Tag: Asia Pacific

Amsterdam, Netherlands – Creatives for Climate, a non-profit global network dedicated to climate action, has appointed Antonia Estall, a youth change agent, as the Asia-Pacific chapter lead. Estall’s appointment is tasked with taking action across the region, encouraging professionals to oppose greenwashing and build a climate action movement among their peers. 

Estall’s main focus will be on New Zealand, where nine out of ten New Zealanders prioritise checking a product’s green claims before making a purchase, according to research by Consumer NZ. Furthermore, according to UK research conducted by CIM in October 2020, 40% of marketers admit they do not possess the credentials required to communicate sustainability in an effective manner. 

Estall worked at ECG Consulting Firm before taking on her present positions, where she honed her research, creativity, and social media marketing talents. Additionally, she is part of Designers Collection NZ, expanding her knowledge in these domains. Estall is a motivated climate activist who emphasises an intersectional approach to climate justice. 

Joanna Kelly, chief executive at the Centre for Sustainable Finance, said, “The stories we tell about the net-zero transition are fundamental to the pace of progress toward our 2030 targets. The climate transition has huge implications for New Zealand, where access to markets, customers, and capital is at stake. The launch of the global Creatives for Climate non-profit in Aotearoa offers creative industries much-needed tools for advising clients on how to communicate with credibility. It’s a great way for NZ creatives to get in the game on sustainability.” 

Meanwhile, Gemma Rasmussen, head of research and advocacy at Consumer NZ, stated, “The reality of the New Zealand market is it’s very easy for a company to make a false or misleading sustainability claim about a product or service and go unchecked because greenwashing is essentially unmonitored. Shoppers can find it hard to differentiate between what is legitimately sustainable versus what is greenwashing, so the creative industry plays a crucial role in holding the line when it comes to genuine sustainable communication. Any efforts to empower more truthful advertising and marketing are very welcome.” 

Furthermore, Matt Haliday, senior lecturer in advertising and brand creativity AUT, expressed, “It’s exciting to see Creatives for Climate in Aotearoa. Having an organisation calling out greenwashing in the industry and helping creatives draw a line in the sand is important. We can all see which way the wind is blowing. Creatives for Climate are trying to help us prepare for the storm.” 

Singapore – Online delivery platform foodpanda has announced the appointment of Jaslin Goh as its new vice president of marketing for APAC. 

Based in Hong Kong, Goh will be taking over from Anna Znamenskaya, and will be reporting to John Fang, CEO of foodpanda. 

In her new role, Goh will be heading the regional marketing function and will be working closely with local marketing directors to drive growth and brand love across Asia.

Taking up this role with over 20 years of experience, Goh was previously the chief marketing officer for mobile payment service PayMe at HSBC, heading the marketing, design and customer experience functions. 

Prior to that, she also held senior marketing positions in HSBC’s Wealth & Personal Banking function, WeLab, and Shangri-La Group.

Speaking on her own appointment, Goh said, “I’m super excited to join the Foodpanda family with its unique blend of Tech x qcommerce x F&B across 11 strong and flavorful markets. Food reflects the soul and unique idiosyncrasies of each market. I’m proud to become part of a business where we bring food and people together, through technology, yet in a grassroot, grounded way and is the glue for the cultural fabric for Asia’s best cities.”

With 2024 now in its early full swing, the contours of the marketing landscape in Asia-Pacific are being reshaped by a confluence of factors ranging from emerging technologies to shifting consumer behaviours and evolving regulatory frameworks.

In this era of digital acceleration and heightened connectivity, the very fabric of marketing is undergoing a profound evolution, where traditional boundaries are blurred, and new frontiers beckon. As brands endeavour to navigate this intricate web of opportunities and challenges, the imperative to anticipate and adapt to the evolving needs and preferences of consumers has never been more compelling.

As part of MARKETECH APAC’s “What’s NEXT”, our dedicated thought leadership series is back–unravelling the threads of innovation, cultural nuance, and strategic foresight that weave together the tapestry of this diverse and dynamic marketplace. From the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) to both creative and enterprise uses, to familiarisation of data-driven strategies amidst the privacy-centric advertising era on the horizon, these are the insights various industry marketing leaders have shared to push forward the regional marketing scene further into 2024 and beyond.

Check out the initial line-up of published insights by marketing leaders under the series:

For our inaugural What’s NEXT thought leadership piece, Sudipto Das, Vice President, Advertiser Solutions, APAC at PubMatic, shared his thoughts on the future of programmatic supply chain, which means rethinking the supply chain which in turn will create new opportunities for differentiation and value creation for the industry. Check out the full article here for more insights.

In this piece by Billy Loizou, Area VP, APAC, Amperity, he notes how executives who genuinely buy into the process of digital transformation are more likely to facilitate change effectively and communicate its benefits to their teams. Check out his byline here on how these priorities are essential for guiding organisations toward a successful and adaptive future.

From free ad streaming TV’s (FAST) exponential growth to the impact of AI in advertising, check out this comprehensive byline here from various industry leaders from Nexxen and read some of their insights at some strategic shifts poised to define the year ahead.

This byline from Jennie Johnson, Head of Marketing, GrabAds, details how brands in Southeast Asia can effectively serve as the ideal companion travellers need in their pursuit of an authentic, superior travel experience – both right now and in the future. Check out her byline here.

From the long-anticipated shift from third-party cookies to first-party data to the harnessing of AI and the evolution of e-commerce, these are the trends that will help shape the future of brand connection, according to this byline from Harley Ramien, Director for Asia Pacific at Bonzai.

Sathya Anand, Digital Strategy Director at Iris Singapore, shares his actionable insights in this piece here on how CMOs and marketing leaders must step back, create a martech framework that works for them and be the person to champion it at their organisation.

Marketers who have spent years trying to ‘win’ the organic search engine visibility game may feel understandably crestfallen by this latest disruption, and have to adapt and innovate their search marketing strategies once again to meet a new set of parameters. Worry no more, because Gary Cheung, General Manager of NP Digital Hong Kong & Taiwan offers his actionable insights to win online search this year in this piece.

For Matt Tindale, Head of Enterprise APAC, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn, the future of work that B2B marketers should note of, ranging from the implementation of AI across enterprises, the continued importance of measurement framework, and focusing on more human-centric approaches in building consumer trust. Check out his insights here.

In this byline from Killian Menigot, Senior Production Manager, Tokyo, Nexxen Studios, shares the various benefits of data-driven, in-stream video ads for publishers and advertisers. Check out the article here to learn more about how these types of ads not only offer publishers a robust tool for monetisation but also pave the way for viewers to experience advertising that is both engaging and tailored to their preferences. 

With AI now being used to improve every aspect of DOOH advertising, from targeting and personalisation to creative development and measurement, Divya Acharya, Vice President, Solutions Design & Development & Marketing Science, APAC, at GroupM Nexus, shares how ambitions of the AI-focused businesses being formed today will likely drive this growth in the years to come in her piece here.

On this piece by Shahid Nizami, VP, Sales, APAC at Braze, he imparted advice for marketers on how effectively tapping into the power of first-party data starts with creating a unified customer view, as well as how data agility enables a brand’s data to move at the speed of its business. Check out more of his insights here.

Amidst a relentless expansion of digital platforms and the ever-evolving landscape of consumer behaviours have escalated the battle for attention, compelling brands need to redefine their marketing strategies and carve out distinctive identities. Shant Oknayan, Vice President, Asia, Oceania & Africa, TikTok Global Business Solutions, imparts his insights on encouraging brands to instil a creative bravery mindset in their modern marketing strategies this year. Learn more of his advice here.

While consumers’ needs have not undergone drastic shifts, the evolving dynamics of how retailers meet these consumer needs constitute a dynamic blend of art and science. For Lee Soon Yean, Country Manager, Malaysia, Adyen, adaptability is key for long-term success in the ever-changing retail landscape. Check out more of his retail-centric insights in this piece here.

In this piece from Jonathan Reeve, Vice President APAC, Eagle Eye, he imparts actionable insights on how the subscription-based model, despite its continuing popularity, its competitive edge will come from brands that efficiently and effectively execute it in partnership with specialised and experienced solutions providers who excel at optimising these programs. Check out his detailed insights on the topic on his byline here.

While most advertisers think about third-party cookies in the context of targeting, they are used across a variety of tools that span data collection, audience segmentation, data onboarding, and, most importantly, measurement. For Peter Ibarra, Head of Adtech Solutions, Amperity, brands that have left the cookie-centric environment are experiencing a competitive advantage and will continue to do so since most of the industry has not shifted their reliance on 3P cookies. Learn more about this in his byline here.

Taj Samson, Executive Director, Brand Performance, APAC, Landor, shared how a strategic and comprehensive implementation process, following the outlined steps, enables organisations to navigate the data deluge purposefully, ensuring valuable insights translate into tangible improvements and sustained success in the dynamic world of marketing. Learn more of how marketers can navigate the sea of data in this piece here.

‘What’s NEXT 2024 Thought Leadership Series’ is part of the ‘What’s NEXT 2023-2024 Series’, which gathers marketing and industry leaders in APAC to share their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year. If you would like to be a part of this initiative, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Singapore – Visa has announced the opening of its transformed Singapore Innovation Center, a dedicated space for partners, clients and businesses in Asia-Pacific. For the company, this space enables stakeholders to engage with Visa technologists to co-create payments solutions ahead of demand, deliver scalable innovation, and address the biggest challenges and opportunities in digital payments in the region.

The Visa Singapore Innovation Center represents Visa’s vision of shaping tomorrow’s payments possibilities. Showcasing the transformative power of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) in retail and payments, and reimagining modern credentials for enhanced security and convenience.

Moreover, it also serves as a springboard for thought leadership in decentralised and embedded finance, offering tailored solutions for businesses and fostering innovative collaborations with startups.

The Singapore Innovation Center is part of Visa’s network of eight regional innovation centres worldwide. It plays a pivotal role in driving regional payments innovation in Asia, addressing the local market needs of Visa’s Asia-Pacific clients, and ultimately driving forward the company’s global mission and strategy to deliver innovative, future-proof and secure payments that enable individuals, businesses and economies to thrive.

Stephen Karpin, president for Asia-Pacific at Visa, said, “At Visa, we’re bringing ideas to life in a way that’s truly unique to the Singapore Innovation Center, a dynamic hub where we transform innovative concepts into practical solutions. We’re dedicated to helping businesses discover valuable insights early so they continue to stay ahead in the rapidly digitalising payments landscape.”

He added, “By combining our expertise with cutting-edge technology and solution architecture, we work alongside our partners to materialise solutions that address payment challenges, driving real business value and growth for our client.”

Meanwhile, Png Cheong Boon, chairman at Singapore Economic Development Board, commented, “The Visa Singapore Innovation Center deepens the longstanding partnership between Visa and Singapore, and enables Visa to tap into our vibrant innovation ecosystem to develop new solutions and create new business opportunities for the global market. We look forward to strengthening and expanding this close partnership with Visa and also hope to encourage more global companies to undertake such activities in Singapore.”

Singapore – Kargo has announced the launch of its new proprietary service ‘CORE’ (Create Once, Run Everywhere) in APAC. This solution is built on creative science and empowers advertisers to easily use their creative assets across screens for seamless campaign performance at scale. 

A combination of creativity and technology, CORE empowers brands to reach their audience at the right time, in the right environment, and on the right screen. Kargo originally launched CORE in APAC for video and has now expanded the offering with a cross-screen enhanced pre-roll that runs across mobile, tablet, desktop, OTT and CTV. 

Kargo is also adding creative capabilities including its popular mobile-only ad formats, such as Runway for desktop and tablet with adhesion, in-article, and outstream formats to follow. This means that advertisers can now create once and run enhanced video and display ad formats seamlessly on both desktop and mobile devices, maximising efficiency and impact.

As well as driving creative consistency, Kargo CORE has a range of other benefits including easy activation through direct PMP and programmatic guaranteed channels. Brands can also get extended reach on their preferred device with the ability to retarget users with a personalised experience to build stronger brand-customer relationships. 

Lastly, Kargo’s offering enables brands to optimise campaigns and analyse performance to ensure resources are directed to the most effective channels, reducing waste.

Robert Leach, general manager for APAC at Kargo, said, “According to IPSOS 75% of a campaign’s success is driven by creativity. But as consumers flip through devices, maintaining cross-screen consistency with memorable ads is a necessity. So, given the high costs and lengthy turnaround times, how can brands tackle this task? The answer lies with Kargo’s newly expanded CORE creative suite.

He added, “Advertisers in APAC will see higher performance against their goals with our CORE offering, which makes it easy to run creative from a single campaign across different channels and screens. Our creative science innovation provides the perfect combination of automation and innovation to help advertisers cut through the clutter and achieve success.”

Manila, Philippines – Global marketing and communications company Stagwell has added Octopus&Whale, a Philippines-based game and brand experience design agency, to its growing Global Affiliate Network to bolster full-service and specialty digital solutions for clients across Asia-Pacific.

The partnership comes as Stagwell accelerates its commitment to growth across Asia, anchored by its regional offices in Singapore and Malaysia, and over 25 affiliate partners in Asia to date.

This partnership also coincides with Octopus&Whale’s fourth year, having expanded its client base to include some of the Philippines’ most iconic names in business, such as SM, Meralco, NutriAsia, Unilab, and Philippine Airlines.

As the country’s only brand experience agency with a focus on gaming, they aim to complement the full-service of creative, media and digital services offered by Stagwell.

Talking about the partnership, Joey David Tiempo, founder and CEO of Octopus&Whale, said, “Through our partnership with Stagwell, we see endless opportunities to amplify our creative vision and reach untapped markets that could benefit from our specialty digital capabilities. We are excited to collaborate with other players in this tech-first network and be the guide for businesses who want to explore the gaming space.”

Meanwhile, Randy Duax, managing director, Asia-Pacific for Stagwell, commented, “Tiempo and the entire Octopus&Whale team strive to exceed client needs while pushing boundaries across immersive experiences. We’re pleased to partner with them and bring their expertise in the fast-growing gaming and experience space to larger clients in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.”

This addition of Octopus&Whale serves to reinforce Stagwell’s offering of agile global solutions for clients, with Stagwell further aiming to partner with more regional experts to scale marketing capabilities to new regions.

Manila, Philippines – Despite the fact that a majority of marketers in Asia-Pacific recognise the use of advertising verification tools in their work, a new report from DoubleVerify notes that it is still not ‘always on’ across marketers in the region, with only 1 out of 3 stating they use it on an ad-hoc basis.

This is despite the fact that the report highlighted that 91% of APAC marketers agreeing that it is important to do so to drive performance in digital advertising, and 98% of marketers using ad verification tools in their campaigns.

It also noted that a significant portion of marketers surveyed failed to evaluate digital media buys against core quality metrics, with only 17% evaluating critical effectiveness indicators like brand suitability, viewability, fraud, or if the ad was served in the intended geography.

The report also highlighted the evolving role of social media and the rise of retail media. It noted that social media has evolved from being a platform for connection to a channel that reinforces integral touchpoints of the commerce journey – with Filipino users utilizing social media for brand and product discovery (43%), brand and product research (56%), and product purchase (13%). 

Moreover, it noted that social media has evolved from being a platform for connection to a channel that reinforces integral touchpoints of the commerce journey – with Filipino users utilizing social media for brand and product discovery (43%), brand and product research (56%), and product purchase (13%).

With this in mind, super-apps are also a big phenomenon at the moment, where local commerce marketplaces, such as Grab, Lazada, and Shopee, have grown in popularity as discovery channels, beating out traditional platforms like Google Search. Marketers agree with the rising significance of retail media with 99% of APAC marketers planning to increase retail media spend over the next 12 months. 

The report also noted that almost 70% of consumers in Southeast Asia spend more time consuming content online each day. As many as 98% of marketers surveyed said they use attention metrics measurement tools to evaluate digital media purchases; however, traditional metric measurements alone are not enough.

Lastly, technology continues to evolve, as does the advertising industry, marked by the presence of digital advertising (in the 2000s), programmatic (in the 2010s), and artificial intelligence (in the 2020s). At the same time, developments in AI will have a far-reaching impact on the advertising industry; in particular, the predictive capabilities of machine learning to optimise ad performance in various areas. 

Steph King, senior sales director for Southeast Asia at DoubleVerify said, “Effective digital advertising requires not only intent but also targeted action. The DoubleVerify study in Asia Pacific illuminates the critical need for marketers to align their goals with comprehensive media quality measurement practices, ensuring that every campaign resonates with integrity and impact. Amidst the vast opportunities for digital ad spending growth in Asia Pacific, advertisers, including those in the Philippines, face the critical task of safeguarding their investments through continuous verification across all channels. Media quality serves as the cornerstone of every campaign.” 

Meanwhile, Tinee Cruz, senior sales director for Philippines at DoubleVerify, commented, “The digital ecosystem in the Philippines is experiencing unprecedented growth, particularly in the evolving role of social media. With the proliferation of digital channels and platforms, advertisers are presented with unparalleled opportunities to connect with target audiences, yet they also face the challenge of navigating an increasingly fragmented digital landscape. Ensuring media quality, anchored on brand suitability and authenticity, is essential for aligning digital ads with the brand’s values and image, thereby enhancing credibility and trust. DoubleVerify’s APAC research report aims to provide the necessary data and insights to empower marketers in raising the standards of media quality.”

Manila, Philippines – With the majority of today’s businesses embracing the use of AI, it is no surprise that AI has placed itself as something that will be staying and breaking through even further in the field of customer engagement. Furthermore, in an industry where the demand for AI is consistently escalating, leveraging it to enhance customer engagement is now seen as a vital requirement for businesses to prosper in the digital era.

To help marketers unlock the potential of AI in customer engagement at a time when it matters the most, MARKETECH APAC returned with an exclusive webinar last January 24 titled “What’s NEXT 2024: Customer Engagement in Asia”, which aimed to impart valuable insights to marketers on how to properly integrate AI with customer engagement.

Kicking things off, Ranya Arora, senior strategic business consultant at Braze, highlighted in her keynote presentation that this impact brought about by AI in marketing has led businesses and marketers to adapt alongside it, with the emergence of AI-dedicated marketing teams as well as the prevalence of AI-powered campaigns, all to ensure personalised and streamlined experiences that greatly reinforce customer satisfaction and loyalty.

According to Arora, the significant rate at which marketing has adopted and integrated with AI has now transformed it into something that it is synonymous with, with 76% of CMOs saying that generative AI will change the way that marketing operates.

For her, there are three key roles of AI in customer engagement that marketers should focus on; (1) drive more relevance by making experiences feel personal on every channel by tailoring content to each customer based on their preferences, attributes, and behaviours, (2) drive more effectiveness by automatically testing and optimising campaigns for their best-performing version, and (3) drive more efficiency to assist with routine tasks to allot more time towards formulating strategies and creative approaches.

Meanwhile, Jia Ling Lim, assistant head of marketing and partnerships at BeLive Technology; Rolly Pane, managing director for Indonesia at Clozette; Saniya Dhingra Agarwal, head of customer experience at foodpanda Singapore; and Chris Martin Alarcon, head of content and community management at Home Credit Philippines also provided their industry insights on the benefits that AI can bring to enhance customer engagement strategies in a panel discussion.

The marketing leaders, from different industries and countries, also provided advice on how AI can be leveraged for following customer behaviour and personalisation through data insights, how to overcome obstacles in the process of utilising AI for customer engagement, as well as its future potential.

To sum it all up, the insights imparted by the webinar served as a guide for marketers to properly settle and get into utilising AI tools more effectively to improve their customer engagement strategies, paving the way for businesses and brands to flourish with the assistance of AI.

The webinar, titled What’s NEXT 2024: Customer Engagement in Asia is made in partnership with customer engagement platform Braze. It garnered over 100 participants all across Asia from prominent brands such as 2GO, Bounty Fresh, Carousell, Johnson & Johnson, Mercedes Benz, and Shiseido, amongst many more.
   
If you missed going to the event, you may register HERE to obtain your on-demand access.

Singapore – Singapore-based consumer engagement company Wootag has officially introduced ‘Intent’, its new behavioural AI platform which aims to influence consumer behaviour in the cookie-less era, redefining consumer engagement and providing marketers with a platform for precise personalization and targeted strategies.

Crafted with a user-centric approach, Intent promises improved consumer engagement by influencing consumer behaviour through its streamlined behavioural data streams-gathering platform.

Designed interactions prompt meaningful responses from the audience, allowing the platform to efficiently stream and build data models into a robust behavioural dataset enriched with unique identifiers, location, and many more parameters. This stream of behavioural data is seamlessly transmitted to the intent dashboard, enabling real-time analysis and continuous optimization.

Embracing a data-driven advertising (DAD) strategy, the platform empowers advertisers to create highly engaging content that resonates with their audience by leveraging advanced generative algorithms and combining creativity and precision to set a new standard for AI-driven engagement.

Furthermore, Intent takes centre stage by giving businesses an efficient means to navigate the evolving digital landscape with unprecedented efficiency, offering a transformative approach to audience engagement.

In a strategic collaboration, Wootag’s Intent platform partnered with L’Oreal Professional and Wavemaker on its Scalp Advance campaign in India, where L’Oreal Professional focused on personalised solutions for diverse scalp and hair concerns across India’s varied geographical and cultural landscape.

The campaign navigated through the complexities of consumer behaviours, employing strategic audience segmentation and ad sizing. Using the advanced generative algorithms of Intent, the campaign achieved success with a 3 times uplift in engagement, increased brand awareness, and a 76% surge in audience attention.

Singapore – SEEK has announced its successful merging with Jobstreet and Jobsdb, allowing the parent company of both online career platforms to serve as a single platform, with the goal of offering an enhanced job and talent seeking experience. 

Powered by SEEK’s technology, the unified platform brings new AI-powered advancements to the Jobstreet and Jobsdb platforms in Asia, aimed at bringing together talents and employers across the APAC region to connect more of the right people with the right work.

For employers, the new platform deploys AI models to assess talent suitability and provide highly personalised recommendations by processing data from various sources, including resumes, job ad descriptions and the employer’s past behaviours to make the hiring process faster and more efficient.

To enhance the job-hunting process for talent, the platform now easily matches them to AI-recommended jobs they are most qualified for based on their experience and skills. With a larger dataset acquired across APAC, SEEK’s AI algorithms can provide even more precise and relevant matches between employers and talent. 

In moving to a unified marketplace platform, SEEK can also now scale its use of data-driven insight, product testing and innovation at pace. 

Additionally, SEEK has also introduced a new natural language search feature on its Jobstreet platform which will be rolled out for 2024. This innovation allows talent to submit job queries using simple phrases or complete sentences on the platform, so they do not need to rely solely on keyword phrases. Powered by a large language model (LLM), the feature enables a search experience that is more organic and appealing to jobseekers.

Talking about the integration, Peter Bithos, chief executive officer for Asia at SEEK, said, “At SEEK, everything we do revolves around our customers. One unified platform means we can now offer our product to millions of people across Asia in an entirely new way, so that our customers can find jobs and talent more easily. This puts us in a stronger position, more than ever before, to realise our ambition of helping 500 million people develop their careers with five million companies in the region.” 

Meanwhile, Dannah Majarocon​, managing director for Philippines at Jobstreet by SEEK, commented, “We are excited to facilitate more tailored job matches between employers and talent, powered by SEEK’s AI technology to continue providing jobs to every Filipino. The new Jobstreet by SEEK platform can now seamlessly match them based on specific skills, job roles, and career aspirations is crucial in the Philippines’ highly dynamic and evolving employment landscape.”

SEEK’s unification of its employment marketplaces comes 10 years after it acquired Jobstreet and Jobsdb, following three years of development and an estimated AUD$180 million investment.