Singapore – As customer experience (CX) company Astute Solutions and digital marketing company Socialbakers recently announced a merger of their business entities, both companies have announced the brand launch of Emplifi, which will be catering to a middle ground of services centered on CX strategies for digital marketing purposes.
Emplifi will give organizations the tools they need to connect social media marketing, customer care, and social commerce to address critical customer experience gaps. Its entry into the CX scene comes with a whole list of existing clients from both Astute Solutions and Socialbakers such as McDonalds, Delta Air Lines and Ford Motor Company.
According to both companies, Emplifi was born out of the need to better connect brands and their customers. With constant shifts in consumer behaviors and rising customer expectations across channels, brands need a unified approach to customer experience management. Consumers now prefer instant convenience and speed as evidenced by a surge in interest in social shopping, social care, and digital self-service.
Mark Zablan, CEO at Emplifi explains that the brand reflects the company’s mission to help their customers better empathize with their customers and amplify their brand experiences – wherever they might be.
“Customer expectations are shifting fast and brands need to be able to respond quickly with powerful, empathetic experiences. As customers turn to more social and digital means to connect, communicate and transact, Emplifi is well positioned to help brands succeed today and scale for new channels tomorrow,” Zablan said.
The brand launch comes in timing as the social commerce industry in particular has exploded, as social media orders in Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam more than doubled in the first half of 2020. According to data from Bain & Co, social commerce accounted for 44% (US$47.96b) of Southeast Asia’s US$109b e-commerce revenue last year.
Meanwhile social media videos have emerged as a key channel for product discovery. Almost 8 in 10 Southeast Asians watch videos on social media while 66% have created or interacted with videos on these platforms. This has led to a rise in live-stream shopping in the region. According to iKala, the share of retailers who used live-selling techniques increased nearly 13% to 67% between the first and second quarter of 2020.
Lastly, brands have taken notice and are doubling their social media ad spend. In Q1 2021, marketers spent 60% more on Facebook and Instagram advertising globally as compared to the same period last year. The growth in ad spend has led to an increase in ad costs. In Southeast Asia, ad costs grew by as much as 66% year-on-year.
