Tag: APAC

Singapore – Despite many countries worldwide easing up on normal life disrupted by the global pandemic, there is still a large fraction of shoppers worldwide who now hesitate to shop in-store, a new report from Wunderman Thompson Commerce shows.

According to the report, 49% of APAC shoppers are now hesitant to shop in physical stores, suggesting a transition to shop through online channels.

Looking at specific markets, nearly three quarters (72%) of shoppers in India are experiencing this fear, followed by Thailand (62%), China (55%) and Indonesia (51%) – while Japan and Australia are more open to the idea (30% and 22% respectively).

Meanwhile, on a global scale, nearly three-quarters of shoppers say that online shopping came to their rescue in 2020, with Thailand at the top of the global ranking having 94% of consumers agreeing to the sentiment. Looking ahead, three-quarters of global shoppers (73%) say e-commerce would be more important to them in 2021.

In terms of frequency of shopping online, marketplaces other than Amazon account for a third (33%) of all purchases, led by Japan at 45% and Thailand coming in at 41%. 

It has been noted in the report that Amazon’s reputation on pricing is comparatively poor in Asia – just 20% of shoppers say it provides the best value, compared to 48% who identify the other marketplaces as being best: e-commerce platforms Tmall, Taobao, and Lazada.

“As we look beyond 2021, we know this channel shift from physical to digital channels is not only accelerating but will be the primary channel for retail purchasing in future. We see consumers turn to local and regional marketplaces as they take on global players like Amazon, an abundance of businesses switching to D2C offerings, and Asian consumers leading the way when engaging in new channels such as social and live commerce,” said Kaythaya Maw, chief technology officer at Wunderman Thompson APAC.

Despite these moves towards online shopping channels, there still remains hope for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands handled by retailers. Over one quarter (29%) of shoppers in China said they have used branded direct-to-consumer sites as a source of inspiration, putting the channel third behind dominant marketplaces like Taobao and Tmall, and social media.

Nevertheless, the demand within these online retailers are surging, as APAC shoppers now demand the most from digital retailers, saying they want better products, services, and experiences online, with Thailand shoppers agreeing with the statement at 94.8%, closely followed by China and Indonesia at 89% and India at 86%.

A big finding from this year’s survey is that 44% of all global consumers the report spoke to say they have bought from a social platform. In Asia, buying directly through social media is already clearly a well-established trend, led by Thailand where 74% of consumers said they had purchased from a social platform, followed by Indonesia and China at 69%. 

Speaking about the insights, Justin Peyton, chief transformation and strategy officer at Wunderman Thompson APAC, notes that with the heightened interest in online shopping, one should refrain from the use of the term ‘e-commerce’ since the term online shopping has now expanded beyond the borders of e-commerce platforms.

He added that with the growth of sales that we have seen in the recent past, and the fact that it is becoming the channel of choice, digital transactions have become a hygiene element that brands are expected to support as part of the overall commerce ecosystem.

“What’s more interesting is how commerce is fragmented across owned platforms, social platforms, conversational platforms, and marketplaces. With this diversity, brands must focus on where they can not only gain visibility but demonstrate their products in ways that are most likely to influence consumer choice,” Peyton stated.

Meanwhile, Maw added, “With the largest representation from Asia-Pacific taking part in this year’s report, we hope to provide businesses with vital insights to formulate effective strategies and respond to how consumers are shopping in this current environment, and how they will shop in future.”

Singapore – As part of the company’s move to strengthen its presence in Asia-Pacific, particularly on its known market research practice, Kantar has announced the promotion of Ilana Sanborn as the new head of Kantar Marketplace in APAC.

First launched in 2019, Kantar Marketplace is a market research platform that empowers insights professionals, marketers and agencies to build meaningfully different brands with speed and agility.

Formerly leading both Australia’s innovation practice and the Kantar Marketplace growth strategy for Australia, Sanborn will continue leading the Kantar Marketplace portfolio in Australia and remain a member of the Kantar Australia Board.

Speaking about her appointment, she stated that she finds her work incredibly motivating, especially when she shows a client the capability of the platform. She adds as well as part of her work, she also demonstrates how Kantar is evolving into a business that uses technology such as artificial intelligence and technology platforms to better understand human behavior.

“I’m especially looking forward to working with our teams across the region and partnering with our fantastic clients as they test, learn and move faster. As the speed at which the competitive environments of our clients evolve gets faster, Kantar is ready to support them in that challenge. As we launch more products through this platform, Kantar Marketplace will transform the way we engage with, and support, our clients – especially as we navigate out of the pandemic,” Sanborn stated.

She added, “I’m proud to work for a business that has continuously allowed me to grow by investing in my career across multiple roles and markets. I am very excited to have this opportunity to drive growth of the Kantar Marketplace platform across Asia-Pacific to the same heights we are experiencing in Australia.”

Meanwhile, Tim Kelsall, chief client officer for Asia-Pacific at Kantar, commented, “Kantar is continuing to invest in an agile business development and servicing team across the region. Concurrently, we are also investing in wider solutions covering creative and digital testing, concept and innovation testing and on-demand surveys through the Kantar Marketplace platform.”

He added, “I am thrilled to have Ilana work with a wider client base across Asia-Pacific in this expanded role as she leads our commercial growth, product development and client success through Kantar Marketplace.”

Singapore – Interpublic Group (IPG) has appointed Mish Fletcher, former executive vice president and global growth officer at creative data and CRM agency FCB/SIX, to assume the newly created role of chief growth officer for APAC.

Prior to her role at FCB/SIX, Fletcher has spent several years as the managing director and global head of marketing at digital company Accenture Interactive, where she led a global team that drove business growth and record revenues through new capabilities, thought leadership, and demand generation, as well as sales enablement activities. Fletcher has also previously worked with traditional marketing firm OgilvyOne Worldwide and communications agency MacLaurin PR in the United Kingdom.

In this newly created position, Fletcher will be IPG’s first regional executive at the holding company level in APAC. She will be based in Sydney, Australia, and will work across the region, partnering with IPG agencies to ensure that the company is delivering the best marketing solutions to help drive growth for clients. Fletcher will report directly to IPG’s Senior Vice President and Chief Growth Officer Simon Bond.

Commenting on her appointment, Fletcher said that she is thrilled to be taking on the new role, which will allow her to leverage key assets that IPG has invested in, including Acxiom, Kinesso, and Matterkind, as well as Hedy, and IPG Studios on behalf of clients in the region.

“Uniting these technologies, data and agile production capabilities creates a transformational performance machine that has the power to supercharge creativity, bringing new possibilities to marketers, seamlessly and efficiently,” said Fletcher.

Meanwhile, Bond commented that Fletcher is a true globalist with extensive experience in leveraging data and technology to deliver creative, personalized marketing communications on behalf of brands, at scale.

“She has a deep industry background helping clients drive conversion and effectiveness with their marketing,” noted Bond.

IPG’s Chief Executive Officer Philippe Krakowsky said that as the complexity of media and marketing continues to increase, they are increasingly seeing clients ask for holistic thinking and solutions.

“Mish is the right person to ensure that we can deliver on these kinds of briefs. She has all of the requisite expertise and is also a great fit with our culture, which values and rewards curiosity, creativity, and collaboration. Mish and her team can deliver these integrated, modern marketing solutions in order to help clients achieve their business goals and thrive in the digital economy,” said Krakowsky.

Singapore – Global media company dentsu international has appointed former global co-president at dentsumcgarrybowen, Merlee Jayme, to now assume the role of chief creative officer for the APAC region.

Jayme will have the new appointment as an additional role, continuing as part of the core team in the global creative experience council at dentsu and sponsor of the region’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) program.

Jayme first joined the group through dentsu’s acquisition of her creative agency, bringing with her extensive experience in the creative sector. She is also known as a passionate advocate for the power of ideas in changing the world and DEI.

As part of her new role, Jayme will be responsible for creative excellence across dentsu’s creative and experience agencies in the region. These agencies include Isobar, dentsumcgarrybowen, and creative agencies under the house of dentsu, such as dentsu One, dentsu Webchutney, and Taproot dentsu.

Commenting on her new role, Jayme said that she is excited to be back in her home region, working hand-in-hand with their amazing colleagues in APAC to create great work that matters for the clients.

“My global role at dentsumcgarrybowen has opened my eyes to the integrated opportunities we can create to push creativity and innovation, solving our client’s problems with all creative capabilities across dentsu,” said Jayme.

Meanwhile, Jean Lin, the global CEO of creative at dentsu international, commented, “Merlee’s inclusive creative leadership, Asian roots, and global experience work brilliantly to deliver idea-led transformation in APAC, one of the most vibrant playgrounds for business creativity. We have an ambitious plan for APAC and are thrilled to have Merlee focus on the region she calls home.”

Dentsu APAC’s CEO Ashish Bhasin shared that Jayme’s creative ability speaks for itself and her entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and innate ability to get the best out of the people she works with make her truly unique. 

“I am excited to see her instill further excellence across our agencies and unleash the potential of our creative business, driving deeper connections with our clients and the consumers they’re talking with,” said Bhasin.

Sydney, Australia – Global location-based analytics firm Meshh has announced a new office opening in Sydney, Australia, as part of its APAC expansion. This will be under the leadership of Meshh’s Managing Director Duncan McIntyre.

Meshh is a SaaS platform that aids event organizers, venues, and brands to accurately measure engagement and interaction in physical spaces. It also delivers insights to marketers on how customers behave in real-world environments so they can deliver richer and more immersive experiences.

As part of the expansion, McIntrye will be returning to his native Sydney to help brands and agencies accurately monitor and plan their physical campaigns across retail, exhibitions, events, and properties, creating richer and more effective experiences.

Commenting on the announcement, McIntyre said that Australia has a legacy of leading the world in physical brand experiences and that the market aims to further this leadership.

“However, until now, marketers and agencies have been hamstrung in their ability to provide consistent engagement data to analyze and demonstrate the impact of such marketing endeavors. Launching Meshh in Australia provides a robust ‘spatial intelligence’ solution to that problem, as we continue to offer advanced data and behavioral insights across the APAC region,” said McIntyre.

Most recently, Meshh has announced its acquisition by global marketing and technology business Limelight Platform. Through this, Limelight and Meshh’s combined client lists, products, and active and passive data collection and analysis will be laying out the roadmap to the future of live events and activations worldwide.

Singapore – AdColony, a gaming and esports mobile advertising company, has recently announced the launch of its newest product, ‘Social Ads’, in its bid to take existing campaigns that run on social media, such as image, carousel and video posts, and seamlessly place them within the mobile gaming environment.

Said product aims to target two objectives: offer a greater reach into Asia-Pacific’s wide and diverse mobile audiences, while minimizing brand safety risks of advertising on user-generated content, which is present within the social media ecosystem.

Part of the reason why said product is launched is due to the fact that it aims to cater advertisers that traditionally engage on social media and at a disadvantage when attempting to reach ‘social media dark audiences’ which are referred to as consumers with a presence on one platform but not on another or not on social media altogether, as well as people with ad blockers making up half of all internet users.

Mitchell Vaz, senior director strategy at AdColony, said, “We’re in an age where advertisers cannot categorise who is a social media user and who isn’t anymore, simply because everyone is a social media user of some sort. Gaming too offers this type of mass reach, ranging from hyper-casual gamers to hard-core esports fans.”

Furthermore in comparison to gaming, social media poses a higher threat to brand safety due to the presence of user-generated content. At the same time, much of users’ data is confined to the individual social media platform. Gaming, however, provides a brand-safe platform for advertisers to reach these consumers. Game environments offer advertisers greater insights into players’ behavioural data and prioritises viewability of the ads.

“As gamers ourselves, we fully understand the gaming experience. AdColony’s latest solution seamlessly integrates social media ads into the gameplay, resulting in an enhanced experience for the player. At the same time, we’re also on the side of advertisers. This has led to the creation of this product that amplifies reach and viewability of the ads, offering advertisers a smarter way to scale their brand campaigns while recording high levels of engagement among audiences who are immersed in the game,” Mitchell added.

Following the launch of this product, AdColony is already gearing up to launch a second phase, which brings shopability into these gaming ad units.

Hong Kong – Big data company Vpon has partnered with Miaozhen Systems, the third-party data service provider in China, to advance data-driven marketing strategies across APAC.

The strategic partnership seeks to accelerate healthy data development and seize new third-party tracking business opportunities in key Asia markets, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, as well as Thailand. Through this, Vpon will be enhancing data dimensions and user profiles, to deliver a more precise and effective digital strategy.

Vpon’s Chief Operating Officer Arthur Chan shared that Asia has always been a key area for their data research and business development. 

“Miaozhen Systems being a China leading third-party technology provider, our partnership not only optimizes market targeting strategies but also provides customers in Southeast Asia with highly efficient marketing solutions, growing more confidence to tap into the booming Asia market,” said Chan.

In addition, Vpon and Miaozhen Systems announced that they are looking to deepen and strengthen their partnership to provide customers with highly effective data solutions for diverse market needs. They will be organizing joint data seminars and events to help professions achieve successful data-driven marketing strategies.

Miaozhen Systems’ Vice President Haojie Xuan, noted that data will always be crucial as it determines companies’ future marketing strategies and direction. 

“This partnership gathers two Asia leading data experts to facilitate a more sophisticated data development, and opens up regional market opportunities to attract potential customers, fostering overseas business for both Vpon and Miaozhen Systems,” said Xuan.

Just recently, Vpon has also announced a partnership with global adtech company Hivestack, with the aim to amplify data-driven digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising across the markets of Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Singapore – Reprise, the global performance marketing agency of IPG Mediabrands, has appointed Pippa Berlocher, former head of media APAC at marketing firm Merkle B2B, to assume the newly created role of president of Reprise APAC.

The appointment comes after the resignation of Ben Poole, who assumed the role of managing director of Reprise APAC. The agency shared that Poole will be leaving Mediabrands towards the end of July for a new opportunity. 

Succeeding Poole, Berlocher brings with her strong global media experience. In her previous role at Merkle B2B, she was responsible for developing and implementing the firm’s offering across APAC, including brand strategy, creative and content, e-commerce, and research, as well as CRM. 

As part of her new role, Berlocher will be based in the agency’s regional headquarters in Singapore and will be responsible for the business performance and vision implementation for the growing APAC region. She will be focusing on new business development and new product and service capabilities, working in close collaboration with its Mediabrands partner agencies – UM and Initiative. 

Furthermore, Berlocher will be developing new tools and approaches that can help clients optimize their media budgets, streamline their customer experience, and orchestrate the content they develop for customers, as well as growing and developing Reprise Commerce, the company’s dedicated e-commerce group.

Commenting on her appointment, Berlocher said, “I am really passionate about delivering excellence to our clients and business, and excited for the opportunity to do this using Reprise’s best-in-class solutions! I’m looking forward to leading a phenomenal and high-performing team across APAC.”

Meanwhile, Dimitri Maex, the global CEO of Reprise, commented that they are thrilled to welcome Berlocher onboard at Reprise as an energetic and entrepreneurial leader who embodies the Reprise values and can help position Reprise and the agency network at the forefront of this positive change.

“With the industry moving at a newly accelerated pace we have been investing ahead of the curve in growth areas like e-commerce, experience design, and performance content, while at the same time taking tangible steps towards creating a safe and responsible media environment for advertisers and consumers alike,” said Maex.

New York, USA – To lead and accelerate the company’s growth in the Asia Pacific region, global conversational AI company LivePerson has recently appointed former Adobe executive Ian Kinsella as the company’s senior vice president for APAC.

Through his newly-found role, Kinsella will oversee LivePerson’s sales and customer success organization in APAC, expanding the company’s go-to-market strategy in the region as well as its team of sales and customer success experts. LivePerson partners with many of the region’s top brands-including mobile operators, insurers, banking and financial services institutions, retailers, and more-to provide AI-powered marketing, sales, and care experiences to their customers.

Prior to joining LivePerson, he led Adobe’s Digital Experience business across APAC, with responsibility for commerce and customer journey management solutions. Kinsella came to Adobe through its acquisition of the e-commerce platform Magento, where he led the APAC business. Previously, he served as vice president at SAP, leading the customer experience & commerce business in APAC and managing a portfolio of sales, service, marketing, and e-commerce solutions.

Kinsella also spent more than a decade as an entrepreneur, bootstrapping start-ups in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. He has lived in the region for over 20 years and currently resides in Sydney, Australia.

“I’m thrilled to join LivePerson at this critical moment. Now that APAC consumers use mobile devices as their primary tool to connect with brands, we see a massive opportunity to help more of the region’s top brands offer and scale AI-powered conversations on their preferred channels, from WeChat to LINE, WhatsApp, and in-app messaging,” said Kinsella, regarding his appointment.

Meanwhile, Rob LoCascio, founder and CEO of LivePerson, commented, “With billions of mobile users, the Asia-Pacific region offers incredible opportunities for LivePerson. Bringing Ian on board catalyzes our APAC operation to partner with even more of the region’s signature brands to deliver our global vision for conversational AI’s transformation of commerce and care. I’m excited to welcome him to our executive team.”