Tag: Artificial Intelligence

Singapore – 80% of APAC customers are likely to take their business elsewhere as a result of poor experiences, and 61% of consumers will not tolerate bad experiences and will walk away after just one or two bad encounters, according to the data cloud communications agency Vonage in their ‘Global Customer Engagement Report’ for 2024.

In connection to this, the report stated that APAC consumers claim that their poor experiences are mostly consisted of long wait times when speaking with an agent (63%), no way to speak to customer service via voice/phone (59%), lack of 24/7 support availability (48%) and lack of self-service support (46%).

These findings are especially important, given that the global data revealed that APAC consumers continue to prefer a range of channel options when communicating with businesses, with mobile phone calls (36%), messaging/non-SMS apps (31%) and phone calls via apps (29%) ranking high in preference. However, less than half (42%) indicated they are “very satisfied” when communicating with businesses.

As such, these findings underscore opportunities to leverage AI. With tools like AI-based virtual assistants, businesses are equipped to provide quick resolution, reduce frustrations and ultimately provide a more targeted and personalised experience for the user. 

With AI, businesses can specifically address urgent customer inquiries, provide smarter self-service at scale, and deliver smart interactive voice responses and skills-based routing to connect customers with an agent best suited to handle their query, preventing and mitigating a bad customer experience. 

Lastly, report findings demonstrate that consumers are embracing AI to make their experiences better. In fact, responses show a likelihood that chatbot and video chat usage will more than double within the next year, with 10% using chatbots today and 23% expected usage in the next six to 12 months. Additionally, 13% indicate they’re using video chat today, with 26% expected usage in the next six to 12 months.

Talking about the findings, Joy Corso, chief marketing officer at Vonage, said, “This data underscores that, to differentiate on customer engagement, businesses need an omnichannel communications strategy that allows customers to contact them seamlessly across their preferred channels.”

“Those that do will also benefit from the ability to leverage the powerful capabilities of AI across communication channels, such as voice, video, messaging, and chat, enabling them to augment live customer support. This goes a long way to ensuring personal and real-time customer engagement at every touchpoint,” she added.

Singapore – SQREEM Technologies has been named the official AI marketing partner for Saracens, an English rugby union club. Through the partnership, SQREEM will deliver consumer intelligence solutions for the rugby union club, allowing for a more in-depth understanding of the club’s supporters’ preferences, behaviours, and needs.

SQREEM has a data capture infrastructure that collects market data and transforms it into useful real-time consumer knowledge bases. SQREEM’s automated digital supply chain leverages AI-driven capabilities to utilise consumer insights and customer cohorts for omnichannel activation, resulting in improved cost efficiency, engagement, revenue, and brand uplift.

Moreover, SQREEM will also be the presenting partner for the ‘Inside Training’ films posted on Saracens’ channels before every game, reaching out to an audience of more than a million supporters.

Speaking about the partnership, Ian Chapman-Banks, CEO of SQREEM, said, “Saracens and SQREEM are a natural fit. Both organisations thrive in highly charged environments and are driven by a collective determination to succeed that surpasses the sum of our parts. This partnership enables us to elevate each other, fostering brand and business growth within a sports-centric business ecosystem involving players, commentators, spectators, and investors.” 

He added, “Through this partnership, we are proud to represent Singapore’s vibrant AI ecosystem on the global stage.” As part of the partnership, the SQREEM logo featured on the kits for both Saracens Men and Women during their match against Bordeaux Begles in the Investec Champions Cup.” 

Meanwhile, Lucy Wray, CEO of Saracens, expressed, “We are excited about our partnership with SQREEM Technologies and the unique AI capabilities they bring to Saracens as we continue to build in performance, stature and geography. SQREEM’s approach to technology and artificial intelligence will allow us to harness world-leading technology to drive our audience growth, engage more meaningfully with our existing fans and reach potential new fans for the Saracens Group.”

Global – Storyblok, the content management system (CMS) in its category, has formed a partnership with Lokalise, an AI-powered translations and automatic localisation company. Through the partnership, AI-powered translations can be integrated into a site in order to localise content for users.

Companies like CoachHub use the Lokalise integration to quickly translate material in Storyblok into many languages, saving them 25% of the time they would otherwise spend on content management. 

The partnership comes in line with the ongoing issue where companies are able to interact with clients globally, but most fail to make meaningful connections because they don’t prioritise localisation. Around 500 marketers participated in a global survey conducted by Storyblok, which revealed that 79% of businesses only use their CMS to distribute content in one to three languages. Remarkably, the largest percentage (35%) limits the language in which their content is published. 

Concurrently, 43% of participants indicated that translating and localising content is important, while only 7% said it is not important. Around 81%of participants agreed that publishing information in multiple languages would improve their client acquisition efforts. Of those, 44% said it would be very helpful for their efforts.

AI is seen as essential in the endeavour to convert the need for localization into concrete outcomes, as demonstrated by the 90% of participants who said that they would be open to exploring its application for multilingual content translation within their content management system. By integrating AI-powered translations straight into the CMS, the Storyblok and Lokalise integration makes this shift easier.

Petr Antropov, co-Founder of Lokalise, said, “It’s fascinating to see the size of the gap between companies that offer their products and services in only one language (35% of the survey’s participants), and, say, half of Lokalise’s 3500 customers that run their offers in eight or more languages. Thanks to recent technological developments which made localisation no longer a challenge but an opportunity, that gap will not stay for long, and we’re excited to play a part in the change.” 

Meanwhile, Barry D’Arcy, VP of partners at Storyblok, said, “Enterprises understand the value of translating their content, but many fail to prioritise it because the path forward appears to be unclear or overly complicated. Our partnership with Lokalise makes translation and localisation a natural part of content workflows. 2024 should be the year that more businesses finally take multilingual content experiences seriously.” 

Singapore – Striving to adopt comprehensive policies and procedures concerning artificial intelligence, Milk & Honey PR has launched its latest initiative centred around the complexities of ethical AI implementation.

Dubbed the AI Ethical Playbook, this document places a central focus on the company’s dedication to responsibly embrace the use of technology in public relations. This then emphasises the specific use of AI within the PR industry as well as the importance of compliance and strategies for agency self-regulation.

In a company survey, 91% of Milk & Honey PR’s current clients believe that it is either fairly or extremely important for their PR agency to stay updated and embrace AI tools to enhance its services.

However, with data privacy and security risks identified as the primary concerns, the overall sentiment towards AI is divided between enthusiasm and cautious curiosity.

Talking about the company’s ethical standards and commitment, Meilin Wong, partner and CEO at Milk & Honey Singapore, said, “As an agency, we believe in embracing AI responsibly. The playbook serves as a testament to our commitment to ethical AI integration and as a guide towards human-centric use of AI in the realm of public relations. The Asia-Pacific region is vast and has unique cultural, social, and economic contexts.

“As brand communicators serving local and global clients in Asia, a human-led AI approach is all the more essential in ensuring authentic, trusted, and culturally nuanced messaging,” Wong concluded.

While there’s no shortage of uncertainty as we countdown to 2024, the crystal ball seems to have a few things in focus for the next trip around the sun. From the long-anticipated shift from third-party cookies to first-party data to the harnessing of AI and the evolution of e-commerce, here are five key tech trends set to shape how brands connect with customers. 

The race for first-party data

2024 is set to be the year of first-party data with Chrome deprecating third-party tracking cookies over 2024, following the lead of other browsers having already implemented similar changes. Brands will be focused on strategies to build their own valuable first-party data, built up from purchasing signals tracked via loyalty programs, registered users, CRM and so on. 

Brands will be turning to publishers to harness their vast contextual and enriched datasets from either registered users or gleaned from the type of content being consumed in real-time. Combinations of both publisher and advertiser data via data cleanrooms have been a topic of interest and will be interesting to see how this is picked up over the year.

The shift promises contextual interest targeting, enabling a more precisely tailored match for brands between creative and audiences. The focus on sharper targeting translates into reaching the right audience with specific intent, ultimately, leading to increased conversion rates and effectiveness.

Focus on innovative advertising

The ongoing adoption of more premium and effective ad solutions is a growing trend, which is only set to continue from an effectiveness and a user experience perspective. Clients are reporting that campaign budgets can be extended up to seven times more just by using more effective formats. 

Brands are demanding more premium sponsorship opportunities and publishers are accommodating via a range of high-impact and bespoke formats. This means more curated and higher quality ad experiences on-site, resulting in a longer-lasting impact from awareness to engagement through to conversion. We’re seeing a further development toward solutions overlaying first-party data or contextual insights with premium ad formats. This delivers more personalised and relevant experiences, which are particularly effective for eCommerce.

And as smartphone users worldwide reach an estimated 4.6 billion, with expectations of surpassing 5.1 billion by 2028, mobile internet traffic already claims nearly 60 per cent of total web traffic. In response to this unprecedented growth, there’s the need for a more expansive, premium mobile ad format that would not only extend the in-ad experience via a seamless, scrolling user experience; it would also drive brand awareness and communicate additional product information in an unobtrusive, impactful way.

Innovative new ad formats like BrandStory outshines competitors with triple the ad space and 2.8 times greater time in view than single scroll ad formats. This addresses the surging demand from brands worldwide for more real estate to drive real results by seamlessly intertwining awareness, exploration and action within one comprehensive solution.

e-commerce to continue upward trajectory

We’re witnessing the takeoff of e-commerce across the board, supercharged from the shift during lockdown as businesses of all sizes realised the value of having a direct relationship with their consumers. On top of the sale, e-commerce is allowing advertisers to own the data relating to the customer and the sale, which is a huge factor in the boom. 

e-commerce will see sustained growth as brands demonstrate a willingness to invest in channels that streamline the conversion process and build that direct line to their customers. We’re seeing a take-up of in-banner transactions, shoppable video, contextual targeting and dynamic e-commerce ads already playing a pivotal role in the transformation.

Harnessing AI

AI is quickly moving from a novelty to being embedded within a multitude of platforms to increase effectiveness and revolutionising the landscape, both on the overall marketing function and the specific ways we engage with technology. This includes from a generative perspective of creating content and messaging to getting a better handle on insights and planning, particularly with the abundance of first-party data. The wealth of information from this data will serve as a fertile ground for extensive learning and the development of models tailored to audience insights.

Surge in digital outdoor and connected TV channels

In the coming year, brace for a significant expansion in alternative advertising channels, particularly digital outdoor and connected TV. We anticipate substantial growth and innovative strategies as these channels evolve to become pivotal players in the advertising landscape. We have even been seeing clients connecting their digital out-of-home and digital display campaigns with live data, meaning interactions with the digital campaign can be relayed to the digital out-of-home screens – another space to watch.

The future of consumer-driven digital experiences

As we step into 2024, the world of advertising is gearing up for some exciting opportunities for publishers, advertisers and consumers alike. The strong focus on first-party data, the use of AI, the evolution of online shopping, the rise of different advertising channels and the march toward new ad formats are all painting a picture of innovation, integration and adaptability. It’s a call for advertisers and publishers to work together, align their strategies with what consumers are looking for and create a landscape where creativity, data insights and modern technology come together for a more engaging advertising experience.

This article is written by Harley Ramien, Director for Asia Pacific at Bonzai

The insight is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series under What’s NEXT 2023-2024. What’s NEXT 2023-2024 is a multi-platform industry initiative which features marketing and industry leaders in APAC sharing their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year.

Singapore – Digital travel platform Agoda, has unveiled its latest foray in AI storytelling with ‘Travel in Colours’, which invites travellers to explore the world through a kaleidoscope of destinations that mirror the vibrant hues of Agoda’s logo.

Promising users with a colour filled journey, Agoda’s Travel in Colours is a curated collection of travel experiences designed to ignite wanderlust and inspire a viewers’ next vacation.

Specifically, the colours and destinations mirror Agoda’s logo with reds, yellows, emeralds, purples, and blues, giving users a diverse glimpse of locations and cultures for users to see and experience these places from their screens. 

This project leverages the latest AI technology with ChatGPT and Midjourney to create stunning, hyper-realistic images that capture the essence of each location. While not all images are 100% accurate representations, ‘Travel in Colours’ is a playful and inspiring testament to the joy of travel, designed to ignite the wanderlust within.

Talking about this initiative, Matteo Frigerio, CMO of Agoda, said, “We believe that the power of AI can bring a new dimension to travel storytelling, making it more engaging and accessible to everyone.”

“Agoda has always been at the forefront of digital innovation, and with ‘Travel in Colours’, we’re pushing the boundaries of how travel stories are told,” he added. 

Singapore – Yahoo Advertising has just recently launched ‘Yahoo Blueprint’, its latest central AI suite that powers performance-based solutions within the Yahoo DSP.

Fueled by over 335 million logged in Yahoo users globally, Yahoo Blueprint enhances decisioning, makes AI more accessible, and serves as a results-driven guide throughout the campaign lifecycle to deliver better outcomes for advertisers.

With Yahoo Blueprint, Yahoo DSP clients are promised with acquiring stronger results through performance that leverages years of AI to bid on the right impressions, optimisation through AI co-pilot that provides recommendations for campaign improvements and auto-optimises, as well as a simple and enhanced UI that guides advertisers and offers more efficiency.

Since Yahoo Blueprint is said to be an evolving AI ecosystem, it will be adopting more enhancements in the future. As of now, other notable features of Yahoo Blueprint include new data visualisation layouts, bidding and forecasting precision through the Omniscope tool, an AI-powered insights tool, a predictive audience feature, and customer value optimization. 

Commenting on Yahoo Blueprint, Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, chief revenue officer at Yahoo, said, “What sets our AI suite apart is the vast scale of proprietary data we tap into before considering third-party or customer first-party data. In introducing Yahoo Blueprint, we are now allowing advertisers to capitalise on Yahoo’s extensive history of machine learning and data-driven decision-making in a new and accessible way.”

“With Yahoo Blueprint, advertisers always hold the reins. Yahoo Blueprint not only focuses on enhancing performance, but also aims to reduce friction and maintain transparency, ensuring both ease of use and advertiser control,” she added.

Singapore – In pursuit of bringing a hyper-personalised digital experience in the market, the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) has announced its recent affiliation with Personetics, a global leader in financial data-driven personalisation and customer engagement. With this joint effort, the two are set to improve the customer’s financial well-being including financial literacy using the latest introduction of BPI’s AI-powered track and plan app. 

This new app utilises self-services options for depositing funds, paying bills and other transactions. It also generates personalised recommendations for active digital users based on their unique financial transactional data. 

Furthermore, the collaboration with Personetics plays an essential role in enriching personal savings and debit card data for BPI customers. It categorises them and offers value-added advisory services and 20 out-of-the-box hyper-personalised insights, aiding customers in managing cash flows, making informed financial decisions, and saving.

Following this endeavour, Fitzgerald Chee, head of consumer platforms at BPI said, “As the first bank in the Philippines, BPI has a long history of industry leadership, and today, it provides the most advanced digital capabilities of any bank in the country. We are proud to be the first to empower our customers with rich, personalised recommendations and insights.” 

“Personetics is an ideal partner in providing our customers with the tools and direction they need to become more involved and active in shaping their own financial future,” he added.

Meanwhile, David Sosna, CEO and co-founder at Personetics remarked “We are delighted that BPI, the pioneer in providing advanced PFM for banking customers in the Philippine market, has chosen Personetics as its partner in this exciting endeavour. As a bank with a long and illustrious history of providing innovative services for both consumers and businesses, BPI is an ideal partner in ensuring that Personetics is spot on in addressing consumers’ unique banking issues and financial concerns. 

“We are fully committed to supporting the bank in its effort to advance financial literacy and well-being and welcome the opportunity to work closely with BPI to create even more value for the customers it serves,” he added. 

Future plans including integration of credit card data will also allow BPI to provide clients with more tools to improve personal financial management and wellbeing. By incorporating ACT auto-savings and sustainability analytics, the company looks forward to assisting more clients in creating and reaching savings goals, as well as connecting the back-office to Salesforce.

Singapore – As workforces change along with the dynamic state of industries, global communications platform Slack has unveiled its new global research via YouGov designed to explore the different approaches and personalities in the workplace, and the impact of those differences on desk worker preferences and the adoption of technology and AI.

Data from Slack and YouGov mainly suggests that Singapore has the second highest number of individuals who thrive on virtual connectivity, mobility and adaptability, whilst Singapore workers are also ranked second in terms of leveraging AI at work. 

Going into specifics, the study revealed five dominant types of workplace personas in a Singapore workplace namely, ‘The Road Warrior’, ‘The Detective’, ‘The Networker’, ‘The Problem Solver’, and ‘The Expressionist’.

According to the survey of over 15,000 desk workers across nine markets, Singapore ranks high globally for its workforce’s comfort in building virtual connections and thriving in varied work locations. This type of worker, dubbed The ‘Road Warrior’, makes up 26% of the Singapore workforce and prioritises flexibility over all else.

The most common traits of Singapore ‘Road Warriors’ include working away from their desk (91%) and working wherever they want in a way that fits their schedule is the most important to them (46%). They describe themselves as adaptable (85%) and colleagues describe them as being most likely to work from a new location (26%).

In contrast, Singapore reports fewer ‘Detectives’ (21% compared to 30% globally)—those with a knack for seeking and sharing information—compared to other regions. Singapore’s comparatively younger workforce is a factor here, with Detectives found to be most common amongst older workforces. 

Singaporeans classified as ‘Detectives’ are best described as organised (94%), with a preference for figuring things out on their own (85%), sharing information with others on the team, and finding the right information as quickly as possible. Colleagues describe this persona as the best at digging up information (42%), and most likely to know everything going on at the company (52%).

With this in mind, the research also revealed that one in four desk workers globally are currently working with AI (26%), with the highest usage being in Singapore (34%) and India (54%). 

Notably, the personas identified in the research showed differences in how they approach the adoption of new technology, such as AI, in the workplace. Detectives and Road Warriors feel the least supported with the introduction of new technology, with 15% of each group globally feeling their company provides little or no training or information. 

This highlights the importance for  Singapore businesses to better understand the training and skills gaps that workers need the most support with, especially in getting a better handle on how to best introduce AI.   

Talking about the findings, Derek Laney, Slack technology evangelist, APAC, Salesforce, commented, “Whether you have five or 5,000 people, every workplace has a unique ecosystem of personalities, skill sets and working styles.

“With Singapore’s culturally diverse workforce, recognising these differences is vital for businesses that want to provide a truly empowering environment for their staff. No two employees work exactly alike, leaders must embrace a flexible management approach and versatile technologies so people can play to their unique strengths at work,” he added.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Data and AI company Axiata Digital & Analytics Sdn Bhd (ADA), has recently announced international trade and development company Mitsui’s investment of US$58m, facilitated through ADA’s holding company, Axiata Digital Services Sdn Bhd (ADS).

Mitsui’s additional investment has established a watermark valuation of US$550m for ADA, reflecting the company’s continued growth and innovation in the digital and data transformation domain.

On the strength of the investment, ADA is set to broaden its digital reach and reinforce its commitment to advancing digital and data transformation in the region. Mitsui has also been working closely with ADS and ADA since their initial investment in 2019, and is now intensifying its efforts to deliver data and AI solutions to partners and clients in the APAC region.

Talking about the investment, Srinivas Gattamneni, chief executive officer of ADA, said, “Mitsui’s strong endorsement highlights our extraordinary growth story. We are excited about the prospect of deepening our collaboration with Mitsui to empower their partners with cutting-edge data, AI, and technology solutions.”

Vivek Sood, group chief executive officer and managing director of Axiata, added, “Mitsui has a strong and proven track record of bolstering innovative businesses in the fields of AI, data analytics and digital transformation. We are confident that broadening our strategic partnership will further enhance ADA’s expertise in AI and data analytics with Mitsui’s substantial business capabilities derived from a global portfolio.”

Meanwhile, Toru Matsui, representative director, senior executive managing officer of Mitsui & Co. Ltd, commented, “We look forward to collaborating closely with Axiata Group and ADS/ADA in order to contribute to the growth of ADA by accelerating the provision of its digital marketing solutions and data analysis services to our partners throughout the region.”