Online marketplace Mudah.my has partnered with fashion talents in Malaysia for its Raya campaign which will run until mid-July 2018, in a bid to push local brands forward. The move aims to provide local brands with a platform to reach out to a wider Malaysian audience during the festive season.
With the theme “Raya Ini, Semua Pun Mudah”, the online marketplace looks to serve as the nation's one stop solution for all Raya related items this season. This sees Mudah.my bringing in more than 100,000 new and used fashion deals for men and women, alongside exclusive travel deals on its platform.
Brands such as Hipster by Zery Zamry, Benua Clothing by Altimet and Anaabu by Farhana Abu Sanah will be seen offering their latest Raya collections at festive prices, exclusively on Mudah.my. Other names that came on board for the company’s Raya campaign include Pestle & Mortar, Sazzy Falak, and BangBang by Caprice.
According to Andrew Pinto, head of marketing at Mudah.my, the inspiration for the campaign was to help Malaysians make their Raya more memorable.
“Our campaigns are also driven by our users’ needs – one of the categories we have observed a spike in during the season is fashion, as users tend to search online for their baju raya. Hence, this year we decided to collaborate with local fashion entrepreneurs to offer our users a unique take on the traditional baju raya," Pinto added.
Meanwhile, Mudah.my has also partnered Easybook.com to offering discounts for ferry, bus and train tickets and hotel stays in conjunction with the festivities. This follows its goal to be the one-stop solution for consumer needs during Ramadan, Gaurav Basin, chief executive officer at Mudah.my said.
“Whether it is to purchase kitchen appliances for kuih raya, or 'upgrade' your vehicle before balik kampung, Mudah.my has got you covered. During festive seasons, it is also common for Malaysians to spring clean to make way for new purchases. Mudah.my offers the opportunity to sell their unused items by encouraging Malaysians to declutter on top of providing an avenue to make a little more duit raya,” Basin added.
In addition, the campaign also included the #GoodbyeGoodBuy video. It encourages young Malaysians to bid goodbye to items that they have outgrown, which can turn out to be someone's good buy. This include items such as computers, mobile phones, shoes, clothes and even old toys. The video garnered positive response on social media, with more than 14 million views on YouTube at the time of writing.
Hong Kong Airlines will sponsor Hong Kong Race at the upcoming 2018 Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival, and partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to offer beer and food giveaway to the visitors in the three-day event.
The Carnival will take place at Hong Kong Central Harbourfront from 22 to 24 June, where thousands of the world’s top dragon boat athletes will compete in several races.
Teams from all districts in Hong Kong will compete in the race for the “Hong Kong Airlines - Hong Kong Trophy”. In addition to the coveted trophy, each participant of the winning team will be awarded with a free round-trip ticket to any long-haul destination in Hong Kong Airlines’ growing network, such as Auckland, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver.The first and second runner up teams will also win tickets for short-haul flights to popular Asian destinations, including Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok and Manila.
The carnival is poised to be a popular event for locals and overseas visitors. Besides sponsoring flight tickets as the awards, Hong Kong Airlines will also partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to give away food and beer coupons for visitors to redeem at the Carnival.
In the days leading up to the event, passengers who hold a foreign travel document and are checking in for a Hong Kong Airlines flight to Hong Kong will be presented with the voucher on a first-come-first-serve basis. To redeem the free beer and food, visitor simply need to present their travel document and coupon to the designated Tourist Counter at the event venue.
Hong Kong Airlines chief marketing officer George Liu said “The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival is a truly Hong Kong yet global event, aligning with Hong Kong Airlines’ DNA. The stage has been set for the world’s top dragon boat athletes to come together and compete in three days of competitive races that promises to thrill, entertain and wow visitors and audiences alike. We can’t wait to have fun with everyone.”
Publicis Groupe Hong Kong has appointed Tom Kao as CEO. In his new role, Kao will be responsible for the 13 agencies under the Publicis Groupe Hong Kong umbrella, includes Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Publicis.Sapient, Luminous, MSL, Digitas, Arc, Blue 449, Performics, Spark Foundry, Starcom and Zenith, altogether leading more than 400 employees. He will report to Publicis Communications Greater China CEO Michael Lee and is starting immediately.
Kao will work closely with the Greater China leadership team to drive integration across Publicis Groupe’s capabilities, transform its relationship with existing clients, win the trust of new ones, and cultivate the best talent across its agencies and disciplines. The larger aim is to mobilise talent and resources to achieve the best performance possible within the Groupefor each campaign and every client.
Before joining Publicis Groupe, Kao was CEO at The Gate Hong Kong. He also held core leadership positions at Y&R, BBDO, and JWT previously. Kao has more than 20 years of management experience and has been at the forefront of the Greater China Region’s advertising industry developments.
Lee commented, “Tom’s appointment is the natural next step for the Groupe in Hong Kong. Over the last couple of years, we have seen several fruitful collaborations between our agencies and the Hong Kong staff is working closely under one roof. Tom’s extraordinary expertise in management is an asset in this ever-evolving market. I have full confidence that he will help us continue to carve out ways to amplify our The Power of One strategy and approach.”
Kao said, “There are many prestigious agencies within Publicis Groupe’s Solution hubs, all with their distinctive cultures. We are truly proud of this diversity and the strength that each agency brings to the Groupe. Working together, we can break the rules of the traditional agency model to achieve the best results for our clients."
Socially-led creative agency, We Are Social has made its first acquisition by partnering with Socialize, Middle East's largest social media agency in a bid to expand its global reach. This sees the agency taking a majority stake in Socialize, and extending its network to the Middle East and Africa. Currently, We Are Social has 10 offices in markets such as Singapore, Shanghai, New York, London and Paris, among others.
According to Robin Grant, global managing director and co-founder of We Are Social, both agencies share a similar creative and cultural passion for social, as well as entrepreneurial spirit and future-focused offerings.
Following the acquisition, the agency aims to provide its global clients "exceptional insight "and "unrivalled access" to one of the world’s fast-growing and most dynamic geographic regions, a blog post by Grant read. This includes brands such as clients adidas, Netflix, Samsung and Google, among others.
The blog post added that Middle East and North Africa market is a fast-growing market characterised by a population that is the youngest and most digitally connected in the world. It also said that the annual digital spend is predicted to rise by 73% between 2017-2020.
"Our acquisition of a majority stake in Socialize is, we hope, the first of many as we move We Are Social into the next phase of its development. I look forward to the new campaigns we will create, clients we will partner and alliances we will forge as we embark on our second decade in business," Grant said.
Howie Lau, chief marketing officer and head of consumer business and Oliver Chong, vice president of brand experience will be leaving StarHub. The telco has confirmed the move to Marketing. Jeannie Ong, chief strategic partnership officer of StarHub told Marketing that Lau will join the public service sector, while Chong will take on a marketing role at another company.
“We would like to express our sincere thanks to them for their invaluable contributions and wish them all the best in the future,” Ong said.
Lau first joined the company in 2015, as the company made key changes to its core leadership team. As CMO of StarHub, Lau is responsible for charting StarHub’s brand and marketing strategies across all marketing functions and ensuring overall marketing synergy and brand consistency. In addition, he oversees StarHub’s Mobility, Pay TV and Broadband businesses as well as content management. Customer value management and digital experience also fall under his purview.
Prior to his time at StarHub, Lau was the vice president, corporate development of Lenovo’s worldwide finance organisation, where he oversaw Lenovo’s end-to-end post merger management and related merger & acquisition matters.
Lau said, “StarHub has been an amazing chapter in my life and I am grateful for all the opportunities, partnerships and friendships which will last beyond the turning of pages. I am confident that StarHub will continue her transformation journey amidst the disruptions in the industry and emerge more successful than before.”
Chong, who has been with StarHub for over 18 years, was instrumental to the growth of the StarHub brand. Last year, the Singapore Advertiser’s Association (SAA) elected Oliver Chong as its new president.
Chong said, “Having spent more than 18 years in StarHub, I will be leaving the company with a heavy heart. Over the years, I have learnt a lot and am thankful for all the experience and opportunities. Together with the team and our agency partners, we have grown the brand and produced many award-winning campaigns that allowed us to connect with our customers. We have a strong foundation and I am confident that the current team of experienced and dedicated marketing professionals at StarHub will continue to build upon the brand’s success.”
StarHub has also appointed Peter Kaliaropoulos as chief executive officer (CEO) of the group. His role starts from 9 July 2018 onwards. He replaces former CEO Tan Tong Hai. Kaliaropoulos brings with him over 35 years of experience in the global ICT sector working with senior executive teams to drive growth and transformation.
Kaliaropoulos will join StarHub from Zain Saudi Arabia, a US$ 2 billion per annum turnover company, where as CEO, he led the company to its first ever net profit in 2017 after ten years of operations. Meanwhile, Tan first joined StarHub in 1999 as general manager of StarHub Internet. He then left to helm Pacific Internet and Singapore Computer Systems before returning to become StarHub chief operating officer in January 2009. In March 2013, Tan was promoted as CEO and executive director of StarHub. Under Tan’s leadership, StarHub grew its enterprise business to more than SG$900 million, transforming the company into more than a consumer and household brand.
The seamless marriage of traditional craftsmanship techniques with modern technology brings to life the unique renditions of Danish design – PANDORA. One of the world’s most loved jewellery brands, PANDORA was founded in 1982.
Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, it has a presence in more than 100 countries on six continents, offering a full jewellery assortment, including earrings, rings, charms, bracelets, necklaces and pendants.
Designed by PANDORA’s in-house design team at the headquarters, and made by its team of expert craft people in Thailand, the brand places a great emphasis on quality, affordability and careful attention to detail. PANDORA is positioned in the affordable luxury segment of high-quality jewellery. Each piece of PANDORA jewellery is 100% hand-finished, creating unique, beautiful and versatile-of-the-moment jewellery that enables a modern woman to express her personal style.
Today, PANDORA’s crafting facilities – PANDORA Production Thailand near Bangkok, and the recently opened state-of-the-art LEED gold-certified PANDORA Production Thailand 2 in Lamphun – forms one of Thailand’s largest jewellery manufacturers with a combined total of more than 13,250 highly skilled employees. PANDORA’s Bangkok-based innovation centre, the first of its kind in Thailand, continues to develop both jewellery design and manufacturing techniques, setting PANDORA ahead of any competitor when it comes to the future of jewellery making.
PANDORA has just released its latest Spring 2018 and the PANDORA Shine Collection.
This post was done in conjunction with Brandavision.
Objective
In Malaysia, there are more than 34 PANDORA retailers across the country, including 19 PANDORA concept stores located in major shopping malls. PANDORA aims to further strengthen its brand’s position as the most sought-after affordable luxury women’s jewellery in Malaysia with the launch of the PANDORA Shine Collection in Spring 2018.
The PANDORA Shine Collection features 18k gold-plated sterling silver. At the heart of PANDORA’s mission is to inspire women to express their individuality with stories to tell. The high quality, hand-finished modern PANDORA jewellery products celebrate moments and unforgettable memories, of which PANDORA endeavours to continue through creating more memorable experiences with its audiences in Malaysia.
Strategy
To continue PANDORA’s spirit of celebrating women’s individuality, PANDORA collaborated with Brandavision, a specialist in digital-out-of-home media (DOOH) for shopping malls, to present an exclusive PANDORA Valentine’s Day campaign in conjunction with Valentine’s Day this year.
The campaign celebrated the season of love by encouraging the public to express their love to their special someone through the posting of LIVE messages on a huge outdoor screen. This public engagement was one of PANDORA’s continuous efforts to engage with its audience and to form an intimate connection with its community of fans through the usage of social media platforms, digital and outdoor mediums.
Execution
The PANDORA Valentine’s Day campaign was an exclusive event that took place over two days – 13 to 14 February 2018 – to celebrate Valentine’s Day from 6pm to 8pm. The elite LED screen located at the main entrance to Pavilion Kuala Lumpur was selected as the medium to project the Valentine’s messages submitted from the public.
The few key factors that determined the decision to use Pavilion Kuala Lumpur included location, demographic and the platform available. First, the strategic location of Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, at the heart of Bukit Bintang Golden Triangle, boasts high traffic and footsteps. This increased the opportunity for the campaign to catch as many eyeballs and engagements as possible.
One of the key PANDORA concept stores is also located in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, which then allowed the general public to visit the store for gift redemptions from the campaign or to check out the new collections following the brand awareness created. In terms of demographic, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur is a modern and premier shopping mall that caters to medium to high-income patrons. It is also one of the most popular shopping malls in Malaysia among tourists as it houses many well-known international brands and popular local brands. Shopping aside, the mall has a floor dedicated just for women with spas, beauty salons and manicure shops. The discerning crowds of the mall were PANDORA’s target audience.
At the main entrance to the mall is home to Brandavision’s two connecting elite screens; the area has the highest foot fall as it is facing the popular Bukit Bintang stretch. The execution of the campaign was divided into two parts. The first part was a teaser to create awareness of the campaign followed by the second part, where the messages submitted by the public appeared on the screen at the stipulated date and time. The creative team from Brandavision was commissioned to develop the digital content for this campaign.
The objective of the teaser was to create curiosity among passers-by and then invite them to participate with the interaction. The teaser focused on call-for-action messages to watch the space and guided the public step-by-step in joining this interactive campaign. To garner more participation, the mechanism was made simple. The public just needed to scan a QR code that appeared on the elite screen with their mobile Facebook application, fill in their Valentine’s name and select the message, submit and wait for the personalised message to appear on the elite screen at the designated time.
Participants would also receive a new gift code in their mobile phones after completing the required steps. Participants were entitled to redeem a gift and an e-voucher for purchase at the PANDORA concept store in Pavilion with the new gift code. On 13 and 14 February, from 6pm to 8pm, the personalised Valentine’s messages submitted were aired on the elite screen at the main entrance. Not only did the names of the sender and recipient appear on the large screen, the Facebook profile picture of the sender also appeared to make the messages even more meaningful.
The campaign received a good response from the public as the enormous Elite LED screen caught the attention of passers-by. Many stopped to watch what was going on as they noticed the many Valentine’s messages flashing on the elite screen over the two evenings.
A majority of the participants to this campaign were youngsters, creating a new brand communication platform for PANDORA to connect with the younger generation. It has opened a new way for brands to create a dialogue with their target audience, engaging the audience through activities that interest them – the example here being DOOH and Facebook.
The campaign saw an increase in the number of patrons to PANDORA Pavilion by 10% during the campaign period. PANDORA’s dedicated staff had the opportunity to promote PANDORA’s latest products to those who came into the store to redeem their gifts from participating in the Valentine’s campaign, converting some of them into buyers as well.
Instead of traditional one-way advertising, Brandavision made use of its creative resources and expertise in digital content creation to realise the PANDORA Valentine’s campaign that not only showcased the latest collections, but more importantly, an advertising that “talked” to the people and celebrated what matters.
"Buka puasa", "family", "Selamat Hari Raya", "Allah", "Malaysia" and "photos" were among the list of trending topics surrounding Ramadan this year. Meanwhile, topping the list of conversation trends around Hari Raya this year were "Twitter", which garnered 1,360 conversation, and "Pic", which had 884 conversations. "Selamat Hari Raya" and "buka puasa" also made it to the list.
This was according to statistics from Digimind, which monitored Twitter, blogs, Facebook, Instagram, news and forums in Malaysia from 16 May to 14 June 2018. Digimind also noted a steady increase of Hari Raya and Ramadan-related discussions in Malaysia between 16 to 28 May 2018, peaking at 13 June 2018 at 1,045 mentions.
It added that key conversation trends include Hari Raya greetings, expressing anticipation at gatherings with family and friends, brands publicising promotions or extended opening hours during the long weekend, as well as netizens and news outlets discussing "buka puasa" plans.
The double tears laughing emoji was used by netizens to joke on Twitter about minor inconveniences during Ramadan, such as temporary disruption of sleeping schedules, waking up in time for sahur, and tiding over the initial days of fasting. Conversely, the crying face emoji was used to grouse about the above mentioned inconveniences. The heart emoji was used to express joy at meeting with friends for iftar or overwhelming emotions felt during a time of spiritual cleansing. Meanwhile, prayer-related emojis like the crescent, star and folded hands were among the trending emojis during the period.
In the meantime, statistics according to Meltwater showed that the general trending themes for Raya are "Ramadan", "Dear Anonymous Saudi Prince", "Ramadan Kareem Your Highness", "Maybank Acc" and "Bank". Several brands have also launched Hari Raya-related campaigns in the lead up to the festive season. Some of the trending topics include "Jom Raya app", #MisilkhlasAidilfitricampaign, "Good job TNB", #RayaBestsama and "SekawanBefore", according to Meltwater. Ranging from touching to humorous, let us take a look at some of the Hari Raya campaigns this year.
"Brands continue to leverage cultural touchstones to connect with their audiences, resulting in positive sentiment generated across various campaigns. With festivals as culturally rich and nuanced as Ramadan, it is important to deploy a healthy dose of understanding and empathy so that messages resonate and respect the spirit of the season," Mimrah Mahmood, APAC regional director, Media Solutions, Meltwater, said.
Hong Leong Bank
Hong Long Bank's three-minute video titled "Abah Tak Bagi" tells the story of how a young girl is taught the value of saving by her "cheap and stingy" father. Much to her disdain, the young child’s requests for expensive items are met with cheaper, albeit quirky, options by her well-meaning and resourceful father. According to Domenic Fuda, group MD and CEO of Hong Leong Bank, the devotion of parents, regardless of generation, towards their children's futures, had inspired the bank in developing its Hari Raya campaign theme "Menyemai Impian" (Sowing Dreams).
https://youtu.be/XCOiGce3p3U
Telekom Malaysia
Telekom Malaysia's Raya film titled “Mak Long Bawang”, shows what young Malaysians are facing every year when they are home for Hari Raya – nosy relatives asking offensive and intrusive questions. The film, done in collaboration with MullenLowe Malaysia, portrays nosy relatives as Mak Cik Bawang, a Malay term used to describe “gossiping aunties” who pry into the personal lives of others. 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
https://youtu.be/g_gT-y0Wo1k
Tenaga Nasional
Tenaga Nasional’s (TNB) “Rumah Epik Fantastik” spot, which features the male protagonist Arif dreading Raya and calling it “A week without privacy”. True enough, it gets rather chaotic at home when his relatives arrive and his room is in a mess. But despite this, Arif is grateful that there will always be enough food at the table for his family and relatives each Raya. The company wanted to highlight the excitement, mayhem and magical moments of the festive season, viewing it through the lens of Arif. The film takes the viewer on a feel-good journey, with values of tolerance, compromise, togetherness and unity, all of which mirror the brand values that TNB wants Malaysians to reflect on this festive season.
Netflix
Netflix dished out some valuable life lessons with a comic encouraging consumers to “keep calm and carry on” when life gives them lemons. The comic featured quotes from Netflix originals such as Stranger Things and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, urging 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) and a video to celebrate Hari Raya.
Toyota Malaysia
The automotive company launched its first ever Hari Raya campaign “Jalan Cerita” (which means storyline or road story), focusing on the tales of Toyota drivers throughout their lives. The spot aims to push the message that no matter where their “Jalan Cerita” takes them, Toyota is there at every step of the way. The film starts by telling a story of protagonist Afiq’s bond with his father, as he narrates about his childhood. Afiq explains that his father is a simple man, always insisting on going “jalan-jalan” (let’s go for a ride) after work in his liteace van. Unfortunately, Afiq eventually grows bored of going “jalan-jalan” everyday, and driving around the neighbourhood without actually going anywhere.
Malaysia Airlines
The airline's Hari Raya video revolves around the theme of Malaysian hospitality, telling the story of a little boy who plans to welcome a new family member from a different race, who is celebrating Hari Raya with them for the first time. With the help of his neighbourhood friends, he surprises the family with an extravagant display of lights, and learns that the smallest gestures can make the most memorable hospitality.
“Our hospitality is a reflection of the combined values of unity, tolerance and warmth which cuts across the multi-cultural races of Malaysia. These values lie at the heart of this short film,” Izham Ismail, group CEO, Malaysia Airlines, said.
U Mobile
U Mobile took on a different approach to Hari Raya with an unconventional Raya song for its "Raya Bestsama" spot, featuring local rapper Aman RA. “Raya Bestsama” is a play on the word “Bersama” which means “together” – but even better – hence “Bestsama”. The music video revolves around the good old boy-meets-girl storyline and garnered more than 7.8k reactions, 353k views, 1.8k shares and 367 comments, as well as 561,821 YouTube views at the time of writing.
SP Setia
SP Setia’s Raya campaign embodies the message “Setia di samping mu” (Faithfully, by your side), in a bid to resonate with Malaysians and ensure they are able to embrace the message regardless of race. The video seeks to promote a deeper understanding of each other’s culture and beliefs. As such, it brought to life the story of a samping, which is mainly seen as a fashion statement. The video, which garnered over 1 million views, 14k reactions, 4.1k shares and 325 comments at the time of writing , unearths the wonders that the samping holds within, such as hidden values, forgotten purposes and lost meanings.
MSIG Malaysia
MSIG Malaysia’s video titled “Anyaman Kasih” (weave of love), is inspired by a true story and based on a Malay poem. The story of the video follows the traditional preparation of the Hari Raya delicacy “Ketupat Palas”. This is accompanied by the narration of a Malay poem specially composed to recount the hard work, care and love that goes into its creation. While most people are familiar with the final product, many are unaware of the amount of work and difficulty that is involved in the harvesting of the daun palas (leaves) and preparing (weaving) the final special Raya delicacy.
KFC Malaysia
KFC Malaysia's Raya film is based on the notion that fights within families are unavoidable. It focuses on the quiet act of a Salam, which expresses the message “Maaf Zahir Dan Batin”, a message the fast food brand wants to extend to Malaysians everywhere this season. The spot centres around the idea of forgiveness during Raya and features two brothers who go on a journey to repair their relationship during the festive season. The video also explores their relationship growing up and what it is in current times.
Digi
This year, Digi partnered with NagaDDB Tribal for a campaign featuring former national footballer, Nidzam Jamil, which aims to find inspirational content and drive the importance of good intentions. The film tells a true and heartfelt story of how Nidzam faced multiple setbacks, such as the loss of his elder brother and an injury that cost him his career. With a helpful reminder from his brother that all good things begin with a good intention, Nidzam manages to rise back onto his feet and start over.
RHB Bank
The bank's “Berkat di sulam, bantuan diberi”spot sees the its challenger spirit manifest in two characters – the everyday heroines who keep striving for a better life, and those who selflessly devote time and effort to provide a helping hand when need, in this case Padzilah Enda Sulaiman the founder of Telekung Siti Khadijah. In the spot, a working mother is seen taking up a sewing job at Telekung Siti Khadijah, and eventually picks up a new skill to provide for her family. At the time of writing, the spot garnered 904K views, 4.2k reactions and 412 shares.
Watsons Malaysia
Watsons Malaysia's six-minute film, which was launched as part of its#MisiIkhlasAidilfitri campaign, aims to spread positivity and shine a light on the kind and sincere acts performed by Malaysians every day. The film features the protagonist Munira, a renowned TV presenter, who is haughty and mean to those around her. However, she slowly discovers that beauty is not only reflected via one’s looks, but also from the goodness of one’s heart.
Pos Malaysia
Pos Malaysia unveiled 3D hologram greeting cards for the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations after it witnessed success with last year’s AR Raya postcards. According to group CEO Al-Ishsal Ishak, Millennials are on the look out something different that breaks through the clutter of texting and using social media. Pos Malaysia constantly challenges itself to make its consumers’ experience unique and different, and the new 3D hologram greeting cards demonstrate its “ongoing commitment to innovation”.
Do you have a favourite Raya ad? Share it with us a janicetan@marketing-interactive.com.
Sennheiser has appointed RED2 Digital to drive social media management and digital performance following a pitch, with the account being led out of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The agency's remit will cover multiple Southeast Asia and South Asia markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, among others. The appointment comes as Sennheiser is looking to increase its social digital marketing efforts in the region. It wants to drive innovation across social digital channels, while putting its core offering of expertise and global reach at the heart of all its marketing activities, the press release read.
Alex Lim, head of marketing at Sennheiser Asia, noted the importance of an agency partnership built on trust. He said that RED2 not only understands the brand and business, but also the fact that it wants to shape the future of audio online.
“As consumers spend an increasing amount of their day on social digital platforms, digital marketing is an essential part of our overall strategy. We aim to digitise our business across the region and be more in-tune with our audiences, which is why we are excited to be working with an equally ambitious agency," Lim added.
“We’re excited to build the partnership with Sennheiser. It’s not often you get to work with a global brand that has such a combination of innovation and ambition. We’re looking forward to playing a further part in their digital transformation," Luke Janich, CEO of RED2, added.
Grab has partnered household brand Rexona to launch GrabGerak in a bid to provide safe and convenient transportation services for people with disabilities. Through the partnership, both companies aim to solve mobility faced on a daily basis, including navigating through sidewalks full of street vendors, accessing pedestrian bridges without elevators, and accessing designated areas for these individuals that are commonly misused by public transportation riders.
Gerak is a voice-activated mobility assistant designed by Rexona for the disabled in Indonesia. Through the mobile app, users would be able to speak or chat to it, to find the nearest places that are disabled-friendly. Users can then book a special GrabGerak vehicle to their destination.
In addition, both brands have also jointly launched the "Movement for Movement" campaign to bolster this initiative. Several measures will thus be rolled out such as a dedicated fleet of cars marked for the GrabGerak service, and certified driver partners who are trained on inclusivity and basic safety. Both brands will also be spreading a inclusivity message through Rexona's Gerak app, Grab's mobile app and their social media channels to increase the awareness for the campaign.
Moving forward, Grab aims to continue to work with partners to improve the service, and certify more driver-partners for this service, the press statement read. It also added that GrabGerak will thus be offered as a new vertical in the beta version of Jabodetabek alongside other service offerings such as GrabCar, GrabBike, GrabTaxi, GrabFood, and GrabExpress.
According to Mediko Azwar, marketing director of Grab Indonesia, this marks a beginning for the brand to truly serve all demographics in Southeast Asia. "We will continue to seek opportunities and improve our offerings so everyone, regardless of the background and physical condition, are able to enjoy the best transportation service and reach their aspirations in life," Azwar said.
“Unilever believes in building brands with purpose. Aligned with Rexona’s brand identity, we are committed to invite everyone to keep moving with no exception. In this Gerak app, we can all contribute to provide information of locations with disability-friendly places. Beyond the application, we’ll also have more initiatives such Mapathons and Hackathons where everyone can participate. We hope that this becomes a true movement for movement,” Ira Noviarti, VP personal care, Unilever Indonesia added.
A while ago – with sharp decline in sales - everyone thought that the luxury goods market was fading fast, losing its relevance. But who would’ve thought that luxury is back in fashion. But not quite the same way.
According to the latest Bain & Co. Luxury Study in 2016, the sales of luxury goods fell to €249 billion from €251 billion in 2015. Last year, it bounced back and reached a record high of €262 billion. And who’s responsible for this rebound? None other than the group of people many perceive as anti-luxury goods and pro-experience - the Millennials and the Post-Millennials or more commonly known as Gen Z.
What the luxury brands market did right was embracing the principles of authenticity and community that the younger generations champion, instead of being headstrong about a strategy of aspiration through super-premium imagery.
This shift from being supremely aspirational into something real and genuine is inevitable considering the casualisation of fashion that takes place over the last few years. From the rise of normcore and athleisure about a decade ago, to how streetwear brands of today have really burst into the mainstream.
Going back to Bain & Co.’s report, quite a few luxury brands - with impressive agility, quickly reinterpreted their collections to mirror the values of today’s generation. As an example, under the creative leadership of Vetements’ Demna Gvasalia, the Spanish brand is now the hottest brand in fashion for the third quarter in a row, according to the Lyst Index. It even launched a collection of running shoes of its own. As an entire market, last year within the luxury goods category, the sales of t-shirts was growing by 25% while down jackets and sneakers were growing by 15% and 10%, respectively.
And with hip-hop surpassing rock as the dominant music genre in the US – the growth of hip-hop just from online audio stream is 72% according to Nielsen’s latest report. Streetwear style really is gaining momentum right now. With a reputation of being real –MC Ren from the hip-hop group N.W.A once described their music as a form of journalism called “street reporting”, the synergy of music and fashion once again proven to be very impactful in influencing culture. Music about a real message from the street – one that rewarded Kendrick Lamar as the first rapper who won the Pulitzer Prize for music - is now in tandem with the look of being authentic and less dressy.
For those who were born between the year 1980 to 2005, a brand such as Supreme has as much – if not more prestige, compared to luxury goods brands such as Louis Vuitton or Hermes. No wonder Louis Vuitton decided to collaborate with Supreme on a collection and even finally appointed the founder of Off-white, Virgil Abloh, as its creative director for Men’s Wear.
How can mass-premium brands leverage this shift
For years, mass-premium brands – some call it masstige (a portmanteau of the words mass and prestige), have also been employing the old strategy of the luxury goods market. Make it aspirational and all about the illusion of exclusivity. But with the shift, consumers might not be interested anymore in only shiny dreams.
Because of social media and internet access, Millennials' and Gen Z’s behaviour is changing how other generations spend their disposable income too. It will be quite challenging for mass-premium brands –for example those in beauty categories - to solely rely on a strategy of being aspirational. Instead of featuring an uber-beautiful celebrity showing off her hair in a white antiseptic environment, what might be more suitable for this age is to feature her in a setting that is more authentic.
A change of communication focus might be needed. From all things aspirational to everything real but beautifully attainable. A solid community management strategy will also be helpful to make the brand stay relevant within its target audience.
And what is also important – from the shopper marketing perspective, is to implement an integrated omnichannel approach. Providing inspirational experiences through a redesigned customer journey that makes everything seamless. Perhaps even as far as revamping distribution footprint.
Because now when luxury goods brands themselves have decided to move on from aspirational-centric strategy, why should mass-premium brands stick with it?
This is written by Nugroho Nurarifin, ECD, Grey Group Indonesia.
Maybank's "MYStories Raya 2018" campaign showcases the power of humanity across ASEAN and is an extension of the bank's "MYStories", which was introduced for last year's Merdeka celebrations. "MYStories" depicted the sacrifices of selected individuals in the police and armed forces.
"MYStories Raya 2018" highlights Mangku Sitepoe from Indonesia and Zurianty Sudin from Malaysia who have dedicated their lives by helping communities in need especially during trying times. Their humanitarian journeys were brought to life through two videos.
Both individuals reflect values that are similar to Maybank's mission of humanising financial services. Also, their work has positively impacted the community they operate in as they were the first in line to lend a helping hand; be it to offer free medical treatments or providing shelters during the floods, the press statement added.
Mangku Sitepoe (pictured) is a certified veterinarian and a general practitioner who started out as a veterinarian, was shocked when the villagers frequently visited him seeking for medical advice. This prompted him to further his education to become a certified general practitioner in efforts to serve the community better. Meanwhile, Zurianty Sudin was inspired by her mother to be kind and helpful to people in need. Despite struggling to put food on the table herself, her mother always welcomed relatives to their home when they needed a place to stay.
A+M has reached out to Maybank for additional information.
4FINGERS has appointed chairman Vijay Sethu as interim CEO, following the exit of Steen Puggaard (pictured) who has moved on to pursue other ventures. Puggaard, who has been in the role for over four years, will remain a shareholder in the business.
Sethu has over 30 years of experience in investment banking across Asia, Australia, the UK and the Americas. He is also a non-independent, non executive director of Taliworks Berhad, a Malaysian public listed corporation and TEI, a joint venture company between Taliworks and the Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia. Prior to this, Sethu held leadership positions across key brands such as CIMB, ANZ Investment Bank, holding directorships at International Medical University Malaysia, Malakoff Berhad, Cerahsama, Don Muang Tollway and Infraco Asia.
“We would like to thank Puggaard for his dedication to the 4FINGERS brand over the last four years, growing it from one outlet in Singapore to the current 24across five countries - Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia. We wish him the very best as he takes some time out to focus on his other interests," Sethu said. He added that 4FINGERS will continue to launch more stores to keep up with consumer demand.
"It has been an amazing ride and a great privilege to work with some of the most dedicated people in the F&B industry," Puggaard said. According to his LinkedIn, Puggaard has worked at Robinsons, Burger King and McDonald's.
Turner Asia Pacific has unveiled a licensing partnership with Indonesian real-estate and hospitality investment company, The MAJ Group, to develop a 4.3 hectare Cartoon Network-themed entertainment park in Bali. Slated to be fully operational in 2020, the development will be a key part of The MAJ Nusa Dua complex, a premier tourist destination in southern Bali, the press release read.
The new destination marks the island's largest waterpark and first ever park to partner with an international brand. Furthermore, it will also be Cartoon Network's first with both indoor and outdoor attractions.
According to Ricky Ow, president of Turner Asia Pacific, both Turner and The MAJ Group share the same vision of creating the ultimate family destination in Indonesia. "The entertainment park will combine world-class design with unparalleled Balinese hospitality. Above all, it will offer guests genuine fun powered by Cartoon Network, Asia’s leading kids entertainment brand,” Ow said.
Gita Wirjawan, Chairman of The MAJ Group added that the new park will enhance the development of The MAJ Nusa Dua complex, which looks to offer a full-suite of leading hospitality and entertainment choices for the whole family. Additionally, it also aims to further cement Bali as the premier family destination in Asia, and one of the world's top tourist locations.
According to a spokesperson for Turner, the brand is invested in a 360 strategy for all its brands and channels, comprising various touch-points across platforms such as TV, online, social media, cafes and amusement parks. In addition, the spokesperson added the partnership, which is exclusive for the Asia Pacific region, will require an investment in excess of US$100 million.
Garuda Indonesia has come up top as the brand that people in Indonesia would be proudest to work for, according to new analysis from YouGov BrandIndex on its Employer Reputation rankings. In the ranking, Garuda scored 74.6, with Google coming in second at 61.7.
Meanwhile, taking the third place is Samsung (53.5) and food company Indofood at fourth place (51.7). Coming in fifth is Aqua, which scored 50.6. Other brands in the top 10 include Apple, Nike, BCA, Adidas and YouTube. View the full ranking here:
Brands which also saw a marked improvement in their scores include ABC which increased by 13.1 points. This is followed by Samsung which saw an increase in score of 11.0 and Philips at third place, which saw a positive change in score of 8.9. Rounding off the top five is Lion Air (7.4) and Apple (iPhone/iPad) at 7.3 points.
Meanwhile, companies such as Instagram, YouTube jd.id, Indomaret and adidas also made the top 10. View the full ranking here.
The ranking were derived by YouGov, which surveyed people in Indonesia whether they would be proud or embarrassed to work at 663 brands. The helped to form a brand’s “Employer Brand Reputation” score. The rankings were based on a year’s worth of data to 30 April 2018.
Maxis has launched the "first-of-its-kind" baju raya that also doubles as a football jersey using augmented reality. Using the Bola Raya app, consumers can scan an image of themselves and tap to change their AR jersey.
Alternatively, family mode is also available, allowing all family members to don AR jerseys. Users can also add frames and stickers to decorate their pictures and add fun to their Raya pictures and videos, which can be shared with family and friends.
It is also partnering with Astro GO and RTM to offer Malaysians access to the live action of the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia. Both Maxis and Hotlink customers can purchase Astro World Cup match passes at a discounted rate, and data used to stream the game will be complimentary.
“Every four years, football fans come together to cheer on their favourite teams at the single biggest sporting event in the world. Maxis is excited to bring the World Cup to more Malaysians than ever before with Astro World Cup match passes on Maxis as well as through our lead broadcast sponsorship of the RTM’s coverage of the matches. Whether you’re at home or travelling back to your hometowns for Raya, Malaysians have more choices on how to keep up with all the action and latest matches, together with family and friends,” Dushyan Vaithiyanathan, Maxis’ head of consumer business, said.
It is often a habit for consumers to change money at the eleventh hour during festive seasons such as Hari Raya or Chinese New Year. As such, they often encounter a shortage of RM1 dollar notes at banks. This insight sparked the creation of a mockumentary BIRU, which tells the story of an RM1 dollar note from his point of view.
Conceptualised and produced by The (8)gency, Graph Studio and Mo Nazmi, the writer behind Kucing Happy and Pengacau Raya, BIRU shows the RM1 dollar note expressing disappointment with how he is treated, being constantly ignored and pushed aside until the Ramadan period, during which everybody suddenly wants a piece of him.
The film also took the opportunity to subtly address current issues close to the heart of Malaysians such as racism and discrimination. In the film, BIRU implied that he is ignored because of his "skin colour", as consumers show preference towards the RM100 note.
According to Mo Nazmi, Ramadan is a period when many Muslims queue at banks at the last minute to exchange RM1 notes for the upcoming Raya celebrations. Based on this insight, the team believed there was an opportunity to create awareness and encourage them to visit the banks earlier.
Derrik Yaw, founder of Graph Studio said while this started as a mere idea, the team did not see it in any festive ads. He believed that the "strong insight" would lead to a message that all Malaysians could benefit from. Joshua Desmond, co-founder of The (8)gency added that the film serves as a reminder to cross off one of the most important things on the never ending list of Raya To-Do's.
In this new age of social media, people are connected and empowered like never before. Every voice on the internet matters and mishandling of the smallest complaint on Facebook can escalate into a full blown public relations (PR) crisis.
Mannings was the latest high-profile example of a major brand being caught in such an event, after they filed a theft charge against a 77-year-old cleaner who was later found not guilty.
While the crisis is now over, much can be learnt to handle similar situations in the future. A recent study by ClusterTech, an advanced IT solutions and consultancy provider in Hong Kong, extracts insights about the saga, collected through all major social channels.
How “crisis intelligence” could have prevented the crisis
The Mannings saga unfolded on 16th January, and gained momentum on the following two days. If we look at the timeline of the incident, we can pinpoint a few moments where things went from bad to worse. What if the brand owner was well informed of the situation and proper actions were taken? The outcome could have been very different. By constantly monitoring social media conversations, a crisis intelligence tool is able to extract insights over a number of dimensions, identify issues in real time, and automatically alert brand owners to act. The key insights that could have prevented the saga from escalating into a full blown crisis:
Key insight 1: who are influencing public opinions (top influencer participation):
The study recorded mentions by top influencers on Facebook, media outlets and online forums. On the 16th January, there was only one mention, by a media outlet; on the 17th, the counts went up to five on Facebook, three on media websites and five on online forums. This sharp increase continued to the 18th January. By the end of the 18th, the incident had become a full blown crisis - 14 on Facebook, 11 on media websites, and 10 on forums. If Mannings received timely alerts of the problem, they could have taken earlier action.
Key insight 2: public perception of your brand (sentiment analysis):
Sentiment analysis results show that anomalies were detected many times, as the saga was developing. At 8:00 pm on 17th January, negative sentiments on Mannings’ Facebook fan page were 400% higher than expected. At 8:45 pm, it went up to 900%. At 12 am, it was a whopping 1,900%. This was a serious warning of an imminent PR crisis, and the brand should have reacted much more quickly.
Brands need “crisis intelligence”
Preventing a PR crisis starts with identifying early warning signs. By sensing threats early, brand owners can take appropriate measures before such threats swirl into crises. This sounds like simple logic but most brands struggle to do so, because they are dealing with not just one but multiple channels. Billions of conversations are happening online every day. A media intelligence tool can help monitor social mentions, but it would fall short in terms of picking up signals of potential crises. A crisis intelligence system, in contrast, can identify threats, and send alerts to brand owners, prompting them to react immediately, with actionable insights – who are influencing public opinions, and more importantly, what are the sentiments shown in online conversations.
In order to stay ahead of crises, brands need powerful intelligence tools that can achieve the following:
Multi-Dimensional Analysis: In addition to media exposure analysis, it should be able to analyse users’ sentiments by performing in-depth analysis of online conversations.
Intelligent Alert System: Once threats have been identified, it is vital that brand owners are alerted, so they can react immediately.
Extensive Data Collection: The data collected must be extensive and relevant, including activities from not only your social media accounts, but also major media outlets and KOLs alike.
Intuitive Reporting: Data presented in a visual format is easy to understand, and can help brand owners make timely and informed decisions in the face of potential crises.
PRISMA Crisis Intelligence - an innovative PR crisis management tool
In a PR crisis, brands are expected to respond with empathy, transparency, and speed. There is little tolerance for responding in a dismissive corporate voice. PRISMA Crisis Intelligence is able to cut through the noise, identifying the conversations that matter. It monitors context-based conversations on social media, generates analysis results, and gives alerts with an industry-leading latency of 15 minutes, allowing brands to respond effectively.
In conclusion, even though we are living in a world where billions of conversations occur online every day, and given that a crisis can arise from any channel at any time, a crisis management tool can help brands react in a timely manner.
To know more about PRISMA Crisis Intelligence, click here.
This article was brought to you by ClusterTech Limited.
Ctrip.com International Ltd has embarked on a strategic partnership with iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited to provide a solution for international brands aiming to reach the rising number of outbound travellers from China.
The partnership will combine Ctrip’s 300 million user membership base across web, mobile and app with iClick’s data analysis and marketing capabilities to create data-driven personalised marketing solutions that will reach outbound Chinese travellers. Through the partnership, iClick will be able to reach more tourist groups by leveraging the largest Chinese consumer database in the travel industry, enabling the creation of more detailed user profiles that will benefit both parties and bring value to travellers and businesses alike.
Outbound Chinese travellers are becoming an increasingly large target market due to the volume and relative affluence. In 2017, there were around 130 million outbound Chinese travellers, and they were the top source of visitors to countries such as Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Russia and South Africa, according to the “2017 China Outbound Travel Big Data Report” by China Tourism Academy and Ctrip. Chinese travellers also tend to have high average spending increasing their attractiveness.
Samson Chai, Overseas Marketing Director of Ctrip said: “As one of the world’s largest online travel companies, we are always looking to find innovative new ways to improve our traveller services. iClick has a profound understanding of demand from international travel brands and a wealth of data insights and audience data in China. Our collaboration with iClick will allow us to leverage these advantages to bring value to both our customers and international travel brands who partner with us to run marketing programmes.”
Sammy Hsieh, CEO and Co-founder of iClick said: “As opportunities due to the increasing numbers of outbound travellers from China continue to rise, we are seeing a growing demand from travel and hospitality brands to use data in a more holistic marketing system to meet their needs. In order to provide this advanced solution for the industry we are excited to work with Ctrip, one of Asia’s largest Online Travel Agencies. Ctrip has a wide range of customers and supports 13 languages on their platforms, which is a perfect complement for our customized solutions. International travel brands will now have a more effective way of reaching high-value outbound travellers in China.”
CSL has just launched a new mega campaign riding on the brand platform - ‘Live big with csl’, starring Gordon Lam-Ka-Tung, Best Actor for Hong Kong Film Award 2017.
'Live big with csl' is the brand promise, as csl "believes in providing high-performance network plus top technology for every mobile user in Hong Kong, to assure them the best use of time through their mobile device." Or as Gordon puts it in the TVC - “Everybody gets 24 hours a day, no one can change that, but a speedy network keeps me ahead of the world.” The campaign connotes how csl can assist users on different aspects and help users utilise their time more efficiently.
The brand invited Gordon Lam Ka-Tung and Lam Suet, who both represent different types of Hong Kong people, to star in the campaign. Gordon is a workaholic with multiple identities, such as an actor, a film producer, and an artist manager, and the story revolves around a day of his life, and how he achieves so much more with his iPhone 8 (PRODUCT) RED TM & Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular), both powered by the csl high-speed network. Lam Suet on the other hand is an optimistic person to enjoy life to the fullest, and The Club offers him a good experience.
Bruce Lam, CMO of CSL Mobile Limited and CEO of The Club, commented that "Speed is always essential, and this is a given factor as a leading brand to offer to its customers. Apart from the tangible benefits, consumers should feel that the brand is aspirational yet approachable because all Hong Kong people are living in a fast-paced culture. We want our customers to feel proud of being part of a winning brand, keep pace with the times, live big with csl.”
The campaign is the first partnership between csl and Apple, with csl being the first mobile operator to sell Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) exclusively; the iPhone 8 (PRODUCT) RED TM is also available in store.
The thematic campaign consists of TV, print, OOH, digital and social.
Credits CSL Mobile The Club:
Chief Marketing Officer of CSL Mobile Limited and Chief Executive Officer of The Club: Bruce Lam
Senior Vice President, Marketing: Clive Chow
Vice President, Brand & Communications: Macy Ng
Vice President, Digital Marketing: Methy Chi
Senior Manager, Brand & Communications: Raymond Lee
Assistant Vice President, Digital Marketing: Kitty Lee
Assistant Manager, Brand & Communications: Darren Yeung
Marketing Manager, Digital Marketing: John Kam
Assistant Manager, Brand & Communications: Ricky Lau
Uth Creative Group Limited
Chief Executive Officer: Desmond So
Creative Director: Anderson Wan
Senior Copywriter: Yan Yeung
Senior Art Director: Ryan Chu
Copywriter: Pamela Chan
Associate Art Director: Henry Choy
Business Director: Noel Yuen
Account Director: Maggie Yuen
Associate Account Director: Angus Chan
Account Executive: Keefe Ho
Mutual Workshop
Director: James Leung
Executive Producer: Dicky Wu
Co-Director: Joseph Wong
Director of Photography: Kokei Leung
Art Director: Silver Cheung
Action Choreographer: Jack Wong
Producer: Cyrus Lai
Line Producer: Fir Cheung
Production Manager: Bonnie Ching
Stylist: Sara Leung
NOIZ chain, the digital marketing conglomerate, announced it will launch NOIZ tokens with lead investors MindWorks Ventures and Blue Block, aimed at eliminating ad fraud.
Digital media was estimated to take in US$237 billion annually which makes up 40% of the global ad spend. It is expected to grow to US$291 billion or 50% of total ad spend by 2020. However, the industry suffers from ad fraud - particularly through the use of fake clicks and botnets.
Ad fraud caused by fake clicks generated by AI bots will cost advertisers US$19 billion in 2018, which represents 9% of total digital advertising spend. It is foreseen to rise to US$22 billion in 2020, according to NOIZ.
Andy Ann, NOIZ Chain Ltd's CEO said, NOIZ is combining an Artificial Intelligence(AI) system with blockchain technology to create a hybrid proof of engagement concept to fight ad fraud and drive users’ engagement. By interacting with the cognitive ads, users will receive NOIZ tokens which then can be used to redeem discounted services or products.
As customer interactions with the cognitive ads are recorded over the blockchain, not only will it increase transparency, it also gives advertisers direct access to engaged customers for precise targeting which helps future marketing planning.
He added NOIZ tokens is expected to launch in August, with more information following soon.
