Singapore—Small-medium enterprises (SME) in Asia Pacific are slowly making their way into being adoptive to today’s business changes across the digital transformation sphere, according to a report from IT and networking company Cisco and market intelligence firm IDC.
With more than 1,400 respondents across APAC SMEs, the report found out that there is a significant increase for digital adoption, showing a 16% growth for SMEs willing to integrate more digital transformation strategies, compared to the 11% growth last year.
On the other hand, 53% of SMEs showed initial willingness to be ‘observant’ at first for their small modern digital changes, while 31% of SMEs showed reactiveness to move into the digital market and are slow in their own transition.
The current COVID-19 pandemic proved to be one of the major reasons for digital transition of SMEs, as statistics showed that 94% of SMEs showed reliance on technological measures for their businesses. In regards to using digital business measures as a way to make roundabout on disruptive events i.e. the pandemic, 55% percent said that such measures are important and are crucial for the business framework.
Some of the leading goals for digitalization of SMEs include market expansion, improved customer experience (CX), prototype kickstart/startup, supply chain, among others.
Cisco estimates that with willingness from SMEs to conduct business presence online, such enterprises are forecasted to bring $2.6–$3.1 trillion in GDP across Asia Pacific, suggesting faster economic recovery by 2024.
Singapore — Experience management company Qualtrics has announced new senior industry leaders for customer experience (XM) services that will help diversify their services across the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region.
Crissa Sumner, who was a former talent manager for talent solutions company Hudson, joins the ranks as the company’s lead employee experience (EX) solution strategist for Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). She will be focused on coming up with new EX strategies for businesses in the region to assure organizational performance.
Meanwhile, the company’s Japan division has seen two appointments: Tomoko Kyuzaki as lead CX solutions strategist, and Mikito Ichikawa who will be its lead EX solution strategist for Japan, a first appointment of such position in the country. Prior to their appointment, Kyuzaki worked with Zurich Insurance and Deloitte; while Ichikawa was one of Japan’s leading EX experts with almost 20 years of EX leadership.
To further bolster more widespread leadership, former Prudential Singapore executive Harish Agarwal joins as the company’s lead, customer experience (CX) solutions strategist for Southeast Asia, India and Hong Kong, where he will work on scaling customer experience programs across organizations under his geographical clientele base.
Lastly, Kunjal Patel joins as research services regional sales manager for APJ. He was involved previously as head of business for Nielsen Singapore. For the new role, he will be responsible for providing full access to Qualtrics’ market research programs.
In a statement, Brigid Archibald, managing director for Qualtrics in APJ, expressed excitement for the new XM leaders on-board, noting that the company will continue its goal towards equipping businesses with change and expertise against the changing business trends of today.
“The collective wealth of experience and ability to understand and serve the needs of businesses across APJ by Qualtrics is unmatched. Each of the appointments today are proven leaders in their respective fields, and the fact they have chosen to join Qualtrics is further testament to the ability of the Qualtrics XM Platform and the business outcomes it drives,” Archibald stated.
Singapore-Digital analytics company Contentsquare has recently announced its organizational expansion within the Asia Pacific (APAC) region by establishing several regional offices and appointing two new executives to aid in the company’s operations.
The company upholds its provision of services, including customer behavior, behavior analysis through billions of anonymous web, mobile and app interactions, transforming this knowledge into advisories that increase revenue, engagement and growth.
Its new regional offices are located in the cities of Singapore, Tokyo, Melbourne, and Sydney.
Following this endeavor, Contentsquare has also employed two key executives for the overall operations of the group. David Bochsler, a former senior head at Microsoft, has been hired as the regional managing director for APAC operations, while Frazer Adnam, former head of CRM Marketing for Deliveroo and later on Afterpay, joined as ANZ Country Manager. The company said the expansion endeavor is part of its goal for the year to specifically expand within the APAC region, which it hopes to stay in the longer run.
“When I first saw the Contentsquare platform, I was just so excited about the technology. I was the decision maker on the brand side that Contentsquare would have traditionally sold to. I thought, ‘this solves problems that I literally would have needed five people to solve.’ From someone who had been working in customer experience roles for a long period of time, I was completely fascinated by what I saw was going to be the new wave of customer experience technology,” Frazer Adnam, country manager for ANZ Contentsquare stated.
Meanwhile, David Bochsler, Contentsquare’s APAC managing director commented, “Contentsquare is perfectly positioned for substantial growth in Asia. It caters exceptionally well to those very large mature, highly data driven organizations but also caters to those people that are just getting their feet in the water as far as understanding what their online visitors are doing. It’s the first time I’ve seen any technology that’s shown me what’s inside that black box of customer behavior online. It allows brands to finally understand why their digital visitors behave the way they do”.
Singapore – Global media network Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has launched a new service Transact, an end-to-end consultation and strategy service for eCommerce brands which will be offered in Asia Pacific.
Through the service, eCommerce brands will be given consultative support and capabilities spanning commerce strategy, media, marketplace investment as well as store management in leading eCommerce platforms such as Lazada, Amazon, TMALL, and eRetail, which also includes advisory in content and merchandising.
OMG’s Transact solution will be backed by eCommerce consultants and omnichannel retail specialists in 25 markets. It will also be supported by dedicated teams from around the region.
With Transact, OMG will be leveraging its people-based precision marketing and insights platform Omni.
“With Asia-Pacific leading the global eCommerce growth charge, we have a proven blueprint in Transact to help brands grow their online sales by maximizing reach, exposure, and profitability across all online models and channels,” said Tony Harradine, CEO for APAC.
‘‘Given that eCommerce is accelerating as a result of COVID-19, it is imperative for brands to stand out on the digital shelf, and with Transact, we are able to isolate elements within the eCommerce value chain to deliver incremental growth for clients,” he added.
OMG’s associate agency PHD has already integrated Transact into its existing commerce offering in APAC in partnership with eCommerce retailers that are part of its proprietary platform Omni Studio.
Singapore – Amazon’s live streaming service Twitch has announced that it has appointed two former Dentsu International heads Mandar Kambli and Sunil Yadav to be its newest leads for the APAC team. Kambli will join as Programmatic Enablement Lead, while Yadav will be assuming the role of Agency Development Lead.
Kambli comes to Twitch with 14 years of industry experience with agencies, ad tech, and publishers. He was with Dentsu from 2015-2019 where he led programmatic product, supply, and data initiatives across the region. He was most recently the head of advertising platforms for product listing app Carousell.
Meanwhile, Yadav brings with him 20 years of expertise across advertising, media planning, and digital communications. He was previously president of APAC at Dentsu’s media innovation and investment arm Amplifi where he managed media buying and media partnership. Notably, he built its programmatic agency Amnet, across 14 markets, and launched its content agency TheStoryLab in APAC. Prior to Dentsu, he worked with media agencies Mindshare and Starcom, and TV company Mediacom.
At Twitch, Kambli will be responsible for developing and supporting Twitch revenue growth across multiple regions and sharing his expertise on programmatic. With it, he will be helping enhance Twitch’s work with its customers and manage a number of key relationships. Yadav’s role, on the other hand, will charge him with the task of leading all agency partnership negotiations and relationships. He will help build upon Twitch’s success in other regions to help APAC brands and their media agency partners develop deeper relationships with the brand.
“Our pace hasn’t slowed since our last key hires in APAC, and we’re excited to bring key team members in Mandar and Sunil aboard,” said Steve Ford, vice president of Twitch for sales in APAC.
“As new users in APAC and across the world are continuing to come to Twitch, they’re finding their community and forming lasting bonds with creators. Our continued expansion will make for a better experience for these new users, as well as the brands that excite them. We’re planning even more big hires across APAC in 2020 and beyond, and look forward to taking exciting new steps in a number of markets here,” added Ford.
On the new role, Kambli said, “I’m excited to join Twitch during this period of unprecedented activity and growth in APAC. Twitch is multiplayer entertainment – it’s unique, interactive, live, and such an exciting place to be, whether you are a viewer, creator, advertiser, agency, partner, or anyone in between. And our goal is to work hand-in-hand with everyone to make the most of it.”
Meanwhile, Yadav commented, “On Twitch, everyone comes together to celebrate, learn, and grow their interests and passions, and I’m looking forward to helping agencies to learn about how to best work on Twitch to do new and exciting things. Gaming and live streaming are two areas where APAC’s audience and its passion are unparalleled, and we are just scratching the surface of the exciting new things that are possible for brands on Twitch’s platform.”
Twitch has also announced the start of its first salespeople based in Taiwan, providing a physical presence to support early inroads that Twitch has made with partners and organizations in the country. The new hires in Taiwan join the existing content and marketing teams in its office location.
United States – As more businesses in the APAC region turn to eCommerce amid the pandemic, Google has decided to make it free for merchants to list their products on the Google Shopping tab, which takes effect in mid-October.
The free listing has been available in India and Indonesia since 2019 and was earlier introduced to the United States in April as part of its COVID support to retailers.
“For retailers, this change means free exposure to millions of people who come to Google every day for their shopping needs, regardless of whether they advertise on Google. For shoppers, it means more products from more stores, discoverable through the Google Shopping tab. For advertisers, it means paid campaigns can now be augmented with free listings,” said President of Google for APAC Scott Beaumont on a product update.
Google said the time of the pandemic changed the way people shop and sell in the region. According to Google analysis, 53% of online shoppers in APAC stated that they’ll choose to buy online more frequently after the pandemic, while almost 40% who weren’t online shoppers before said they intend to continue buying online.
To help retailers adjust to the changes, Google will be offering skills training through its dedicated learning resource Grow with Google. Google will also be sharing research and insights on its market research platform Think with Google to inform retailers’ business decisions.
In addition, Google has launched a playbook and webinar series on how to better manage digital storefronts. It will also be working closely with a number of partners to help merchants manage their products and inventory; this includes global partners like eCommerce platform Shopify, and those across the region such as Vietnam-based SEO website design platform Haravan, eCommerce Shopline in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and Thailand’s eCommerce business provider LnwShop.
The free listings will be automatically applied to retailers already registered on its Merchant Center and those currently using Shopping Ads, while for new registrants, Google will continue working to streamline the onboarding process over the coming weeks.
Mumbai, India – Dentsu International has roped in Chief Data Officer and CEO of Dentsu Programmatic for South Asia Gautam Mehra to lead the APAC unit anew. He will be assuming the title Chief Data & Product Officer for the larger region.
The appointment comes as the marketing communications company moves to build a stronger and more unified APAC data and product offering across the network. Based in Mumbai, Gautam will report to Zhengda Shen, APAC president of Dentsu’s data-driven performance marketing agency Merkle.
Gautam joined Dentsu in 2013, where he later assumed the South Asia leadership three years after. In his recent role for the region, Gautam was responsible for driving the data quotient in the market both internally and with clients. Most notably, he led the unification of the Dentsu’s data sciences team and the team of programmatic marketing service Amnet to create Dentsu Programmatic.
Gautam also led the creation of Dentsu’s proprietary adtech product, the Dentsu Marketing Cloud ecosystem, which is a cohesive system that brings together a slew of Dentsu proprietary ecosystems such as the Facebook Marketing Partner (Ad-Tech) Badged DMC Explore, Dentsu Play, Dentsu TrueValue and other proprietary martech tools used in over 32 markets globally.
On the appointment, Ashish Bhasin, Dentsu Asia Pacific CEO said that data is central to the company’s business strategy as it ensures that advertising efforts are in the right direction.
“Having Gautam drive this data agenda for us is crucial in the era of data explosion. He has earned a reputation of developing and delivering highly innovative data-led initiatives while embodying the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurism. This is a well-deserved promotion and I look forward to working closely with him,” said Bhasin.
Merkle APAC president Zhengda Shen also commented, “Organizations are constantly challenged to evolve with agility and speed and adapt to ever-changing consumer dynamics. Providing leadership for clients by integrating data, media, content, and technology to navigate through this shifting landscape is a critical function of agencies. Gautam’s track record for driving innovations and developing globally scaled solutions makes him perfectly placed to help our clients in the region and to ensure that Dentsu International continues to lead through innovation.”
Meanwhile, Gautam, on his new role, said, “There are almost no limits to what we can uncover by studying consumer behavior and their interplay with brands. I’m excited to apply my leadership, knowledge, and experience in delivering globally adopted tech-driven products and solutions to further the data-driven culture of Dentsu International and to build the practice across APAC, further cementing our dominance in this area within the region in using cutting edge technology to solve everyday client challenges.”
Very recently, Dentsu announced its rebranding from Dentsu Aegis Network to now Dentsu International. The new brand will see the union of thousands of global employees under one Dentsu name.
This month, MARKETECH APAC truly lived up to its name. For the top 5 stories this September, we saw a diverse set of newsmakers hailing from around the APAC region.
The top stories were identified based on Google Analytics from August 17 to September 15. In the list, two great brands from Southeast Asia and East Asia flexed their creative prowess to showcase novel brand marketing moves. Marketing leaders also continue to dominate the list; a marketing executive from South Asia recounted her almost two-decade marketing journey, another one, an APAC business director filled us in on a growing buying trend that no one saw coming amid the pandemic, while a significant appointment from ANZ also grabbed people’s attention this month.
Top 5: Shopee gets fictional character Phua Chu Kang as new face of the brand
Ever since eCommerce platform Shopee was launched, it has only been putting its trust to big, international names to represent its brand – that would be Kpop girl band Blackpink and professional footballer Cristian Ronaldo. During its 9.9 super sale, the brand decided to show what hyper localization really means by getting not just any local personality, but a deeply rooted cultural icon – sitcom character Phua Chu Kang.
Phua Chu Kang, played by actor Gurmit Singh, is the title character of the longest-running sitcom by network Mediacorp, which revolves around the misadventures of the Phu family.
The show ran from 1996-2007, and within that time, Singaporeans grew to love the eccentric, overly confident, and yellow-boots wearing contractor. So what has truly made the Shopee team go for this rather unconventional stint?
Speaking to MARKETECH APAC, Head of Marketing Tiger Wang said, “The [appointment] marks another milestone for us as we continue to build on the hyper-localized approach and deepen our engagement with the local audiences. Phua Chu Kang is a household name and a celebrity, [and] local icon. His ability to resonate with and unite local communities aligns with Shopee’s vision, making him the best choice for us.”
Top 4: Hong Kong-based Towngas cooking academy extends its expertise to YouTube
Amid in-person limitations during the ongoing pandemic, many brands and businesses alike have turned to the virtual side of things. Take Hong Kong-based cooking school Towngas Cooking Centre as an example. The culinary academy which has flame cooking at the core of its program, has gotten things rolling this September as it forayed to YouTube this month, and it doesn’t stop at that. It has a bunch of high-caliber celebrity chefs to boot, tapped to showcase the school’s virtual sessions.
Healthy Monday, French Wednesday, Culinary Tips4U, and Star Chef Weekend and Sunday Mom & Dad are just some of the quirky-titled lessons that are slated for its YouTube viewers.
General Manager for Retail Marketing & Sales Catherine Wong said that the occurrence of COVID has definitely pushed Hong Kongers to prefer home-cooked meals to dining out, and this is what ultimately brought the brand to make the most out of the situation.
Jasrita’s marketing expertise expands almost two decades, where she’s worked with a list of well-known brands such as consumer product giant Procter & Gamble, hospitality brand Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, and television media company NDTV before having focused entirely on brand and marketing for healthcare services.
Currently, she is the assistant vice president for healthcare provider Fortis Healthcare in India. When we sat down with Jasrita during her #MARKETECHMondays episode, she shared some very helpful advice that could be very well treated as a guiding light to budding marketers.
“I just have two things to say to [marketers]; the first is, please never forget why you decided to become a marketer. There would be times in your journey when you’re feeling low, but constantly remind yourself [your why], [which is] because you want to be your consumer’s voice inside your organization,” said Jasrita.
‘The second is keep upgrading; it’s nobody else’s responsibility to upgrade your skills. Because your consumer is going to keep changing; there are new avenues, [mediums], [and] new platforms. You have to have their pulse,” added Jasrita.
Top 2: Stella Berry’s take on a new phenomenon in shopping amid the pandemic
Have you heard of revenge shopping? We bet not, but we too are sure that it would be a term soon to ring bells. In a nutshell, revenge shopping goes hand in hand with luxury shopping. It is a phenomenon that sees luxury stores opening their doors to shopping-starved consumers looking to avenge their months spent holed up at home during the lockdown.
This month, Regional Business Director of mobile advertising solutions Adludio, Stella Berry dedicated a full thought leadership article on the buying trend.
Stella said that it is a testament to the unique relationship consumers have with luxury.
“No one could have predicted that after months of lockdown, the need for luxury goods has resulted in long queues outside of boutiques. This phenomenon is the result of brands, really making the effort in continuing to engage with people even during the lockdown,’ shared Stella.
All looking positive for brands and consumers, but Stella also puts out a caution.
“Returning to business as usual at this [rapidly] accelerated pace could bring about a negative impact [on] the environment, and consequences on sustainability. So luxury marketers need to find their balance to ensure the brand continues to remain sustainable, but also well-loved,” said Stella.
Top 1: Cognizant ANZ ropes in former PwC executive Jane Livesey
Livesey breathes and lives IT. At PwC, she led over 800 IT professionals for the company’s technology consulting practice team in Australia; while for 12 years, she served as tech managing director for Accenture. With a seasoned IT experience under her belt, Livesey has also become an active advocate for women in the field of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, or STEAM.
It hasn’t been very long since Jane settled into the role, and as we checked up on her, she shared with us, “It’s been great to join Cognizant and hit the ground running in Australia and New Zealand. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had conversations with both our clients and our teams. At Cognizant, we are focused on how to enable organizations in ANZ to keep on top of era-defining innovations and drive growth in the face of continuous technological and market changes. As CEO of ANZ, my priority is to provide local enterprises and governments with high-quality, market-leading digital transformation capabilities that enhance the lives of people and support digital-first.”
Watch the MARKETECH APAC REPORTS of these top five stories, with exclusive appearance and commentary from the newsmakers themselves.
If you have interesting stories, thought-leadership pieces, and case studies in the area of marketing, technology, media platforms, and SME, please send us an email at [email protected]. Who knows your story could be part of our top 5 next month.
APAC – Following a competitive pitch, Dentsu Aegis Network, a multinational media and digital marketing communications company has announced the expansion of its regional scope in APAC with health technology company Philips’ consumer electronics business.
Dentsu will also now be leading the commerce strategy and performance for Philips APAC. Globally, the network has been appointed as the company’s media planning and buying partner
The engagement started in 2019 with the objective to build strategic and planning foundations across the region. Moving into 2020, the appointment will focus on developing an integrated performance and commerce hub which is based out of Singapore. It will drive strategy, planning, and data-driven commerce solutions across ASEAN, ANZ, and South Korea markets by bringing in key expertise across Dentsu-owned agencies Carat and iProspect to create the One Dentsu team.
Anne Jivananta, digital marketing & eCommerce lead of Philips said, “Dentsu Aegis Network has consistently shown a strong understanding of our brand and demonstrated their capability to find agile and innovative ways for us to succeed in this region. Dentsu has really elevated their performance since the hub was formed in 2019 and in 2020, they have worked closely with our teams across the region to drive superior business results specifically across eCommerce”
Jivanta added, “More importantly, their collaborative one-team approach across the region, accelerated thinking framework, and zest to continuously evolve to deliver better results strongly set them apart. They demonstrated a great synergy and chemistry between iProspect and Carat and having a one-stop-shop solution to commerce strategy, planning, activation, and optimization is what we’re looking for in an agency.”
Prerna Mehrotra, managing director of Dentsu Aegis Network Singapore Media Group said: “Philips creates best-in-class consumer and personal health products and we’re delighted to be joining them on transforming their go-to-market commerce strategy. This is a perfect time for Dentsu Aegis Network to partner with Philips on this journey as we specialize in providing commerce solutions addressing the entire consumer journey. I am excited about what we have achieved together and look forward to delivering on Philips’ ambition and driving strong business results.”
Singapore – Aon, a global professional services firm which provides a broad range of risk, retirement, and health solutions, and Singapore-headquartered Doerscircle, an all-in-one services platform dedicated for startups, have entered into a collaboration to provide insurance solutions to the often underserved workforce of entrepreneurs, startuppers, and freelancers. The partnership will initially target Asia, and solutions will be offered through Doerscircle’s platform.
According to the information by the companies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore account for two-thirds of all employment and contribute to close to S$200 billion to the Singaporean economy.
Meanwhile, on a global scale, despite the World Bank’s recent findings that almost 50% of the global workforce is self-employed, access and affordability continue to be a challenge as traditional insurance plans are not usually designed to fit the needs of the self-employed.
Aon and Doerscircle aim to address these pain points and at the same time, leverage the economical contribution of this demographic of workers. The collaboration will see the development of commercial, risk, and health insurance solutions to answer the needs of smaller enterprises and independent workers, enabling them to focus on growing their business instead of spending time and energy on understanding and managing insurance issues.
Members of Doerscircle will be able to have access to tailored insurance solutions through a streamlined online process on the Doerscircle platform.
Over time, Doerscircle aims to extend these offerings to include more products and countries, leveraging Aon’s broad network, risk management expertise, and global capabilities.
“The current business and economic environment are changing the way people work. We are excited to collaborate with Doerscircle to address the specific insurance needs of this key segment of independent workers,” said Tobias Schneider, head of financial institutions and SME of Affinity Asia unit at Aon.
Meanwhile, Doerscircle founder Helle Priess said, “Doerscircle aims to challenge the status quo and reshape the world for independent doers – entrepreneurs, startuppers and freelancers. We strongly believe that insurance solutions should be accessible, relevant, easy to understand, and transparent. We’re thrilled that Aon has the same vision. We’re confident that together, we will set new standards in insurance offerings for independent doers.”
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