Tag: Platforms

Sydney, Australia – StackAdapt, a multi-channel programmatic advertising platform, has announced the availability of Chinese language contextual advertising.

This program is aimed at marketers looking to engage with global audiences by browsing Chinese content.

Advertisers looking to target Chinese-language audiences in the US, UK, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and New Zealand will be able to take advantage of StackAdapt’s offering.

Three essential aspects for which the company has created Chinese-language advertising solutions are page context AI, keyword rule targeting, and browsing audiences. Advertisers will be able to tailor their messages to consumers who interact with material in Mandarin and Cantonese, as well as traditional and simplified Chinese. 

The Page Context AI technology enables advertisers to show native, display, and video adverts to people browsing websites that are related to a brand’s products. This patented technology works independently of cookies or other identifiers, providing an efficient targeting technique to engage relevant customers without requiring the processing of user data. 

Advertisers can target certain keywords and phrases that are relevant to their campaigns with the company’s keyword rule targeting service. With the help of this feature, advertisers may establish guidelines that guarantee their ads are paired with relevant content. Furthermore, marketers may focus their efforts on the audiences that are engaged with the help of the browsing audiences tool. 

Speaking about the launch, Liam McCarten, VP of sales APAC at StackAdapt, said, “We have widened the scope for audience targeting across the global web by creating a Chinese language contextual advertising offering. Our patented algorithm will automatically detect if you’ve input Traditional or Simplified Chinese, and will use the appropriate option for targeting. There is a major advantage for advertisers looking to target audiences consuming content in another language. Placing ads in the right context can drive a big boost in performance.” 

He added, “Our contextual products have reached a very high level of maturity, and we are pushing them even further to make our machine learning models even more powerful and predictive. The ability to offer Chinese language contextual advertising solutions will dramatically increase the consumer base for brands around the world. Contextual targeting is important as part of a toolkit of future-proofed marketing strategies.”

Singapore – Singaporeans’ social media app of choice is messaging platform WhatsApp, according to a digital report released by creative agency We Are Social and social media and intelligence firm Meltwater.

Data from the report mainly suggests that WhatsApp takes the top spot in Singapore for both favourite (27.2%) and most used social media platform (74.7%) with local users clocking an average of 978 sessions per month in its Android app.

Notably, the report finds that Singaporeans are spending an average of 2 hours and 14 minutes a day on social media across an average of 6.9 social media platforms each month, with 5.13 million social media user identities in Singapore which equates to 85% of the nation’s population. 

Aside from WhatsApp, Facebook ranked second place as favourite (16.7%) and most used (72.7%) social media platform in Singapore, while TikTok tops the spot for most time spent in the Android app with a total of 33 hours, 23 minutes per month. TikTok was the most downloaded app in Singapore in 2023, followed by messaging app Telegram and Bytedance-owned video editing tool Capcut.

In terms of how they use their social media platforms, the report said that Singaporeans like to stay connected with messaging (97.5%) being the number one type of app or website they visit, followed by social networks (95.8%). Aside from keeping in touch with family and friends (43.4%), filling in spare time (35.5%) and reading the news (32.6%) are the main reasons that more than a third use social media. 

Talking about these findings, James Honda-Pinder, head of strategy at We Are Social Singapore, said, “While Instagram may be the favoured social media app in other markets, in Singapore we see social media users favour platforms that offer focused utility. For connection and increasingly for business communication, WhatsApp is a clear leader.”

“Elsewhere, TikTok continues to its staggering rise, as it becomes a bonafide platform for search and discovery, not just entertainment. In an era of fragmented attention where brands are vying to capture the attention of consumers, TikTok’s platform continues to show strong engagement with average usage amounting to more than 33 hours a month – that’s more than one whole day on the app. It’s a rocketship”, he added.

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.

Singapore – Alipay+, Ant International’s cross-border mobile payment digital platform, announced that it has enabled new e-wallets in Singapore and expanded its partnership with Resorts World Sentosa(RWS) to accept more cross-border mobile payments in preparation for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

Through this expanded partnership, more tourists visiting Resorts World Sentosa(RWS) will now be able to pay with their home e-wallets, with Alipay+ enabling the use of six new e-wallets namely, Hipay (Mongolia), MPay (Macao SAR, China), MyPB by Public Bank (Malaysia), Toss Pay and Naver Pay (South Korea), and Tinaba (Italy).

RWS is amongst the first of Alipay+ merchants in Singapore to accept 12 international e-wallets, which can be used at all its attractions and stores. The previously accepted e-wallets include AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), GCash (Philippines), Kakao pay (South Korea), Touch n’ Go eWallet (Malaysia), TrueMoney (Thailand) and others, in addition to Alipay (Chinese mainland), which has been accepted by RWS since 2015.

This partnership to accept more Alipay+ partner payment apps, will welcome Chinese and Asian tourists in a more efficient manner, enabling them to have a more seamless, enjoyable experience at RWS.

To better serve the expected increase in tourists during Chinese New Year, RWS and Alipay+ are jointly launching a festive campaign exclusively for Alipay users, where they can access special promotions and privileges within the Alipay app.

To start, RWS is offering a virtual RMB$128 red packet to Alipay users who can collect it via the Alipay app, which can be used to offset payments for the RWS Mini program and on-site payments.

Alipay is also a key payment partner for RWS’ ‘Bai Jiu Shake Up’ event, where Alipay users can enjoy Bai Jiu cocktails with their Chinese New Year dinners at restaurant table65, and CHIFA! where dinner is paired with Bai Jiu cocktails specially created by Bar Sanyou. Alipay users can also enjoy a further RMB$150 discount for the event when they collect the red packets online.

The partnership will also see both parties jointly introducing campaigns for other Alipay+ partner users throughout the year.

Talking about the partnership, Chang Chee Pey, senior vice president and chief experience officer at RWS, said, “With increased flights and visa-free travel to Singapore soon, we want to make it even more convenient for Chinese visitors during key Chinese travel periods such as the Lunar New Year. With Alipay already widely accepted as a fast and convenient payment mode across Resorts World Sentosa, this payment experience for visitors will definitely be welcomed.”

Meanwhile, Cherry Huang, general manager of Alipay+ offline merchant services, Ant International, commented, “Resorts World Sentosa is a must visit destination for tourists coming to Singapore, and through this expanded partnership, more travellers can now enjoy seamless mobile payments and a more hassle-free experience that will allow them to enjoy the attractions, food and retail options even more.” 

“To help businesses in Singapore, big and small, to benefit from the growth in tourism in 2024 and beyond, we’re focused on strengthening our Alipay+ ecosystem locally, by bringing in more users via our payment partners and expanding our merchant coverage through close collaborations with our local partners and our integration with SGQR. We look forward to bringing more innovation to our partners and enhancing the digital travel experience for tourists,” she added.

Singapore – Omnicom Media Group’s data and analytics subsidiary, Annalect, has teamed with InfoSum, a worldwide data collaboration platform, to build a neutral clean room solution suited for clients in the Asia Pacific area.

The project tackles issues related to dispersed data sources by emphasising data collaboration that is efficient, sustainable, and privacy-conscious. It seeks to get a thorough understanding of companies’ customers and break down data silos.

Annalect in Australia spearheaded the initiative, and in partnership with InfoSum, formed cooperative alliances with the Australian reward program FlyBuys and data provider Experian. This collaboration sought to develop a complete and practical understanding of customers. Audience profiling is critical in this endeavour because it allows marketers to migrate from asserted data profiles to true customer data.

The incorporation of InfoSum functionalities into Omni, Omnicom Media Group’s industry marketing orchestration operating system, permits the secure use of data across the whole marketing workflow, from planning to activation and optimization.

It is expected that privacy-focused measures, such as the elimination of third-party cookies, will have a major impact on data-driven marketing. This innovative industry step aims to improve measurement accuracy and ensure access to consumer information and segment profiling capabilities to prepare itself for the future.

By combining dispersed insights creation with data privacy and data utility, it goes beyond the conventional use of clean rooms. Instead of moving or replicating the data, this entails relying on mobile code and sharing the algorithm that extracts insights.

The InfoSum platform acts as a neutral clean room and creates a statistical duplicate of the given location, behavioural, and purchase data. By ensuring that no vendor data is copied or imported onto InfoSum’s platform, this procedure protects customer privacy and lowers operational risks. All parties involved can work together while still having control over their data.

By maximising match rates across many data sources, InfoSum, among other things, creates lookalike audiences and finds new prospects for offline advertising purchases based on location-based insights.

In Australia, proof of concepts were conducted in a variety of industries, including FMCG, alcohol, telco, and automotive. The concept will be expanded to additional markets in Asia Pacific.

Through the use of these addressable audience segments, Omnicom Media Group clients may improve their communication strategies and applications like data partnerships, channel selection, and adaptive creative messaging.

Speaking about the partnership, Paul Shepherd, president of Annalect, Omnicom Media Group Asia Pacific, said, “This is an important move to ensure data privacy and optimise data utility through the innovative concept of distributed insights generation. This approach offers deeper and meaningful insights into existing and prospective customers from diverse data sources, allowing a holistic understanding of consumer behaviour while safeguarding individual privacy.”

Meanwhile, Richard Knott, InfoSum GM, ANZ, expressed, “We’re excited to see the innovative and compelling use of our technology by Annalect to enrich their clients’ marketing strategies. InfoSum enables organisations to safely scale and leverage their consumer data through privacy-first, multi-party data collaboration. Pioneering organisations like Annalect are leading the industry in this transition, harnessing that concept and turning it into real-world, actionable benefits.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Global beauty retail brand SEPHORA has officially launched its latest ‘Unwrap Their Beautiful’ holiday season campaign, which featured a 3D interactive showcase on the capital city’s largest 3D screens.

SEPHORA’s ‘Unwrap Their Beautiful’ campaign invites visitors to a virtual journey of discovering their beauty power and sharing their holiday cheer, regardless of age, gender, or background, for this season of gifting.

The campaign features a 3D synchronised interactive show that turns spectators into participants by giving them the chance to dedicate their holiday wishes to their nearest and dearest on the large screen. By scanning a QR code, participants can connect with the 3D interactive screen to send or schedule their wishes in advance.

With the aim of creating a unique holiday experience, SEPHORA’s interactive screen can transform the experience into holiday cheer by fostering connections and sharing moments of love and appreciation.

The 3D interactive show will be displayed on the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur’s Elite screen and Fahrenheit88’s Curve LED screen daily from December 1st, 2023, to January 1st, 2024.

Also part of the campaign that promotes beauty and technology, customers at SEPHORA’s Fahrenheit88 store can discover surprises hidden within its holiday displays.

Valerie Foong, general manager at Sephora Malaysia, said, “There are QR codes consumers can scan that will lead them to an interactive game. As they follow the virtual ribbon, consumers have a chance to not only collect virtual gifts but also turn virtual into reality with tangible gifts by approaching any Beauty Advisors in-store.”

Philippines – In an effort to catalyse SME finance, GoTyme Bank and PayMongo Philippines, Inc. recently forged a strategic partnership to advance financial accessibility among small and medium-sized enterprises within the PayMongo merchant ecosystem.

This latest initiative laid the foundations for PayMongo Capital, a fully digital financial program that streamlines the loan application process among businesses, eliminating the traditional paperwork through a seamless, two-minute, two-screen journey. 

Under PayMongo Capital, a flexible loan term also tailors financing alternatives to a particular preference of enterprises. Unlike typical loans, which have hidden costs and penalties, this programme introduces transparent pricing, which requires businesses to pay a competitive flat rate.

The absence of hidden charges, on the other hand, simplifies the financial landscape for borrowers, boosting trust and clarity.

Furthermore, this new app also allows businesses to easily manage repayments, automatically deducting a portion from their sales. It further aligns payments with their daily sales and ensures that merchants can focus on their operations without the constant worry of rigid repayment structures.

Meanwhile, qualifying merchants benefit from this hassle-free disbursement process, with the lent amount reaching their accounts within one banking day, subject to the processing time of the receiving bank.

Talking about the launch, Nate Clarke, CEO at GoTyme Bank, shared, “As GoTyme Bank expands to offer more banking products to our customers, we also continue to build meaningful relationships and foster financial inclusion. Through PayMongo Capital, powered by GoTyme Bank, we hope to make loans and banking in general more accessible to SMEs and give them the preferred banking experience they deserve.”

Jojo Malolos, CEO at PayMongo, also supported this statement, saying, “At PayMongo, our unwavering commitment to support the growth of small and medium-sized businesses takes a groundbreaking leap with our partnership with GoTyme Bank. This collaboration is a game-changer for PayMongo merchants, unlocking additional capital to propel their online enterprises towards unparalleled success.”

Following this strategic alliance, the two are set to embark on empowering thousands of businesses within PayMongo’s merchant ecosystem, providing ease of access to business loans using GoTyme’s innovative banking service.

Manila, Philippines – Aiming to provide Filipinos with better financial services, Pouch.ph has recently announced a collaboration with One Cooperative Technology Service (OCTS), introducing its first and only CDA-registered technology service cooperative mobile wallet.

Known as CoopPay, the platform intends to provide cooperatives, members, and families with a fast, affordable, and secure means to send and receive peso payments and bitcoin payments using the Lightning Network.

Amongst the primary functions of the app allow users to deposit and withdraw Philippine pesos, make CoopPay to CoopPay transfers, conduct bank/fund transfers in UnionBank, BPI, BDO, Metrobank, GCash, and Maya, among others, and utilise cash pick-up services.

Payments through the application are less expensive since neither Pouch.ph nor the cooperative organisations charge any service fees or markups. The app, for instance, offers a 15-peso minimum fee and no predetermined transfer limits.

In addition, the mobile wallet programme features a shop tab that makes it possible for users to buy loads for all networks, pay for transport services (Beep, Autosweep, Easytrip), and pay bills (Meralco, Maynilad, Converge, SkyCable, and many other billers).

This initiative follows the company’s vision to provide a medium-term best-practice model for cooperatives in the Philippines and the ASEAN region.

Following this endeavour, Fr. Anton CT. Pascua, chairman of the board at OCTS, expressed excitement about the nationwide rollout, stating, “CoopPay is an idea whose time has come! But let us not forget why we are doing this; we are doing this to improve the economic lives of our members and their families.”

Ethan Rose, founder and CEO at Pouch.ph, also shared his insights about the project, stating, “Our priority is to bring financial access, service, and opportunity to all Filipinos, particularly with a strong focus on customer care and global connectivity. Our collaboration with OCTS to launch CoopPay will enable us to bring better financial services to millions of Filipinos.”

Meanwhile, Anna Marin Crisolo, COO at One Coop Tech, said, “It has always been our mission at OCTS to facilitate financial empowerment at the grassroots level. We want to show the way for our brother-and-sister cooperatives in the ASEAN region. After much work and overcoming challenges, we are ready to do that. The CoopPay app, powered by Pouch.ph, is our next step in that direction.”

Since its nationwide rollout in October, they are now set to extend the service to other cooperative groups across the country. CoopPay also made a successful rollout to 100,000 members of the First Community Cooperative (FICCO) since then. 

Singapore – Bigo Live, the worldwide live streaming platform, has launched the Amateur Streamers Incentive Program, which aims to assist aspiring broadcasters who want to use livestreaming to exhibit their talents. 

The project is in line with Bigo Live’s general strategy, which is to promote and create an ecosystem that is centred on the creative economy in an organic manner. It also seeks to preserve a welcoming environment on the network for both creators and users.

Bigo Live plans to build on its current creator-centric incentive programs and initiatives through the Amateur Streamers Incentive Program. The program’s goal is to inspire Bigo Live users to start their own live streaming sessions, which will attract more users to the network. Additionally, it aims to persuade those who are interested in live streaming but are not currently users to sign up and use the site for themselves.

Those who are approved for the program will have access to a customised initiative that will teach them how to stream live sessions on Bigo Live with specific training. Best practices for becoming skilled Bigo Live broadcasters will be covered throughout the course. In addition to having the freedom to arrange when they livestream, participants will benefit from the platform’s ability to provide them with worldwide exposure.

Significant incentives will be built into the program to encourage continuous and engaging content creation while also promoting live streaming as a source of income. 

The Amateur Streamers Incentive Program, which was started earlier this month in the Middle East and North Africa region, has since expanded to a number of nations in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The program reached the registration of over 300,000 amateur broadcasters to date. 

Speaking about the program, James, president of BIGO Technology, said, “Our Amateur Streamers Incentive Program offers a custom-made agenda that meets the unique needs of our amateur broadcasters, who despite their talent, often hesitate to step into the limelight. We recognise this, and we hope that through the program, our users can overcome their inhibitions, showcase their creativity, and seamlessly integrate into a welcoming community that celebrates their unique voices and perspectives.”

“Through a comprehensive training and reward mechanism, we want to nurture the next generation of broadcasters and empower them to be the best versions of themselves,” James said. 

He added, “The global creator economy has allowed the livestreaming industry to experience exponential growth in recent years, presenting limitless opportunities within the virtual landscape. As we remain committed to empowering our users by lowering the barriers of entry and providing then with the right environment to develop, the Amateur Streamers Incentive Program will provide a launchpad for aspiring content creators and deliver positive impact through a holistic and inclusive livestreaming experience.” 

Philippines – Philippine super app Gcash has recently unveiled its reinforced international services during the Singapore FinTech Festival this 2023, aiming to deliver the convenience of using the app towards Filipinos looking to travel or work abroad. 

Notably, GCash also revealed a new feature in the app where users can view real-time foreign exchange rates in select countries such as Singapore, Japan, and the USA.

This strengthens the efforts of GCash, which has been growing its reach beyond Philippine shores through its partner, global payments giant Alipay+, by allowing travellers to use the e-wallet for cashless transactions in 17 countries such as Singapore, Japan, and the USA. 

This initiative in turn has enabled users overseas to sign up for GCash using international mobile numbers in six countries such as the USA, Italy, and Japan.

Partnering with Visa as well, GCash users can also make cashless transactions with over 80 million merchants across 200 countries. Customers can order the new GCash Card via the app, and can pay with GCash in establishments that accept Alipay+ by either scanning their QR codes or generating a code.

Talking about these features, Martha Sazon, president and CEO of Gcash, said, “Through GCash services, Filipino travellers as well as those who live and work overseas can enjoy the same benefits as those who own credit cards and bank accounts. They can use the app to pay in stores and establishments that accept Alipay+ or accept card transactions.”