Tag: Advertising

Malaysia – The Malaysian Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (4As) is offering scholarships for the IPA Foundation Certificate to Malaysian tertiary lecturers specialising in Advertising and Marketing Communications until August 25, 2023.

Open to Malaysians who are full-time lecturers in advertising and marketing communications, 4As scholarships for the IPA Foundation Certificate are focused on improving competency of teaching for the respective fields.  

Khairudin Rahim, CEO at 4AS Malaysia, acknowledges the growth of the advertising industry and the increasing number of interested students, which calls for more lecturers who teach advertising and marketing communications who possess practical experience of the industry.

“The IPA Foundation Certificate offers them a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of the practical day-to-day work of marketing communications, from understanding the advertiser’s business, writing strategy and briefs, media, ideation, creative development up to campaign effectiveness. These basics never change. Get them right and the rest will fall in place,” he added.

Previous scholarship recipient Heidi Tan from Multimedia University said, “I felt that my students were able to benefit from her participation in the IPA course. The case studies provided in the course were my favourite and I have been sharing these with my students so that they can see how strategies and effective design work hand-in-hand to create successful campaigns.”

Developed by the Chartered Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), the IPA Foundation Certificate is the world’s premier professional advertising qualification, which is recognized by 4As as a practical requisite, offering scholarships for advertising educators since 2017. 

Bangkok, Thailand – In line with Thailand’s Mother’s Day celebration on August 12, Insurance company Thai Life released their latest entry in a long line of sentimental ads that they have produced over the years.  

The 3-minute ad, entitled  ‘Live Life to the Fullest’, offers viewers a mother-daughter story that highlights the value of being able to love now before it’s too late.

In ‘Live Life to the Fullest’, the company tells a story about a mother and her daughter spending their remaining time together, turning otherwise normal days into special days as there is not much time left and shared by both in their lives before.  

The ad showcases Thai Life Insurance’s core principle of ‘Love for Life’, allowing viewers to reflect upon the values of life, values of love and people, sparking healthy discussions among audiences over the years.

In a press release regarding this ad, Thai Life Insurance stated, “We hope to inspire people to appreciate the transience of life, encouraging them to not wait for an opportunity or a special occasion to express their love. Every day is a special day – only through this revelation can people truly live a meaningful life.”

Singapore – Vistar Media, the global provider of programmatic software and digital signage solutions for out-of-home (OOH), announces a partnership with Ten Square, the largest outdoor LED display in Singapore. 

Vistar Media will serve as Ten Square’s supply-side platform (SSP) partner for programmatic DOOH transactions. And with this partnership, advertisers across Southeast Asia and around the world can now access Ten Square’s groundbreaking 3D anamorphic screen via Vistar’s SSP. 

“As we double down on our investment in programmatic DOOH across Southeast Asia, I’m excited to forge such a strong partnership with Ten Square, bringing advertisers one of the most unique out-of-home formats in Singapore for their advertising efforts,” said Ben Baker, managing director, APAC, at Vistar Media.

He further shared that “Partnerships like these are crucial to our efforts at Vistar to accelerate the overall adoption of pDOOH, and I’m confident this will help advertisers continue to recognise the unique value the channel can bring to an omnichannel media mix.”

The iconic Singapore Ten Square is an eye-catching digital billboard that stands at 305 sq m.tall and boasts high-resolution images with a 10mm pixel pitch and more than 3 million pixels, including anamorphic content on three sides.

Being the first of its kind in Singapore, it offers an immersive experience for onlookers passing by a high-traffic shopping hub in the city. It is situated on the facade of the iconic one-stop car vending machine in Singapore’s bustling CBD.

Ten Square also includes an event space that can be utilized for brand activations, launches, and promotions.

Franck Vidal, director for Southeast Asia sales and partnerships at Vistar Media, shared that they are thrilled to welcome an innovative partner like Ten Square to join their robust network of digital inventory in Southeast Asia. 

“Ten Square’s unique screen truly leans into the future of programmatic out-of-home, and the immense creative potential that comes with the channel. I’m excited to witness firsthand how advertisers tap into this unique canvas for their advertising campaigns,” he continued. 

Meanwhile, Gary Hong, founder of Ten Square, comments on the partnership, saying that, “We are thrilled to partner with Vistar Media to help brands execute iconic pDOOH campaigns across our standout, “state of the art” screen that sits on the façade of the eye-catching car vending machine.” 

“With these innovations, we hope to elevate creatives and branding to new heights, captivating audiences even in the darkest of nights through our mesmerizing 3D anamorphic “ready” billboard. The seamless fusion of technology and artistry empowers brands to make a deep and lasting impression on passersby,” he added. 

New York, USA – Integral Ad Science (IAS) has announced an exclusive partnership with X, formerly known as Twitter, for brand safety and suitability optimisation controls for advertisers to launch ads in the X platform.

IAS’s pre-bid brand safety and Suitability product provides marketers with greater control and optimization of quality media investments. IAS will now provide valuable third-party affirmation that brands running ads on X are appearing in brand safe and suitable environments as defined by the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) framework.

Moreover, IAS’s data-backed brand safety and suitability products help ensure high quality media placements, further demonstrating IAS’s commitment to bringing even greater trust and transparency to all aspects of the digital measurement landscape.

Lisa Utzschneider, CEO at IAS, said, “By activating IAS’s pre-bid optimization solutions, marketers can ensure their campaigns prioritize only quality inventory that is brand safe and suitable. We’re proud to be the first and only pre-bid brand safety and suitability partner with X and look forward to furthering the company’s commitment to transparency by giving marketers greater control through solutions that safeguard a brand’s interests and drive brand equity.”

Meanwhile, Linda Yaccarino, CEO at X, commented, “At X, balancing free expression and platform safety is our number one priority – and we are proving these two things are not at odds. Growing our partnership with IAS offers brands a new level of protection and transparency as they continue to grow on X.”

It is also worth noting that that global food company Mondelez has also returned to do advertising on the platform. X noted that it has extended its industry-leading partnerships and capabilities of’Adjacency Controls’ to help all advertisers achieve their unique suitability needs in a more scaled and automated way. These new capabilities will work together to unlock an extended level of adjacency protection for X advertisers.

Jon Halvorson, SVP for consumer experience at Mondelez International, said, “X has made tremendous progress in building brand safety tools that empower advertisers to leverage the power of their platform while curating the context in which the ads appear. Adding pre-bid meets a critical commitment made by their leadership and we are eager to implement this new feature going forward.”

Available in the coming weeks within the X Ads Manager, X also introduced ‘Sensitivity Settings’, an automated solution that will help brands establish the right balance between reach and suitability when it comes to ad placement on the platform. 

The ‘Sensitivity Settings’ solution will use machine learning to reduce adjacency to varying levels of content according to a brand’s sensitivity threshold in an upcoming campaign. Brands can then select their preferred environment that best meets their individual campaign objectives.

Manila, Philippines – Advertising technology company Location Media Xchange(LMX) has announced its partnership with Digichive Philippines Corporation, the advertising concessionaire for Ninoy Aquino International Airport(NAIA) Terminals, Clark Lipad International, Bacolod-Silay Airport and Kalibo International Airport. The partnership will enable the activation of campaigns leaning towards programmatic advertising for the aforementioned airports.

Under the partnership, Digichive and LMX launched the first programmatic guaranteed campaign at NAIA International for a BPO company, marking the Philippine’s first-ever indoor programmatic-enabled screens.

Digichive will also now be able to cater to DSP buyers such as Google’s DV360, Trade Desk TTD and MAX, using LMX’s supply-side platform, giving advertisers the opportunity to deploy programmatic advertising enhancing the airport experience.

Norman Davadilla, CEO of Moving Walls Philippines, said, “The introduction of programmatic advertising at Ninoy Aquino International Airport gives clients greater flexibility in their out-of-home campaigns in terms of audience targeting, measurement, optimization and real-time playout triggered by data. We do not doubt that this new offering will enrich the airport experience and open up NAIA’s airport media space to even more brands and partners.”

Meanwhile, Ann Margaret Ngui, VP sales of Digichive Phils, commented, “This partnership will enable us to leverage LMX’s cutting-edge technology and expertise to enhance our products and services, and to offer our customers more value and convenience. We believe that this collaboration will create new opportunities for growth and innovation for both parties and will strengthen our position in the competitive market. We look forward to working closely with the LMX platform to deliver the best possible outcomes for our stakeholders.”

Singapore – Global advertising company WPP has announced a global partnership with audio streaming services company Spotify, allowing WPP’s clients to have access to Spotify’s ad products, first-party intelligence and creative ways to reach engaged audiences at scale.

The partnership will have WPP looking to use Spotify to develop integrations that provide Spotify’s first-party occasions insights to help clients understand aggregated listening patterns in order to inform more creative and effective digital audio advertising strategies.

Moreover, WPP will work with Spotify to deliver market-leading thought leadership and scaled training programmes for its employees and clients that focus on digital audio creativity and Spotify’s innovative ad products. WPP’s teams and clients will also benefit from early access to Spotify’s neuro-insights research focused on audience trends and insights.  

Stephan Pretorius, chief technology officer of WPP, said, “In the fast-evolving media and entertainment landscape, audio streaming has become an integral part of everyday life. At WPP, we recognise the power of audio as a critical component of marketing. The intent of this first-of-its-kind partnership is to integrate Spotify’s insights with the Choreograph platform to create more innovative and relevant ways to connect our clients with their customers.”  

Meanwhile, Brian Berner, global head of advertising sales at Spotify, commented, “We’ve long partnered with WPP to enable agency planners and buyers to make more informed decisions when planning for digital audio. With our new global partnership, we’re helping WPP clients modernise their strategy and planning.”

He added, “More than 550 million people across 184 markets come to Spotify every month to be entertained, to learn and to discover for nearly 2.5 hours each day. As we continue to drive innovation in audio and the advertising industry at large, partners like WPP are critical to delivering for advertisers, creators and audiences wherever they are.”  

Singapore – Singaporean media company Stellar Ace has unveiled the ‘Green Package’, a first-of-its-kind initiative to support all companies that need to promote their environment friendly efforts. 

Being a part of Stellar Ace’s ‘Green Journey’ workflow, the new offering will be focusing on sustainability,  considering the entire life cycle of each client’s advertising campaign, from the supplies and processes used, to end-of-life recycling.

In this light, Green Package will be committed to the use of eco-friendly FSC certified paper and environmentally friendly inks for printed materials. Large format displays will also be using PET backlit materials and the most recyclable plastic available, ensuring high vividness and contrast for client advertisements while remaining environmentally friendly.

Stellar Ace’s Green Package offers two features with the first one being that every asset purchased by a client to promote their ESG initiatives will be matched by Stellar Ace, effectively doubling the client’s ESG efforts at no additional cost.

The second feature is that clients can choose from three network solution bundles namely Planet Save, Happy Forest and Eco-view which combine OOH, DOOH and Online assets, and are available at half the cost for ESG driven content. Each package will save an estimated 0.022 tons of CO2e in carbon footprint and 199.73 tons of CO2e in light savings per unit. Additionally, the production cost of the free assets will be absorbed by Stellar Ace.

Speaking on this, Jeslyn Tan, managing director of Stellar Ace, said, “We have a responsibility to our planet, and the time to act is now. The Green Package represents our commitment to sustainability and offers our clients a tangible way to enhance their own green initiatives.”

India –  Food and beverage company Adani Wilmar has unveiled the comeback of Kohinoor Basmati Rice in their latest campaign aimed to revive the passion for dining and meals within consumers. 

For this campaign, Adani Wilmar teamed up with advertising agency DDB Tribal and ad-filmmaker Prakash Varma for a 40-second film titled ‘Khushboo Kuchh Khaas’, which helps viewers visualise the aroma of Basmati. 

In the film, the diners are all minding their own business until the server comes with biryani made with Kohinoor Basmati rice, exuding an aroma that distracts everyone’s attention in a quirky fashion. 

Commenting on the campaign, Vineeth Viswambharan, associate vice-president of marketing & sales at Adani Wilmar, said, “Our campaign for Kohinoor Rice aims to forge a deep emotional connection with consumers by highlighting its captivating aroma and lineage.Setting a new benchmark for creative storytelling, the film has no dialogue,voice overs, or text, yet it communicates in a universal language of music & visualisation which is instinctively understood across the country, while powerfully communicating brand USPs.” 

Meanwhile, Iraj Fraz, Creative Head of DDB Tribal, also mentioned, “Kohinoor Basmati is the most exquisite aromatic rice, and aroma isn’t an experience that’s easy to explain. It has notes, a harmony, an intro, and an encore. Perhaps this is why we can describe an aroma as a symphony. Just as an orchestra needs a master conductor, we had Prakash Varma tell the story, in his signature style.”

Singapore – Integral Ad Science (IAS) has introduced advanced ad measurement tools for YouTube Shorts, the widely popular short-form video experience enabling users to create and share catchy videos.

With the launch of the total media quality for the YouTube product suite, IAS now offers viewability and invalid traffic measurement for YouTube shorts’ rapidly expanding inventory, ensuring advertisers that real users are viewing their ads.

This move further strengthens IAS and Google’s commitment to providing advertisers with enhanced transparency, enabling them to gauge the performance of their ad campaigns more effectively.

Moreover, by offering this more significant level of transparency, IAS aims to cater to the needs of advertisers who have shown significant interest in leveraging YouTube Shorts’ global and ever-growing audience.

In a statement from Lisa Utzschneider, CEO of IAS, she said, “The rapid and widespread growth of YouTube Shorts presents an incredible opportunity for our advertising partners to reach and engage with audiences worldwide.”

With IAS’s latest ad measurement tools, advertisers can now make more informed decisions and maximize the impact of their advertising efforts on YouTube Shorts’ dynamic platform. 

Australia – Cartelux, an adtech software company, has secured an AU$3m post-seed investment from TEN13 and the Queensland Government through Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC).

The investment will fuel Cartelux’s ongoing growth and the development of innovative software solutions for the advertising industry while facilitating the company’s expansion into new market categories.

In response to the support they have received, Joshua Williams, the CEO and founder of Cartelux, said, “We are thrilled to have the support of TEN13 and QIC as we continue to grow Cartelux and drive it to new heights.

Moreover, Williams is optimistic about this partnership; he added that this will enable Cartelux to become a leading global SaaS business founded in Australia. The collaboration will not only lay the foundation for current success but also paves the way for subsequent funding opportunities in the future.

Stew Glynn, managing partner at TEN13 and recent board member of Cartelux, expresses excitement about the partnership, stating, “We look forward to supporting Cartelux in its mission to transform the adtech industry with innovative software solutions for brands and their franchisees.”

In a statement, Kristin Harder, global head of marketing and partnerships at Cartelux and former Audi global head of media, emphasizes the platform’s efficiency; she said the Cartelux platform streamlines the marketing processes, enabling brands to create professional, brand-compliant campaigns in just 60 seconds after onboarding.

With this recent investment, Cartelux is well-positioned to continue its growth trajectory and solidify its position as a significant player in the global adtech market.