Tag: Asia Pacific

Sydney, Australia – The popular tech and media event South by Southwest (SXSW) is making its debut in Asia-Pacific through SXSW Sydney 2023, and the event has appointed regional agency partners ahead of the event, which will happen in October this year.

Collaborating with the festival since the initial Australian announcement last year, Present Company take the lead on brand, creative and social, while Thinking Loud are managing the PR across culture, music, and gaming media. Organic Pacific are working in conjunction with Thinking Loud, and are responsible for Australian screen, business, and technology media. 

Globally, Organic international teams will manage domestic US and European communications, with Red Havas Singapore acting as the PR lead for the Asian markets.

SXSW Sydney is a week-long event where tech and innovation, games, music, and screen industries will converge with culture for unexpected discoveries. From a grassroots start in Austin Texas in 1987 to a new, second home in Sydney, SXSW Sydney is set to be a new experience for the event’s 37-year run.

Colin Daniels, managing director of SXSW Sydney said, “SXSW has a 37-year history as the unmissable industry conference and showcase for innovators and creative leaders. In October the event will land in Sydney, Australia for the first of what will be a vibrant annual event for the harbour city.” 

He added, “The undertaking of producing an event of the cultural importance of SXSW Sydney, and the global scale, requires an international team of experts, and we couldn’t ask for better partners than the pros at Present Company, Thinking Loud, Organic and Red Havas to support our goals.”  

Singapore – Global e-commerce platform Amazon has launched European Expansion Accelerator (EEA) that allow active sellers to expand their business to nine EU stores through easier listing of products in all EU and UK stores whilst giving customers access to millions of products.

Through EEA, Amazon selling partners can access one page in seller central, discover the stores they are not yet selling in, and click to expand. Seller’s account registration, set-up, translations, listing, shipping setup, product eligibility checks and catalogue customisations will be executed within three business days. 

Moreover, EEA helps the sellers to reduce their time in navigating several different tools whilst running in multiple European stores. They can expand one store at a time or across all nine EU and UK stores at once. 

In addition, the new system will help in expansion of products through store-specific recommendations. It uses the selling partner’s preferences from their main store, replicating the same information across different stores.

For customers, they will be benefiting from the new products with attractive prices and faster delivery options.

Xavier Flamand, vice president of seller services at Europe, said that this new offer serves as their solution for their selling partners to grow and offer new products to Amazon customers in multiple stores.

“We’re pleased to be able to now offer this two-click step to sellers in Europe so that they can expand their businesses with Amazon,” Flamand added.

European Expansion Accelerator is free and available for all professional selling partners who already sell in at least one of Amazon Europe stores located in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Belgium and the UK.

Hong Kong – To promote the growth of quick commerce in Hong Kong, delivery platform foodpanda has launched a 24/7 pandamart O2O concept store in the country, which is also its first O2O concept store in the Asia-Pacific region.

The said concept store specifically located at Sai Ying Pun district adopts an omnichannel retail strategy blended with online and offline channel integration.

The store contains a wide range of fresh and seasonal produced frozen foods and drinks. Moreover, customers can enjoy the “HOT PICKS” section which features the best-selling products every month to enhance their O2O shopping journey and brand experience.

In addition, customers can instantly place an order for desired products in the store using the foodpanda app and can pick up their order within 5-10 minutes.

Aside from Hong Kong, the concept store was also introduced in Singapore.

Ryan Lai, chief executive officer at foodpanda Hong Kong, said that they are looking forward for the positive impact of the concept store to support the growth of their wider ecosystem whilst enhancing the customer journey as it creates more immersive experiences for the customers.

“foodpanda has always been committed to supporting local brands, including the local agriculture community. We hope to leverage our influence to act as a bridge between consumers and local farms, thus promoting the importance and fostering the growth of local agriculture and aquaculture through the expansion of their retail channels,” Darren Luk, director of quick commerce at foodpanda, added.

This month, foodpanda has also launched ‘bekal by foodpanda’ in Malaysia with which users can now avail of halal food item deliveries.

Singapore – Popular coffeehouse chain Starbucks has announced that it is scaling its Greener Store program across Asia-Pacific in order to set benchmarks for the company regarding its environmental responsibility.

Five Greener Stores across Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are amongst the first in the Asia Pacific region to be certified, with over 20 more expected in 2023. With over 3,500 ‘Greener Stores’ certified across 20 markets, Starbucks is on a path towards achieving its goal of 10,000 Greener Stores total by 2025

The new Greener Stores in the Asia Pacific region help reduce Starbucks environmental impact through performance-based standards that incorporate design and extend throughout the life of a store. Each Greener Store has a unique combination of sustainable features that qualify for third-party verification on a quarterly basis. 

This ranges from features like energy and water efficient equipment and appliances, low-emitting paints and sealants, Grounds for Your Garden program, as well as energy efficient HVAC temperature systems and more. Additionally, the new Greener Stores in Asia include elements that go beyond the standard to deliver more robust energy, carbon, water, and waste reductions. 

In support of Starbucks’ goals of reducing carbon, water, and waste footprints by 2030, the open-source Greener Stores Framework was co-developed with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The framework includes a set of 25 performance-based standards across environmental impact areas such as energy efficiency, water stewardship, and waste diversion, designed to accelerate the transformation of retail towards lower-impact stores. 

Michael Kobori, chief sustainability officer at Starbucks, said that they are excited to continue expanding their Greener Store portfolio worldwide, which is a key step towards reaching their resource positive goals.

He also added that they have already seen results of their Greener Stores in the United States where they first piloted, as well as seeing significant reductions in energy use as well as water being saved.

“With a company of Starbucks scale – any one action, no matter how small, has the potential for massive impact. We are heartened by our partners around the world who are stepping up to adopt our Greener Store standards. This is testament of their energy and passion for sustainability that continues to drive our innovation,” Kobori said.

Singapore – InMobi, a leading provider of content, marketing, and monetization technologies, has announced the appointment of Susannah Llewellyn as its vice president of agency partnerships for Asia Pacific to drive its strategic growth with key media agency partners whilst holding companies in the region.

Llewellyn brings with her an experience working across media, technology and digital space. Before joining InMobi, she worked as business agency director at Google. She has also served as international and regional business director at media agency MEC.

Rishi Bedi, managing director for Asia Pacific at InMobi, said that Llewellyn is appropriate for the role due to her adtech and agency background, which is an advantage to drive their growth in APAC through localised go-to-market strategies across our global platforms.

“My depth of experience across the various facets of the media industry including AdTech, agency, and digital marketing will bring valuable insight to my new role at InMobi,” Llewellyn added.

Last month, InMobi also named Aditya Varadarajan as its regional head of the newly expanded Microsoft business in Southeast Asia.

Singapore – Social and media intelligence firm Meltwater has announced that its Meltwater Enterprise Intelligence Suite is available for brands and agencies in Asia-Pacific. The enterprise suite features integrated data and AI-based insights to help businesses drive decision-making.

The solution provides a unified view of datasets across sources, including media, user-generated content, influencer metrics, business intelligence, and first-party data.

Moreover, the offering also include combining Meltwater’s data with first-party and third-party datasets for expanded insights, controlling how users visualise key metrics and communicate data via Meltwater’s active display and custom dashboards, as well as going beyond traditional PR and marketing measurements to gain deeper insights into the quality of coverage and message penetration.

As part of its enterprise push, Meltwater has appointed new senior leadership to drive value for brands in their data journey across Southeast Asia, Japan and South Asia. Ramnath Bojeesh steps into the newly created role of enterprise area director for Southeast Asia & Japan to build out the enterprise business in the region, while Li Li Chua, joins the company as customer success director for APAC to lead customer success.

David Hickey, executive director for Asia-Pacific at Meltwater, said, “In a world where analytics and dashboards are key to insights and driving business outcomes, the veracity of data will define the winners. With Meltwater’s enterprise innovations, brands get deeper, bespoke insights, unified data from multiple sources, and customised data delivery so that they can focus on what matters the most – identifying customer needs.”

He added, “It’s an exciting time to be doing business in Asia Pacific and we’re thrilled to be adding enterprise leaders with a proven track record join us as Meltwater navigates its next, important phase of growth.”

Meltwater has recently added Genting Malaysia, One Championship, TBWA Philippines, and Sumitomo to its client roster. 

Singapore – Marriott Bonvoy, the loyalty program of hospitality company Marriott International, has appointed Grey Group Singapore as its social media agency for Asia-Pacific, excluding China.

Through the social media mandate, Grey Singapore will promote Marriott Bonvoy’s brand promise through engaging social content, while offering strategic counsel and guidance on brand strategy. 

The account will be led by Shawn Low, head of social at Grey Singapore. Low has deep knowledge in the travel sector, having previously worked for global travel brand Lonely Planet. He also co-founded a London-based travel tech company Firef.ly.

Speaking on this new agency win, he said, “Marriott Bonvoy is one of the world’s best travel loyalty programs that covers an impressive portfolio of 30 brands across the globe. With nearly 8,300 properties in its portfolio and countless bars and restaurants, the brand literally has something for almost every traveller. We are passionate about making Marriott’s presence on social media felt through innovative and captivating content.”

Meanwhile, Nick Barger, senior director of media for APEC at Marriott International said, “As travel stages its triumphant return in 2023, travellers are reignited to deepen their experiences and explore more destinations. With 30 extraordinary hotel brands and endless experiences, Marriott Bonvoy’s mission on social media is to share the stories of good travel through inspiring and engaging content.” 

He added, “Grey’s strong vision in elevating Marriott Bonvoy through innovative and impactful content stood out and fit perfectly with our creative approach. We are excited for this partnership to further strengthen our storytelling to inspire travel in APEC and beyond.”

The new agency win comes after the recent merger of Grey Singapore and Grey Malaysia in 2022.

Irene Wong, CEO of Grey Group Singapore and Malaysia, said, “We’re excited to embark on this journey with Marriott Bonvoy. As restrictions loosen and travel resumes, we are committed to fulfilling Marriott’s purpose of connecting people through the power of travel. This win also further reaffirms Grey’s belief in the importance of creativity in connecting a brand to its audience.”

Singapore – Whether navigating a hybrid, virtual, or purely physical work set-up, attaining work-life balance will always be a challenge for employees. This is why beer brand Heineken, which can be considered a mainstay in workers’ happy hours, has launched a simple but true-to-point ad about the struggle of employees to be ‘present’ in their social lives. 

In collaboration with advertising agency Le Pub APAC, the beer brand’s 48-second clip titled ‘The Ghosted Bar’ shows a group of friends having a fun time at a bar. Shortly after, paranormal activities take place where glasses of beer move on their own as well as a chair – with no person on it – sliding from one place to another. Towards the end, it is revealed that the movements are indeed manoeuvres of their friend who is currently stuck at the office but is still present in spirit – as a ghost – amongst them. 

And as if the brief narrative couldn’t get more exciting, it is graced by Heineken ambassador, Korean actor Park Hyung Sik. In the end, the beer brand reminds to don’t ghost your friends and to work responsibly.

Prior to releasing the ad, Park Hyung Sik shared an Instagram video of the said spooky encounters which served as a teaser for the said campaign. It seemed to have piqued fans’ curiosity with it garnering more than 4 million views in 24 hours.

Bram Westenbrink, global head at Heineken Brand, said that Heineken has always encouraged socialisation and healthy human connections where workers have a balanced social and leisure time.

“We’re thrilled to bring this platform to Singapore and Malaysia as a reminder to leave your duties on time and not let your social life fall behind,” Westenbrink added.

Bruno Bertelli, global CEO of Le Pub, added, “Heineken’s Ghosted Bar campaign reminds us to leave the office after an honest day at work to live your social life at its fullest. This is what #WorkResponsibly is all about.”

Park Hyung Sik also expressed his thoughts, saying that employees must enjoy social life and not let work impede their leisure time.

“Through this meaningful project by Heineken, we want to encourage employees to start working responsibly,” said the Korean actor.

‘The Ghosted Bar’ is, in fact, partially attributed to findings by a YouGov study which revealed that almost half of the employees in Singapore and Malaysia are guilty of ‘ghosting’ their friends. 

This latest campaign by the brand is the third ad released under its #WorkResponsibly campaign. It follows the launch of The Closer and The Office Cleaners which were both unveiled in 2022.

Singapore – Mandai Wildlife Group, an organisation that advocates for wildlife conservation, and travel and experiences platform Klook has sealed a three-year strategic partnership to attract more international visitors to the Mandai Wildlife Reserve, the integrated wildlife and nature precinct home to Singapore’s wildlife parks.

With Klook’s digital marketing and social content capabilities and strength in Asia-Pacific, this deal will target the growing millennial and gen Z from the markets of Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and South Korea. 

Mandai and Klook will co-develop regional marketing campaigns and curate bundles and activities for discerning international visitors. These efforts will help in making Mandai Wildlife Reserve as a top-of-mind destination in Singapore.

Moreover, the collaboration will focus on raising awareness of wildlife conservation efforts and take actions for sustainable living to benefit the people, wildlife, nature and the entire planet.

Jean Choi, chief sales and marketing officer at Mandai Wildlife Group, said that the group is looking for new ways to engage travellers in the region especially from their top markets. Choi added that they aim to be culturally relevant to working adults and youth who seeks for new experiences.

Meanwhile, Eric Gnock Fah, chief operating officer & co-founder at Klook, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Mandai Wildlife Group, furthering their ambitions of establishing the Mandai Wildlife Reserve as the region’s go-to destination. Our collaboration reflects our shared values and commitment to responsible tourism and protecting the planet and its wildlife.”

The first marquee campaign for the partnership will kick off with the soft opening of Singapore’s new bird park at the Mandai Wildlife Reserve, Bird Paradise on 8 May, Singapore Zoo’s 50th anniversary or Golden ZOObilee, and a series of mini-events to encourage young couples to go on memorable dates at the Mandai Wildlife Reserve.

Asia Pacific – Global brand experience agency VMLY&R has announced the promotion of Paul Nagy as its chief creative officer for Asia-Pacific region. He previously served as the chief creative officer for Australia and New Zealand.

In his new role, Nagy will be responsible for overseeing 21 offices across ten countries in Asia and ANZ whilst strengthening the agency’s client partnerships. He will also help in creating deeper connections between brands and their audiences through storytelling and creative innovation. 

Nagy brings with him experience working on creative campaigns. Before joining VMLY&R in 2018, he also assumed the chief creative officer position at Y&R Group Australia, one part of the merged latter. 

Yi-Chung Tay, CEO at VMLY&R Asia, said that they are excited to work with Nagy with his new role because they have seen his ability and consistency in bringing substantial impact to the agency.

Meanwhile, Thomas Tearle, CEO at VMLY&R ANZ, added, “Our momentum as a network is down in no small way to Paul’s energy. His unique perspective of combining creative excellence and innovation to solve client challenges coupled with his wonderfully infectious personality is such a great asset.”

Nagy commented, “My job is a simple one – support the amazing talent we have in our network and let them be the best they can be. I’m incredibly lucky to work with such a talented team across Australia and New Zealand, and I’m already impressed with the capability and firepower we have across the rest of Asia.”

VMLY&R’s recent appointments also include Didi Pirinyuang as its new chief creative officer for Malaysia. 

Previously, MARKETECH APAC got a chance to speak with Thomas Tearle, CEO of VMLY&R ANZ, as part of the Agency Leadership Decoded series. In it, Tearle shared how the agency creates success from within to achieve its mission of ‘creating connected brands.’