Tag: Artificial Intelligence

Taiwan – Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) has banned the use of DeepSeek’s newly launched AI service from China in the public sector, citing concerns over data privacy and security risks.

According to a report by the Taipei Times, MODA has advised government agencies and critical infrastructure to avoid using DeepSeek, stating that it “endangers national information security.”

MODA’s ban covers employees of government agencies, public schools, state-owned enterprises, semi-official organisations, critical infrastructure projects, and government-endowed foundations. However, it did not provide details on enforcement. 

The ministry also referenced the ‘Principles on Restricting the Use of Products That Endanger National Cyber Security,’ a 2019 Executive Yuan regulation that bans government agencies from using IT and communication technology products or services deemed a national security risk.

“DeepSeek AI service is a Chinese product. Its operation involves cross-border transmission and information leakage and other information security concerns,” the Taipei Times reported, quoting the ministry.

Taiwan’s ban on DeepSeek comes amid growing global concerns about how the service collects and handles personal data.

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission plans to send a written request to DeepSeek seeking clarification on how user data is managed, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, authorities in France, Italy, Ireland, and other countries are also investigating DeepSeek’s handling of personal data.

DeepSeek has recently gained attention in the AI industry, with its free AI assistant model surpassing U.S. rival ChatGPT in app store downloads. The company’s claim that it matches the capabilities of leading U.S. AI models for a fraction of the investment have also stirred interest among global investors.

China – Alibaba, the Chinese tech and e-commerce giant, has officially joined the AI race with the launch of Qwen2.5-VL, an open-source multimodal model that builds on the capabilities of its predecessor, Qwen2-VL.

In a blog post, Alibaba shared that Qwen2.5-VL shows impressive multimodal capabilities, excelling at understanding texts, charts, diagrams, and layouts in images. It can also analyse videos longer than an hour, answer related questions, and pinpoint specific segments.

Additionally, the model can also convert unstructured data from invoices, forms, or tables into organised formats like JSON, making it useful for automating tasks such as processing financial or legal documents.

Alibaba also claimed that by combining parsing and localisation features, Qwen2.5-VL can act as a visual agent, helping users perform tasks like checking the weather or booking a flight by guiding the use of different tools on computers and mobile devices.

The company further revealed that their flagship model, Qwen2.5-VL-72B-Instruct, performs competitively across a range of benchmarks, including document and diagram reading, visual question answering, college-level math, video understanding, and visual tasks.

It’s also worth noting that Alibaba and the Qwen team are developing Qwen2.5-Max, a large-scale MoE model they claim outperforms DeepSeek V3 in key areas like coding, general tasks, and human preferences. They also stated it has shown competitive results in other assessments, including tests on college-level knowledge.

“Qwen2.5-Max outperforms … almost across the board GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3, and Llama-3.1-405B,” Alibaba’s cloud unit said in an announcement on its official WeChat account, referencing OpenAI and Meta’s leading open-source AI models, Reuters reported.

Both Qwen2.5-Max and Qwen2.5-VL are now accessible via Qwen Chat, Alibaba’s conversational AI platform, where users can interact with the models, explore features, and perform tasks like searching. Additionally, developers can access the Qwen2.5-Max API through Alibaba Cloud.

The release of Alibaba’s Qwen2.5 comes after DeepSeek launched its AI assistant powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model on January 10, followed by the January 20 release of its R1 model, which has sparked significant discussions around the AI boom and the pressure for AI firms to upgrade their own model. 

United States – Brightcove has announced the launch of its AI Content Suite, which ntroduces a range of AI-powered tools to increase the impact of video content while also improving business productivity, making it a seamless and easy experience for content creators to get more from their content and drive greater engagement across their audiences.

The Brightcove AI Content Suite includes three AI-powered capabilities – content creation, metadata optimisation, and translation – which simplify video content production by automating the creation and optimisation processes.

The AI Content Suite empowers companies to fully utilise their video content by offering a range of advanced features. It enables the rapid and automated transformation of long-form videos into engaging short-form clips, highlight reels, and theme-based chapters, optimizing content for maximum reach across multiple channels. 

Additionally, it converts horizontal video formats into vertical layouts, enhancing engagement with mobile audiences and improving visibility on social media platforms. To further increase discoverability, the suite automatically generates metadata, including titles, tags, and descriptions, ensuring that relevant content reaches the right audience. Moreover, its upcoming universal translation capabilities will support dozens of languages, making content more accessible and expanding global reach.

The Brightcove AI Content Suite is part of Brightcove’s broader AI product strategy and roadmap. It was built in close collaboration with customers across various industries to create solutions that address their business needs, such as deepening audience engagement and improving efficiencies in creating, editing and distributing video content.

The Brightcove AI Suite will continue to launch new products based on customer feedback. These include the addition of text-to-video capabilities and AI-powered automated video interactivity, personalization, and recommendations to engage audiences and build loyalty.

Scott Levine, chief product officer at Brightcove, said, “The AI Content Suite is a force multiplier for anyone looking to expand the impact of their video content without increasing their workload. Embedded within our video platform, the AI Content Suite easily and quickly enables a video creation multiplier effect without going to other tools and platforms. This allows our customers to maximize their content reach and engagement.”

Singapore – A new report from IDC has predicted that by 2028, consumers will spend $32b via AI agents that run independently on their smartphones to programmatically shop for goods, services, and considered purchases. It also highlighted that CX executives will adjust their business strategies based on such initiatives and seek to incorporate a more AI-infused approach in their campaigns.

It also highlighted that around 40% of CX vendors will shift to new, outcome-based, pricing models making the value exchange for their clients more transparent and improving the monetisation of their AI investment.

Moreover, as AI implementations scale, human-in-the-loop approaches will be eliminated, resulting in 25% of CX teams creating new, dedicated roles for the systemic governance of AI by 2028.

The report also predicts that seeing value in referral growth and in controlling costs, by 2028, 30% of A2000 companies will have restructured and aligned their customer-facing teams under a CRO to optimise CX outcomes.

Lastly, around 20% of B2C A2000 companies by 2028 will enable real-time IoT-product data to notify customers of future failures, issue resolution recommendations, and help customers self-solve proactively.

Abhishek Kumar, associate research director and head of AP Enterprise Applications & CX at IDC Asia-Pacific, said, “Tech-driven CX enhancements have always been AP retailers’ top go-to differentiator in a highly commoditised market with indistinguishable products and services. A key challenge for them is to refocus IT and digital initiatives to improve operational efficiencies. Many look to AI to modernise and unify their underlying data infrastructure, breaking down existing organisational silos, moving towards a holistic experience-orchestrated (X-O) approach that creates meaningful value for all key stakeholders and not just customers.”

Artificial intelligence. It’s been the hot topic for the last two years since generative AI exploded into the mainstream. And to be honest, it isn’t going anywhere. There has been lots of chatter about how the technology will revolutionise our lives and in 2025, I believe this is when we will truly see some game-changing innovation with AI that moves beyond just productivity.

From becoming your personal assistant to the evolution of generated content and the emergence of artificial general intelligence (AGI), these are the next big trends in AI we can expect to see over the coming year and beyond.

The year of the AI agent

AI agents have been popping up throughout 2024. For those who might have missed them or are unsure what an ‘AI agent’ is, it is basically an autonomous intelligent system performing specific tasks with minimal to no human intervention. Their purpose is ultimately to automate those mundane and time consuming tasks, usually with the ability to complete them instantaneously.

Not only will they become your very own personal assistant, but they will also increasingly assist in customer support roles. Speaking to Bloomberg recently, Sequoia Capital’s Konstantine Buhler noted not only will 2025 become the year of the AI agent but we will also begin to see them working together in swarms and networks. 

Significant cloud infrastructure is currently being developed to support voice-to-voice AI agents across various scenarios. So expect to see more of them used for customer service, development, language translation and in gaming and entertainment.

The next evolution of content creation

AI generated content is going nowhere in 2025 – it is only set to become more prolific across all mediums. Beyond just text and image, we will see video and audio generation technology continue to evolve, improving quality and consistency. 

Generative 3D content will also gain more traction. Unlike generative text, image, and video content, AI-generated 3D has seen less development, though it’s crucial for immersive social experiences. Innovations like Gaussian splatting – an advanced form of photogrammetry – and generative 3D are set to break new ground.

Additionally, with the pressures to be constantly creating and appearing in content, it’s likely we will see influencers and content creators leverage generative AI tools to produce videos, images, and other content. The success of new tools, like NotebookLM, allow creators to be replaced or augmented by multimodal AIs capable of replicating their likeness.

This is all, of course, a double-edged sword with concerns around deepfakes, impersonations and breach of copyright remaining front and centre. For these reasons, mainstream video and audio generators will face increased scrutiny regarding their training datasets. Companies like Suno, currently facing legal action from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and Runway, which reportedly trained on thousands of YouTube videos, are already being examined. 

On the flip side, Adobe has been setting the standard to avoid such issues. Its generative AI tool Adobe Firefly takes a cautious approach by using only licensed material. This shift will eventually provide clarity and establish a framework for brands to safely use generative technologies.

Beyond the LLM

The evolution of large language models (LLMs) has started to plateau, highlighting the need for new technologies and methodologies to push further advancements and work towards AGI. Although AGI is not necessary for practical AI applications, it remains a significant milestone.

AGI is when the technology will be able to perform tasks that it is not necessarily trained or developed for. AI as we know it is usually trained on set parameters, whereas AGI will be able to train itself beyond these parameters and learn new skills autonomously. 

The concept sounds very Black Mirror – and for now, it still is very much a theoretical concept. However, given the rapid pace of AI development, unless we face another AI winter, it might not be too far away.

As a techno-optimist, I believe that AI will bring some of its most exciting developments yet in 2025. However, much work remains in areas like education, informed regulation, and the development of mechanisms and methodologies to ensure this powerful technology is used responsibly and not for malicious purposes. If we get this right, AI will unlock exciting possibilities for both businesses and consumers.

This thought leadership is written by Manolis Perrakis, Innovation Director at We Are Social Singapore

The insight is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series under What’s NEXT in Marketing 2025, a multi-platform industry initiative which features marketing and industry leaders in APAC sharing their marketing insights and predictions for 2025 and beyond.

Explaining to marketers that artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way they execute marketing campaigns and how they interact with customers is an unnecessary endeavour. Pretty much every industry has either already widely adopted the technology, or is in the process of weaving it into its current technology stack. 

The question we should endeavour to ask, though, is how marketers can make the most of AI, and what they should prepare for as 2025 is fast approaching. 

A significant area of interest is AI-generated content. It offers immense value both from an efficiency and customer engagement perspective, but also raises concerns:  how much can we give to AI? What is the place of us humans, particularly marketers in the equation? How to ensure accuracy and an ethical use of AI? 

These considerations will be crucial as marketing strategies and technology investments for 2025 take shape.

What’s Next in AI-Generated Content 

Thanks to AI, we have really entered an era where content is king. Tools, driven by AI, not only enhance content creation but are also changing how content is delivered. 

The last decade saw marketers focus on using data-driven technologies to improve personalisation. What we are now entering is an era of AI-driven hyper-personalisation, where customer experiences are tailored to individual preferences using vast amounts of data.

By harnessing AI, marketers can understand individual preferences, behaviours and context. They can recommend tailored products, predict customer needs and automate responses. Those seamless, hyper-personalised experiences are what will keep customers coming back and engaging more with their favourite brands. 

Four Ways AI Will Impact Content for Marketers

  1. Deeper personalisation at scale, tailored to each user – Еxamples of this include customised homepage content based on past purchases and browsing history, product recommendations matching user profiles, personalised search results ranked by relevance to the individual, email and push notification content tailored to past responses, chatbots providing personalised answers based on context, and next best action recommendations to enhance the customer journey.
  1. Faster, smarter content creation, localisation and omnichannel publishing – AI is an incredibly handy tool for automating content generation, including suggesting topics and headlines, rewriting content for different formats, or writing full articles using natural language generation (NLG). More and more, this will also apply to images and video assets, which can help marketers provide even richer content. The latest tools can also advise on when to publish, and which channels make the most sense based on trends, behaviour and competitors.
  1. More relevant search results and chatbot interactions – By implementing natural language processing and voice search, marketers can allow customers to find information in an intuitive, conversational way. Voice search is the next big thing to come out of AI, allowing users to speak their search queries out loud, which will create a more human-like search experiences, leading to higher satisfaction and engagement.
  1. Actionable analytics to guide better content decisions – Мore and more, AI will help optimise content for better performance by analysing and providing recommendations for titles, descriptions, keywords and other elements. This will ultimately also help improve search engine rankings. AI can also identify areas that need improvement before publishing, while NLP techniques can help analyse user-generated content (comments, social media discussions, feedback) to understand sentiments and preferences. 

Governance and human oversight: three tips for a sustainable use of AI

The increasing use of AI demands greater responsibility. While AI tools can enhance user engagement and efficiency, careful governance and human oversight are crucial as the technology rapidly evolves.

  1. Avoiding AI hallucinations – Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) combines GenAI with detailed, relevant data to deliver accurate, reliable and useful insights. RAG is a technology that provides much needed context and insight to decrease the chances of hallucinations, improve accuracy and reduce costs. 
  1. Maintaining messaging and brand control – Using AI algorithms that generate content based on that data can result in messaging that doesn’t align with a brand’s values, personality or voice. Establishing clear guidelines and implementing review processes can ensure consistent messaging that reflects the brand’s values. It could be done by developing specific rules for the types of content that can be generated, or defining the boundaries for AI-generated content usage.
  1. Ethical and legal implications – AI-generated content may be susceptible to bias or discrimination, especially in sensitive industries like healthcare or finance where accuracy and transparency are critical. Marketers need to collaborate with legal and regulatory experts so they can develop guidelines that guarantee that their use of AI complies with relevant laws and regulations, and avoid potential legal issues. 

2025 has the potential to be an incredible year for marketers who understand the potential of AI, and how to use the technology effectively. However, they need to remember that AI is not a magic wand. It requires thoughtful planning, robust data infrastructure and ethical considerations. 

This thought leadership is written by Jay Sanderson, Senior Principal Customer Architect at Progress

The insight is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series under What’s NEXT in Marketing 2024-2025, a multi-platform industry initiative which features marketing and industry leaders in APAC sharing their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year.

As we approach 2025, several key trends are poised to significantly affect the advertising industry. It is undeniable that ongoing advancements in advertising technologies such as personalised connected TV (CTV) and Free Ad-supported streaming TV services, as well as rapidly evolving AI technologies will influence advertiser strategies moving forward. 

The following insights shed light on the key trends likely to make an impact on the marketing and advertising sector in 2025.

Putting Data Front and Centre 

Data is becoming the cornerstone of advertising strategies as brands move beyond traditional methods like third-party cookies to build more robust and sustainable first-party data ecosystems. Nexxen’s Head of Client Success, Tanja Williams, explains that advertisers are increasingly investing in advanced data solutions to drive precise targeting, measure ROI, and personalise consumer experiences. 

“We’re seeing advertisers focus on developing their first-party data as they look for ways to reduce their reliance on cookies,” she explains. “This shift is empowering brands to own their data strategies, create direct connections with their consumers and better tailor their messaging.” 

The acceleration of subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms and Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) channels are reshaping the TV landscape. The arrival of VOZ Trading and Streaming, plus initiatives like Foxtel’s Video Futures Collective further adds to the momentum, creating new opportunities but complexities for advertisers. Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) data is emerging as a key data source to navigate the complexities of this fragmented media landscape. 

“Advertisers are increasingly seeing the value of ACR data to bridge the gap between streaming and linear TV,” Williams notes. “By providing real-time insights into what content and ads are being consumed/viewed and where, ACR allows brands to identify overlapping audiences, tailor messaging across screens and ensure they’re reaching the right viewers.” 

FAST channels, which continue to grow rapidly, highlight the importance of leveraging planning and measurement tools powered by ACR data. “FAST channels are not just cost-effective, they also offer niche and highly engaging content,” she notes. “ACR data enables advertisers to optimise campaigns in this space by unlocking insights into viewing habits and delivering personalised ads that resonate across platforms.” 

She also highlights how data analytics and cross-screen measurement tools are enabling advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their investments more accurately. “Advertisers are leveraging programmatic technology and converged insights to engage audiences in a fragmented media environment,” she says. “With advanced attribution modelling, exclusive data sets like ACR and the ability to measure across screens, brands can make data-informed decisions that maximise campaign performance and ROI.” 

AI Opportunity 

As we move further into an era of AI-driven advertising and data analytics, Jay Kim, Director of Analytics & Platform Solutions in APAC at Nexxen, discusses the benefits organisations can gain by embracing AI and integrating it with advanced data and analytics tools. 

“Continuing to integrate AI into data analytics tools is going to be a major way to strengthen those solutions, enabling deeper insights and faster, more accurate predictions,” he says. 

“By providing predictive insights from real-time data, we’ll be able to help advertisers optimise their campaigns and anticipate trends even more effectively, empowering them to adapt strategies quickly and thus maximise ROI.” 

Kim adds that as AI becomes more deeply embedded in data workflows, organisations will need to carefully balance innovation with ethical considerations. 

“As this technology evolves, it will be critical to ensure the data used to train AI models is representative of diverse demographic groups and its AI systems are regularly audited to ensure biases are quickly identified and corrected.” 

Engaging the Next Generation of Audiences 

With Gen Z and Millennials increasingly shaping consumer trends, Nexxen’s Senior Sales Director for Southeast Asia, Amresh Kumar, explains how advertisers can adapt their strategies to resonate with these demographics in 2025. 

“As has been made clear in recent years, brands taking a position on contentious social issues can backfire. Even younger consumers will react poorly if an advertiser is perceived to be engaging in insincere ‘wokewashing’ in an attempt to pander to socially conscious demographics,” he says. 

“Values such as authenticity and transparency appeal to both younger and older generations, so advertisers may like to try doubling down on those things.” 

Kumar adds that brands are expected to leverage new technology, interactive experiences and high-quality content to captivate younger audiences. 

“When it comes to grabbing and holding the attention of younger, digitally native audiences, businesses are now in a CX arms race. In the past, there has been a focus on gamification, and that will likely continue, but I also predict there will be increased interest in things like interactive video content and possibly AR and VR.” 

“Technology may advance and attention spans may shorten, but humans will always be attracted to narratives with which they can emotionally connect. The form of the brand experience – experiential marketing, influencer content, micro-content – isn’t as important as its function, which should be to forge or deepen an emotional connection between the brand and the consumer.

“With modern insights tools like Nexxen Discovery, advertisers can analyse content engagement and user behaviours across digital and social. These solutions will be critical at engaging the next generation of audiences,” he concludes. 

Retail Media is Set to Bloom 

Retail media – the advertising of brands not just on retail shelves but across websites, apps, in-store screens and other digital properties – is set to see major growth, according to Janice Chan, VP Platform & Client Service, APAC. Retail media enables advertisers to connect with shoppers at pivotal moments in their buying journey, driving higher engagement and sales. 

PwC estimates the retail media category in Australia will hit $2.6 billion by 2026. “Major Australian retailers are already making significant moves in this space, together with the acceleration of DOOH (in-store digital screens and shopping malls) and the growth of e-commerce,” says Chan. 

Retail media is also expanding beyond traditional retailers. “We’re seeing financial services launch media networks, which will allow advertisers to reach customers through their physical and digital channels (branches, ATMs, publications and digital platforms), using de-identified transaction data to help with targeting,” she adds. 

As retail media continues to expand in Australia, Chan says advertisers are benefiting from improved engagement and precise targeting in a contextual and timely manner, resulting in higher sales return. 

“Apart from ad space and inventory opportunities, retailers’ first- party data plays a key role in providing insights and measurement for brands to better tailor their ads, target new shopping audiences, and measure the campaign effectiveness,” she says.

Chan adds that retail media has been activated programmatically in various forms, and more standardised full-funnel capabilities will continue to be built out. The standard for measurement and metrics will also need to advance alongside industry growth and in consideration with the evolving privacy laws in Australia. 

“We expect to see a lot of innovation and growth in the retail media space, as retailers and brands connect their data to expand and energise their marketing strategies,” she concludes. 

Singapore – Digital travel platform Agoda has launched a generative AI (GenAI) film promoting the beauty of global exploration. 

Echoing Agoda’s aim to bridge the world through travel, the campaign also celebrates cultural diversity and human connections gained from travelling.

Titled ‘Leo’s Magical Travel Adventures,’ the short film follows the journey of Leo across countries. From Guangzhou in China, Rotorua in New Zealand, and Ayutthaya in Thailand, Leo finds himself in Udaipur, India. In each stop, he gains knowledge of the different cultures.

The film builds on Agoda’s book titled ‘Maya and the Secret World of Agoda,’ also made using AI.

Among the tools used for the short film production are OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4.0 and Midjourney v6.1, supervised by Agoda’s marketing, legal, and translation teams.

The short film is available for viewing at Agoda’s YouTube channel.

“AI is rewriting the rules of creativity. This AI project wants to inspire both kids and adults to dream big with travel, while celebrating Asia Pacific’s incredible diversity and the joy of exploration,” Matteo Frigerio, chief marketing officer at Agoda, said.

“At Agoda, our purpose is to bridge the world through travel. Travel helps people enjoy, learn, and experience the amazing world we share. Using cutting-edge AI tools to tell this story was as exciting as it was meaningful,” Frigerio added.

In today’s competitive environment, it’s critical brands adapt to the rapidly changing digital landscape, leveraging data-driven and results-focused strategies to stay ahead. Heading into 2025, leading Melbourne digital marketing performance agency Impressive’s team of experts has shared key insights into the shifts they predict will shape the digital marketing industry, with innovative approaches set to drive smarter, more targeted growth for businesses. 

Robert Tadros – Impressive’s Founder & CEO: “As we move into 2025, more and more brands will need to adopt a ’work smarter, not harder’ approach to stay competitive. The digital landscape is evolving rapidly, and large retail and eCommerce platforms must embrace programmatic SEO as a key solution to streamline and automate traditionally labour-intensive processes. 

As an example, our Skailed platform was purposefully designed to effectively transform months of meticulous work into a fraction of the time, enabling brands to optimise thousands of pages with minimal manual intervention. By leveraging data-driven automation, companies can better meet customer demand, stay agile in a crowded market, and drive sustainable growth without overextending their resources.”

Sam Makwana – Head Of SEO: “My SEO prediction for 2025 is that keyword value will matter more than volume. For a long time, SEO agencies and in-house SEO teams have focused on organic traffic growth as a main measure of success. However, this often doesn’t consider whether the visitors are at the top or bottom of the sales funnel. As a result, even if organic traffic goes up, conversions or revenue often stay the same.

At Impressive, we’ve always valued traffic quality over quantity. That’s why our main goal is to drive traffic to high-value landing pages. With Generative AI now part of Google in Australia, we expect a major drop in top-of-the-funnel, volume-focused queries, as Google will deliver many answers directly on the search results page. Instead, the focus will shift to value-based traffic, and SEO teams who know how to attract this kind of traffic will lead the way.”

Nicholas Simonsen – Head Of Content: “AI has taken the digital world by storm over the last few years, and as a result, I have found that everyone is starting to sound the same, no matter the industry in question. Don’t get me wrong, ChatGPT and AI, in general, have changed the game in so many ways, but it’s reached a point now where I can pinpoint ‘ChatGPTisms’ in the first sentence or two of website copy. It all sounds so lifeless and generic.

Heading into 2025, I think we’ll see brands refocus on human content and on fostering that human connection between brand and consumer. With the market so saturated and spending down across the board, buyers wanted to feel connected to their favourite brands, so let’s make sure we’re giving it to them.”

Jasmine Allen – Head Of Performance: “The rise of online e-commerce marketplaces will continue to shape the future of retail, creating an environment where shopping is even more seamlessly integrated into social apps and digital platforms, allowing users to browse, compare, and complete purchases without ever leaving their preferred sites. 

This shift will continue to make the buying process more efficient and appealing. We’ve already seen major players such as Amazon continue to dominate in Western markets, while marketplaces like Shopee and Lazada continue to lead across Asia, each capturing significant market share.

As these platforms evolve, they continue refining search functionality and user experience, making it easier for shoppers to find exactly what they’re looking for at the lowest price. However, this convenience will continue to present new challenges for retailers housing non-exclusive brands, especially those relying on paid ads to maintain visibility. With intense competition from established marketplace giants, a more strategic approach is essential for these brands to stand out. To navigate this crowded digital landscape, tailored, data-driven strategies are crucial to ensure marketing efficiency and to be able to maximise return on investment amidst increasingly dominant platforms.”

Ready to Future-Proof Your Marketing Strategy?

These insights underscore Impressive’s commitment to helping brands stay agile and competitive. As 2025 approaches, Impressive is ready to help businesses navigate these transformative trends, offering expertise and forward-thinking strategies to achieve sustainable growth.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – With the launch of the Astro Originals series ‘Project; Exit’, Talon Creative has collaborated with Astro to create an AI-powered initiative that aims to empower and provide support for those in need via positive social media engagement. 

Bringing together the power of generative AI, the stars of ‘Project; Exit’ and Astro’s social media presence, Talon created a way for Mierul Aiman and Shasha Abedul to give moral support to those in need directly on social media.

To achieve this, a social listening system identified posts expressing sadness, frustration, and anxiety. By leveraging proprietary AI technology trained on the cast members’ voice recordings and footage, we are able to generate custom responses that mimic their style and tone. These personalised messages aimed to provide support and encouragement to those in need. 

With up to 50 responses a day, the initiative created a meaningful impact, allowing social media users to see that they were not alone. This resulted in #ProjectExit 2-episode drop accumulating a total of 3.2k mentions, contributed by 1.2k authors, to date. 

The AI initiative attracted praises from netizens as Hadi and Jannah comforted those in need with personalised words of encouragement. Influencers were also seen interacting with the AI, reacting in surprise that AI could be leveraged for the good of mental health awareness. Moreover, all of this resulted in an outpouring of netizens speaking about their battles and the battles of those close to them. 

Tai Kam Leong, chief sales and marketing officer at Astro, said, “We’re excited to introduce this new initiative to support Project; Exit which uses A.I. in a relevant way to foster positive social interactions. We believe that content can go beyond the screen and it can have an uplifting effect on people’s lives. By leveraging the crossroads of content, celebrity and technology, we hope to inspire young audiences and support the community at large.”

Meanwhile, Gavin Teoh, managing director at Talon Creative, commented, “Project; Exit addresses some tough issues that many Malaysians are facing and we saw an opportunity to go beyond just telling stories and actually reach out to the audience to show that they were not alone.”