Hong Kong TUMI, an international travel, lifestyle, and accessories brand, announced the opening of its first flagship shop in the Asia-Pacific area. The recently created store draws influence from the brand’s classic 19 Degree collection and stands as the pioneer of its sort on a global scale. It is located in Omotesando, a prominent luxury fashion hotspot in Tokyo, Japan.

TUMI hosted an exclusive VIP preview event on December 20 to celebrate this accomplishment. Victor Sanz, TUMI’s creative director, Takumi Kitamura, a Japanese actor and singer, as well as TUMI executives, business partners, VIPs, and media and influencers from different regions, attended the occasion.

The ground floor flagship store is more than 2,000 square feet in size and features a design with over 250 aluminium fins and hundreds of LED lights illuminating the distinct curves of the 19 Degree range. Inside, a 19 Degree Aluminum sculpture by Michael Murphy creates the illusion that it is changing into the TUMI “T” logo as people wander around it. It is a perceptual artwork.

Speaking about the launch, Victor Sanz, creative director of TUMI, said, “We are thrilled to unveil TUMI’s newly designed store in Omotesando. Not only is it our first flagship store in Asia-Pacific, but it’s also one of our most ground-breaking store concepts globally. We’ve taken the superior quality, design excellence and technical innovation that defines TUMI and created a completely unique design that is inspired by our 19 Degree collection. From the sculptural 3D facade to the upgraded materials, each carefully planned detail and element speaks to TUMI’s brand DNA,”

APAC– VML has announced the appointment of a new in-market leadership team for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. 

The announcement comes as Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R, both WPP creative firms, join together to form VML.

With more than 5000 workers spread across 25 offices in 13 APAC markets, the newly designed organisation hopes to provide improved service for VML’s clientele all throughout the area. It includes industry professionals with deep local knowledge and broad experience in commerce, brand experience, and customer experience.

In APAC, VML works with a wide range of customer partners in several different industries. Ford, The Coca-Cola Company, HSBC, Unilever, Nestle, GSK, Zespri, and other companies are among its clientele.

With principal offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai and Sydney and led by the newly appointed VML APAC Co-CEOs Audrey Kuah and Yi-Chung Tay, the reorganisation includes naming regional market leaders, which will take effect on January 1, 2024.

In Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), Tom Tearle, CEO of VMLY&R ANZ, becomes CEO of VML ANZ, while Gavin Bain, CEO of Wunderman Thompson Australia, becomes VML Chief consulting officer, ANZ, and managing director, Perth, Australia.

In Singapore, Wunderman Thompson CEO Nimesh Desai has been named VML CEO for the region. Rhys Taylor, who is currently the managing director of VMLY&R in Singapore, takes on the role of VML chief client officer, focusing on assuring the delivery of VML’s full spectrum of capabilities to clients.

In Indonesia, Wunderman Thompson CEO Samir Gupte has been named CEO of VML Indonesia.

In Malaysia, Kenni Loh, CEO of VMLY&R Malaysia, has been appointed CEO of VML Malaysia.

Golda Roldan, CEO of Wunderman Thompson Philippines, has been appointed CEO of VML Philippines

Wunderman Thompson Thailand’s CEO, Parattajariya Jalayanteja, has been appointed CEO of VML Thailand.

Ha Nguyen, who is the CEO of VMLY&R in Vietnam at the moment, has been chosen to be CEO of VML Vietnam.

Kevin Zhu, who is the CEO of VMLY&R China at the moment, has been appointed as the CEO of VML China. Wunderman Thompson for Greater China CEO Carter Chow takes on the role of president at VML China.

Maggie Wong, CEO of Wunderman Thompson, has been appointed CEO of VML Hong Kong.

Ichiro Ota, the current CEO of VML & Ogilvy Japan, will remain in his position, while Akira Suzuki, the CEO of Wunderman Thompson Japan, will take over as COO of VML Japan.

Even Teng, the CEO of Wunderman Thompson Taiwan, has been named as the CEO of VML Taiwan. 

VML India is a principal office and regarded as an important market for the agency, prioritising the hiring of capable executives to direct their teams for the benefit of employees and clients. The announcement of India’s leadership is slated for the first quarter of 2024.

Speaking about the multiple appointments, Audrey Kuah, Co-CEO, VML APAC, commented, “We are thrilled to introduce our new APAC leadership team, who represent the cream-of-the-crop across two of the most awarded creative agencies in the region. As we unify our storied agencies, there is an exciting opportunity to redefine the possibilities of creativity and set the stage for more innovative and effective work.”

Meanwhile, Yi-Chung Tay, Co-CEO, VML APAC, said, “At VML we are dedicated to creating connected brands which matter to the consumer and drive growth for our client partners. Working closely with our leaders across our APAC network, we are well positioned to provide the best possible solutions to our clients’ most pressing business problems via an integrated suite of capabilities which are unsurpassed in the region.” 

India – Mumbai-based digital business-to-business (B2B) payments company PayMate has announced its expansion into the Asia Pacific region as part of its global growth journey.

With this expansion, PayMate is now launching its operations in Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia to provide digital payment solutions tailored to the specific needs of each market while maintaining a unified global strategy.

Businesses from the aforementioned markets will now also be able to access PayMate’s solutions, which include digitization and automation of financial processes, invoice discounting, and API-as-a-service for financial institutions.

PayMate’s platform offers seamless integration with existing systems and facilitates expedited payments and efficient cash flow analysis, which businesses can now leverage to improve their working capital management.

The B2B payments firm is also looking to explore potential expansion opportunities in other APAC markets, including Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, in Australia and South Africa, PayMate operates under the name “DuNoMo” as a wholly owned subsidiary.

The B2B payments firm now has established subsidiaries in APAC and the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) regions.

Ajay Adiseshan, founder and CEO at PayMate, said, “We are delighted to introduce PayMate’s innovative B2B payment solutions in Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia. Our rapid expansion into these countries highlights our commitment to enabling frictionless and highly secure B2B transactions for enterprises. We look forward to contributing to the thriving fintech ecosystems in these markets and to collaborating with local partners to drive the digital transformation of B2B payments.”

Amirreza Sawal, general manager for APAC at PayMate, also added, “PayMate is committed to expanding its footprint in the APAC regions, delivering local businesses with the means to elevate supply chain payments, minimise expenses, and optimise working capital. Our versatile APIs offer effortless integration with third-party functionalities, fostering innovation, scalability, and a competitive advantage. These B2B Payments APIs transcend industry boundaries, serving as an adaptable solution across diverse sectors.”

Singapore IPG Mediabrands, Interpublic Group’s media and marketing solutions group, announced the appointment of Paul Waller to the newly created job of chief investment officer MAGNA for APAC. Waller will report to Leigh Terry, CEO of IPG Mediabrands APAC, and will be based in Singapore. His appointment is effective immediately.

Waller in his new position of chief investment officer MAGNA APAC, he will be responsible for leading investment performance throughout the IPG Mediabrands group’s agencies in the Asia Pacific area. MAGNA, the network’s global media investment and intelligence firm, will help to aid this endeavour. 

Waller has joined the IPG Mediabrands group, bringing with him trade and investing experience from positions held at GroupM and Omnicom in Singapore, China, Australia, and the UK. He comes to this post after serving as EssenceMediacom APAC’s chief media solutions & investment officer, where he was in charge of overseeing the department throughout 16 markets in the area. 

Speaking about the appointment, Leigh Terry, CEO of Mediabrands APAC, said, “We are very excited to welcome Paul to the IPG Mediabrands network. His track record of executional excellence and delivery, perfectly position him to help drive exponential growth for our client base through optimised trading efficiencies and services.” 

Meanwhile, Waller commented, “I’m thrilled to be joining the team at IPG Mediabrands and collaborating across such a diverse and future focused portfolio of advertisers. As leaders in data management, I believe that MAGNA are perfectly positioned to harness the technology-driven evolution of media and consumer behaviour. I look forward to building on the network’s impressive work in the responsible media communication and sustainability space.” 

Singapore VCCP Singapore has announced that Ismail Jooma has been appointed as its new head of planning for APAC

Jooma has a diversified career journey through several network agencies, bringing a knowledge and perspective on Asian culture and trends. His history includes positions at Ogilvy and TBWA, and he was most recently the head of strategy at VMLY&R Singapore. Prior to this, Ismail was the chief strategy officer at South Africa’s independent agency Brave Group. 

His professional experience includes technology (Apple, MTN), automotive (Hyundai), FMCG (Coca-Cola and Colgate), broadcast (DStv Africa, SuperSport), banking (HSBC, Standard Chartered), fast-food restaurants (KFC, Nando’s), and fashion retail (Nike, Edgars).

Speaking about the appointment, Katya Obolensky, managing director of VCCP Singapore, said, “We could not be more delighted to have Ismail join our leadership team as we continue to strengthen our VCCP offering in Singapore. His wealth of experience, sharp intellect and dynamic approach to problem solving will augment our ability to challenge the categories our clients operate in.”

Meanwhile, Jooma commented, “I’m incredibly excited to be joining an agency with a rich planning culture, one that truly places strategy at the heart of everything it does. Katya and the team are building something special here and I’m keen to bring VCCP’s challenger spirit to more ground-breaking work for our clients across the region.”  

Malaysia – International travel and lifestyle brand TUMI has officially debuted its first 3D out-of-home (OOH) advertisement in a new campaign to showcase its hardside luggage, TEGRA-LITE.

In this new campaign, TUMI leverages the 3D anamorphic billboard technique to manipulate the perspective of audiences and create the illusion of a three-dimensional image on a two-dimensional surface.

Using the 3D billboard, the brand runs its 30-second advertisement featuring the components of its expandable carry-on, TEGRA-LITE. The ad shows the components of the product coming together mid-air before colliding with the surrounding walls and leaving it completely destroyed.

The innovative advertisement aims to display the strength and impact the material of the hardside luggage can create, which gives it durability and toughness. It showcases the high standards TUMI has placed in their product design for travel as it uses Tegris®, which is also used for lifesaving armour and protective sports gear.

Furthermore, the 3D advertisement also aims to ignite the TUMI brand in the region while reinforcing its performance luxury roots.

The advertisement will run in seven prime locations in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, with the first one launched in Malaysia, followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, and Dubai as the brand works to engage all their customers through the creativity of their new campaign.

Jill Krizelman, SVP for global marketing and e-commerce at TUMI, said, “At TUMI, we are always looking to innovate and disrupt how we reach consumers. We’re thrilled to bring our much-loved TEGRA-LITE® luggage to our first 3D out-of-home ad, which demonstrates the strength and resilience of this high-performance collection featuring the ground-breaking Tegris® technology.”

Singapore – Nearly 4 out of 5 APAC consumers agree that companies should do a better job at capturing Asian people’s true lifestyle and culture in advertising, a report from Getty Images revealed.

The new research showed that stereotypical and inauthentic visual representations of various Asian communities are still present in the Asia-Pacific advertising scene.

According to the data, only less than 10% of the most popular visuals for Australasia, Japan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan accurately represent Asian people and their lived experiences. Instead, the findings revealed that the most commonly used imagery tends to lean heavily towards perpetuating common stereotypes.

The common stereotypes in the Asian advertising scene include depicting Asians as youthful, slender, having lighter skin tones, and predominantly portrayed in work-related contexts. Furthermore, popular visuals all portray the same underlying messages, styling, and emotion, which is often overly happy and has little to no connection to each culture.

Getty Images’ research report also showed that nearly 4 out of 5 consumers across APAC agree that companies also need to do a better job at capturing people’s true lifestyles and cultures. They felt that simply increasing the representation of individuals from diverse ethnicities, backgrounds, and appearances within advertising and media was insufficient.

Additionally, a striking 3 out of 5 also shared that they’ve felt discrimination based on body size, lifestyle choices, race, ethnicity, gender identity, disability, and sexuality.

The report identified a number of representation gaps that are specific to APAC, which include disparities in depicting cultural specificities, underrepresentation of older adults, a lack of diversity in gender representation, limited portrayals of Asian working life, a prevailing preference for Eurocentric beauty standards and body types, and an absence of individuals with disabilities, among others.

The representation gaps and lack of diversity in imagery limit the opportunity to showcase Asia-Pacific’s extensive span of cultures and demographics.

These concerning findings underscore the importance for the media and advertising industry to recognise the intricate diversity and multidimensionality inherent in Asian cultures and align their strategies with consumer expectations to deliver authentic and meaningful portrayals of Asian identities.

Yuri Endo, creative insights manager at Getty Images, said, “Despite the region’s diversity, everyday images and videos that aim to capture Asian experiences often fall short, perpetuating harmful stereotypes or missing the mark entirely. This misrepresentation and underrepresentation in TV shows, social media, and advertising has led to significant gaps in consumers’ understanding of the region’s realities.”

“By sharing these guidelines, the report takes a significant step towards helping brands serving APAC customers promote accurate and respectful portrayals of Asian communities, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and equitable visual landscape,” she added.

Shanghai, China KAWO, China’s social media management platform, has announced an expansion of its strategic partnership with Hootsuite. This collaboration aims to provide international brands with better access, deeper insights, and increased operational efficiency in China. 

The partnership expands on an existing collaboration by focusing on three key verticals: education, pharmaceuticals, and financial services. This collaboration has enabled global marketers to manage both global and Chinese social media networks through a unified platform on Hootsuite.

Through this partnership, international marketers will have access to KAWO within Hootsuite, enabling them to manage and analyse content across Chinese and international social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Weibo, and WeChat. It provides a combined content management and data analysis solution. 

Marketers may utilise evolving trends in order to craft experiences that connect with their target audiences and improve performance by providing real-time data analysis and insights across multiple markets. 

Speaking about the partnership, Alex Li, chief executive officer of KAWO, said, “Global marketers and brands are increasingly looking to power their campaigns and drive performance in China’s rapidly evolving social media landscape. From platform selection to creating engaging content and accurately measuring ROI, brands and marketers want cutting-edge solutions that help them be more strategic and dynamic in their local campaigns.” 

He added, “Our enhanced partnership with Hootsuite will make it more seamless for marketers to make timely, data-driven decisions by providing much- needed visibility and understanding on a single platform, enabling them to channel their focus towards delivering engaging, impactful campaigns in China.” 

Meanwhile, James Partington, director of partnerships programs, Hootsuite, said, “For over 15 years, we’ve been helping brands grow online by delivering best-in-class social media tools that drive efficiency and results. We are excited to strengthen our partnership with KAWO, having seen the benefits our early collaboration/integration provides to our customers.” 

“Working together in a broader partnership, we look forward to delivering enhanced productivity in a collaborative ecosystem that will boost the competitive advantage for our customers,” Partington added. 

Singapore – Initiative, an IPG Mediabrands media agency, has been named the media agency of record for Finnair, Finland’s full-service legacy airline. This appointment followed a competitive pitch review in September of the same year. 

The appointment of Initiative as Finnair’s official media agency is effective right away.

The assigned task for Initiative will be the management of media strategy, planning, and buying across all digital channels, and it will initially cover four Asia-Pacific markets Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong. 

Initiative’s strategic model, developed around growth markets and a profound understanding of performance, was cited by Finnair as a key differentiator. 

Speaking about the partnership, Lara Allan, team lead of growth marketing and technology at Finnair, said, “In our centenarian year, Finnair is thrilled to embark on a new chapter, sharing the rich story of our brand and exceptional product with travellers from APAC who aspire to explore Europe and beyond. We are proud to announce our strategic partnership with Initiative, whose strategic insights, local expertise, and expansive media network perfectly align with our vision.” 

She added, “As we look ahead to 2024, the future holds incredible promise, and we are eager to continue expanding our presence in Asia.” 

Meanwhile, James Smyllie, president of Initiative APAC, said, “We are very excited to add Finnair to our client roster. We see this new partnership as an opportunity to help Finnair build their brand Fame and delivering Flow-centric solutions that will elevate Finnair’s position as global trailblazer in aviation.”