credit card service fees for selected classes of fare types – namely its Economy Lite fares. The move came quickly after the airline faced public backlash for the move announced just yesterday.
In a circular addressed to business partners obtained by Marketing, Singapore Airlines decided that “following a further review”, it would not be proceeding with the implementation of the credit card service fees. It also did not reveal what prompted the decision when contacted by Marketing.
The move to implement credit care service fees was initially only limited to its Economy Lite fares according to SIA responses to consumers on its Facebook page. However, the airline faced criticism as credit was regarded a common payment method for consumers. Moreover, transactions made via debit and PayPal were not affected by additional fare charges. The announcement also came shortly after SIA revealed in December new fare types for travellers with different levels of fares, privileges and flexibility – this included Economy Lite, which is the lowest of the three levels.
While Singapore Airline’s abrupt reversal of its plan to impose credit card service fees of 1.3% on certain classes of fares will not damage their brand in the long term, this might raise questions about the management team's process to manage the brand well, Andrew Crombie, founder of crombie.design, said in a conversation with Marketing.
Clearly, it had an unexpected and intense adverse market reaction, which suggests that they are not in touch with the consumer.
"If it is planning to reclaim their category leadership role within three years, then a customer fixation must be core to its approach,” Crombie added.
In a cut-throat market with reducing margins, and with increasing competition, Crombie added that the value and share gains SIA needs will come through creating better overall customer value and better experience, rather than by small additional taxes on the consumer.
Whilst every brand makes errors of judgement sooner or later, this misread of the market hints at customer ignorance or inside-out thinking and reflects a poor brand management process.
It shows that the idea was not tested and caught before it hit the street,” Crombie said.
Last year, SIA Group reported an operating profit of SG$623 million in the 2016-17 financial year, SG$58 million or 8.5% lower compared to the same period last year. The organisation also employed an average of 24,350 workers at the end of March 2016. This included affiliates and units. This also led to a Transformation Office being created with dedicated staff has been created. This follows SIA’s bid to comprehensive review what the organisation is doing and better position itself for growth.
Meanwhile Lawrence Chong, CEO of Consulus, said that customers have a lot of expectations when it comes to global brands such as SIA. As such, being “super responsive” is key.
“A mistake may have been made but it is important to demonstrate that you have the capacity to respond quickly to make up for it,” Chong explained. He added that it was a good move for SIA to backtrack on implementing the credit card fees quickly.
It shows that SIA is not tone-deaf and is keen to maintain customer loyalty.
The move, along with the new fare schemes, was likely initiatives to maximise revenue. According to Chong, while the move may not be brand endearing, it was about sustainability in a competitive environment.
Fraud is increasingly becoming top of mind for loyalty marketers, as 72% of loyalty programmes have experienced fraud-related issues.
As more efforts are focused on helping to protect members’ valuable rewards, it is important all members of your organisation are aligned when implementing a fraud solution. Consider these five tactics to help prevent loyalty fraud.
Educate
Build awareness and train employees so everyone is familiar with and can identify common examples of fraud, such as the creation of fake accounts, compromised account takeovers, as well as your processes for combating it. Management should clearly communicate fraud detection and fraud policies with employees. Not only does it help to raise the level of awareness and importance of mitigating fraud, but it also helps to set expectations with employees on the repercussions if they are found guilty of loyalty fraud.
Track
Logging both customer and employee loyalty programme activity is essential. This allows you to detect fraudulent behaviour before it spins out of control. But using reports to monitor programme behaviour is only going to catch it after it happens. Consider applying algorithm-based analytic tracking methods and real-time technology to keep a close eye on behaviour, and be proactive about the potential for fraudulent activity before it happens.
Monitor
Within your loyalty platform, make sure you have the ability to track both recent behaviour and changes to the member profile, historical point transactions or redemption history. Respond to each and every change within a member’s account to determine "atypical" behaviour and always send confirmation communications when key profile elements are updated - including email address, password and physical address.
Restrict
Ensure key safety features like multi-layer authentication and complex password modules are integrated into your loyalty programme. Implementing the ability to intercept redemption events in real time is a best practice too, should your system or employees detect or suspect fraud.
Communicate
If you see something suspicious within your programme, quickly respond and alert programme management, IT, security and HR, if appropriate. Sending loyalty members regular and automated communications when their address or password is changed is essential in helping to protect your programme against fraud.
11street has partnered with JOCOM, an m-commerce platform specialising in online groceries and shopping, to offer fresh produce and other frozen goods in the lead up to Chinese New Year. As part of its marketing strategy, it is creating a 10-episode cooking show titled Cooking Up Prosperity, which will be streamed online.
The show will be sponsored by Clio, Desa Home, Electrolux, F&N, Khind, Kinohimitsu, Maggi, Onenot-enough, Philips, Sharp, SJK Electrical, Starbucks, Sublime and Trine Nexus. Cooking Up Prosperity also features Malaysian chef Cheah Kee Khiang and is hosted by TV personality Wong Chui Ling.
It showcases simple-to-follow Chinese New Year recipes using fresh ingredients available on JOCOM's online store at 11street. Additionally, JOCOM plans to expand its online grocery business nationwide, including the east coast, by the third quarter of 2018.
“More Malaysian consumers would start to explore shopping for groceries and other household items online. This holds true and as 2017 comes to an end, we expect this category to only flourish from hereon," Bruce Lim, VP of merchandising at 11street, said.
“When we first partnered with 11street last year, we wanted to expand our outreach to a wider community. More importantly, we hoped to empower Malaysians with the convenience of shopping for groceries and other household items online. As a way forward, we produced the cooking show to showcase that Chinese New Year preparation can be made simpler if they know where to get the ingredients and how to best prepare them, without the need to leave their homes," Joshua Sew, CEO, JOCOM, said.
Carlsberg Malaysia has launched its Chinese New Year (CNY) campaign with this year's theme titled “Probably The Most Victorious Year" inspired by the Chinese saying qi kai de sheng (齊開得勝), which means “flagging off victory of an undertaking” or “together, we achieve success”.
As part of the campaign, it will feature the traditional auspicious red colour in all festive edition bottle caps and pull-rings of Carlsberg and Carlsberg Smooth Draught. The brewer will also reward its consumers through promotion leading into 2018. Carlsberg’s spokesperson said its CNY greeting ad has been displayed in participating hypermarkets, supermarkets and coffee shops across the nationwide. The company is also promoting the campaign via newspaper, digital platforms, as well as, on-ground activation.
The CNY greeting advertisement shows four auspicious red bottle caps burst out from Carlsberg and Carlsberg Smooth Draught bottles wishing everyone “be jolly together”, “abundance of happiness”, “a simply satisfying year” and “cheers!” or “yum seng!” in mandarin language. When combining the four key Chinese words, it reads as “probably the most victorious year”, Carlsberg Malaysia's spokesperson said.
Boardriders Inc, the company owning and operating Quiksilver, Roxy, and DC Shoes brands, has acquired Billabong International. The move will see the company taking over brands such as Billabong, RVCA, Element, VonZipper and Xcel. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2018.
In a statement, current Boardriders CEO Pierre Agnes revealed that creating one integrated global platform will enable the combined company to enhance its investments in product innovation and quality, digital marketing, consumer engagement, and e-commerce. This is with the aim to benefit consumers and strengthen the company and industry. Upon the conclusion of the deal, Agnes will become president of Boardriders, stepping down from the CEO role. He will remain a board member and lead a “substantial portion” of the integration of the two companies.
A potential future role with Neil Fiske, current CEO of Billabong group, will also be discussed. Meanwhile, Dave Tanner will take on the CEO role of Boardriders. Prior to the move, Tanner was managing director at Oaktree Capital Management and chief turnaround officer for Boardriders. Currently, Boardriders is under the ownership of funds managed by Oaktree, which was responsible for improving its operational and financial performance since its turnaround began in 2016.
“We are committed to preserving the autonomy, creativity, and unique cultures of all the brands while we leverage our best-in-class operating platform to accelerate the growth of the brands globally,” Tanner said.
According to a Boardriders statement, following the turnaround in 2016, the company rationalised its distribution and right-sized its cost structure. It also rewired its product development platform, enabling the company to invest in a range of growth-enhancing brand, marketing and e-commerce initiatives. As such, the move looks to bring the Billabong brands onto the same back-office operating platform to accelerate the brands' growth as well, the statement added.
Boardriders' statement added that the move looks to allow for “deeper and more mutually beneficial partnerships” with customers and suppliers. It will also give Boardrider access over 7,000 wholesale customers in more than 110 countries, owned e-commerce capabilities in 35 countries, and over 630 retail stores in 28 countries.
"We have high regard for Fiske and what he has accomplished over the years. I personally have valued his keen strategic thinking and leadership. I very much hope that he will join us for the next leg of this journey and continue his contribution to these great brands,” Matt Wilson, chairman of Boardriders and managing director and co-portfolio manager at Oaktree, said.
Its founder, Vivy Yusof told the NST that the company has established some existing customers in West Asia and that the high demand from that region is also due to FashionValet's product and fashion offerings which suit its local community's taste.
She said, as the growing e-commerce operators, business models need to change to remain relevant and viable. Therefore, she added, the choice to enter the West Asian market forms one of its business plans in growing the company.
Apart from its online sales platform, FashionValet also has a physical boutique in Bangsar Village and Pavilion Shopping Mall in Kuala Lumpur. Vivy Yusof said this year, the company aims to open "about two or three physical boutiques at several locations in the country to support the e-commerce segment as well as FashionValet vendors."
FashionValet which currently has over 400 online brands, has recorded a positive business growth of between 90 and 100% year-to -year, since it was launched in 2010.
U Mobile has officially called for a PR pitch with three agencies shortlisted, including incumbent Text100 Malaysia, Weber Shandwick and Zeno Public Relations, A+M understands. The pitch is expected to conclude by the end of first quarter this year.
A+M also understands that the telco is gearing up to call for a new pitch soon, seeking creative agency which covers its brand communications portfolio that focuses more on brand narrative as a whole.
The news comes after U Mobile appointed a slew of new appointments for its marketing services and brand communications portfolio in December 2017.
For marketing services, U Mobile named The Clan as the creative agency and re-appointed BPN as its media agency for marketing services. Meanwhile TBWA, the incumbent creative agency for postpaid segment, will be expanding its role to include creative services for enterprise communications for the telco.
For brand communications specifically, U Mobile has re-appointed Brandscope Malaysia to manage the telco’s out-of-home (OOH) campaigns. Brandscope will also take on media buying and planning roles beyond OOH. The telco also awarded digital agency duties to C27, who will focus on social media content and campaign execution on Instagram.
PropertyGuru Group hires CTO
He will be responsible for the Group’s technology and engineering functions across offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
ACMA relaunches to transform content marketing in APAC
Members that have come on board at the time of launch include Allison + Partners PR, MEC Wavemaker, Publicis Content, Bloomberg Media, Click2View, Isentia, LinkedIn and Text100 PR.
Facebook IQ and SECTION launch new insights tool
The new insights tool enables businesses to find and reach new audiences by comparing country data based on past campaign performances across Facebook, Instagram and Audience Network.
Touch PR & Events hires new GM Kan brings more than 15 years’ experience in professional in-house marketing communications.
Isentia appoints marketing manager for Asia
Prior to her latest role, Kwong was the business operations and marketing executive at Isentia for over two years, according to her LinkedIn.
Publicis One Vietnam launches Prodigious Brand Logistics
Prodigious will offer its services across Publicis One’s agencies Leo Burnett, Saatchi, Publicis, Zenith, Starcom, Performics and MSLGROUP, as well as to direct clients.
R3 elevates Seema Punwani to partner role
She has led global initiatives for clients like MasterCard, Economic Development Board of Singapore, Fonterra and Suntory amongst others.
Lazada and Samsung sign first regional deal
The expanded partnership marks the first ever regional contract between both parties spanning six countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Havas Group acquires Sorento
This strategic acquisition will allow Havas to further develop its regional presence and add to its depth and breadth in India to deliver for global clients.
ONE Championship partners GoDaddy
GoDaddy branding is set to be featured at ONE: DYNASTY OF HEROES which will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 26 May.
OMD makes appointments to strategy team
He has extensive experience across the globe, having worked for OMD in the region as the strategy lead for OMD APAC as well as the global VP of marketing for HTC.
Sizmek appoints general manager for APAC region
He will be responsible for managing the company’s operations across the Asia-Pacific region, including customer engagement, sales development and innovation, strategic planning, and revenue growth.
Singtel partners NYP to help SMEs in the retail and F&B sectors
SMEs can also seek additional support on social media marketing, online merchandising and analysis of online consumers from students and lecturers at the NYP’s customer experience and analytics centre.
The agency would begin work immediately across strategy development, creative, execution, partnerships, influencer relationships and experiential platforms.
Tapad hires Andrew Tu as APAC VP
Tapad’s APAC team is currently headquartered in Singapore with plans to expand into Japan and Australia in the coming months.
Alibaba Cloud partners with NUS and EZ-Link
Alibaba Cloud will contribute US$500,000 in cloud credits towards the use of its cloud platform and data centres by students and researchers from NUS for academic and research purposes.
EZ-Link introduces NFC enabled card readers
In March 2016, EZ-Link launched the EZ-Link NFC SIM, pioneering the use of compatible mobile phones with NFC technology for making public transport payments.
Amobee names global innovations lead Chu will be charged with leading Amobee's new product offerings that are driven by and utilise telecommunications operator assets.
Amnet and RadiumOne partner up
The partnership will see RadiumOne’s proprietary mobile and sharing analytics software deployed across Amnet‘s clients, complementing existing technology to fuel paid media effectiveness.
Freeman launches brand experience agency in China and Singapore
The global provider of brand experiences has integrated several of its creative services across the Asia Pacific region, including China and Singapore, under the company’s agency division, FreemanXP.
Sitecore appoints The Hoffman Agency
The appointment comes as Sitecore plans to further establish its presence in this region and meet the ever increasing digital marketing needs of brands with context marketing.
McCann Worldgroup Japan appoints new CCO
Antony Cundy will be responsible for overseeing excellence in the targeted and efficient delivery of campaigns for clients who work across multiple MWG disciplines.
Ogilvy Public Relations Australia appoints new director
In this new role, he will oversee the consultancy’s social, content and digital practice - Social@Ogilvy, and will lead the Microsoft account as the key client relationship manager.
Adknowledge announces country head for India
He has over 20 years of experience in building and scaling businesses and brands, defining strategy, and running operations for companies.
WWF and Toyota head towards a zero carbon society
The project will take place in WWF priority places such as Borneo and Sumatra. In the future, the project will expand to the Greater Mekong region.
Outbrain renews multi-year deal with SPH
With the extended partnership with SPH, Outbrain continues to demonstrate significant momentum with its publishing partners.
NTUC FairPrice hosts first ever Facebook Live event
Food channel, co-owned by NTUC FairPrice, and operated by content marketing agency Brand New Media, will be hosting its first Facebook Live event entitled Live Healthy, Eat Healthy.
Outbrain partners up with Mediacorp
Outbrain will aggregate Mediacorp’s coveted audiences with those from its previous local publishers and global site wins.
L'Oreal Paris Singapore employs star power
L’Oréal Paris Singapore has launched an interactive out-of-home (OOH) panel featuring brand ambassador and local celebrity Rui En.
SPHMBO shows off latest OOH offering in VivoCity
Since its inception, the digital advertising network has played host to Seiko, Rado and Walt Disney's Finding Dory, which will be screening in local cinemas later this month.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) has invited Hakuhodo Singapore to be its agency partner in a mentorship programme for students. Hakuhodo Singapore will lend its expertise in strategy, planning, digital media, copywriting and art direction in this mentorship programme for students.
The workshops will culminate in a group advertising campaign pitch presentation by the students to a panel of judges comprising lecturers and mentors from the agency, where their scores are considered in their final year grades.
“With like-minded agencies such as Hakuhodo Singapore, our students acquire agency experience even before they graduate. Agency-based learning comes alive through lectures, client briefs, and mentorship sessions. Our students get a grasp of the what the industry is about early on, and they have first-mover advantage when they start work,” Christina Jimenez, deputy course chair for the diploma in advertising & public relations, Ngee Ann Polytechnic said.
The mentorship programme spans approximately four months starting from October 2017. Representatives from Hakuhodo Singapore will share with students the processes and framework required to create client briefs through research and strategic problem-solving, and finally to execute ideas with copywriting and art direction techniques.
The mentors from Hakuhodo Singapore and the workshops they are conducting are:
-Tanner Nagib (regional client service director / digital director)
-Joanne Hoe (strategic planner) & Daphne Boey (associate digital director)
-Felicia Tay (copywriter) & Patrick Ng (creative group head)
Digi Telecommunications (Digi) has picked Geometry Global Malaysia to handle its below-the-line marketing activity, following a competitive pitch, A+M understands. A+M understands the duties will encompass total retail communications such as prepaid, postpaid, broadband and corporate, inclusive of any B2B communications work.
The appointment takes effect from January 2018 through to 2020, with an option to renew for another year.
This comes after the telco awarded its public relations and digital assignments to Geometry Global Malaysia in April last year, for a period of one year. As reported earlier, Geometry Global revamped its approach on brand communications by merging traditional PR and digital core strengths.
Geometry Global Malaysia part of the world leading marketing communications services company, WPP.
CEO, CMO or chief digital officer are often seen as the heroes pushing digital transformation in a company. However, another person organisations should be looking to involve in this process is the chief human resources officers (CHRO)
This view was held by Mohamad Ario Adimas, vice president of marketing, Loket, Go-Jek, during a panel at a Digital Marketing Indonesia conference held on 29-30 November 2017. He explained that CHROs needed to be involved because digital transformation is a challenge related to culture. He added:
When it comes to changing the business, brands need to start with the people first.
“Start with the people in the company if culture is something you want to change. The problem is not everyone believes in digital so it is best to first get your chief human resources officer on board,” Ario said. This would lead to the younger generation of hires being digitally savvy.
He added that having a digital presence online should not be something which is limited to CEOs. All staff members in an organisation need to be a brand ambassador for the company – online and offline.
Juliana Cen, CMO (Central Marketing Organisation) lead, Microsoft Indonesia added that while marketers are often responsible for being a change agent, they cannot do so without the support of the board and other departments in the organisation.
Danny Yuanda, head of affiliate, Lazada Indonesia, added that size of the organisation is also something to be considered when it comes to driving digital change.
"The benefit of start-ups lie in its flat structure. This helps the people leading the change save a lot of layers of escalation to ensure that digital change strategies can be adopted in organisations," Yuanda said.
Localising a global mandate
Another challenge many local entities face is getting more support from global HQs to localise brand campaigns. To combat this, Cen said that building good content is the first step. The next step is to incorporate more of the customer experience strategy into content. Marketers then needed to convince various headquarters and stakeholders to agree to run the content in their local market.
Marketers looking to gain more support with localised campaigns also need to think about how the campaign will draw new customers to the company. This includes setting the right KPIs and deciding how much customers the company wants to be acquiring. She added that the ability to adapt to change also needs to be accompanied with the continued willingness to learn when it comes to digital marketing.
“Use your network, incorporate the media and cooperate with estates which are willing to help you at little to no cost. Do that and have a discussion with the relevant heads in your organisation before execution to decide if this is something which can work for your brand,” Cen explained.
To sieve out the digital trends worth investing in, Go-Jek's Ario said to choose the trend which can give you the most relevant results. Marketers also need to be aware of when to place them in the observation phase, unless they have a good case study on hand for reference. Speaking from personal experience, he said that he always sets aside 10% of the digital marketing budget for experimentation and trying new initiatives.
“If it is not something I am currently using, I try to invite the companies pushing the new technology in for a presentation to learn more about it,” Ario explained. To be an effective digital marketer today, he said that marketers also need be equipped with skills such as data analysis.
“Everyone in marketing now has to be junior data scientist. They need to be able to read the data and make decisions based on the data insights they have gathered,” Ario added.
For Yuanda, marketers also need to keep their eyes open and be agile enough to recognise the changes happening within their industries. In the case of Lazada, some digital trends currently exciting Yuanda as a marketer include video and influencer marketing.
“Videos are starting to get a lot of traction, garnering different reactions from consumers, as opposed to the more pictorial approach the company used to take. Videos help to give a softer sell on a product or service, excluding unique value propositions,” Yuanda explained. As such, Lazada recently worked with Viu to create mini short videos about Lazada with soft selling parts which in turn generates a lot of traction for us as well.
