“Don’t Call Me Precious” is R/GA Shanghai’s latest campaign for Nike. Resisting the trend of saccharine parental sentimentality towards children in China, the campaign champions the junior sporting stars who make it clear they don’t want to be babied.
The campaign will be a series of films feature a real-life runner, boxer, footballer and basketballer, aged 10 -13 years, embracing the challenges of their sport alone and bluntly telling adults to let them play by their own rules. And also a final film brings the four together in an anthem of independence.
The films appear online and across DOOH sites, and are brought to life with a meme generator allowing users to create their own poster and inspirational quip.
“When it comes to sports, children have the grit, determination and fearlessness of adults. They aren’t constrained by their age, but they’re sometimes constrained by parents’ fears of them falling or failing,” said Steve Tsoi, VP Marketing of Nike Greater China.
He added “We wanted to help overcome this overprotectiveness by reframing ‘young athletes’ as athletes who happen to be young.”
A series of activities were also created to support the campaign over the summer, including the Nike Children’s Run, Football Training Camp and Rise Academy, pitch and court takeovers, and also a dedicated “Don’t Call Me Precious” event at Beijing Dongdan Sports Park.
Terence Leong, Executive Creative Director, R/GA Shanghai said the campaign was designed to empower kids by highlighting the egalitarianism of sport, and the strength and self-sufficiency it helps children to develop.
As excitement builds for kick-off at the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, Twitter and ABS-CBN announced a new partnership to bring video highlights to the platform. ABS-CBN is the exclusive home of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ in the Philippines.
To keep fans in the Philippines on top of everything World Cup, @abscbnsports will provide near real-time video highlights to fans on Twitter for each game, including the best and most important goals, as well as video featuring player and coach interviews, press conference clips, and more. The video clips will include advertising packages on Twitter available for sponsors.
Football and Twitter go hand in hand, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ is sure to light up on Twitter as fans in the Philippines join the global conversation.
“We couldn’t be more excited to team up with ABS-CBN to bring video highlights from every match of the tournament to Twitter alongside the best real time conversation and Tweets," said Maurizio Barbieri, Twitter’s Head of Sports, Partnership. "Filipinos are massive football fans, and with the players and teams gearing up to put on a show, fans won’t need to look any further than ABS-CBN and Twitter to keep up with everything that’s happening at the World Cup.”
Jojo Neri-Estacio, Business Unit Head for FIFA, ABS-CBN Integrated Sport said, “ABS-CBN recognizes the continuous growth of football in the Philippines. With so many enthusiastic football fans in the Philippines, the 2018 @FIFAWorldCup is a great moment for us all to come together to cheer on our favourite players and teams from around the globe. At ABS-CBN, we're constantly working to connect our audiences to a range of content on the devices and platforms they use most, and in this World Cup our partnership with Twitter will enable all Filipinos to relive and share in the excitement from Russia.”
AT&T has completed its acquisition of Time Warner Inc, which consolidates major entertainment players such as Warner Bros, HBO and Turner. Moving forward, AT&T will consist of four businesses, a structure which aims to allow each business unit to operate independently and move swiftly. It also aims to innovate across AT&T with content connectivity and advertising, the statement read.
This will see the renaming of Time Warner to WarnerMedia – which represents AT&T’s media business comprising HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. Together, these businesses had revenues of more than US$31 billion in 2017, the statement revealed.
The new entity will be led by John Stankey, who has been appointed CEO. Prior to the move, Stankey led the integration planning team in support of the AT&T-Time Warner merger and held the role of CEO – AT&T mobility and entertainment before that. He also led the company’s acquisition of DIRECTV in 2015 when he was chief strategy officer, responsible for the company’s corporate strategy, M&A and business development initiatives.
According to an internal memo seen by CNNMoney, the rebrand was to ensure little confusion between Time Warner the media company, and Time Warner the former cable company. Referred to as a “naming convention”, Stankey explained that the confused was not going away in the near future due to consumer research. As such, it was easier and more economical to change the name than invest in advertising to clear up confusion.
The same memo also revealed the departure of Turner CEO John Martin. This will see Turner president David Levy, international president Gerhard Zeiler and CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker all report to Stankey moving forward.
Marketing has reached out to AT&T and Time Warner for additional comment.
Another key unit is AT&T’s advertising and analytics business, which will be renamed at a later date, the statement added. The unit looks to provide marketers with advanced advertising solutions by using customer insights from AT&T’s TV, mobile and broadband services. This is combined with extensive ad inventory from Turner and AT&T’s pay-TV services.
The business will be led by Brian Lesser as CEO, who is tasked with launching the company and leading the development of advertising platforms across AT&T. In this new role, Lesser will create new options for advertisers and publishers to find and reach specific audiences at scale in a trusted, premium content environment.
The new company will also invest in a real-time advertising marketplace that looks to offer end-to-end solutions and provide advertisers and publishers with relevant, automated and attributable advertising capabilities. This premium advertising marketplace will be focus on premium, brand-safe, content – across screens – that take advantage of AT&T’s valuable video, mobile and broadband customer insights and data.
Prior to the move, Lesser served as CEO of GroupM North America, where he was responsible for overseeing strategy and operations for GroupM’s 16 leading agencies and specialist companies in North America, including Mindshare, Mediacom, Wavemaker, Essence and Xaxis. Before that, Brian was global CEO of Xaxis, a company he founded in 2011 – which later came under GroupM.
Other units include AT&T Communications which serves to provide mobile, broadband, video and other communications services to US-based consumers and nearly 3.5 million companies. Lastly, AT&T International provides mobile services in Mexico to consumers and businesses, plus pay-TV service across 11 countries in South America and the Caribbean.
Plans for the acquisition first emerged in 2016, with AT&T announcing that it planned to acquire Time Warner for US$85.4 billion - a deal that could result in one of the biggest media companies in the US. Time Warner is the parent of CNN, TNT, HBO, the Warner Bros. studio, and other channels and websites.
Apple has struck a multi-year content partnership with renowned media personality Oprah Winfrey, who is a producer, actress, talk show host, philanthropist and CEO of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
The move will see both Winfrey and Apple creating original programmes as part of a lineup of original content from Apple, the company confirmed in a statement. Through the partnership, both parties seek to leverage Winfrey’s “incomparable ability to connect with audiences around the world”.
Last year, Apple unveiled plans to invest approximately US$1 billion in original programming over the year, which could potentially result in as many as 10 original shows by the end of 2017. This is in a bid to boost efforts to go up against networks such as HBO, as well as the video streaming services of Netflix and Amazon, according to multiple media reports.
The partnership also comes amidst a recent grab in the media and entertainment industry for original content partnerships with major global personalities and figures. Just in May, Netflix signed a multi-year agreement with former US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama to produce a diverse mix of content, including the potential for scripted series, unscripted series, docu-series, documentaries and features.
Netflix also snagged renowned producer, director and writer Ryan Murphy for a multi-year deal to produce new series and films exclusively at Netflix. Before that, it also signed a partnership with Shonda Rhymes in a major content push. Netflix told the world that it would be increasing its spend up to US$750 million on content and global expansion of its original series.
Unilever has revealed it will not work with influencers who buy followers, in an effort to push for greater transparency in the influencer marketing space to combat fraud in the digital ecosystem and create better experiences for consumers.
Besides having transparency from influencers, Unilever also said that its brands will "never buy followers", and that it will also prioritise partners that increase transparency and help eradicate bad practices throughout the whole ecosystem.
The company described the scale and scope of influencer marketing to hold "increasing importance" in the marketing mix, as influencers have deep and direct connections with consumers. Even so, the industry needs to put in place "all possible controls" to avoid bad practices such as fake followers, bots, fraud or any dishonest business models that will "erode trust" in the ecosystem, the press statement read.
"Marketers currently have limited visibility to accurately measure influencer programming and track authentic engagement. As the influencer marketing space grows, we are looking to work with social platforms for increased visibility and transparency," Unilever added.
Unilever's CMO Keith Weed said one of the ways it wants to rebuild trust back into the digital ecosystems and wider society is to increase integrity and transparency in the influencer space. This can be done through responsible content, platforms and infrastructure, and "urgent action" needs to be taken to rebuild trust before it is gone, he said.
“The key to improving the situation is three-fold: cleaning up the influencer ecosystem by removing misleading engagement; making brands and influencers more aware of the use of dishonest practices; and improving transparency from social platforms to help brands measure impact," Weed added.
Marketing has reached out to Unilever for additional comments.
The announcement comes as Unilever takes steps to audit its advertising spend. In February, the company said it saved approximately US$700 million from production costs in 2017 by producing fewer ads and relegating more work in-house, and allocated about US$300 million of that to media and in-store marketing.
During an investors call last year, Unilever's CFO Graeme Pitkethly said the company is spending more competitively than it was the year before because zero-based budgeting (ZBB) allows it to put more of its investment back and cut waste out. He added that less money is being spent creating advertising, and more dollars are being spent showing advertising in a more effective way to consumers. ZBB has also allowed Unilever to reduce its media spend by 12% in Southeast Asia.
Unilever is not the only one to have raised concerns about influencers buying fake followers.
Last year closer to home, Singaporean influencer Wendy Cheng (Xiaxue) uploaded a video on her YouTube channel which examines the statistics found on social media analytics site Social Blade. This led her to speculating which influencers were buying followers on Instagram to bolster their numbers. In a statement to Marketing, Cheng described this to be "a huge problem" for marketers who decide to hire or sponsor largely based on popularity, which is defined by the amount of followers.
The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has launched its latest blood advocacy campaign, “BE THE 1” with the aim to encourage more people, in particular youths, to come forward and give blood. The campaign will be running until the end of July 2018.
To bolster the movement, “BE THE 1” is fronted by football superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo who is a strong advocate of blood donation. The statement added that Ronaldo first gave blood when he was 24 years old after seeing his teammate struggle to get bone marrow donations for his son. Since then, he is said to have been donating blood regularly, and avoids activities that would prevent him from doing so.
Following the launch, SRC has joined the ranks of more than 80 blood donation centres across the world that has come onboard this global movement. This is part of SRC’s ongoing efforts to expand the blood donor pool in tandem with Singapore’s blood usage projected to grow at a rate of 3% to 5% annually. That being said, SRB observed the number of youth donors going on a downward trend.
“Many young people are starting to take a more active interest and role in community service, moving from simply volunteering their time to taking the initiative to plan and organise charity events on their own,” Robert Teo, director of the blood donor recruitment programme at Singapore Red Cross, said.
In conjunction with the campaign, SRC also partnered Sport Singapore (SportSG) for their upcoming Singapore Football Festival. Held from 30 June to 30 July, the month-long festival will see a line-up of football activities and tournaments being organised across the island to encourage everyone to watch, play and celebrate football. As part of the partnership, Singapore Red Cross roadshows will be held at selected activities to spread awareness about blood donation.
To kick start the partnership, a "Be The 1 Football Clinic", will be offered exclusively to students from the various secondary schools and junior colleges under SRC’s network of bloodmobile organisers on 21 July 2018. The football clinic offers participants the opportunity to engage with coaches from the ActiveSG Football Academy, pick up tips to improve their skills, and enjoy a game or two with the coaches and fellow football enthusiasts.
In a press statement, Lim Tong Hai, team lead, ActiveSG Football Academy explained that football is a powerful tool to rally Singaporeans to show care for their fellow people, and hopes to raise awareness of blood donation among the participants and their families and friends during the Singapore Football Festival. He added that he too, will be encouraging the coaches and parents to take the lead in supporting the cause during the festival period and beyond.
“With the support of SportSG and DATE (Develop the passion And Teach Everyone), we aim to reach out to these students in a fun setting and encourage them to lead an active lifestyle, while learning about blood donation. Our hope is that youth will also be inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo to step forward and "Be the 1" to donate blood. Ultimately, we wish to encourage them to adopt blood donation as a lifestyle, much like keeping active, and to help spread the cause to their family and friends,” Teo added.
South Korean luxury beauty brand Sulwhasoo has launched its boutique in Kuala Lumpur's Mid Valley Megamall. The move marks its second outlet in Malaysia, with the first outlet in Sunway Pyramid Selangor.
In a statement to A+M, brand GM of Sulwhasoo Malaysia, Lau Shin Yee, said that as one of the biggest malls in Klang Valley, Mid Valley Megamall offers Sulwhasoo the opportunity to engage more consumers with its products.
"We also constantly receive requests from consumers to set up a store in Mid Valley, and we finally get to fulfil their requests. In this mall, the brand is able to reach out to professionals working around this area and family crowds during the weekend," Lau said.
To raise brand awareness of the new boutique, Sulwhasoo will engage in digital advertising as well as work with influencers to engage their followers. It is also working with PR agency Mad Hat. Additionally, the company will sell exclusive products such as scent and body products, and herbal soap, and offer consumers a luxury experience through services such as gift wrapping and hand massage.
Earlier this year, Sulwhasoo appointed hallyu star Song Hye Kyo as its ambassador. The South Korean actress, who was previously the ambassador for LANEIGE, made her first appearance as the brand's muse in a video promoting Sulwhasoo's First Care Activating Serum product. She also shared her journey with the brand.
The 2017 SEA Games caused much excitement nationwide in Malaysia, which saw several brands capitalising on the biannual multi-sport event to launch campaigns and offers.
Among the brands was Baskin-Robbins, which wanted to boost its social media presence with the help of a SEA Games-related campaign. As such, it roped in creative and digital agency FOREFRONT International to launch the #freescoopnight campaign.
This led FOREFRONT International to win gold for Best Idea – Integrated Media at MARKies Malaysia 2018.
The post was done in conjunction with FOREFRONT International.
Problem
If there’s something Malaysians can’t live without, it’s food. But start the topic of desserts and you have yourself a national sport that everyone will participate in. Baskin-Robbins wanted to treat all Malaysians to a sweet reward of their favourite ice-cream flavours with its “Free Scoop Night”. Everyone was encouraged to join in the celebration of Malaysia’s SEA Games 2017 wins in their most patriotic outfits such as the national sports jersey or outfits that best represented the nation.
Aiming to replicate the success of its first “Free Scoop Night” after Malaysia’s stellar performance at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, FOREFRONT was tasked to create an engaging campaign to build great momentum leading up to the nationwide event and boost the brand’s social media presence.
Solution
The campaign’s concept – OMG, inspired by “Oh My Goodness” – is a phrase commonly used as an expression to convey excitement and surprise. FOREFRONT applied this acronym using its own interpretation in a Malaysian-specific context to convey the joy in celebrating the unity and diversity of Malaysians on Malaysia Day, and the great accomplishments of Malaysian athletes at the SEA Games 2017.
The campaign’s target audience was Malaysians of all ages, including new and repeat customers. FOREFRONT used an integrated approach to maximise reach and engagement of the target audience via all relevant touch-points.
Social media: To help Baskin-Robbins get the word out, FOREFRONT conceptualised and launched the #freescoopnight campaign using Facebook and Instagram as the main social platforms. It was primarily driven by a series of OMG-themed postings that invited the public to participate in the Malaysia Day-themed ice-cream giveaway. Some of the OMG phrases used included: “Oh Malaysiaku Gemar”, “Oh My Gold”, “On My Game” and so on.
On-ground and in-store promotional items: In-store promotional collaterals such as buntings, standees and digital banners were used to maintain consistent offline experiences. These store-wide displays were aimed at grabbing shoppers” attention and getting them excited for the event.
Mainstream and alternative media: FOREFRONT leveraged on b-rolls taken during the event and sent them to TV stations so they could utilise them for broadcast purposes. Besides that, articles were structured and tailored to the audiences of local daily online and offline newspapers, with languages translated to Bahasa Melayu where necessary.
Objective
To achieve Baskin-Robbins’ goal of re-engaging its customers, the key objectives of the #freescoopnight campaign included maximising the event turnout by increasing awareness and improving the social media performance.
Execution
Pre-event: The OMG-themed wordplay was mainly used in pre-event social media postings to build awareness and create hype for Baskin-Robbins’ target audience. Clear information was communicated through the postings, as a reminder to the audiences on what to expect on event day. Press releases were also issued to raise awareness on event day.
Event day: FOREFRONT covered the event using Facebook Live, and shared the moments through Instagram stories. The #freescoopnight social media campaign was also supported by on-ground and in-store promotional items.
Post-event: To give event and non-event participants a glimpse and memory of the Free Scoop Night event, FOREFRONT created a highlight reel and posted it on Facebook. The video acted as a reminder of the good times spent with each other on #freescoopnight, united by the narrative of “One Scoop, One Nation”. Meanwhile, appreciation posts and photos were also uploaded on both social platforms to re-engage with the audience.
Results
Over a period of two hours on Malaysia Day (16 September 2017) between 8pm-10pm, Malaysians were treated to a complimentary junior scoop ice-cream each.
The campaign resulted in a 30km-long queue for Free Scoop Night with more than 100,000 scoops of ice-cream handed out – exceeding Baskin-Robbins’ 2012 Free Scoop Night’s success by 47%.
Facebook: Baskin-Robbins’ Facebook fan page gained 6,892 fans within the campaign period and an increase of 87.85% in engagement.
The series of #freescoopnight video postings showed outstanding performances as well, with the most viewed video at 8.5,000 views and a 2.16% engagement rate. These video postings also made it to the “top 5 most-viewed videos” on Baskin-Robbins’ Facebook page throughout the duration of the campaign.
Instagram: The campaign increased its Instagram fan base by 3,602 fans, along with 9,123 engagements within the campaign period. To top it off, there was a total of 641 posts from customers sharing their experiences using the event hashtag –#freescoopnight on Instagram.
Asia Pacific is said to become the biggest contributor to global adspend growth, accounting for 33.8% of global adspend in 2020, up from 32.6% in 2017, this is according to Zenith's "Advertising Expenditure Forecasts" for June 2018.
Zenith's report added that the region will also contribute US$32.1 billion (43%) out of the US$75.1 billion of all new ad dollars between 2017 and 2020. Six of the 10 markets that will contribute the most to global growth in Asia Pacific are China (22%), India (5%), Indonesia (4%), Japan (3%), the Philippines (3%) and South Korea (2%).
Fast-track Asia, comprised by rapidly growing economies including Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and China, is expected to see a 7.5% increase in average annual growth in adspend between 2017 to 2020. The adspend in Advanced Asia, which comprises Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, is predicted to see a 3.4% increase in average annual growth during the same period.
On the other hand, North America is falling behind in growth, and is expected to contribute 27% of new ad dollars between 2017 and 2020, while its share of global adspend slips from 37.1% to 36.0%. The global advertising expenditure is forecasted to grow 4.5% this year, 4.2% in 2019 and 4.3% in 2020.
Mobile advertising to "comfortably overtake" TV in 2021
Meanwhile, mobile advertising will account for 30.5% of global advertising expenditure in 2020, amounting to US$187 billion. This is a 19.2% increase from 2017 and is more than twice the US$88 billion spent on desktop advertising.
Although mobile advertising is currently US$5 billion behind the US$192 billion spent on TV advertising, it is expected to "comfortably overtake" TV in 2021, growing at an average rate of 21% a year to 2020. Online advertising is expected to make the same switch from desktop to mobile, as more internet users transition to the mobile device and new users engage only on the mobile platforms.
However, shifting budgets to mobile advertising might affect the brands' ability to win new customers and expand their market share. According to Zenith’s Touchpoints ROI Tracker research, traditional mass media are more effective at driving recall among new or light buyers. Therefore, having a strong understanding of acquisition channels and retention channels is key.
TV ads are deemed most effective at driving recall among potential consumers, with 53% of potential customers as likely to recall TV ads as existing consumers. In the meantime, mobile ads are least effective, with only 41% of potential consumers being likely to recall them. While targeted mobile ads can improve top of mind recall and help brands achieve short-term performance targets, Zenith said it is currently "less effective" at creating long-term awareness among potential customers than traditional media. As such, brands with a heavy mobile presence should consider investing more in traditional mass media to compensate for the loss.
Zenith's report also listed display - traditional display, online video and social media - as the fastest-growing internet subcategory, with an annual growth forecast of 13% to 2020. All three types of display have benefited from the transition to programmatic buying, which allows agencies to target audiences more efficiently and more effectively, with personalised creative.
Online video and social media are currently the driving forces of internet adspend growth and are predicted to grow at average rates of 18% and 16% a year respectively between 2017 and 2020. Online video is benefiting from the increasing availability of high-quality content, and improvements to the mobile viewing experience, such as better displays and faster connections. Paid search and classified are now both lagging substantially behind display, with search growing at 8% a year and classified at 6%.
Traditional media still going strong
Despite the rise in mobile advertising, traditional media is still growing, albeit at "very low rates". Zenith forecasts TV and radio to grow by 1% a year between 2017 and 2020, while out-of-home advertising will grow by 3% a year. On the other hand, cinema is predicted to grow by 16% a year, due to investment in new screens, successful movie franchises and better international marketing. China will be the main driver of this trend, as it saw ticket sales increase by 22% in 2017, overtaking the US to become the world's biggest cinema advertising market in 2017. Currently worth US$1.2 billion, China's cinema advertising market is expected to reach US$2.8 billion by 2020.
Meanwhile, print advertising and circulation will continue to shrink, with newspaper adspend decreasing by 5% on average each year between 2017 and 2020, while magazine adspend will drop by 6%. This is only applicable to advertising within print titles, as publishers' online revenues are counted within the desktop and mobile internet totals.
According to Jonathan Barnard, Zenith’s head of forecasting and director of global intelligence, dynamic markets in Asia Pacific are leading the way in global adspend growth, growing at 5% to 6% a year. Asia Pacific is expected to be the "biggest advertising region" in the world, by the middle of the next decade, Barnard said.
“The mobile device in our pockets is becoming the gateway to our media world, but its brand-building capabilities are still in question – simply applying old practices to new technology may not translate to brand growth. Having a clear understanding of how the entire ecosystem of paid, owned and earned media works together to drive return on investment is vital," Vittorio Bonori, Zenith’s global brand president, said.
Heineken Malaysia has appointed Roland Bala as its managing director. He replaces Hans Essaadi who will be taking up the position of managing director of Heineken Eygpt effective 1 September 2018. Essaadi will also be relinquishing his directorships in all subsidiary companies of Heineken Malaysia with effect from the same day.
Currently, Bala is the managing director of Cambodia Brewery (CBL), Heineken's operating company Cambodia since February 2012. In his role, he has led the brand to increase its market share by more than double in a bid to establish it as the market leader in Cambodia. Prior to CBL, Bala first joined the Asia Pacific Brewery as special assistant to the regional director in February 2008. He was then appointed as general manager for Danang in the central region of Vietnam until February 2012.
A+M has reached out to Heineken Malaysia for comment.
In Q1-2018, the company paid approximately RM2.6 million for professional services relating to technical, marketing and other advisory support, as well as purchased beverage products, manufacturing and marketing materials for about RM1.05 million.
Lazada is on the hunt for an agency to manage creative, social, PR and media duties. The appointment will be until March 2019 and covers only Singapore. There will be a shortlisting process and a decision is expected to be made by the end of June.
While Lazada is on the hunt for a “360 agency”, it might consider breaking up the different objectives of the job scope, depending on the proposals and strengths of the individual agencies. As such, there is a possibility that more than one agency might be chosen, the company confirmed.
"There are many a great agencies out there and we’re excited to be working with these brilliant minds. With top brands and sellers that are onboard our platform, as well as great app features – we want to make sure that our shoppers are highly engaged with our offerings, and our sellers are successful on our marketplace," Lazada's spokesperson said.
Lazada Group has been tapping into Alibaba's resources to further serve consumers and empower merchants in Southeast Asia through innovative ways. In March this year, Alibaba Group said it will invest an additional US$2 billion in the group to accelerate its growth plans in the region, as well as deepen its integration into the Alibaba ecosystem. This brings the total amount invested in Lazada by Alibaba to US$4 billion, to date.
Meanwhile, Lazada founder Max Bittner, who has been its CEO since 2012, assumed the role of senior advisor to Alibaba Group. He was replaced by Lazada chairman Lucy Peng, who is tasked with doubling down on Southeast Asia as the region has a young population and high mobile penetration rate, with just 3% of the region’s sales currently conducted online.
Advertising was not always the career which Sony Nichani (pictured) had dreamed of - or rather - studied for.
She found herself in the ad world following a series of events, which consisted a bad turn in the financial market in the late 1990s, a chance summer internship at an advertising agency and an interview with Ulka (now FCB Ulka India). A firm believer in serendipity, Nichani shared that even then she was not the first choice for the job, but only got the management trainee position because the person selected had wanted to join another firm. That being said, that interview was the only she had ever sat for and has since counted over two decades in the industry.
Joining Ulka in India in the strategic planning function, she spent a rigorous six years understanding consumer behaviour and communication strategy, which she believes is the best training ground.
While working on the prestigious TATA corporate assignment, she got poached by the client to work on the launch of their telecom business. From strategic rigour to "this was due yesterday", she crossed over to the client side and was part of the Tata Indicom team which launched the service in 25,000 towns and had over 25 million customers when she left in 2008. The five-year client stint gave her the ability to manage scale and take quick decisions, an experience which holds her in good stead in her current role.
Having worked with FCB as her agency partner during her client days, it was not unexpected to return home to them when she moved to Jakarta to start the strategic planning function in April 2008. Shifting from planning, she took over leading the business and working on mix of global, regional and local clients in a demanding market such as Indonesia, which has given her an invaluable experience in the past 10 years.
She was offered the CEO position just as she was about to take a sabbatical for motherhood, which convinces her that sometimes you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
How do you describe your management style?
Hands on, I love being in the trenches with the team during the planning and development process. But once we have the direction and clarity, I step back for the team to see it through. I believe that my role is to set the pace for the team and place the bar on the kind of work we need to be doing, and keep the team focused on it.
Who was the mentor who influenced you the most and how?
Fortunately quite a few to thank and credit my success to in every role I played, but I think the most significant influence would have been my parents. As kids they saw the partition and moved as refugees to India. They grew up with very few opportunities but which they made the most of for their families. They have always been the wind beneath my wings.
What has been the proudest moment in your career?
A few months back, my digital partner Chetan managed to virtually single-handedly lead and win one of the largest and competitive digital pitches in Indonesia. Another team recently followed it up with a significant win of an auto business where we had no prior experience. Moments like this where I had no role to play in, is something I am really proud of.
When you realise that you are a part of an empowering culture and where everyone in the team has a shared sense of purpose and ambition - that is something to really be proud of.
What (who) inspires you the most?
A bit corny but it would have to be Roger Federer. His comeback journey is absolutely remarkable because for a champion who digs in so deep to find the will to just go on is just inspiring.
What’s the toughest part of your job?
I strongly believe that the team is only as strong as its weakest link. Given the changes in advertising and digital, we have spent a lot of time retraining and sort of re-purposing ourselves in the past years to be relevant. Constantly challenging people to never stop learning and trying, is tough but very important part of my job.
What has been the harshest thing said to you?
Harsh things said for sake of being harsh I would not care to remember, but one that I took constructively was "don’t be happy being the tallest midget" (no offence).
Sometimes due to lack of resources or lack of passion for a project, we tend to be happy with work which is just average, which really does not work in the long run.
So I keep those words in my mind whenever I react to anything we are working on so we don’t fall in that trap.
What do you do in your free time?
Being a mother to a three-year old, most of our free time is spent in play zones, birthday parties or watching re-runs of Frozen. Weekends are dedicated to catching up with her and creating memories for her. When I get me time, I binge on Netflix or catch up on my reading.
How do you ensure a proper work life balance?
I don’t. And I don’t worry too much about not being able to do so.
Working with clients and network partners in different time zones and having their own challenges makes it difficult to switch off. But at work we are particular about weekends for family time, so that helps restore some sense of balance. I am also lucky to have an extremely supportive husband who is very involved in the care of our child.
What is your favourite vacation spot?
Would have to be UK – both London and Scotland are just amazing.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone just starting out?
Opportunities do not happen, you have to create them.
Destiny may have got you the job, but you have to steer towards the destination. So don’t wait to be called up or wait to be assigned. Sign up for the tough clients, intense pitches because it can really accelerate your learning. Like my dear friend, Rob Sherlock always says diamonds are only created under pressure.
What issue would you like to see the industry change in 2018?
It’s a bit worrisome on how much conversation is happening around digital metrics and efficiencies versus creativity and brand building. There seems to be short term mindset to look for quick wins rather than building campaigns for long-term effects. It’s time to focus on measuring success by what advertising was supposed to be doing creating behaviour and working towards selling "Never finished" ideas which create deep equity and outlive clients and even agencies.
MINI Asia has reappointed local social media agency, Duo Studio, to manage its full suite of social media activities for the second year running. This was following a closed pitch.
This year, the agency is taking on an expanded role, adding regional coordination to its remit. With the new scope, Duo Studio will play a brand custodian role for MINI in Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and New Caledonia, while continuing full social media support for the Singapore team.
“We’re excited to be working with the Duo team again. It is important that our agency not only understands how social media works in the region and what makes our customers tick, but also has a passion for the brand and what it stands for,” Nancy Hoffman, MINI marketing manager, MINI Asia, said.
“We are happy and excited to continue working with the team and the brand. The brand has a sophisticated yet daringly fun personality. This gives us the playground to marry luxury with leisure in a high-end yet approachable way. Having exposure to MINI’s other markets is also a great opportunity we’re grateful to have,” Stephanie Phua, co-founder, Duo Studio, said.
Kantar has created its first research and development hub in Asia. Called the Kantar Brand Growth Lab, the hub is part of a three-year collaboration with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). It will focus on advanced analytics and harnessing the power of big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning to unlock deep insights that fuel brand growth.
The lab is also part of Kantar’s recently launched Analytics Practice, and aims to have a strong innovation mandate. This will culminate in the spearheading of globally significant projects that aim to transform siloed, typically unstructured and un-contextualised data into insights that drive customer-centric decision-making and sustainable growth, the statement added.
In addition to the lab’s innovation mandate, the collaboration between Kantar and EDB will also include the hiring of data scientists and business designers. This is in a bid to develop a strong pipeline of Singapore-based talent and expertise in this space. It also seeks to foster Asian-led innovation in creating solutions that will support global clients in growing their brands.
The creation of the Kantar Brand Growth Lab follows the establishment of similar analytics labs in London and Frankfurt, and the launch of Singapore’s Professional Services Industry Transformation Map (ITM). The ITM, an inter-agency effort led by EDB, charts out the transformational roadmap to develop Singapore into a globally-leading Professional Services industry driven by innovation and partnerships.
Eric Salama, CEO, Kantar, said in a statement that the lab will be an integral part of the company’s mission to unlock the power of this data, and reveal the deeper insights that fuel growth.
“Businesses are data-rich but insight-poor. The metrics they measure allow them to drive impact in the short-term, but fail to provide the holistic understanding that can effectively direct long-term strategy,” Salama added.
Tim Kelsall (pictured centre), chief client officer at Kantar in APAC added that the launch of Brand Growth Lab in Singapore highlights the strategic importance of the country as a base for developing world-class services that can be exported regionally.
“We are delighted that Kantar has chosen Singapore to locate its first advanced analytics hub in Asia. Singapore’s professional services sector is growing, and Kantar’s decision is testament to this,” Kelvin Wong (pictured far right), assistant managing director, EDB, said.
Most recently, EDB partnered Nielsen to launch the Singapore-based Neuro Lab which aims enable clients to optimise the effectiveness of advertising in video, print and digital spend, packaging, and in-store elements, among others. It also signed a partnership with CapitaLand worth SG$10million last year to upskill CapitaLand’s staff in areas such as digital marketing, data analytics and digital product management.
XCO partners NETS to reach and reward motorists The move marks XCO's first partnership to harness the capabilities of WINK+ GO, the latest feature and CRM programme of the WINK+ app which targets commuters and now motorists.
R3 bolsters company with double promotion
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Essence bolsters APAC leadership team
Kingshuk Mitra will take on the role of chief operating officer, APAC while Monica Bhatia takes on the role of vice president, client partner.
PSB Academy launches campaign for ASEAN recruitment
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PropertyGuru Group hires CTO
He will be responsible for the Group’s technology and engineering functions across offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
ACMA relaunches to transform content marketing in APAC
Members that have come on board at the time of launch include Allison + Partners PR, MEC Wavemaker, Publicis Content, Bloomberg Media, Click2View, Isentia, LinkedIn and Text100 PR.
Facebook IQ and SECTION launch new insights tool
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Isentia appoints marketing manager for Asia
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Publicis One Vietnam launches Prodigious Brand Logistics
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R3 elevates Seema Punwani to partner role
She has led global initiatives for clients like MasterCard, Economic Development Board of Singapore, Fonterra and Suntory amongst others.
Lazada and Samsung sign first regional deal
The expanded partnership marks the first ever regional contract between both parties spanning six countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Havas Group acquires Sorento
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ONE Championship partners GoDaddy
GoDaddy branding is set to be featured at ONE: DYNASTY OF HEROES which will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 26 May.
OMD makes appointments to strategy team
He has extensive experience across the globe, having worked for OMD in the region as the strategy lead for OMD APAC as well as the global VP of marketing for HTC.
Sizmek appoints general manager for APAC region
He will be responsible for managing the company’s operations across the Asia-Pacific region, including customer engagement, sales development and innovation, strategic planning, and revenue growth.
Singtel partners NYP to help SMEs in the retail and F&B sectors
SMEs can also seek additional support on social media marketing, online merchandising and analysis of online consumers from students and lecturers at the NYP’s customer experience and analytics centre.
The agency would begin work immediately across strategy development, creative, execution, partnerships, influencer relationships and experiential platforms.
Tapad hires Andrew Tu as APAC VP
Tapad’s APAC team is currently headquartered in Singapore with plans to expand into Japan and Australia in the coming months.
Alibaba Cloud partners with NUS and EZ-Link
Alibaba Cloud will contribute US$500,000 in cloud credits towards the use of its cloud platform and data centres by students and researchers from NUS for academic and research purposes.
EZ-Link introduces NFC enabled card readers
In March 2016, EZ-Link launched the EZ-Link NFC SIM, pioneering the use of compatible mobile phones with NFC technology for making public transport payments.
Amobee names global innovations lead Chu will be charged with leading Amobee's new product offerings that are driven by and utilise telecommunications operator assets.
Amnet and RadiumOne partner up
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Freeman launches brand experience agency in China and Singapore
The global provider of brand experiences has integrated several of its creative services across the Asia Pacific region, including China and Singapore, under the company’s agency division, FreemanXP.
Sitecore appoints The Hoffman Agency
The appointment comes as Sitecore plans to further establish its presence in this region and meet the ever increasing digital marketing needs of brands with context marketing.
McCann Worldgroup Japan appoints new CCO
Antony Cundy will be responsible for overseeing excellence in the targeted and efficient delivery of campaigns for clients who work across multiple MWG disciplines.
Ogilvy Public Relations Australia appoints new director
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Adknowledge announces country head for India
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WWF and Toyota head towards a zero carbon society
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Outbrain renews multi-year deal with SPH
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NTUC FairPrice hosts first ever Facebook Live event
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Outbrain partners up with Mediacorp
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L'Oreal Paris Singapore employs star power
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SPHMBO shows off latest OOH offering in VivoCity
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Insurance company AXA Insurance has appointed MSL as its new PR partner in Singapore, following a pitch in April 2018. The incumbent on the account is Asia PR Werkz which was invited to pitch but did not participate. Asia PR Werkz declined to comment further on Marketing’s queries.
MSL Singapore will be responsible for public relations in the areas of thought leadership, executive profiling and media relations, with fundamental focus on brand building, generating awareness and increasing engagement.
The agency will work with AXA to continue to establish its reputation in Singapore, by building on its commitment to empower customers and the community to live better lives. According to head of marketing Diane Yap, MSL demonstrated its understanding of the company's mission to protect and empower people, and the type of collaboration model it wants to develop with its PR advistors.
"We are pleased to have appointed them as our PR partner, and look forward to creating and executing new and innovative ideas with them," Yap added.
Last year, AXA appointed Jean Drouffe as its new CEO in Singapore, taking over from Doina Palici-Chehab. Drouffe focuses on growing the business in Singapore, and his job scope encompasses the life, general insurance and health businesses locally. It also named Gordon Watson to the role of CEO, Asia, AXA last year.
Lalamove, a same-day deliver and logistics provider, has expanded into Malaysia in an effort to ramp up growth of its expansion plans in Southeast Asia. It decided to launch in Kuala Lumpur due to the high demand of fast and reliable delivery services by local small and medium-sized businesses and consumers.
The service is currently available in countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia and China, serving 15 million users and supporting over two million drivers. In a statement to A+M, Lalamove's spokesperson said the latest US$100 million funding it received provided it the opportunity to expand to more cities, with Kuala Lumpur being one of them because SMEs are its main target users and the city has a high percentage of them. The spokesperson also said that it will implement online and offline marketing strategies to target local clients, adding that its competitors are traditional, global logistics providers.
Available on iOS and Android, Lalamove will be first available to drivers with cars to cater for bulk deliveries and on-demand delivery for time-sensitive goods. It aims to open up more vehicle types such as trucks, vans and motorcycles to serve the needs of different users. The service primarily supports local businesses, but is also available to casual users who may require a vehicle pickup to deliver goods within the city.
Among the list of functions available on Lalamove include multi-stop delivery, purchase service features, door-to-door delivery, return trips and real-time GPS tracking. Users can also rate and favourite their most trusted drivers to ensure there are no security or quality concerns for deliveries.
According to country director Sik Hoe Yong, Kuala Lumpur is one of the few maturing markets in the Southeast Asia region that lacks reliable on-demand last mile delivery services. As such, Lalamove aims to bridge the gap through technology.
International communications company Ooredoo has teamed up with global brand ambassador and football star, Lionel Messi, to launch its "Enjoy the Internet" campaign. The campaign aims to reinforce Ooredoo's brand promise to enrich people's digital lives, and highlight the key role it plays in enabling people to better enjoy the internet through its networks and content.
Slated to run across Southeast Asia, Middle East and North Africa, the campaign is made up of localised TVCs, digital content and out-of-home placements. It will also be running on international TV, digital channels and live until August. The content is tailored in the individual TVCs to include local references for each of the brand's markets. This is to ensure maximum relevance for the audience in every specific market.
Local social media influencers from key markets across Ooredoo's global footprint are also featured to showcase a few of the many ways in which people have fun, socialise, shop and express themselves online. They include Madjid Bougherra from Algeria, Ahmed Athif from Maldives and Zenn Kyi from Myanmar, among others.
“In this playful and lively campaign, Messi and the featured influencers have helped bring alive the power of our network and the variety of share-worthy, digital content available. We’re very proud to continue our great work with Messi and thank him for his on-going support for our initiatives,” H.E. Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, group CEO of Ooredoo, said.
“This was a great campaign to work on with Ooredoo, showing how much fun can be have off the pitch in the digital world. Ooredoo brings a world of fun to your fingertips; together I hope that we help more people to connect, encourage people to have more fun online and share their experiences more widely,” Messi said.
Hard Rock International has appointed Yogeswaran Veerasamy (pictured) as the general manager of its upcoming property, Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast. The appointment comes as the brand prepares to manage and open its highly-anticipated Malaysian property this year.
In his new role, Veerasamy will oversee the hotel's administration, and be responsible for the overall functioning of the 365-room property. He will also be in charge of implementing strategic administrative procedures to enhance the operational efficiency. In addition, Veerasamy will be working closely with Hard Rock International and the hotel team members to assist with developing and and executing plans surrounding the property's grand opening in 2018.
Veerasamy joins Hard Rock International from Grand Copthorne Waterfront Singapore where he most recently served as the hotel manager. He brings over a wealth of managerial experience from previous stints across Asia such as W Singapore Sentosa Cove, The Westin Hyderabad , The Raffles Grand D’Angkor, and Swissotel Grand Shanghai among others.
“Yogeswaran joins our team with a combined total of more than 21 years of experience, and we’re confident that he is a great fit for this property and team as we look forward to opening the hotel,” Dale Hipsh, senior VP of hotels for Hard Rock International said.
A+M has reached out to Hard Rock International for additional information about Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast and the marketing strategies it will implement.
Omnicom Media Group has appointed Paul Shepherd (pictured) as the chief investment officer for Asia Pacific, with effect from 1 July 2018. Prior his appointment, Shepherd served as global VP, platforms and capabilities in New York, and has been with the group since 2013. The move also follows the promotion of Tony Harradine to group CEO earlier this year.
In his new role, Shepherd, will be covering the trading and investment function of the group's agencies in 17 markets across Asia Pacific. In addition, he is also tasked leverage his wealth of experience managing the group's programmatic offering globally, as well advancing its agencies' products through more sophisticated uses of data, bespoke platforms and cutting-edge capabilities.
“We’re thrilled to have Shepherd – a longstanding member of the Omnicom Media Group family with exceptional regional and global experience – come join us in APAC as we boldly take on new challenges. We look forward to working with him on taking our clients’ communications to the next level in the region through innovative media opportunities,” Harradine said.
“Having started my journey with the group in Asia Pacific, it feels great to be coming home at such an exciting time for the region. I look forward to working closely with Harradine and the various markets in evolving our product offerings and capabilities, as well as setting some new global benchmarks for our clients,” Shepherd added.
