Tag: Hong Kong

Hong Kong – HGC Global Communications (HGC) has launched its retail ICT (information, communications, and technology) solution to cater to the needs of SME retailers in making their digital transformation strategy easier, especially as enterprise activity has been greatly affected by the pandemic.

An initial offering by the network company is making retailers stay connected to their customers, including Whatsapp+ service and automated chatbots for the retailer’s online chat system.

Furthermore, the new offering also aids SMEs in creating their online shop from scratch, including marketplace tools such as inventory management, trade reports, and analysis, as well as support for multiple payment methods.

Lastly, the digital offering allows retailers, more specifically in the catering industry,  to practice electronic point of sale (ePOS) systems. The system supports digital menus, enabling customers to use their smartphones to order and pay for meals. This can reduce the necessary manpower and limit mistaken orders, so restaurants can deploy staff more flexibly and efficiently. 

“SMEs are facing various challenges running their business in the midst of the pandemic. Even so, this presents retailers with an important opportunity to optimize their business operations. HGC strives to stand by SMEs at this critical time. Our Retail ICT solution can efficiently address the difficulties they encounter,” said Joe Cheong, COO for corporate business & enterprise market at HGC.

He added, “With the professional follow-up and support provided by HGC’s consultant teams, as well as our competitive pricing, we can guide them on a journey of rapid digital transformation to achieve significant improvements in operational efficiency. We hope to ease the pressure on SMEs, empowering them to continue running their business and identifying new business opportunities even during the pandemic.”

In addition to the digital marketplace package, HGC also offers retailers a unified communication solution (HGC UC) that combines business voice and mobile communication, plus other value-added services like mobile video conferencing to fulfill the needs of enterprises operating during the pandemic through a one-stop ICT solution.

Hong Kong – Out-of-home media company Asiaray has partnered up with adtech The Trade Desk and advertising platform Magnite in offering a programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) transactional platform to ease up DOOH media trade across online and offline platforms, benefiting marketers in the process.

The newest partnership is in line with Asiaray’s ongoing Offline and Online New Media Strategy, which seeks creating connection between offline DOOH media and programmatic advertising.

With Magnite’s omnichannel sell-side advertising platform, Asiaray will be able to advertise DOOH billboards in Hong Kong via The Trade Desk, which then provides marketers additional media buying options as well as creating a new channel for Asiaray to reach out to potential online marketers worldwide.

“Given the proliferate growth of DOOH, we are delighted to have secured new programmatic cooperation with two of the world’s major adtech players – Magnite and The Trade Desk. This campaign makes a key milestone for Asiaray’s Offline and Online New Media Strategy, which created a strong connection between offline DOOH media and online advertisement buying,” said Vincent Lam, founder, chairman and executive director of Asiaray.

He also added, “What is more, the cooperation will provide us a chance to reach out to a different group of usual online advertisers, thus to expand our clientele and eventually expand the Group’s penetration in the market. Looking ahead, Asiaray will continue to work closely with our partners to develop even more effective media solutions for advertisers to generate greater value for the campaign.”

The new partnership also entails facilitating advertisers with technology supporting audience segmentation and verification measurement to adopt a flexible way for buying and to help brands to deliver a more targeted, unified and holistic experience to consumers.

“This campaign shows the immense possibilities for buyers when combining a high impact format like DOOH with the automated buying of Programmatic Guaranteed, which still allows flexible targeting but guarantees access to premium inventory. We are proud to have worked with our partners to facilitate this important milestone, and look forward to running more campaigns in the near future,” said Yogesh Sehgal, country manager for Magnite Asia.

On the other hand, Doug Choy, senior director for inventory partnerships at The Trade Desk, said, “In this world of new technologies, programmatic buying in advertising is certainly a growing trend, and The Trade Desk is delighted to partner with Asiaray and Magnite to introduce our first offline media resources. Marketers now have the opportunity to access inventory for DOOH billboards in Hong Kong through our platform, thereby helping them achieve their greater business objectives. In all, we are very excited in our continued partnership with Asiaray as we help advertisers shift to programmatic buying.”

Hong Kong – The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has announced that Anthony Ingham joins the Club as the Executive Director for Membership, Strategic Marketing, and Branding (EDMSMB), where he is set to assume the role at the beginning of 2021. 

The HKJC is a local-based racing club which includes entertainment horse-racing, lottery, sports waging and community-based charity drives.

For the new role,  Ingham will be responsible for creating unique membership experiences, leading its future strategic marketing plans, communicating with key stakeholders, and articulating the Club’s brand. He is also tasked to further strengthen the communication of the Club’s unique integrated business model and its significant contribution to the community.

Prior to this position, he had served as the brand strategist for Marriott International. He was appointed the global head of the hotel chain W Brand in 2015, and served as a brand strategist also for The Luxury Collection Hotels and Resorts in 2018.

He had also worked with the InterContinental Hotels Group, where he served as director for sales and later on as a global director for guest experience.

Ingham will report directly to the Club’s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges.

Hong Kong – Media investment company GroupM is continuing its expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, this time launching INCA, an influencer marketing company, to the Hong Kong market.

With this regional expansion, INCA will then allow brand-influencer partnerships to leverage content-driven campaigns. Furthermore, as more brands are reallocating their influencer marketing budget to social media brand engagement, INCA upholds brand safety across using AI technology leverages.

As a study from data company Nielsen shows that economic and social uncertainties have affected brand advertising by means of audience impact, brands have since then ventured out into strategies that are efficient and will have return of investment in no time. Hence, INCA in Hong Kong aims to provide influencer marketing to the local brands by allowing them to collaborate with genuine influencers in spreading the brand, benefiting Hong Kong-based brands from the leveraging strategies from INCA.

“We are committed to helping brands in Hong Kong create the best possible outcomes through our data-driven and brand-safe approach to influencer marketing. Our AI-powered solutions and thorough influencer and content approval processes ensure their investments in influencer marketing inspire their customers, protect their brands, and achieve results that are directly tied to business results,” said Michael Woo (right of banner picture), associate director for Product & Operations at INCA Hong Kong.

INCA is also allowing brands to check the authenticity of their influential marketing strategies through INCATech, a platform that allows brands to check unique creator and audience insights, workflow tools, content amplification, and detailed campaign reporting dashboards which includes Genuity Score.

Screengrab of INCATech Platform
A screen grab featuring the dashboard of INCA’S INCATech platform that monitors partner influencers (Photo Courtesy of INCA)

“Advertisers are faced with the challenge of finding authentic and relevant content creators while ensuring cost-efficiency in their marketing campaigns. Our technology will help equip advertisers, not only in Hong Kong but globally, with data-driven tools that will connect them to genuine influencers and leading publishers in order to achieve their marketing objectives,” said Andy Chung (left of banner picture), head of programmatic at GroupM. 

Hong Kong – Digital creative agency AnalogFolk announced the launch of Bigup.Ai 2.0, an AI tool that aids to empower women, especially about societal issues and influence-related success. 

Having launched a beta version in the past eight months, the agency said the AI tool features a much bolder and visually-appealing interphase.. Concept questions such as “Tell us about a strength?” act as motivation starters, and can be improved or “bigged up” by using more confident and assertive language. The AI tool also features a quote suite, updated by the AnalogFolk team. Topics such as job rejection and COVID-19 burnout are covered, all with a positive note. The quote suite can be accessed through Analogfolk’s social media pages and their own Pinterest board.

The tool, which is developed by  Microsoft LUIS Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning technology, ‘reads’ skills found on the user’s uploaded CV and analyzes it to deliver a more expressive and assertive personal brand for the user.

Anna-Louise Gladwell, managing director at AnalogFolk and leader of the Bigup.Ai 2.0 development, commented that tool’s development is a response to many women in their leadership and work roles feeling ‘small’ due to failures of getting a new job, and hopes that the tool will aid such women to boost their professional image and their overall persona.

“COVID-19 has exacerbated a systemic social issue of female confidence, self-promotion and career advancement. So BigUp.AI is here to remind women of their value and help them find the words to express it,” Gladwell stated.

For Chris Ryan, managing partner at AnalogFolk Asia, the recent tool launch speaks about gender gap issues such as pay gap across Asia, and should be improved in every way possible.

“We feel that with more confidence and assertiveness, that picture can change in the months and years to come, starting with how women talk about themselves. AI is a powerful tool which can help to support this,” Ryan commented.

Created by an all-women team in the course of eight months, AnalogFolk’s newest AI tool launch coincides with the International Women’s Day 2020, and hopes to create more tools in the near future for women empowerment.

Hong Kong – Amid the normalized work-from-home setting among businesses and employees during the pandemic, APAC workspace provider The Executive Centre (TEC) has released a campaign reminding people of the perks that workers can enjoy only within a company-managed office. 

The almost four-minute video centers around the message “good to leave, even better to come back,” with it running a number of scenes, comparing how different activities are done between a remote set-up and an office, emphasizing how the latter have ready assistance – whether through a colleague or a provided technology – to carry out work tasks.

The fictional ad features four characters in their first day back to work. The ad shone on the irreplaceable benefits such as proper coffee, better and clearer collaboration with colleagues, IT services, comfortable ergonomic furniture, and admin support.

TEC Founder and CEO Paul Salnikow shared the company had been inspired to explore how the typical workday has changed after most have been subject to a prolonged work from home setup.

“The pandemic has accelerated the shift to flexible workspaces. We are certain that the office, rather than becoming obsolete, will become an increasingly valuable asset, facilitating collaboration, and driving business growth,” he said.

TEC is headquartered in Hong Kong, offering solutions such as private and shared workspaces, business concierge services, and meeting and conference facilities. Its operations span China, Southeast Asia, North Asia, and India as well as Sri Lanka, the Middle East, and Australia.

Singapore – With a goal towards a larger ad market target, Singapore-based ad-tech company Adzymic has joined hands with branding and ad-tech firms in Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan to bring its full suite of dynamic creative solutions to advertisers. This comes after the company’s  expansion to Australia and India in 2019.

One of the company’s flagship advertisement solutions is the ‘Dynamic Creative Management Platform’ which functions as advertising transformation of physical to digital media, such as banners, carousel ads and social display ads, allowing advertisers to create ads without the need for coding experience. The company also offers a ‘Smart Tag’ technology, which enables advertisers to create personal ads through behavior tracking, machine learning algorithms, and updates.

For Hong Kong and Thailand, the company has officially tied up with Maadtech Global, a programming integrator solutions company, while also partnering with another Thai firm Spikebrand, a branding solutions company. Meanwhile for its Japan expansion, a collaboration has been forged with Atlas Associates, a local-based ad-tech startup focused on social networking site (SNS) management tools.

“Asia is expected to surpass North America as the biggest ad spender globally by 2021. 4 Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand are very exciting for us, both from a creative and growth perspective. They are known for their incredibly creative ads, and together with our partners’ local knowledge and network, we will deliver high impact campaigns with brands and agencies,” said Kenniess Wong, co-founder and executive director of Adzymic.

Adzymic, since its founding, has been involved with large brand partnerships, including DBS, Sony Pictures, Toyota and Esplanade Singapore. 

Hong Kong – Jollibee Group, the company behind Philippine-grown restaurant brands Jollibee, Chowking, and Greenwich has opened Mainland China’s first-ever Tim Ho Wan in Shanghai.

In November 2019, the joint venture between Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) and Tim Ho Wan’s operator Dim Sum Pte. Ltd was formed.

The restaurant has been Michelin-starred and is often dubbed as the cheapest one within such distinction. Its popular dishes include the signature baked BBQ pork buns, rice rolls, pork & shrimp dumplings, and the pan-fried radish cake.

It will be located in integrated development Jing An Kerry Centre in Shanghai’s Jing’an District.

Jollibee Group CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong revealed that the group intends to open 100 restaurants in the country in the next 5 years.

“Opening in Shanghai, one of the busiest global hubs, is an excellent starting point for our expansion plans for Tim Ho Wan in Mainland China,” commented Tanmantiong.

He also said, “The core of Tim Ho Wan is to serve delicious authentic Hong Kong dim sum to more people at a good value for money, and this is why we believe that Tim Ho Wan is a great addition to the Jollibee Group’s portfolio.”

According to the group, its initial opening has been met with a large flock of customers.

Jollibee Foods Corporation China Chairman Carl Tancaktiong said, “Given the response we are seeing, we are planning to open the second store by the end of this year. Aside from Shanghai, we will also open in Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou.”

Jollibee Group’s portfolio of restaurants span operations in 35 countries including United States, Canada, Singapore, and United Arab Emirates.

Hong Kong – With the new football season in Europe underway, Pizza Hut Hong Kong has collaborated with global advertising agency Ogilvy to deliver a limited foosball pizza box to customers, that can be availed through a game in social media.

The new limited edition item is part of the brand’s dedicated football campaign “12th Player Club.” It is specially designed with a fully playable foosball table integrated into the lid of the box.

Pizza Hut has commissioned five special boxes to be up for grabs. The company has asked interested customers to follow a simple set of mechanics on its Facebook page, where one of the requirements is a membership to the brand’s football interactive platform “Best 12th Man Club.”

“Pizza Hut’s ‘12th Player Club’ campaign is ramping up to encourage football fans who are stuck isolated at home to get into the football spirit, while tucking into great tasting pizza,” said Ogilvy in a press release.

Marketing Director Wendy Leung shared that the special packaging is the brand’s way of reminding football fans that pizza goes best with football.

“We always want to go above and beyond when catering to our audience and given how fatigued the community has been this year, offering fun beyond just food, and bringing an experience like this to life right in your pizza box, is the perfect way to make people smile,” said Leung.

Meanwhile, John Koay, executive creative director for Ogilvy Hong Kong added, “A lot of football fans have been stuck at home during these past few months, so we wanted to bring the fun and flavor to them. The Foosball Pizza Box is a great packaging idea that brings together the football action and delicious pizza for a memorable meal experience that you can share with friends.”

The campaign runs from 6 October to 20 October.

Hong Kong – HSBC Hong Kong has rolled out a new business-to-business (B2B) digital community platform HSBC VisionGo. The platform will serve as an ecosystem for SMEs, startups, and prospective entrepreneurs where they can exchange dialogue for business insights as well as a place for networking. 

The platform is built on the company’s cloud computing platform Microsoft Azure. It employs machine learning technologies to offer personalized professional insights and networking opportunities through an AI-enhanced interface, along with new interactive features designed to further foster conversations and collaboration. 

The platform also enables SME operators to follow each other. Business topics can also be discussed among the community through interactive polling. In addition, SMEs can promote their own offers to create new business leads, or redeem available offers as added benefits. 

According to a recent HSBC report, 95% of Hong Kong businesses have extended support to, or have received support from other businesses they work with by exchanging expertise and sharing premises (50%), enabling others to get their products to customers (46%), or relaxing payment terms for their smaller partners (35%).

Terence Chiu, head of commercial banking at HSBC Hong Kong said, “HSBC is committed to investing in digital innovation to help Hong Kong’s SME sector. We are a connector in the business community, and we aim to use our strength to build a collaborative business ecosystem that will help businesses get through these challenging times and position themselves to make the most of the opportunities when they come.” 

A beta version of the platform was unveiled in March 2020. As the platform continues to develop, HSBC will be introducing features such as integration with its mobile payment service PayMe.