Singapore – Global hospitality campaign Hilton has launched its newest campaign, ‘Travel The World’, which aims to inspire consumers to explore the wonders of their home countries, and discover local alternatives that match the experiences at some of their favorite international destinations.

The campaign reflects the hotel chain’s understanding of sentiment among consumers who are eager to explore something new, yet feel more comfortable traveling closer to home. In addition, the new campaign aims to showcase how domestic travel offers a wealth of similarly wonderful experiences that are a lot more accessible.

“[The] ‘Travel the World’ [campaign] highlights the endless options for international-inspired travel accessible from many Hilton hotels in Australia, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia. There is no shortage of culture, nature, adventure, and food and wine in these countries and the campaign celebrates them all, highlighting the best travel experiences across the region,” Hilton said in a press statement.

Hilton features a lot of destinations and experiences in this campaign, ranging from experiencing the wine bordeaux region in Australia, exploring water canals in Bangkok, Thailand, or snacking on ‘takoyaki’ on the streets of Osaka, Japan.

Speaking about the campaign, Ben George, senior vice president and commercial director for Asia-Pacific at Hilton stated that they understand that there is a significant pent-up demand to travel or reconnect with loved ones, adding that they continue to adapt to meet the evolving needs of their guests.

“With 500 hotels across Asia Pacific, Hilton has the breadth and depth of properties across 11 trusted brands for travelers to connect with these local experiences, all of which deliver the exceptional hospitality that we are known for. Our latest marketing campaign, ‘Travel the World,’ inspires and connects consumers in large domestic travel markets Japan, Australia, Malaysia, and Thailand to experiences they can have in their home countries that satisfy their international travel ambitions,” George stated.

He also cited an internal study they have made on proprietary consumer research in Asia-Pacific, and found that on average, 34% of families are now more actively looking to book domestic travel versus pre-pandemic.

Live now until 31 January 2022, ‘Travel the World’ is a predominately digital campaign running across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, leveraging a number of digital advertising partners. The campaign includes use of hyper-personalized videos delivered to dozens of unique audiences in real-time through the power of Google’s digital marketing engine. 

In addition, the campaign features both social and digital content including videos, social media, and display advertising with the creative concept and key assets developed by regional advertising agency KVUR, which is based in Singapore.

Hong Kong – On-demand delivery platform Lalamove in Hong Kong has launched a new campaign that transforms its delivery trucks into moving pieces of art, thanks to the support of local artistic talents.

The campaign features four artists namely Din Dong, PureHay Art, Thomas napoleon, and Wa Gor, to which they took Lalamove’s orange branding as inspiration, to present Lalamove’s diverse range of services through each of their unique styles.

For Din Dong’s art style, him and his friends are dressing up as Lalamove’s driver-partners and couriers to deliver all kinds of goods, including their furry friends, delivering surprises to Hong Kongers in every district. Meanwhile, Art’s work employed his well-known’ ‘digital punk’ style and turned Lalamove’s delivered parcels into deconstructed goods inside delivery robots’ headpieces, presenting Lalamove’s services in a futuristic way.

Napoleon’s artwork, on the other hand, depicts a ‘dreamy’ delivery scene that captures Lalamove driver and walker partners who deliver to every corner of the city with flying speed. The robot he created marked the number ‘1022’, echoing Lalamove’s anniversary. 

Lastly, Gor’s calligraphy can be seen on numerous Hong Kong movie posters. He incorporated traditional Chinese calligraphy into his artwork, giving Lalamove’s brand slogan an extra ‘oomph’ with his distinct calligraphic style. His strong and powerful strokes furnish the truck with an understated beauty while conveying a sense of safety and reliability – Lalamove’s brand promises. 

From 25 November onwards, the eight limited-edition trucks will roam the streets of Hong Kong for six consecutive months, celebrating the company’s 8th anniversary. The Lalamove trucks will make a surprise appearance on Haiphong Road in Tsim Sha Tsui on 5 December. Din Dong Cat will also join the party to deliver joy.

Alex Kwan, director for marketing at Lalamove, said, “Lalamove is not just about delivering goods. We are helping people to solve their daily problems by bringing convenience through our reliable and fast delivery service. We are pleased to partner with four talented local artists to together transform the trucks, which are usually regarded as functional tools, into art pieces that pedestrians could appreciate. 

Kwan added, “We welcome more driver-partners to join this campaign and turn their trucks into walking works of art that form parts of Hong Kongers’ lives, like Lalamove’s services.”

Lalamove is also giving out special prizes to selected consumers who capture and post pictures of the special-edition trucks on Instagram with a caption on how they plan to deliver joy to their friends and family this Christmas tagging @lalamovehk and #LalamoveSupportsLocalArtist. The event will last from 25 November to 15 December.

Bangkok, Thailand – Following the launch of their Malaysian and Indonesian campaign as part of the Hari Raya celebration, used car sales platform Carsome has launched a new campaign for their Thailand market, demonstrating that buying and selling used cars on the platform is easy and safe using a tongue-in-cheek narrative.

Titled ‘Mr. Handsome’, the campaign features a married couple, where the wife scolds her husband for checking in used cars on Carsome, which quite literally ‘drops’ at their home. For every concern the wife raises regarding transacting on the platform, a Carsome salesperson enters the scene, noting that all cars enter a 175-point inspection, prices are set with no hidden fees, every car has a 1-year warranty, plus other services.

The ad continues to take a more quirky turn as for every promise the salesperson makes, the husband ‘takes off’ parts of his body, until both him and his wife are ‘left’ later with hands as she sold the car as well, showing that at the tip of our fingers, transacting on Carsome is as easy as scrolling on our phones–whether buying or selling.

Speaking about the creative process for the ad, Chaval Sindhusingha, creative group head at VMLY&R Thailand, stated that through the ad, they used bold and quirky sense of humor plus a touch of Thai insights, along with impactful visuals to create a positive brand association, register top-of-mind awareness and be the most recalled brand when it comes to used car purchase.

“At VMLY&R it’s our mission to build connected brands. Carsome is an online used car platform that offers exceptional ease and confidence when buying and selling used cars. The challenge was to differentiate the brand from all existing others in the market, while also highlighting the many selling points it offers,” Sindhusingha stated.

Meanwhile, Derek Tan, chief brand officer at Carsome, remarked that they are happy to work with VMLY&R to bring their vision and ideas to life through their brand film in Thailand.

“At Carsome, we understand the pain point of the used car industry which is fragmented and marred by distrust. We leverage on data and technology innovation to streamline the used car transaction process, with the aim of helping our customers move forward with peace of mind – per the film, Aud doesn’t need a head to worry about his purchase, a heart to go through a heart attack over prices or problems, nor even legs to go out and buy a car. Buying a car from Carsome is as easy as counting 1-2-3: only a single hand is required,” Tan said.

The film is part of a wider campaign across online and offline channels including TV, radio, billboards, digital LED screens and showrooms in Bangkok including location-based ad optimization for digital.

Hong Kong – As part of HSBC’s commitment to helping consumers get closer to their next trip abroad, the financial institution has launched an immersive 3D innovation campaign, aimed at highlighting its EveryMile Credit Card.

HSBC’s EveryMile Credit Card offers cardholders various spending benefits and rewards when traveling. It is also the bank’s first credit card in Hong Kong made from 85% recycled plastic.

The new campaign, which is created in collaboration with creative and CRM agency Wunderman Thompson and media company PHD Hong Kong, brings comedy legend Dayo Wong Tze Wah, superstar Ronald Cheng Chung Kei, and musical phenomenon Mirror’s Lokman and Tiger together for a fun-filled adventure through space. Titled ‘Takes You Further Every Day’, the campaign extends the TVC narrative to the rest of the multi-channel and innovative campaign.

Its storyline also continues with a series of interactive OOH marketing, starting with a first-in-the-industry 3D TV ad of HSBC’s spaceship flying using naked-eye technology.

HSBC said, “The EveryMile Credit Card campaign leverages new technology to attract, engage, and interact with customers but more importantly, the campaign is appealing to a wide range of local audiences with culturally relevant content and generational talents embracing their roles as Space Rangers and ambassadors for EveryMile Credit Card launch.”

The advertisement is currently displayed on a 3D TV screen in the high-traffic district of Causeway Bay at 3 Matheson Street in Hong Kong. 

In addition, HSBC is also inviting audiences to take part in an ongoing interactive game, where participants will be searching for three pieces of the Space Rangers’ flying saucer scattered around the city with a chance to win RewardCash if they succeed in retrieving the displaced parts. 

The locations of the pieces are hidden in the series of integrated takeovers including the 3D installation displayed at Queens Road Central, the 3D TV, and the light show outside HSBC’s main building.

Melbourne, Australia – As the city of Victoria emerges from its lockdown due to COVID-19, energy provider Momentum Energy has rolled out its newest campaign with creative agency Havas Media, which ‘takes over’ Flinders Street Station with human-sized ‘bottles of happiness’.

The campaign encourages Melbourne commuters to ‘Get Happy’, created by Momentum Energy’s in-house creative team, in which the human-sized bottles contain happiness-inducing content at Flinders Street Station, supported across multiple touch points including radio, OOH, online video, digital and social.

Said bottles are classified to the following: one jar contains ‘wishing stars’ that come with a ‘supanova-free guarantee’. Meanwhile, the second is a party pack of brightly colored ‘rainbow seeds’ for those who’d like to grow their own organic, full-spectrum rainbow, and lastly, the third is an 80% unicorn and 20% acrylic blend of ‘warm fuzzies’ to provide relief from 2021.

Furthermore, the campaign will take on a digital form where through bespoke display medium rectangle ads (MRECs) the designs of the human-sized bottles and their corresponding creative content will be shown to ‘spark joy’ as well as social content showcasing how people can make their own DIY ‘bottles of happiness’ at home.

According to the company, they believe that Australians not only deserve a boost of happiness as they venture out again, but that their choice of power company should make them feel good too.

Kate Lightfoot, creative lead at Momentum Energy stated, “We’re stoked to welcome people back to the city with these giant jars of imaginary nonsense. Walking around them makes you feel like a kid again and they’re an impactful reminder that Momentum is here to help Victorians get happy.”

The human-sized bottles are designed to evoke a delightful sense of childlike wonder and excitement, while reminding passers-by they can get similar happy vibes from their choice of power company.

Meanwhile, Sarah Cook, associate account director at Havas Media Melbourne, commented, “Our timing with the station domination is impeccable. It’s a great feeling to help spread some happiness and bring a smile to everyone venturing out via Flinders Street Station and reclaiming the love for our city.

Singapore – SEEK Asia, the parent company of jobs platforms JobStreet and JobsDB has rolled out its pan-regional omnichannel campaign for Asia that is targeted to empowering job seekers to go after careers they are passionate about.

A prime figure for the campaign is its TVC that depicts workers encouraging job-seekers to find work that matters to them, whether to save lives, design for fashion, explore new things, or discover future technologies. All of the TVCs, localized for their respective markets, end with the campaign’s mantra and name ‘Let’s Get to Work’.

The inspiration for the campaign stems from the fact that the pandemic has changed people’s attitudes towards their jobs, with many re-evaluating where and how they want to work and the kind of work they want to do. This has led to the emerging trend known as the “Great Resignation”, a term coined by associate professor of management at Texas A&M University Anthony Klotz, which explains why even experienced job seekers are choosing to leave their current careers in the search of something more meaningful.

The campaign is made possible by the direction of acclaimed Manila-based director Adrian Calumpang and through the creative direction from marketing company McCann Worldwide. As part of the campaign activation, Ogilvy will lead the social drive for the campaign, while PRecious Communications will drive the campaign’s PR.

Speaking about the campaign, Jane Cruz-Walker, chief marketing officer at SEEK Asia who was recently appointed as CMO for SEEK this year, said that the campaign is launched to motivate job seekers to pursue the jobs they love, adding that by providing them with these opportunities, they at SEEK Asia want to be the career partner that will inspire the next generation of workers to be the ‘heroes’ in their own career journey.

“While the pandemic has caused widespread job loss, reduced working hours, and pay cuts, it has also caused many to re-evaluate what they want out of their career. Job seekers’ demands have evolved beyond remuneration — they want a sense of fulfilment, good work-life balance, and career progression — and it is time for companies to adapt to this new world of work,” she stated.

Focusing on the hyperlocal nature of the job market, ‘Let’s Get To Work’ will also feature influencers and key opinion leaders will be used across the region — including Singaporean actress Sharon Au, Malaysian stand-up comedian Harith Iskander, Indonesian vlogger Gerry Girianza, Filipino actor and chef Marvin Agustin, Thai musician Manassavee, and Hong Kong fitness entrepreneur Charlz Ng.

Additional activities will also be introduced to get local job seekers excited, including Roro Jonggrang in Indonesia. This hyperlocal campaign will use the popular Javanese legend to tell the story of love and betrayal, and contrast this with how finding a job with SEEK Asia can be easy and drama-free. Said hyperlocal campaign for Indonesia is directed by Ben Wee, a freelance film director and cinematographer that has worked on multiple projects locally, including advertisements for Google and Indomie.

Meanwhile, Peter Bithos, CEO at SEEK Asia, commented that through their campaign, they hope to be able to better engage with and inspire job seekers to find jobs that are meaningful to them. He added that with their appeal to job seekers, this will also allow them to get more employers on the platform looking for quality talent, allowing an ‘explosion’ of opportunities. 

“Let’s Get To Work is an integral part of SEEK Asia’s commitment to job seekers and employers, and this is just the beginning of our exciting developments and plans,” Bithos stated.

He further added, “SEEK Asia is the biggest and most trusted jobs board in Southeast Asia. Our ambition is to grow fourfold in the next five years and to expand our platform beyond what people have come to know and love us for today. We are strengthening our existing business by making big investments in ​​people, innovation, and technology.”

Singapore – Pace, the fintech solutions company based in Singapore that allows customers to use BNPL service, has launched its latest campaign, transporting Singaporeans back to Technicolor 1980s.

Titled ‘I Got This’, which was created in collaboration with sole proprietor STUDIO AUTOMATIKA on the creatives, the campaign aims to bring shoppers back to an era that heralded the start of a fashion-conscious generation when pop culture and technology intertwined with everyday life.

Through this, Pace will be releasing a series of video shorts, shot with the era’s distinctive VHS effect which can be viewed on social media and Pace’s YouTube page. It will also be running across OOH in order for commuters to spot the campaign’s distinctive retro-futuristic decals on platform doors at Harbourfront station, and a fleet of double-decker buses wrapped with imagery reminiscent of classic shopping advertisements from the period.

Moreover, the campaign has started roaming island-wide to showcase Pace’s value proposition.

Daren Goh, Pace’s head of growth, shared that they took inspiration from the golden age of 1980’s advertising to show everyone their inner ‘I Got This’ element.

“This series of OOH, online and social media activations are aimed at letting people know how it feels to finally be able to grab what they want now and pay for it later with Pace,” said Goh.

Kristal Melson, STUDIO AUTOMATIKA’s creative director, believes that living in an increasingly homogenous world where people are more inclined to ‘keep up with the Joneses’, purchases that speak to their individual expressions and sense of self become less of a priority.

“When thinking of the creative concept for Pace on this campaign, we wanted to borrow the energy and nostalgia of the 1980s and find a spirited, exciting way to say ‘stuff it!’ to keep our desires at bay, to be daring and go forth and buy things that speak more to us as individuals,” said Melson.

Australia – As more and more speed driving cases occur in Australia, increasing risk for fatalities, the NSW Government has released a new campaign aimed at urging motorists to slow down and think about the dangers of going ‘just a bit’ over the speed limit.

The campaign, which was created in collaboration with creative agency BMF and full-service media agency UM, challenges various casual perceptions of low-level speeding to reset the attitudes and culture on NSW roads. 

Its three main objectives are to educate drivers and riders on the significant role speeding plays in fatalities and serious injuries on NSW roads, reset drivers’ attitudes to how they view their normalized ‘everyday speeding’ behavior, and highlight the unique risks of speed and its contribution to crash likelihood and severity. 

Titled ‘Casual Speeding. Every K Counts’, the spots are a confronting reminder that there’s nothing casual about any form of speeding and to reinforce the serious consequences these attitudes can bring.

Tara McCarthy, Transport’s deputy secretary for safety, environment, and regulation for NSW, said, “Every kilometer counts when it comes to speeding on our roads, a little bit over double your chance of crashing, and this campaign demonstrates how speeding can change your life and others’ lives forever.”

Meanwhile, Christina Aventi, BMF’s chief strategy officer, noted that by labeling a new type of speeding, the ad encourages motorists to take a moment to self-assess, recognize risk, and correct their low-level speeding. 

“We hope that the term ‘Casual Speeding’ provides a way for road users to talk about this dangerous behavior,” said Aventi.

Andy Clift, UM’s senior client director, said, “Our media strategy will shift the cultural perception of ‘speeding’ by defining and showcasing the impact of what a few kilometers over the speed limit can have.

The campaign was launched last 14 November 2021.It will be supported by OOH, and include a radio partnership and social media, to tap into diverse state-wide communities at the grassroots. 

The campaign will also be supported by a wide-ranging media strategy developed by UM to spark discussion.

Jakarta, Indonesia – The Ministry of Communication and Informatics of Indonesia (Kementerian Komunikasi dan Informatika), alongside with the National Digital Literacy Movement, has announced a collaboration with local pop bank HIVI! band to promote digital literacy, targeting Gen Z audiences. The band consists of Ilham Aditama, Nadhia Aleida, Febrian Nindyo, and Ezra Mandira.

Through this collaboration, HIVI! band wrote and produced a campaign song titled ‘Cerita Dunia Maya #MakinCakapDigital’ to send messages to Gen Z to use the internet for positive activities as well as educate them to be brave and responsible in exploring themselves through digital content.

Furthermore, the collaboration has produced easy listening music that aims to raise young people’s awareness in using the internet for good purposes. The campaign also aims to avoid negative impacts that might be harmful, especially to the mental health of young audiences.

With the lyrics “Di dunia maya kita semua punya cerita, di dunia maya kita semua bisa berkarya!” (We all have stories in the digital world, we all can be creative in the digital world), the song calls on all young people to use the internet for positive and productive activities as well as be the change that they wish to see in the world, starting from themselves.

The ministry cites data from online media company Katadata that the country has over 200 million people who have been actively using internet platforms to maintain their social interactions and also to stay productive while staying at home due to social and economic restrictions.

“However, digital technology also has negative impact when it is used for circulating hoaxes, cyber-bullying, radicalism, and even terrorism. Thus, equality in digital literacy is crucial as it will encourage young people, in particular, to use the internet wisely,” said Rizki Ameliah, coordinator of Digital Literacy Kemenkominfo.

Rizki added, “Music is a universal language and it enables people to relate their life with any particular song, so it will be easier to penetrate the messages of the digital literacy campaign to young people and wider attention across the nation.”

The song is available for streaming both on YouTube and Spotify.

Australia – Canteen, the Australian national support organization for young people living with cancer, has launched a new campaign, highlighting its refreshed brand positioning. 

In contrast to the usual approach in supporting acts of ‘bravery’ against fighting health conditions, the new campaign, which was created in collaboration with advertising agency Havas Village Australia, aims to encourage the youth impacted by cancer to take off ‘their brave faces’ and be open to embracing the help they need when times are tough.

Through the campaign, Havas honed in on a creative approach centered on ‘unmasking’ to highlight how young people can feel safe to express what they’re truly feeling. The ‘unmasking’ proposition spearheads the launch campaign creatively, with the simple but powerful message to ‘Take off your brave face. When cancer gets tough, find the support you need.’

A new support-focused brand tagline – Cancer support made stronger – will appear across Canteen’s communications and marketing collateral.

Kerry Kalcher, Canteen’s head of marketing and communications, said, “This campaign is a wonderful first step towards achieving our brand objectives and the culmination of the journey we’ve been on with the entire Havas team over several years.”

Canteen said that the work began with extensive quantitative and qualitative research, including focus groups with parents and young people, to gauge awareness that would resonate best, and most importantly, to encourage seeking support.

Elizabeth English, Havas Blvd’s client services director, shared that bringing this campaign to life has been a collaborative process with Canteen and the agency had the benefit of direct insight gleaned from Canteen’s own young people.

“No young person should have to face the impact of cancer alone, and we hope that this campaign will continue to build awareness that Canteen is in their corner to help,” said English.

Meanwhile, Steve Fontanot, the managing director of Red Havas and Havas Blvd, noted that Canteen is focused on making a meaningful difference to young people, whose lives have been impacted by cancer. 

“We’re very proud of the work that our collective teams have delivered over the years, with this latest campaign being the culmination of the many passionate humans who are dedicated to this truly integral organization,” said Fontanot.

The campaign will be running until 31 December 2021 across OOH, video, social media, and youth-oriented digital channels including Twitch, as well as radio, and Spotify.