Tag: Asia

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) was first introduced over 15 years ago in Europe, as a payment platform that allows shoppers to split their purchases into interest-free monthly deferred payments, usually by scanning an in-store QR code or upon checkout at a partner retailer’s website.

In recent years, BNPL has gained immense popularity amongst merchants and consumers in Asia, with its market share expected to more than double by 2024, according to the Global Payments Report 2021 by FIS-Worldpay. While BNPL is seen as a rising global movement, it is important to note that the use case and macro landscape across the regions vary significantly. 

Unlike established markets such as the United States, Australia and Europe, Asia is highly fragmented (eg. credit profile, religion, language, culture) with a large unbanked and underbanked population, especially in emerging markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam. For example, in Southeast Asia (SEA), only 27% of the overall 670 million population has bank accounts. This sizable gap in traditional banking penetration has resulted in at least 438 million unbanked or underbanked consumers, with limited access to basic financial services and subsequently, a thin credit profile. Consequently, retailers should partner with BNPL brands with robust risk assessment and credit profiling technology to minimise transaction rejects and fraud cases. 

SEA is also leading the charge in digital consumption, having added 60 million new digital consumers to the internet economy since the pandemic started. The massive digitisation that the region witnessed in 2020, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, saw SEA lead as a mobile-first consumer economy. 

Retailers partner BNPL providers to tap on the young and emerging digital consumers – shoppers who are mobile-first and digitally savvy and may be experiencing major life events such as getting their first job or house, getting married, and having their first child. It is estimated that by 2030, 75% of consumers in ASEAN will be under the age of 30.

Physical shopping in SEA remains a social activity for many, and shoppers still prefer to see and touch products before making the commitment to purchase. This is different from other developed markets in Europe or the US where e-commerce is widely adopted because of good public infrastructure (e.g. cheap broadband, good last-mile delivery to every home). 

For the shoppers in SEA, they value omnichannel retail shopper experience, one that allows them to shop and purchase seamlessly across online and offline channels. What this means for retailers and BNPL players in this region is that the physical store experience is critical when it comes to increasing in-store conversion, basket size, and the overall brand and shopping experience.

Merchants who have adopted BNPL in their business have seen benefits including improved sales, traffic, and conversions. With BNPL, merchants can also unlock a new segment of shoppers and understand their shopping behaviours. 

BNPL V2.0

As BNPL matures in Asia, it will evolve from its current basic model of interest-free monthly payments to further enable merchants. We’ve seen examples of new products and services launched, for example, co-branded cards, savings accounts, investment products, and personal finance management.

Traditional banks and even digibanks are also developing and launching their own BNPL offerings. Potential evolution pathways of BNPL and features include:

1. Greater industry adoption

With wider customer adoption and demand for payment choice and flexibility, other retail categories beyond fashion, lifestyle, and beauty categories are experimenting with BNPL. Travel and hospitality, food and beverage, and luxury and premium retail are some examples. 

2. Open-loop payment services 

Open-loop is a payment method that can be used anywhere that brand of cards or e-wallets is accepted. As BNPL gains momentum globally, BNPL players are introducing co-branded credit cards and e-wallets with payment providers to create an open-loop system that is not restricted to signed merchants. This will greatly accelerate BNPL acceptance across retailers who for example, already accept payments for example, via Visa or Mastercard. BNPL brands also partner with payment service providers, web builders, e-commerce enablers to provide integration support for merchants and accelerate the wider acceptance and integration of BNPL solutions. 

3. Social commerce 

SEA is expected to lead the biggest market for social commerce, especially given how a large chunk of its population is entering its prime of technology adoption. Social commerce (78%) has become the second most preferred shopping channel in the region, second only to e-commerce platforms (91%). 

In 2020, clothes, apparel, and accessories continue to lead social shopping (71%), followed by health and beauty (59%), and electronics and appliances (53%). A large majority of Gen Z and millennials are leveraging social platforms not just to connect and explore, but also to shop and inspire. Increasingly, BNPL players are developing social commerce features to create highly targeted and personalised content recommendations to help promote organic engagements with merchants.

4. Customised merchant services 

One of the key strengths for BNPL players is a strong understanding of user demographics and shopping behaviour. Moving forward, BNPL players can invest in co-marketing and merchant-enabler features such as social CRM, loyalty programme, co-marketing, and concierge-like membership services, and this would be crucial in connecting with a community of young, aspirational, and digitally-savvy consumers.

5. Broader financial services 

Finally, BNPL players can also introduce offerings with longer tenures especially for high-value items like electronics and smartphones, and money management services such as savings accounts and investment options. As the BNPL industry continues to thrive in the coming years, the evolution of BNPL will further enable and empower merchants and create a strong and holistic ecosystem that drives engagement and value through every facet of the consumer’s purchase journey.

This article is written by Jeremy Wong, head of strategic partnerships at BNPL platform Atome.

The article is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series What’s NEXT. This features marketing leaders sharing their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year. The series aims to equip marketers with actionable insights to future-ready their marketing strategies.

If you are a marketing leader and have insights that you’d like to share with regards to the upcoming trends and practices in marketing, please reach out to [email protected] for an opportunity to have your thought-leadership published on the platform.

Singapore — Creative agency Ogilvy has announced that Arvind Srivastava has been promoted to become chief strategy officer of Ogilvy for the Asia division. He recently held the same position for Ogilvy China.

Srivastava started as a customer relationship planner at OgilvyOne Delhi and has spent nearly two decades with Ogilvy Asia where he has worked in various strategic planning roles that increased his expertise in the market.

Srivastava moved to Shanghai in 2016 and has since then helped build a modern strategy offering bringing together brand, CRM, commerce, data, media connections, and social strategists. He was responsible for leading Ogilvy China’s strategy for handling their global top-value clients namely Nestlé and The Coca-Cola Company and played a key role on large Chinese brands including AliExpress. Under his leadership, Ogilvy has been ranked one of the most effective networks in the Greater China Effies for 3 of the past 5 years.

Srivastava commented on his promotion, saying that Ogilvy has one of the strongest and the most effective strategy teams in Asia, and he feels truly honoured to be given this responsibility.

“I am excited at the opportunity to partner with our strategy and business leaders to continue evolving and modernizing Ogilvy Asia’s strategic solutions to drive growth and impact for our clients at the intersection of capabilities,” Srivastava said.

Srivastava will continue to be based in China and he replaces Benoit Weisser who will be relocating to Europe to be closer to family.

Chris Reitermann, co-chief executive of Asia and chief executive of Greater China, shared his praises for the new CSO, saying, “Arvind has done an outstanding job for Ogilvy Asia for nearly 20 years in various strategy roles across several Asian markets. He has a deep understanding of the evolving strategy needs of our Clients and brings a great mix of business, brand and digital strategy to our offer. We very much look forward to partnering with him in building on the strong foundation set by Benoit and I’m personally excited to have a strong strategic partner continuing to be based out of China.”

This January, Ogilvy’s Malaysian arm has announced their appointment of Eddy Nazarullah, former creative director at Reprise, to be its new creative director.

Seoul, South Korea – ‘Sneakertopia’, an immersive sneaker pop-up experience, is coming to Asia this 2022, starting off in Seoul, South Korea in April following a successful pop-up participation at the Chongqing Jiebeifang International Consumer Festival in China. The Asia rollout of the immersive experience is made possible by digital talent and media company Gushcloud and entertainment design entity SL Experiences.

‘Sneakertopia’ is an immersive exhibition built to honor sneaker culture, featuring artworks of global and local artists whose street art masterpieces are influenced by sneaker culture in sports, music, film, art, and fashion. After its launch in Seoul, the exhibition aims to travel around North and Southeast Asia for a wide variety of audiences to experience the world of sneakers.

Producer Steve Harris and Silicon Valley Tech entrepreneur Steve Brown founded ‘Sneakertopia’ with their intention to share the celebration of love for sneakers all around the world.

“Sneakertopia Asia is a dream that our team has been developing for years. We’ve had great success bonding over our love for sneakers in Los Angeles, and we wanted to bring this celebration over to Asia where a lot of people share the same passion. Although we’ve had a few bumps in the road with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still a great demand for offline experiences and we want people to experience and appreciate the transformative culture of sneakers,” Harris said.

Sneakertopia also incorporates a digital-physical hybrid experience with augmented reality integration that allows visitors to discover the story behind the sneaker culture icons and idols beyond what is visually present. 

Ross Leo, co-founder at SL Experiences, said, “Even amidst the COVID-19 closures we have seen the huge pent up demand for offline experiences, be it through retail or attractions. Although the dependency in online and digital usage is undeniable, great offline experiences which incorporate elements of digital components like ‘Sneakertopia’ will further increase visitors’ experience and enjoyment.”

Meanwhile, Althea Lim, CEO at Gushcloud International, commented, “As we’ve seen over the years, it’s not just about the products anymore. The experience economy is booming and now is the perfect time for Gushcloud to be at the forefront of driving this trend further in the East and the West. With Sneakertopia in Asia, we hope to bring in more experiences that people will love and that will shape the future of the experience economy in Asia.”

Jamie Paraso, country director at Gushcloud Philippines, also added, “As an avid fan of sneakers, I was really looking forward to this engagement. Sneakertopia opens Gushcloud to a wider playing field where like-minded individuals would be able to share their passions. It’s a dream that’s being actualized and as Gushcloud, we get to be a part of this powerful cultural journey. Despite these unprecedented times there continues to be a big push here in Asia showcasing how experiences continue to bring people together from across the globe.”

Singapore – Here’s a question: what does a gorilla, a bear, and a panda have in common? The answer–all of them can’t resist the new ‘Fruit Bowls’ made by the food and beverage group Dole Sunshine Company, as shown in their latest campaign as part of promoting the new food product.

Made by creative agency Grey Group, the campaign is made of three various spots that depict ‘Fruit Bowl’ eaters as wildlife, as separately a panda, gorilla, and bear, infiltrate home, office, and parks in a quest to take their snack back.

The theme of ‘taking their snack back’ is based on the product’s new twist: having zero added sugar. As a snack, ‘Fruit Bowls’ are so close to natural fruit that nature will ‘want it back’.

Said integrated campaign is rolled out in different parts of Asia.

“As part of Dole’s promise of bringing prosperity to people and the planet we are committed to delivering fruit as close to nature as possible, even when it’s packaged. The team at Dole and Grey had a lot of fun bringing these ideas to life as we celebrate and showcase product uniqueness in a different light,” said Rupen Desai, global CMO at Dole Sunshine Company.

The campaign rollout is part of Dole’s advocacy in using all-natural ingredients and a commitment to clean labels, making it closer to fulfilling its promise of zero processed sugar in their products by 2025.

Aashim Malhotra, vice president and managing director for APAC Region at Dole Sunshine Company, said, “Healthy snacking is on the rise across the region as appetite for small bites replaces larger meals, as consumers look for healthier and more nutritious foods. Foods and snacks close to nature deliver on this shift in eating habits.”

He added, “Reaching for a ‘Fruit Bowl’ that even wildlife would covet sends a clear message of a snack as close to nature as we believe you can get.”

Meanwhile, John Patroulis, global chief creative officer at GREY, commented, “Because the Dole team has such a clear and inspiring purpose, we were able to engage teams from across the global network to find the simplest and most inspiring idea. Dole is working to do great things in the world, we’re excited to be part of that mission.”

Singapore – The global mass media and entertainment giant, WarnerMedia, has announced the opening of its new regional hub for Asia in Singapore, which is dedicated for markets in Asia except China and Japan. 

WarnerMedia’s new hub, which was officially opened on September 24, 2021 by Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information (MCI) Josephine Teo, signals the full integration of its businesses in the region that includes Warner Bros., HBO, and Turner brands. It also houses the new streaming platform HBO Max, which is expected to launch in its first Asian markets in the future.

The new office is a sprawling 40,000 sq ft across two floors at Solaris in Fusionopolis, the city state’s media and tech business park. The modern space was designed by Singapore firm ID21 and incorporates a post-COVID and flexible work environment inspired by an ‘Activity Based Work’ strategy.

https://vimeo.com/613699419

Clement Schwebig, WarnerMedia’s managing director for India, Southeast Asia, and Korea, believes that the new flagship office is more than just a new workspace, as it brings together the most incredible parts of their diverse business – from Harry Potter’s Wizarding World to Looney Tunes, Game of Thrones and Wonder Woman – under one roof for the first time.

“Here in Singapore, we have long supported a sizable ecosystem for the entertainment, broadcast, production, and licensing industries. From our new Singapore hub, we will continue with our ambitious plans for the region,” said Schwebig.

Moreover, WarnerMedia expects to substantially increase additional roles in Singapore in the coming years, including those in the technology field as the company increases focus on its direct-to-consumer streaming business led by Amit Malhotra, the managing director of HBO Max for Southeast Asia, India, and Korea.

“As we get ready to launch HBO Max in our first Asian markets, we’ll build on WarnerMedia’s legacy of incredible stories and introduce a brand-new streaming experience for our fans in the region. Our new office space in Singapore as a regional HQ will be the perfect backdrop for the innovative work to be done in the lead-up to our launch,” said Malhotra.

Meanwhile, on a tour of the office, Minister Teo also met with young Singaporean employees, who discussed their early experiences in the media industry. Joining her on the tour was Lew Chuen Hong, the CEO of Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA).

Hong commented, “We are excited that Singapore is home to WarnerMedia’s new Asian Hub. There is tremendous potential in this region, and the new Hub signals the central role that Singapore plays in WarnerMedia’s expansion plans.”

Hong Kong – Ogilvy’s global growth and innovation arm, Ogilvy Consulting, has just launched a new practice called ‘Behavioral Science’ in Asia, which works to creatively apply the insights of contemporary behavioral science to diagnose, create, and validate ‘unseen opportunities’. 

The ‘Behavioral Science’ practice, which was first launched in North America in 2017, focuses on how audiences think, feel, and behave to improve marketing and communications effectiveness. By moving away from assumptions about consumers, the practice uses the latest insights from social psychology and behavioral economics, which in turn ensures creative solutions are touching the right nerves.

Following this endeavor, Ogilvy has also appointed Paolo Mercado as the new vice president of ‘Behavioral Science’. He will report directly to Jerry Smith, Ogilvy’s president of growth and innovation and Ogilvy Consulting’s CEO for Asia.

Mercado brings with him 12 years of experience working with Nestlé, where he headed up marketing and communications in China. He also led Nestlé’s Innovation in the Philippines. Throughout his career, Mercado has managed marketing projects in all major geographies of APAC, North America, and Latin America, as well as Europe, and the Middle East.

Besides his previous roles in Nestlé, Mercado is also the founding president of the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines, a think tank that advocates for the recognition of creative industries as the country’s next economic growth driver.

Mercado said that ‘Behavioral Science’ looks beyond demographics and what people say, to the inner workings of how people view the world and create their own identities. 

“Instead of targeting people, understanding them works better. And that’s at the heart of how ‘Behavioral Science’ helps us as marketers, by creating more effective ways to help brands achieve better outcomes,” said Mercado.

Meanwhile, Smith believes that ‘Behavioral Science’ is the key to unlocking that potential for organizational performance, product development, communications strategy, and service optimization.

“‘Behavioral Science’ will create a real edge for us in the marketplace, and Paolo’s diverse marketing and innovation experience, in addition to his background in psychology, makes him the perfect leader to help us transform the way we understand and move people on behalf of our clients,” said Smith.

Singapore – Chinese B2B e-commerce group, ZALL Smart Commerce Group (ZALL), is eyeing to become the world’s leading global digital trade platform with its new strategic rebrand. The group aims to bring an open and interconnected B2B trading ecosystem between China and ASEAN.

ZALL currently serves around 30 B2B platforms in China, the United States, and Singapore, as well as millions of SMEs worldwide. It has also been investing in the development of next-generation intelligent trading platforms to help empower seamless data exchange across platforms integrating information, logistics, and capital flows across wholesale and commodities, retail trade, and logistics industries in China and Singapore.

The strategic rebranding aims to drive the rapid growth and development of industries and businesses through the use of its new trading methods and advanced technologies across B2B transactions, supply chain services, and digital cloud services. It also seeks to transform industrial value chains across Asia and enable businesses to improve overall efficiency.

Peter Yu, ZALL Smart Commerce’s executive vice president for Singapore, shared that as the world continues to adapt and rise up to the challenges posed by the pandemic, they wanted to focus their efforts on digital innovation, creating an even more resilient and sustainable global trade and supply chain ecosystem.

“This can be done by incorporating data and digital technologies into every part of the industrial value chain, from both the demand to the supply side. With our expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Blockchain, we believe we are well-positioned to help businesses worldwide adopt innovative technologies to succeed in the new digital world order,” said Yu.

Just recently, ZALL announced the launch of ‘Z-Block Gateway’, a blockchain Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution that is both low-code and easy to operate and deploy across various industries and mainstream cloud servers.

The group has also recently partnered with one-stop global trading platform, Commodities Intelligence Centre, to offer ‘Know-Your-Counterparty’ and ‘Credit Info’ services to help SMEs manage their business risks by being able to verify and conduct due diligence on prospective business partners and counterparties before engaging in official dealings.

Singapore – In its continuing expansion in Asia for its customer experience (CX) and digital transformation strategies, digital experience management software Sitecore has appointed cloud and IT executive Saurabh Pandit as its newest vice president for Asia.

The appointment of Pandit strengthens Sitecore’s presence in the market and is part of the company’s ambitions to grow aggressively in the wake of the US$1.2b funding secured in January. His new role will include India, Southeast Asia, and the Greater China region.

Prior to his new role, he was formerly regional director for JAPAC at marketing automation provider Resulticks, as well as head of IBM Watson Customer Engagement across the ASEAN region, and has held senior digital marketing alliance roles at Adobe. 

Before moving to Singapore, Pandit held cloud management roles at Adobe and Microsoft in India.

“Sitecore has a plan to provide business with marketing cloud technologies that transform the way they operate, and I am excited to be part of that. My expertise is in technical transformation and change and bringing the benefits of IT and digital to enterprise and mid-market customers,” Pandit said, regarding his appointment.

Pandit will report to Sitecore’s Asia-Pacific and Japan President Mark Troselj. He brings more than twenty years of business and executive management experience.

“Saurabh Pandit has the proven leadership and experience in driving digital transformation and customer experience innovation to support Sitecore’s growth in the Asian region. Companies across the region are looking for counsel and guidance in meeting the challenges of becoming a digital-first organization, and Saurabh delivers that experience,” Troselj commented.

Singapore – Epillo Health Systems, the digital healthcare start-up based in Estonia, Europe, has appointed Indian media company Krescendo Communications to be its integrated communications and alliance partner for Asia, including Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, as well as Malaysia, and India.

Epillo Health Systems is a digital healthcare solutions company that introduces revolutionary technology for patient care by incorporating AI, machine learning, and blockchain. It has Patents Pending Innovations with 153 countries through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and 27 countries of the European Union (EU) through the European Patent Office (EPO).

The partnership will see Krescendo Communications leveraging its influence to help Epilo Health Systems meet its business objectives in its key markets in Asia.

Epillo Health Systems’ Chair of Board Bhupinder Singh shared that they have been working on building a robust healthcare application even before the pandemic broke and this technology solution will enable care teams to deliver better, faster, and deeper connected care. 

“We liked Krescendo’s integrated communications approach for brand awareness and are excited to embark on this journey with them,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, Ganesh Somwanshi, the founder of Krescendo Communications, commented that since their inception, they have been servicing the healthcare industry and embrace constant innovations – like Epillo. 

“It is a great opportunity to work with the brand and help them break the silos in the healthcare space in APAC and other parts of the world. Building a category in the changing health technology industry will be full of challenges, and an integrated communications approach will surely work in this case,” said Somwanshi.

In March this year, Krescendo Communications was also tapped by global software company InfoVision Labs (IVL) to be its new 360-degree marketing communications and alliance partner, and was tasked to build brand awareness and engage stakeholders.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Digital payment solution AsiaPay has partnered with Qiscus, a multi-channel conversation platform, to simplify digital payment processes for customers through the provision of a chat and call/meet software development kit.

Through the partnership, AsiaPay aims to extend its digital payment transaction services through conversation commerce via chat for its merchants’ customers which will enable businesses in Asia to accept digital payments through chat platforms so that customers can make direct payments to them easily and practically anytime. 

To customers, it further addresses the trends of making purchases during conversation, as customers find it simpler and more convenient. To merchants, it also helps businesses meet the challenges of changing customer behaviors with enhanced customer experience.

According to Joseph Chan, CEO at AsiaPay, the partnership recognizes the greater need of businesses to digitize their presence, especially as the pandemic brought to many companies unprecedented challenges, and has accelerated growth of volume and variety of digital interactions between customers and businesses.

“We are excited to partner with Qiscus to help drive conversational commerce and engage with consumers where they spend their digital lives on messaging platforms. This multi-channel chat enables entirely new experiences, and brings new sales conversion of merchants in Asia with online chat conversation. Besides, it provides merchants with flexible payment alternatives,” Chan stated.

Meanwhile, Delta Purna Widyangga, CEO at Qiscus, said that their partnership with AsiaPay will help synergize the need for chat-based transactions in particular sectors, such as retail, insurance, hospitality, and others. 

“Additionally, we are looking to include AsiaPay as our partner in their customer experience ecosystem. The Qiscus CX Ecosystem is a marketplace that allows existing Qiscus customers to choose a payment option provided by AsiaPay. Qiscus also expects to move forward with AsiaPay towards enabling a chat-based payment mechanism where sellers and buyers can transact seamlessly via a Conversational UI in a simple process,” Widyangga added.