Streaming service iflix has added senior leadership to the company’s marketing function with the appointments of emerging markets strategy and engagement experts, Adeana Greenlee and Tamim Fares as global director of go-to-market and global director of engagement and Monetisation, respectively.

Having founded Ogilvy Public Relations Myanmar, Greenlee brings more than 20 years of sales, marketing, corporate and strategy experience to the role, including the planning and execution of large scale, culturally-nuanced campaigns and programs for multinational corporations and startups.

Joining iflix as general manager of iflix Myanmar, she quickly established the Company’s leadership in Myanmar’s entertainment and consumer sectors, working closely with global FMCG brands, government and grassroots organisations, and local studios and networks. As general manager of iflix Indochina, she was responsible for managing and growing iflix’s business across both its consumer and commercial segments for Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, strengthening the Company’s relationships with its key enterprise and SME partners and major channel partners.

Greenlee added, "I am excited to join the rock star team at iflix global headquarters in Malaysia.  I look forward to leveraging my frontier market expertise (across Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia) to build even stronger connections between iflix and our customers as we enter the next chapter of our business."

Meanwhile Fares has over a decade of experience with global TMT organisations including Vodafone, STC and Leo Burnett. Having held senior leadership roles in marketing, product and commercial, Fares specialises in driving user engagement and P&L growth through intersecting deep data analytics with customer insights and centricity.

Fares previously served as head of consumer marketing/Segments for Vodafone Qatar, where he was responsible for setting the organisation’s commercial, channel, product and brand experience strategies and plans, for multiple consumer segments. Under his leadership, Vodafone achieved top market position for its Mass segment. As global director of engagement and monetisation, Fares will establish iflix's world-class customer lifecycle platforms.

Fares added, "As iflix continues its exponential growth, we're significantly increasing our focus on customer engagement through dynamic A/B testing and data-science based segmentation, whilst maintaining the customer as a "human being" at the forefront of these discussions. This, coupled with exciting opportunities to explore and drive new monetisation models in our markets where credit card penetration is less than 1%, I believe will be key to our continued growth. I am thrilled to help lead this huge undertaking!"

iflix co-founder and group CEO, Mark Britt, said: “[The] appointments represent a significant elevation of our customer engagement strategy. Across the division, we continue to strengthen our ability to execute at speed and capture increasing demand for our service. Our customers are at the heart of our business. We are focused on improving their end-to-end experience by bringing world-class talent and resources, like Adeana and Tamim, with a relentless focus on delivering industry leading customer experiences.”

Nike Hong Kong and Monimedia were crowned overall brand and agency champions at Marketing’s Asia eCommerce Awards 2018.

Reflecting the tremendous growth of the e-commerce business, the Asia eCommerce Awards honours the very best e-tailers, innovations and campaigns the e-commerce industry has to offer in Hong Kong and China.

Nike Hong Kong won gold for Best E-Commerce Campaign and silver for Best Social Media E-Commerce Campaign. Monimedia in its own right edged out the competition with four gold awards, two silver awards and one bronze award.

For the full list of winners, click here.

Have a look at some of the highlights of this fantastic evening below!

(Gallery available on web)

The awards were judged by a senior panel of digital marketing experts from brands including Bluebell, Chow Sang Sang, G2000, Lane Crawford, L'Occitane, Moleskine and more.

Meet the judges here.

Winners were announced at the award ceremony held at Hotel ICON on 6 June with almost 200 honourable guests.

When it comes to the digital transformation process, Regina Chan (pictured), currently digital and media director at L'Oréal Singapore saw the evolution of brands transitioning from a deep focus on traditional media to digital.

For her past six years in L'Oréal Singapore, she has focused on digital and media management, thought leadership, and transitioning the portfolio of 23 brands with strategic digital initiatives, and development and management of eCommerce channels.

With a career spanning nearly 20 years, Chan started her journey with digital in agencies such as Zenith, Mindshare and Initiative, overseeing strategic media and integrated communications planning. In this edition of Tech in Check, she shares her view on overcoming challenges with tech.

Marketing: What was your first digital role like?

My first digital role was an extension of my then-role as a media planner in an agency. As the media world started to evolve with the advent of digital, it was natural curiosity to explore and understand that realm: from a basic understanding of technology and IT, to what Yahoo, Facebook and social sites were about. I came in-house to L'Oréal in 2012, and expanded from traditional media to digital, websites and social; differentiating owned versus earned assets; as well as drive learning on how it would impact consumers.

Marketing: What was your biggest tech blunder?

Social listening first started in 2012, when it was still early days in digital. A fraction of our media investment was in digital, but as widespread usage was not there in the market, the investment with no real learning was a setback to everyone including marketers, as they had put their hard-earned marketing dollar into it.

Marketing: How did you overcome it and what did you learn from it?

It can be daunting when you think about the inevitable loss of time, investment and knowledge due to an unknown new world. Instead, it was up to us to break barriers over that mindset, and focus on believing in the vision and impact of what digital can achieve as we continue to harness its potential.

Marketing: What are some of the common challenges you face with digital today?

It is about digital transformation. Everybody knows it is necessary, but the landscape is changing daily, and adoption is not necessarily easy or cheap, when you are looking at more sophisticated ways to harness data in real-time; do data integration from various sources such as Google and Facebook; make sense of metric performances for real-life impact on business ROI, and more.

Marketing: Are there any digital trends which excite you or that you are wary of? 

Artificial Intelligence. As the technology develops to become human-like, it can also become a question of ethics.

For now, a machine is also only as good as what we teach it. To give an example, the potential of chatbots are interesting as we explore machine learning. But if a consumer asks questions about Vitamin C for skin clarity and the machine glitches, or it does not ask follow-up questions about skin sensitivity, it could potentially provide insufficient advice.

Another one is the threat of digital security and fraud.

Marketing: Any top tips for marketers and brands embracing digital?

It is now impossible to separate marketing and brands from digital.

A good marketer needs to have a good balance of creativity and logic, and importantly, be data-driven with attention to detail. Digital is about data (even testing and bench-marking which creatives work or do not work with consumers is about data), and if you have the love for understanding and interpreting data, you will go far.

Reddit, the world's third most popular website after Google and YouTube, is starting to roll out native video advertising across its website and mobile apps following a site-wide redesign. The company is launching the new ad format with select partners, but plans to eventually open it up to all advertisers later this summer, according to a blog post.

The video ads will only be served to redditors that are using the expanded card display layout which is the default of three new modes in Reddit’s latest redesign, which has been met with mixed reactions from users - many are opting to use the old design instead of the new one.

Reddit noted some interesting stats about video consumption in the blog post announcing the pre-roll ads:

• More than 2x video views, growing 23% each month since the start of 2018.
• The website is now averaging more than 5 million minutes of views per day.
• Since launching, videos uploaded via our native player receive twice as many views as YouTube videos on Reddit.
• Native video has taken off in a variety of communities and now accounts for as much as 20% of content in a number of major 'subreddit' communities such as r/oddlysatisfying, r/aww and r/FortniteBR for example.

The native video ads will be offered on a cost per view basis and is also offering video-only campaigns for the first time. VP of brand partnerships Zubair Jandali believes that the new format is adding to the utility that the company offers marketers, which are eager to tap the company’s base of 330 million monthly active users.

While Reddit’s website has remained relatively unchanged for the past five years, recently it has increased its product growth with a redesign of its mobile apps and desktop site. Part of that redesign includes giving users the ability to host images and video natively on the platform.

WPP will be reviewing its policies and codes of conduct and how these can be improved upon. This was revealed by Mark Read (pictured), chief operating officer, WPP, in a staff memo seen by Marketing, which added that the review will be conducted by leadership teams throughout the group.

The memo also addresses recent press reports surrounding Sir Martin Sorrell's exit and behaviour towards WPP employees. To this, Read said:

“Although we can’t comment on specific allegations, I feel we should remind ourselves of and reinforce the kind of values we want and need to have within every part of our business: values of fairness, tolerance, kindness and – again – respect.”

The memo also raised WPP’s “Right to Speak” helpline, which Read added is available to everyone across the group and allows them to “raise issues without fear of reprisal”. The service is also an independently operated one and protects the identity of anyone who would rather not speak directly to their line manager or other senior people about their concerns.

“We all want WPP and its agencies to continue to be home to the world’s best talent, which means creating a positive, supportive and inclusive culture in every office. More importantly, it’s the right thing to do,” Read said.

The memo comes amidst reports from The Wall Street Journal which alleged that he spent company money on prostitute services, allegations with Sorrell has “strenuously denied”, an Adweek report said. The report added that Sorrell could not comment further, citing non-disclosure agreements signed when he stepped down from WPP. Earlier this month, Sorrell said that Derriston Capital “will not compete directly” with WPP, a move which came shortly after Sorrell announced that he will be making a comeback through the company.

According to an exclusive interview with Reuters, WPP’s spokesperson said that Sorrell had spoken to two of its shareholders including fund manager at Jupiter Asset Management Alastair Gunn, who was assured by Sorrell that his new venture “will not undermine” the advertising network. Sorrell added that he “would not seek to hurt” the company he started 33 years back.

When Sorrell left WPP, he rejected all allegations of “personal misconduct”. His exit also saw the chairman of WPP Roberto Quarta assuming the role of executive chairman until a new CEO is appointed. Meanwhile, CEO of Wunderman and WPP Digital, Mark Read, as well as WPP corporate development director and COO, Europe, Andrew Scott, have been appointed as joint COOs of WPP.

Read also:
Kantar Group allegedly in talks for potential buyout from WPP
More WPP global accounts up for review as Revlon looks for media agency
Trouble brews on for WPP as Ford puts global creative account up for review
The new WPP: Asia leads on the post-Sorrell era

AIA Hong Kong launched a new online insurance platform called “AIA iShop”, which enables customers to buy insurance products in three minutes, the company announced yesterday.

“AIA iShop” offers nine insurance products include life, medical and personal accident cover,  which are general insurance products with simpler structure. With instant price quotation and the help of the instant chat robot, customers can directly purchase them online without undergoing financial analysis.

After the purchase is made, the system will automatically notify the respective agent of the existing customer, while new customers can also request an agent to follow up.

AIA HK serves more than 3 million customers, stated Peter Crewe, Chief Executive of AIA Hong Kong and Macau. He added that “AIA iShop” is the key strategy imperative for the company, aiming to provide convenient, efficient and simple online purchasing insurance experience for customers.   

While insurance technology is growing big, the company believes the financial agents will always play an irreplaceable role in the business Stuart A. Spencer, AIA Group CMO  told Marketing in an interview.

UPS has announced that it will partner up with EF Lockers or SF Stores to offer greater flexibility for cross-border e-commerce deliveries, with the introduction of new alternative delivery locations (ADLs) at easy-to-access sites across Hong Kong.

Consumers with eligible shipments will receive a pre-alert text message ahead of the shipment’s arrival in Hong Kong. In addition to the parcel’s delivery status, the receiver will also have the option to collect it from a designated alternative location – either an EF Locker or SF Store.

“Our retail industry research tells us that, more so than anywhere else in Asia, 81% of Hong Kong’s online shoppers are interested in having their purchases shipped to an ADL with extended hours if fees are less than shipping the package to their home,” said  Lauren Zhao, Managing Director for UPS Hong Kong and Macau.

With 24/7 accessibility, SF Stores and EF Lockers are a secure delivery option. These ADLs allow online shoppers to receive deliveries in a preferred location at their convenience, thereby reducing the number of missed deliveries.

“Cross-border e-commerce is accounting for an increasingly large proportion of all e-commerce sales in Asia, particularly with the growing popularity of online marketplaces,” said Ross McCullough, President of UPS Asia Pacific.

With the APAC e-commerce logistics market expected to more than double from US$108 billion to US$232 billion by 2021, developing the necessary infrastructure now to ensure that retailers can continue to meet the evolving needs of online shoppers is crucial.

The expansion of UPS’s global alternative delivery network in Hong Kong is one of the ways the company continues to drive sustainability in this evolving retail environment. It leads to the win-win situation where more flexibility and convenience for consumers, and fewer miles and associated emissions for UPS.

At Hong Kong’s 2018 Retail Marketing conference, Starbucks, G.O.D., and Fossil Group executives shared a panel to discuss strategies for today’s challenging retail environment.

Andrew Hui, operations and marketing head of Starbucks Hong Kong and Macau, advised that “it is important to constantly differentiate your brand and up your game.” Starbucks is developing a reserve brand whereby staff, preferably known as partners due to their importance in the company’s success, can showcase their barista skills and engage more with customers.

In going along with innovation yet still staying true to the brand, Starbucks has also recently added the element of alcohol to its menus. Both IFC and Alexandra House branches now offer coffee-infused alcohol amongst other alcoholic products. Due to the demand from Central’s clientele, Hui explained that they wanted to cater to and create that ideal environment for customers to engage with each other while consuming their products.

Changes in shopping behaviors are also something to take note of. Anniemiek Ballesty, vice-present of Fossil Group greater China, admitted that “globally, e-commerce is taking a huge bite off the bricks and mortar stores.” Hui then shared that Starbucks has also jumped on e-commerce train and is developing more resources for its mobile app.

While only 25% of Starbucks customers use the mobile app, the app serves to complement the business so customers have more options to personalise their experience. Hui also shared that Starbucks is taking its cue from China, where mobile app usage is rampant, and looking into integrating product delivery with the online experience.

With e-ecommerce on a rampage, Ballesty said “the challenge, then, is how to use the online factor to support physical stores, and how to push traffic from online to offline and vice versa and still make it feel seamless for customers.” Ballesty cautioned that having an online-only brand is difficult; therefore offline, which provides irreplaceable interpersonal experiences, and online stores are necessary together to support each other.

She referenced Alibaba’s “New Retail”, an app which constantly engages customers throughout the shopping journey from start to finish, as a great example of an integrated online and offline shopping experience. Furthermore, from initial thought of what to buy, to physical shopping, to actual purchase, Alibaba can now easily track customer journey to see where touch points occurred.

Possessing data is always crucial to understanding the customer; the more the better. Hui divulged that because of its rewards program, Starbucks has a wealth of data to use and personalise for customers. Ballesty added that Fossil also has its own CRM database collected from both online and offline which targets customers well. However, she admitted that Fossil is still not advanced enough in analyzing data for its app. Ballesty shared that, “Alibaba has a data bank that shows trends on general data, including which male customers are in love for Valentine’s Day, and you can capitalize on that. So, if you want to look at advanced analytics, look at China.”

Telekom Malaysia has launched an online Raya film, in collaboration with MullenLowe Malaysia, titled "Mak Long Bawang".

Inspired by a true story, the online film shows what young Malaysians are facing every year when they are home for Hari Raya - nosy relatives asking offensive and intrusive questions. In the film, the nosy relatives are portrayed as Mak Cik Bawang, a Malay term used to describe "gossiping aunties" who pry into the personal lives of others.

The young characters grow increasingly uneasy and agitated with images of their feelings being exaggerated on screen. This reflects how Millennials react towards the unwelcomed questions and how ignorant Mak Cik Bawangs can be while asking their questions.

Passion Films and film director Rewan Ishak were also involved in the production of the video. A series of teasers were launched online in the weeks prior to the launch of the film, advising Malaysians "not to membawang" (do not gossip).

According to Eddy Nazarullah, head of creative, MullenLowe Malaysia, the team uncovered a "stunning revelation" about Mak Cik Bawangs when it dove deeper into the insights it gathered.

The film's message, "Behind every question is an unspoken affection", encourages young Malaysians to take a step back and attempt to understand the intention behind the nosy behaviour of Mak Cik Bawangs. Eddy hopes that the Raya film will change the way consumers catch up with one another this Raya.

Check out the film here:

https://youtu.be/g_gT-y0Wo1k

Credits:

Head of creative: Eddy Nazarullah, Alvin Kor
Copywriter: Eddy Nazarullah
Art director: Faridzul Hafizi
AV producer: Rasydan Ahmad Faiz
Brand management: Eugene Chan, Gavin Teoh
Production house: Passion Films
Film director: Rewan Ishak
DOP: Jordan Chiam
Audio house: The Rec Room
Others: Meccanica EFX, Technica Post

The proliferation of digital has resulted in the decline of traditional media spend, with more and more companies increasingly launching digital-first or digital-only campaigns. According to Zenith’s Advertising Expenditure Forecasts report, advertisers will spend approximately 40.2% of their budgets on online advertising in 2018, compared to 37.6% in last year. By 2020, online advertising is expected to account for 44.6% of global ad spend.

Meanwhile, Zenith's Media Consumption Forecasts 2018 report added that the time spent reading print publications have fallen by 45% for newspapers and 56% for magazines. Despite the statistics, manufacturer and distributor of halal beverages Etika Beverages, still strongly believes traditional and digital can still co-exist in today’s world.

During the recent Digital Marketing Asia 2018 conference organized by A+M, Etika’s senior brand manager Cheong May Yeen (pictured), said that when used in a creative manner, traditional media is no doubt useful in driving digital content and on-ground activities. As such, the company does not believe that "traditional media is dying". But of course, as with most mediums and marketing, you cannot simply use print for the sake of it. It needs to be purpose driven.

“We always think about how we can implement fresh ideas or insights into traditional media, in order to draw consumers’ attention to the platform and create chatter around our campaigns,” Cheong said.

The print platform, she explained, is especially useful for Wonda Coffee, a ready to drink coffee (RTD) brand under Etika, which has only been around for four years and relies on traditional media to build mass awareness. She cited Wonda’s 2014 5D print campaign as an example of how the company used traditional media in a creative manner to engage consumers in the digital space.

At a time when many RTD coffee companies in the industry focus on the idea of convenience, Wonda wanted to position itself as a gourmet premium coffee with a sophisticated brand image. Its 5D print campaign was executed over a few days, presenting consumers first with a 3D newspaper ad, followed by an ad embedded with a sound chip that would play the Wonda’s jingle every time readers flipped to the particular ad. Subsequently, its ad had the aroma of Wonda’s coffee to entice customers. To convert readers, it included a coupon ad on its print ad during the last leg of the campaign, allowing consumers to redeem a can of Wonda coffee for RM10 cents.

“We were very surprised to receive a lot of organic social media posts for this campaign, with many telling us how creative the campaign was,” Cheong said.

Finding the right partner

But despite the success of the print advertising for this particular campaign, Cheong said the company does believe in employing a mix of media when carrying out a campaign to ensure that Wonda reaches its ultimate goal – that is to drive sales.

It also leveraged out-of-home (OOH) formats to raise Wonda’s brand awareness. For example, it collaborated with local retail convenience chain MyNews to have hanging vouchers on LRTs and also promoted the brand via train announcements. The announcements were also customised for stations with MyNews outlets, encouraging passengers to redeem the voucher for a special promotion.

Wonda also sought to fully leverage OOH spaces by rolling out toll-free lanes known as WondaLane in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Penang this year, in celebration of International Coffee Day.

“We synced our campaign with the worse travel times of the week – Mondays and Tuesdays – allowing consumers to pass through a dedicated toll lane for free as long as they produced a can of Wonda Coffee. This was one way to brighten their journey,” Cheong said.

Etika also partnered with Grab to deliver a gift box to passengers containing cookies, coffee as well as some surprises such as movie passes or limited-edition products, upon the passengers’ request. All these were done to create a personalised experience for the customer, Cheong said. She added that while traditional media will help companies build mass awareness, it will not be able to provide their campaigns with a personal touch. Hence, there is a need to include a mix of media in one’s campaign.

Breaking the rules of competitive advertising

When Wonda launched its Wonda Coffee Tarik in 2016, it wanted to be known as the first brand to venture into the RTD coffee tarik segment. The challenge for the team, however, was to create organic chatter among consumers and be acknowledged by them rather than have Etika advertise that it is the first in the coffee tarik segment and the industry leader.

As such, Etika created two make-believe competitors for its digital-driven campaign. Thereafter, it unveiled the new Wonda Coffee Tarik, and thanked the “copycats”, citing that imitation is the best form of flattery. Cheong said the aim of this strategy was to pique the curiosity of consumers and have them wonder why multiple brands were trying to copy Wonda Coffee Tarik. The campaign saw positive results, garnering 3.5 million impressions and sales for the Wonda Coffee Tarik increased by 130%.

“Some consumers were also furious about the copycat brands. We are very happy that many loyalty supporters stepped out and tried to endorse and protect the Wonda brand,” Cheong said. She added:

Be it traditional or digital media, as long as a company has good content or a creative idea, every activation can be turned into a good piece of social media or digital content.

“Eventually, consumers will be the brand ambassador to promote your campaigns,” Cheong said, adding that partnerships are also a useful strategy to widen a company’s consumer reach.

She cited her company’s spend on digital as “minimal”, because it wants to ensure that it is not pushing out content via the platform for the sake of it. Cheong described a medium as merely a “canvas” and the content as a “deciding factor” of whether the particular medium will work.

“The idea always comes first and we can then decide whether or not to turn it into a piece of digital content,” Cheong said.

CVC Capital Partners Asia Fund IV (CVC Asia IV), a private equity firm, has fully acquired Munchy Food Industries (MFI) and its Malaysian subsidiary Munchworld Marketing.

Prior to the acquisition, MFI was 70% owned by Double-V Series, the holding company owned by founders of MFI. Meanwhile, fund investor TAP Crunch held the remaining 30% stake. The management team, personnel and business operating system have been fully retained and are led by CEO Rodney Wong and COO Rajan Pillai. MFI's board of directors for MFI will comprise representatives appointed by CVC Asia IV as well as Wong and Pillai.

Co-founder of MFI, LK Tan, said there were many offers from potential investors in the past, but CVC's vision for the brand aligned "extremely well" with its identity.

"Their global network and experience will be invaluable in growing the Munchy's brand into a global name – with new markets, new technology and new innovations. We are excited to see CVC take the Munchy story into the next phase, becoming a global powerhouse," Tan said.

MD of CVC Capital Partners Alvin Lim said that over years, MFI has built an exceptional platform with proven scalability to meet the demands of the company's growing consumer base. It looks forward to working with MFI's managment team to help them achieve their strategic plan of driving value over the next few years to further grow the company.

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has appointed Ogilvy as its integrated communications agency following a pitch. The partnership is for a length of two years, with Ogilvy being tasked to spearhead the strategic communication efforts for ECDA.

The ECDA serves as the regulatory and developmental authority for the early childhood sector in Singapore, overseeing key aspects of children's development below the age of seven. It is an agency under Ministry of Social and Family Development.

Through the move, ECDA aims to recognise, attract and retain early childhood educators in line with Singapore's new focus on the early childhood sector, including an integrated communications approach encompassing advertising, public relations, digital, social media and marketing events.

"As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. In this case, our early childhood education community has been that village for us in Singapore, playing an integral role in shaping the hearts and minds of young children with passion and professionalism. We often underestimate the value and impact the early years having in the nurturing of young children, setting them up for future successes," Chong Ee Rong, group managing directory, Ogilvy Singapore said.

She also added that the agency is extremely honoured to partner with ECDA to bring this purposeful campaign to life, and play a part in recognising and appreciating this teaching community.

Read also: 
Ogilvy unveils new identity, unifies organisational structure
Ministry of Social and Family Development looks for content and social partner
Ministry of Social and Family Development picks digital agency

With the Holy Month of Ramadan coming to a close and Hari Raya just around the corner, Netflix aims to dish out a couple of valuable life lessons this festive season.

From being forgiving to making up for one's wrongdoings, Netflix wants to encourage consumers to "keep calm and carry on" when life gives you lemons with a comic, with quotes from Netflix originals Stranger Things, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, A Series of Unfortunate Events and Lost in Space. The quotes urge consumers to "Smile until [they] feel better", and that as long as one has his or her family, that person is home.

It also created an original pantun (a Malay poetic form) about celebrating Hari Raya, which also encourages consumers to "Download Netflix, and watch it now".

Perkara Pelik, mengejut minda,
Paranormal misteri, penuhnya rahsia,
Sebelas pagi, bersantai ngan keluarga,
Libur berkala Ramadan dan Raya.

Gaya fesyen bertukar ganti,
Seperti teratah Titus dan Kimmy,
Aneka baju raya berwarna-warni,
Keyakinan hidup tidak ditandingi.

Walau jahat bagai Ular Riverdale,
Kaki putar belit yang amat penyayang,
Musim Raya ini ampunilah yang degil,
Muat turunilah Netflix, dan tonton sekarang.

Sibuk termenung, hilang di angkasa,
Balik ke kampung untuk beraya,
Tenang rasanya bila berkumpul bersama,
Selepas Raya, kembalilah ke kota.

Fans of Stranger Things would also have noticed that Netflix's recent Raya video adopted a similar theme, building up suspense at the beginning of the video. The spot garnered over 1.8k reactions, 76k views, 797 shares and 121 comments on Facebook at the time of writing. Arcis Communications was involved in the creation of the comic and pantun. It also collaborated with social agency C27 to for the video.

Check out it out here:

Malaysia's Communications and Multimedia Ministry is inviting citizens to create a logo that can be used for this year's National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations, revolving around the theme of "Sayangi Malaysiaku" (Love My Malaysia).

In a Merdeka 360 Facebook post, the ministry urged citizens to "create history" by participating in the logo design. The winning design will be used as the official logo for the celebrations, and the closing date for submission is 7 July 2018.

Meanwhile, the ministry also welcomed suggestions and ideas from citizens on ways to liven up the National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations. The move is in a bid to boost the patriotic spirit among Malaysians.

Logos are an important representation of a country's or company's identity and branding. It is more than just a visual symbol, and consumers do get unhappy when logos do not accurately portray an identity. Earlier this year, netizens mocked the new logo for the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 campaign for its poor design. Designed to look like a postage stamp, the logo carries the tagline “Travel. Enjoy. Respect.”

It features an Orang Utan with its arm around a proboscis monkey and a turtle on the beach, as well as the Petronas Twin Towers in the background. According to the press statement, the logo is intended to be a “colourful portrayal” of Malaysia’s treasured flora and fauna.

The Marketing Group (TMG) has rebranded and changed its name to RYVL. The move will see all 15 agencies in the network, including brands such as Channelzero, Ranieri and TRUTH, rebranded to include RYVL alongside their respective names.

According to the press statement, RYVL has planned an aggressive acquisition strategy following its rebrand. This includes a focus on buying complementary agencies, where there are no competition in local markets, to eradicate the problem of competing agency brands focusing on individual agency P&Ls instead of working as one global team.

This sees future acquisitions being increasingly targeted on technology-centric businesses that offer high value services to end-clients. In addition, a matrix organisational structure with regional and discipline leads reporting to CEO, Adam Graham are also in plans to scale the business. The rebrand also marks the completion of a restructure of the global marketing communications group led by Graham, following his appointment in November 2016 and the creation of a new board.

“Clients are looking for a unified experience and we’re breaking down all the silos and creating a new group model without the fiefdoms, politics and layers of suffocating bureaucracy that have caused the well-documented problems of today’s big ad networks. We believe our agile, lean, technology-centric approach will deliver exactly what clients are crying out for,” Graham said.

Agencies currently under RYVL include Addiction Advertising Singapore, Ranieri, The Lead Generation Company, Rainmakers, One9ninety, Marker, Clickverta, The Brand Theatre, Channelzero, TRUTH, DAE, Slingshot and Nice & Polite.

Taiwan has lodged a complaint with Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Scoot for naming Taiwan as part of China on their bookings websites. This followed a demand from Beijing towards airlines globally to make the switch.

When contacted by Marketing, a Scoot spokesperson confirmed that Singapore Airlines had “received a formal letter from Civil Aviation Administration of China, and the changes were made in response to the request”. The airline was unable to comment further.

SIA's spokesperson told Marketing that the changes were made on 11 June 2018 after it received a formal letter from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

In a statement to The Straits Times, a Taiwan representative confirmed that the office has lodged a complaint with SIA and Scoot over the move to change Taiwan’s designation to “Taiwan, China”. The representative added that most Taiwan citizens take SIA and Scoot flights to visit Singapore and “would not be happy” with the name change.

SIA and Scoot were not only airlines which have acceded to Beijing’s request to list Taiwan as a part of China. Most recently, Australia flight carrier Qantas Airways revealed plans to change its website to refer to Taiwan as a Chinese territory and not as an independent country. However, it added it needed more time to comply with the request.

This followed after China’s aviation regulator told three dozen airlines to remove references on websites which states Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as countries independent from China. The deadline was on 25 May 2018, according to Reuters, but has since been extended to June, ST reported.

Beyond the aviation industry, retailers have also come under fire for not making the distinction clear. Last month, Japanese retailer Muji was fined for using packaging that mentions Taiwan as a country. According to Reuters, the fine amounts to 200,000 yuan and this occurred when Muji imported 119 clothes hangers from Japan last year in packaging that marked Taiwan as the “country of origin”, the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce said in a statement.

Gap also apologised for selling a shirt with an incorrect map of China after photos of the shirt found in an outlet store in Canada made the rounds online. The fashion retailer also pulled the product off its shelves in China and destroyed the shirts, a statement on its Weibo read. It also added that it would implement more rigorous reviews to ensure the same thing would not happen again.

In January, a number of brands including Marriott came under fire both by netizens and authorities when it emailed a Chinese-language questionnaire to its customer rewards programme members, one of which asked members to list their country of residence, giving Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as possible options.

Nielsen has launched the Singapore-based Neuro Lab in partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). EDB has been supporting the agency in the development of the Asian Innovation Center and Asia Pacific hub of the Innovation Lab in Singapore since February 2015 to build, develop and innovate digital ideas, prototypes and solutions for organisations within Asia.

The new Neuro Lab aims enable clients to optimise the effectiveness of advertising in video, print and digital spend, packaging, and in-store elements, among others. The agency also looks to bring to the table its most complete suite of consumer neuroscience tools at a global scale, tailored to each client’s specific needs.

According to the press statement, the lab aims to employ tools such as EEG (electroencephalography), facial coding and eye tracking tools to capture emotion, attention, memory activation responses by the consumer. To complement these solutions, a self-reporting tool for clients will also be engaged to capture the voice of the individual. This suite of solutions aims to paint an unprecedented picture of the consumer, by deciphering both conscious and non-conscious responses.

“As the prime gateway to Southeast Asia, Singapore is a natural choice of selection for innovation owing to its world-class talent pool, steady flow of investments and innovation-led economy. We are zealous about this approach of marrying science and data, confident that it can the driving force of innovation in Asia, addressing the growing needs of our clients," Johan Vrancken, managing director, Nielsen Singapore said.

Vrancken also added that the establishment of the Neuro Lab is part of Nielsen’s commitment in helping brands search for the answer of "the next big thing".

Echoing the statement, Thien Kwee Eng, assistant managing director, EDB explained that the "growing sophistication" of Nielsen’s market research and digital capabilities in Singapore is aligned with its focus on developing competencies in Asian-focused consumer insights and innovation.

“We are pleased with Nielsen’s decision to establish its Neuro Lab in Singapore as part of the expansion of its Asia Innovation Centre. The set-up of the Neuro Lab is a strong vote of confidence in our local talent and we are confident that it will contribute to the ability of companies here to understand and succeed across diverse Asian markets,” Thien added.

World Cup watchers are mostly male, with no kids, and health-conscious, according to a new report by DMP Lotame. For the study, Lotame developed a soccer fan audience profile comprised of thousands of permission-based online behaviors from 86 million identified soccer fans. The data analysed came from the Lotame Data Exchange (LDX), which contains more than 4 billion cookies and mobile device IDs.

According to Zenith, the 2018 World Cup will add $2.4 billion to the global advertising market. For brands and marketers, the tournament delivers valuable opportunities to reach audiences not just through TV, but digitally as well. In evaluating soccer enthusiasts and their behavioural patterns, the study identified a number of profile attributes that can support advertisers as they consider digital marketing strategies for the event. They include the following:

World Cup fans mostly male, no children.

According to the data, more than half (56%) of the soccer fans and World Cup audience online is male. Further, the age breakdown for fans is, for the most part, evenly split: 18-24 = 13%; 25-34 = 17%; 35-44 = 15%; 45-54 = 17%; 55-64 = 18%. Additionally, there is a high chance — 7x more likely — that there are 1 or 2 adults in a soccer fan’s household, with a pet but no children. More than two-thirds (67%) of the audience does not have children.

“Advertisers need to know what this World Cup audience looks like to effectively connect and engage with them,” said Ryan Rolf, vice president of data solutions at Lotame. “Our analysis finds them to be slightly more male, but evenly split among most age groups. This intelligence is critical for smarter, more informed ad buys.”

World Cup fans are health conscious shoppers.

Soccer fans are very particular about the foods that they eat. In fact, they are 6x more likely to be focused on a healthy lifestyle and wellness (e.g., they expressed an online interest in healthy foods, exercise, etc.). Additionally, this probable World Cup audience is 6x more likely to be meticulous about meal planning, focusing on fresh and organic food options. Soccer fans are also 8x more likely to have a vegetarian or vegan diet.

“For CPG, QSR and retail advertisers seeking to share food and beverage campaigns with a captivated World Cup audience online, healthy options will be in-demand,” added Rolf. “Our data suggests that soccer fans are all in on a healthy lifestyle. That theme should be prioritized in any campaigns or messaging during the tournament.”

Singapore has possibly garnered SG$767 million in exposure, following the conclusion of the recent historical Peace Summit, which saw the leaders of US and North Korea coming together. The event also saw Singapore footing a bill of SG$20 million, half of which went into security measures. The country also played host to 2,500 media journalists who flew down for the event.

The SG$767 million figure was calculated by Meltwater, which measured the advertising value equivalent (AVE) figures from 12 May to 12 June 2018. From 10 to 12 June 2018 alone, the AVE estimated was at SG$270 million.

The report captured and analysed mentions of “Trump” or “Kim Jong-un” in relation to Singapore or Sentosa from 1 June to 13 June 2018. The report only monitored global online media, not taking into account local language translations of "Trump", "Kim", "Singapore" or "Sentosa".

Meanwhile, the figure which was calculated by using a reach number provided by SimilarWeb was multiplied by 0.025 (which is the probability that someone will read the article), then multiplied by 0.37. This amounted to the monetary value of someone reading the article, which Meltwater says is a one of the standard industry formulas that the dollar equivalent is equal to around US$0.37 for an article.

The report also did not take into account print, broadcast or social media mentions. Considering the amount of buzz that was generated on this topic in the last 30 days, Meltwater also moderated the figure to an industry standard of 6% that takes the high volume of content into account

"All of the official channels from the Singapore Government used Facebook's streaming video capability to update the world on this historic meeting, showing the power of digital, as well as the importance of social listening,” Mimrah Mahmood, APAC regional director of media solutions, Meltwater, said.

That being said, the report highlighted that while AVEs give a rough gauge to the success of a campaign, it may not be the “most accurate or most definitive way” of measuring the success or ROI of a campaign. This is due to the many variables which go into calculating the figure and the lack of a standard industry formula for ad spend.

“While these formulas can give an approximate idea of the scope of coverage, and potentially ROI, they are generally considered very subjective by professionals in the communication industry,” the report added.

Key conversations surrounding the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore included the costs of hosting the summit, data from Isentia read. The report added that many netizens took to forums to display their disapproval over the high costs that may be accumulated with hosting of the summit. This includes paying for security and various logistics for foreign journalists.

That being said, some netizens also mentioned that these costs were part and parcel of hosting the summit. Another conversation topic was also the potential inconvenience caused during the summit from road closures and tighter security checks. Top channels of conversation according to Isentia include forums, followed by Facebook, then Twitter.

Following the summit, brands in Singapore have garnered attention, including hotels and locations such as Sentosa, Shangri-La Hotel, Capella Singapore and St. Regis, which were touted as possible locations to host the summit.

Meanwhile, F&B outlets and lifestyle brands in Singapore have also risen to the occasion in a bid to snag a bite of the action – creating new food dishes and promotions to commemorate the occasion.  This includes KFC, IKEA, Coca-Cola and Nando’s, to name a few.

Read also: Trump-Kim summit shoves brand Singapore into the spotlight: What will the perks be?

With digital transformation on the agenda for many Singapore brands, it is not surprising to find many CEOs driving the charge. A recent study by KPMG has found Singapore CEOs being confident about their personal ability to lead business transformation (58%), although less confident than CEOs (72%) globally.

However, proportionately more Singaporean (62%) than global CEOs (30%) struggled with concurrently transforming both the digital and non-digital aspects of their business. Meanwhile, only 50% of Singaporean CEOs were confident of understanding expected returns from technology investments. This is in contrast to global CEOs (79%).

Only 38% of Singapore CEOs were confident that their existing leadership team was adequately equipped to drive digital transformation. This is compared to global leaders (44%).

Half of Singapore CEOs surveyed also believed that their company boards had very demanding expectations of investment returns on digital transformation.

Confidence in data analytics “lacking”

Even with advances in data analytics, confidence in data analytics is lacking, cited by 46 % of Singapore CEOs. However, as artificial intelligence advances, many (54 %) believe that it could improve the capabilities of their data analytics. 54% of Singapore CEOs also do not expect to increase the use of predictive models over the next three years, similar to the views of 49 % of CEOs globally.

58% of CEOs surveyed also admitted that over the last three years, they have sometimes ignored the insights of their data analysis models, preferring to rely on their own experience or intuition.

This trend is pervasive, KPMG added, with 67 % of CEOs globally admitting the same, the report added.

Data sources that CEOs trust for strategic decisions have also shifted, with 85% of Singapore CEOs saying that they trust information from their own social networks (social media) over other sources. As a data source, social media also ranked highest among ASEAN and global CEOs.

Independent information providers (77%) came in as second most trusted in Singapore, with traditional media trailing at 69%, followed by open-data from government agencies (65%), and government-commissioned research (50%).

KPMG’s Global CEO Outlook surveyed 1,300 CEOs this year. This is to garner insights into the expectations of CEOs to business growth, challenges and strategies for the next three years. The CEOs operate in 11 key industries: asset management, automotive, banking, consumer and retail, energy, infrastructure, insurance, life sciences, manufacturing, technology and telecom.