Sydney, Australia – Bastion Transform, the content strategy and digital transformation arm of Bastion, has appointed Jenni Ryall as its new group director for business development and strategy.

In her new role, Ryall’s focus will be on building out the media, tech, and content businesses for Bastion Transform, adding further breadth of expertise to the existing team’s understanding of technology, audience, and monetisation strategy.

Ryall brings with her over 15 years’ industry experience in tech, news media and content strategy, and was recently with Meta where she was responsible for strategic partnerships on news for ANZ. During said previous role, she played a key role in driving the multi-million-dollar investments into media companies across ANZ.

Prior to this, she has had an extensive career as a leader in news and digital media in Australia and the US where she has been at the centre of digital transformation, the repositioning of high-growth media brands and the push for innovation in news products.

Speaking on her new role, Ryall said, “I’m absolutely thrilled to join Gaven Morris and the brilliant team at Bastion Transform at a crucial time for businesses working at the intersection of technology, media, and content. With the explosion of AI into the mainstream, the rise of new formats for younger generations and the growth of new revenue models utilising content, it’s an important moment to extend the innovative future of content and media with Bastion Transform.”

Meanwhile, Gaven Morris, managing director at Bastion Transform, commented, “I’m excited Jenni Ryall has agreed to write the next chapter of her illustrious career with the growing Bastion Transform team. Jen’s experience and expertise with newsrooms, publishers and platforms is a breakthrough appointment.”

He added, “As another wave of major change approaches, the Asia-Pacific region needs a specialist service focused on purpose-led transformation and building successful future business. Our outstanding team is proud Jen is joining us in this new senior leadership role.”

Singapore – As Singapore’s multi-currency mobile wallet YouTrip reaches its four-month mark in the short video platform TikTok, it shared how it maxes out the platform’s massive userbase to stay present in consumers’ minds. 

YouTrip established its TikTok account in June of this year, and as of current, it has a total of 32.5k followers and has garnered 691.3k likes across its videos.

YouTrip’s service comes with a prepaid Mastercard and enables users to pay in over 150 currencies with no fees. Branded as a “travel” wallet, its TikTok videos circle lifestyle content, such as tips on how to enjoy international destinations such as Spain, a list of the “coolest” Apple shops, and how one can get a taste of travel through whipping up different versions of super grain bowls. 

The brand revealed that it uses a two-pronged approach to leverage its presence in TikTok: making informative content and staying relevant to trends.

For valuable content, it adopted a strategy of adapting original blog articles that had performed well to the TikTok format. During the firm’s content planning process, it identified e-commerce shopping guides and hotel reviews as such. One of its most successful TikTok videos featured a guide to get the “Cheapest Nintendo Switch,” garnering over 119k views to date.

@youtripsg

If you know someone looking to buy a Nintendo Switch, share this with them! 💜👆🏼👀 #nintendoswitch #gaming #videogames #youtripsg #foryoupage #fyp

♬ original sound – YouTrip SG – YouTrip SG

In terms of staying within the wave of trends, YouTrip identified that it is vital to be the first-mover in driving reactive content on trending topics, audios, or hashtags.

Hopping onto the challenges bandwagon, YouTrip took an informative spin on the challenge featuring the trending song Kings and Queens by American singer Ava Max. In such challenge, users showcased culture and traditional costumes. YouTrip took the opportunity to emphasize its branding on travel and culture, and published a version featuring real queens from around the world. The rendition garnered over two million views and 12.8k followers in two weeks.

The brand shared that by driving travel content, it also aims to strengthen its brand positioning to remain top-of-mind for when travel rebounds.

Head of Marketing Jeremy Lim said that curating meaningful content that resonates with users has been the core of YouTrip’s marketing strategies.

“Our venture into TikTok allows us to tap into our creativity to find new ways to connect with our users. We encourage brands to consider including TikTok in their marketing mix as well if they aim to establish themselves as relatable and reliable,” he said.

Chew Wee Ng, head of SEA business marketing at TikTok also commented, “TikTok is about embracing the creative, positive, and real moments that make our community so special, with solutions for businesses to connect and grow with our wonderfully expressive community.”

Ng also emphasized that with the right content strategy and a touch of authenticity, any brand can find success on the global stage with TikTok.

“YouTrip’s rapid growth on the platform is a prime example. As one of the first movers, they’ve incorporated TikTok early into their marketing mix and are now reaping its successes through a customized content strategy, collaboration with the TikTok community, and growing with a global audience,” said Ng.