Tag: East Asia

Seoul, South Korea – EssenceMediacom, GroupM’s newest media agency that combines Essence and MediaCom, has appointed Jin Choi as its new CEO for South Korea. Choi, who has been heading MediaCom as managing director in South Korea for over three years, will be leading the merged agency, which launches in January 2023.

Reporting to both Michael Beecroft, GroupM’s CEO for Northeast Asia, and Rupert McPetrie, EssenceMediacom’s CEO for APAC, Choi’s appointment will be effective from January 2023. Meanwhile, Jay Lee, who has been heading Essence as managing director in South Korea for over four years, will take up leadership of GroupM Nexus in the market.

The EssenceMediacom merger, which was announced in April 2022, will blend the digital strategy, data, analytics and creative technology DNA of Essence with MediaCom’s scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise, to create an advantage for clients. The ambition is a technology-driven, scaled agency with a performance mindset designed to excel at what a future-facing agency should do.

Commenting on his appointment, Choi said, “I am thrilled to take on the leadership of our new combined agency, and evolve our innovative thinking and best-in-class solutions, in line with consumers’ lifecycles today and in the future. I look forward to leading our phenomenal team in South Korea, and continuing to partner with our diverse and ambitious clients in delivering excellent work, with an agile and proactive approach.” 

Meanwhile, Beecroft said, “Jin is a modern agency leader, with a great balance of deep technical experience, and a proven track record of building and leading high-performance teams. Since he joined the agency in 2019, MediaCom has grown by over 40% through bringing new clients into the agency as well as expanding scope with existing partners, including an e-commerce assignment with P&G.”

“Jay has done an incredible job working with GroupM agencies across markets for more than 16 years, and whilst leading Essence South Korea, has spearheaded the group’s performance marketing, analytics and consulting capabilities. I am excited to continue working with him in his new role,” he added. 

McPetrie said, “Over the last years leading MediaCom, he has put people at the heart of the operation, built strong and sustainable partnerships with our clients, as well as developed new capabilities and products to help solve clients’ business challenges. With Jin leading our merged business, I am confident that our progress will further accelerate.”

Hong Kong – Insurance company Manulife in Hong Kong has elevated HyounJoo Choe, former regional head of customer experience and design at Manulife Asia, to be its new chief customer officer for Hong Kong and Macau. 

As a member of the senior management team, Choe will now be leading all customer experience and strategic marketing functions including marketing, customer relationship management, advanced analytics, insights, and corporate communications. She will also play a pivotal role in driving Manulife Hong Kong’s branding and corporate social responsibility efforts.

In her previous role at Manulife Asia, Choe oversaw the CX transformation agenda, driving strong customer engagement and delivering strong results in the relationship and transactional CX scores. She also succeeded in leveraging human-centred design principles to drive CX excellence across various digital platforms.

Choe has more than 25 years of professional experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining Manulife, she was the head of digital at MetLife Korea, where she was instrumental in driving digital transformation and developing enterprise digital strategies. Before that, she also held various leadership roles at AIA Korea, including as head of strategy, head of direct marketing, and head of operations and technology. 

Pankaj Banerjee, the interim CEO for Manulife Hong Kong and Macau, commented that they are thrilled with the appointment of Choe as their chief customer officer, as she has played a leading role in driving forward their customer experience agenda in Asia since joining Manulife in 2021. 

“An outstanding and highly experienced leader in the industry, HyounJoo brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our franchise expansion in Hong Kong and Macau. Her proven track record and leadership credentials will add tremendous value to our winning team as we continue our journey to help make customers’ lives better and decisions easier,” said Banerjee.

Manulife Hong Kong said that the appointment of Choe highlights its ongoing commitment to promoting talent who can leverage customer-centric and market-leading strategies to benefit the people of Hong Kong and Macau.

Just recently, Manulife Hong Kong launched a multichannel marketing campaign to highlight how to increase the chances of survival against critical illness. This aims to promote Manulife’s two new critical illness plans, namely ManuPrimo Care and ManuPrimo Care.

Hong Kong – Insurance company Manulife in Hong Kong has launched a multichannel marketing campaign to highlight how to increase the chances of survival against critical illness. This aims to promote Manulife’s two new critical illness plans, namely ManuPrimo Care and ManuPrimo Care.

Following on from the success of the ManuBright Care 2’s ‘Increase odds of survival against critical illness’ campaign in 2020, the latest ManuPrimo Care campaign takes a more positive view of a serious topic by emphasising how people have a better chance of survival with early preparation.

Developed with Manulife’s creative partner dentsu, the campaign kicked off on 1 August 2022 with a product launch event and the premiere of an action-packed commercial featuring well-known Hong Kong actors Gordon Lam and Louise Wong as product ambassadors. The commercial features a couple – Lam and Wong – who are special agents discussing the importance of upgrading their critical illness plans over dinner. It creatively promotes the health benefits and financial support of the plans to a wide target audience in Hong Kong.

Manulife’s large-scale campaign is featured in prime locations at Hong Kong and Causeway Bay MTR stations and outdoors on the Island Beverly shopping mall in Causeway Bay. Buses across the city, as well as bus shelters, have also been emblazoned with advertisements about the campaign. The campaign also includes an upcoming digital aspect to trigger social conversations and awareness among people in Hong Kong on the topic of how to better prepare for critical illness.

Moreover, the digital marketing campaign features a 90-second social video on YouTube and a 30-second video on the ViuTV app running in conjunction with the commercial. There is also a 35-second TVC on ViuTV and OpenTV to explain how the plans support customers on their recovery journey from diagnosis to treatment.

Kenneth Luk, Manulife’s head of marketing for Hong Kong and Macau, noted that the comprehensive campaign educates people about how the plans have been designed to give customers well-rounded protection with continuous care benefits and flexible cancer payout options. 

“And by collaborating with local celebrities Gordon Lam and Louise Wong, the campaign will reach a wider audience motivating more people to obtain critical illness coverage earlier,” said Luk.

Meanwhile, Jeffry Gamble, dentsu International’s chief creative officer for Hong Kong, shared that the campaign takes a light-hearted and entertaining approach to talk about a serious and heavy topic. 

“We worked closely with Manulife, Lam and Wong to create a creative campaign that resonates with people in Hong Kong while at the same time delivering the key messages on critical illness. The end result is an insurance ad campaign that for the first time in Hong Kong adopts a cinematic approach,” said Gamble.

Hong Kong – foodpanda in Hong Kong has become the first brand advertiser in the market to programmatically utilise the newest Crystal Digital and the Spectacular Digital OOH screens, operated by JCDecaux Transport at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). 

Developed in collaboration with Mindshare, GroupM’s global marketing and media network, and Xaxis, GroupM’s outcome media specialist, the campaign will be running over the course of three weeks from 15 July to 4 August 2022. It aims to drive awareness for pandamart, foodpanda’s 24/7 online grocery platform. The creatives were featured across three screens at the airport including one Crystal Digital screen and two Arrival Spectacular Digital screens, reaching passengers who are about to begin their on-arrival quarantine process. 

The Crystal Digital Spectacular Digitals deems to be one of the most eye-catching screens at the HKIA arrival hall as they overlook overseas passengers who must queue in line for COVID PCR test formalities before heading to the quarantine hotels. Passengers at the arrival hall have a direct line of sight to on-screen videos and with Xaxis’ programmatic expertise, foodpanda will be able to take flexible campaign planning to the next level and elevate its OOH advertisements, allowing it to dynamically define its screen mix, panel mix, and audience type, as well as set messages to be delivered at optimal times.

Michael Lai, business director at Mindshare, commented that they are thrilled to have partnered up with foodpanda, the largest one-stop-shop delivery platform in Hong Kong to launch their first pDOOH campaign in HKIA this year and deliver dynamic content to global passengers arriving into Hong Kong. 

“With Xaxis’ expertise, programmatic brings a whole new level of digital creativity for advertisers and consumers, providing a non-intrusive method for relevant customers and passengers to engage with. It also provides brands and marketers with the flexibility of targeted campaigns in real-time,” said Lai.

According to Xaxis, the collaboration was not HKIA’s first pDOOH campaign as JCDecaux upgraded its digital screens at the ‘luggage belt’ area and at the terminal exits to pDOOH screens in 2021. However, the further upgrade this year landed them the Crystal Digital and Spectacular Digital pDOOH screens in which foodpanda is the first advertiser in the market. 

Additionally, the pDOOH campaign catapulted foodpanda into a new era of OOH with programmatic and provided real-time flexibility for foodpanda’s pandamart to curate a captive viewing environment by identifying the audience, location and messages to create an effective, efficient, and brand-safe channel for its campaigns.

Alex Law, marketing director of foodpanda Hong Kong, shared that they are always keen to explore new and innovative ways of reaching their target audiences and are delighted to be the first market advertiser on the Crystal Digital and Spectacular Digital pDOOH screens in HKIA, leveraging the powerful impact of OOH and programmatic capabilities.

“We projected two 10-second videos on the screens by adopting dynamic creative displays to showcase and communicate our quick and convenient pandamart service. We understand the challenges passengers may face during quarantine, and would like to ease the process by providing easy access to basic necessities,” said Law.

Meanwhile, Arnaud Redon, general manager of airport at JCDecaux Transport, said that in addition to its unique geographical position to connect Greater China, Asia Pacific, and the World, Hong Kong International Airport advertising now offers to brands the possibility to target precisely and at scale their most relevant audiences through programmatic-ready large digital screens. 

“We’re very excited to enable foodpanda to deliver dynamic and contextually relevant content that resonates with passengers’ needs as they land in Hong Kong,” said Redon.

Shanghai, China – Beverage company Coca-Cola has launched a new summer campaign with offline and online experiences. Called ‘Share a Coke’, the campaign is available in Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong.

Developed in partnership with Ogilvy Shanghai under OpenX, WPP’s bespoke team dedicated to Coca-Cola globally, the summer campaign aims to turn every Coke bottle into a connection point for friends to engage and create magical shared memories wherever they are, something deeply important for digital natives.

Tapping into the insight that local Gen Z shoppers particularly enjoy the thrill that comes with surprises, Coca-Cola, alongside Ogilvy Shanghai, has created a limited-edition Coca-Cola ‘Summer Get-Together’ Bottle, with labels that transform as your drink to provide Coke lovers with hundreds of fun scenarios to enjoy the summer with their friends.

The activations also extended online to further facilitate connections through two interactive mobile games, including a WeChat-embedded game, which allows participants to shuffle their phones and generate a social poster with summer activity ideas. They can also tag their friends to meet up offline and share a Coke together. Another interactive mobile game is the ‘Metaverse Music Festival’, which uses a metaverse-inspired 3D-fication of avatars, 3D gameplay experience and a chained ‘share-challenge’ mechanism.

Tapping into the insight that local Gen Z shoppers particularly enjoy the thrill that comes with surprises, Coca-Cola, alongside Ogilvy Shanghai, has created a limited-edition Coca-Cola ‘Summer Get-Together’ Bottle, with labels that transform as your drink to provide Coke lovers with hundreds of fun scenarios to enjoy the summer with their friends.

The activations also extended online to further facilitate connections through two interactive mobile games, including a WeChat-embedded game, which allows participants to shuffle their phones and generate a social poster with summer activity ideas. They can also tag their friends to meet up offline and share a Coke together. Another interactive mobile game is the ‘Metaverse Music Festival’, which uses a metaverse-inspired 3D-fication of avatars, 3D gameplay experience and a chained ‘share-challenge’ mechanism. 

When entering the game, users are invited to customise their avatar and choose one of four scenarios to music-battle their friends. Played just by finger tapping, each gameplay is rewarded with special lucky draw coupons, with the added excitement of out-dancing friends over the summer. As players invite their peers to join the challenge through social sharing, their avatars will all appear on stage at the same time – a way to foster connection even in the virtual world. 

Elsa Gu, Coca-Cola’s Senior Creative Manager for Greater China and Mongolia, said, “Coca-Cola has always been a beacon for connection, and this year more than ever, we wanted to bring the real magic of summer to life by inviting consumers to unlock fun activities and celebrate moments of shared happiness with friends around their favourite drink through a range of offline and online story doing experiences, as well as interactive meetups in the metaverse.”

Meanwhile, Ole Luk, Coca-Cola category lead of OpenX in China, commented, “We are uniquely placed to help clients create impact in the current macroeconomic landscape through the cross-capability OpenX team setup. This campaign is a fantastic example of the power of borderless creativity in producing work that generates stronger bonds between the brand and its target audience.”

Coca-Cola said that the entire campaign was amplified on social, as Ogilvy produced short humour-filled videos that went viral on Weibo and Douyin, generating over 140 million impressions.

Seoul, South Korea – Full-service communications agency Redhill has appointed Do Sik (DS) Kim, former senior writer at Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), to be its new chief operating officer for its Korea operation. 

In his new role, Kim will be based in Seoul and working closely with Redhill Korea’s leadership team. He will also be focusing on driving local expertise and cross-market collaboration to orchestrate broader capabilities for clients and accelerate business growth — with a sharp focus on the domestic market’s thriving start-up and tech investment ecosystem. 

Kim is a veteran journalist with over three decades of experience in public affairs and corporate communications. Over the course of his career, he has developed a robust background in legal reporting and has forged strong connections with various government sectors from the Prime Minister’s Office to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, as well as with prominent prosecutors and lawmakers. He began his journalism career at the Yonhap News Agency, followed by a 26-year stint with SBS.

Commenting on his appointment, Kim said that he could not be more excited by this opportunity to join hands with this rapidly growing agency.

“I’m looking forward to assisting our local clients with creating exceptional marketing communications and creative innovations to enter new markets and expand their global footprint and global clients to enter and deepen their market presence in South Korea,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Jacob Puthenparambil, founder and CEO of Redhill, noted that they know their clients will greatly benefit from Kim’s foresight, wealth of experience, and counsel to navigate their complex business and communication challenges.

“DS brings deep subject matter expertise and an impressive track record as a trusted advisor, collaborator, and growth driver. I have full confidence that he will be a great asset to expand our domestic footprint and orchestrate new service offerings to create exceptional work for our clients, said Puthenparambil.

Hong Kong – Singapore-based shopping and rewards platform, ShopBack, has announced its upcoming market entry into Hong Kong. On its soft launch, which is set to take place on 8 August 2022, shoppers can expect heightened access to discount codes and coupons to earn cashback on online purchases.

With the market primed for more rewarding shopping experiences, ShopBack has already onboarded over 250 merchants in the country. These merchants range from local to global players, including Watsons, Disney+, Apple, KFC, Booking.com, Farfetch, Taobao, and Sasa, as well as ParkNShop, and iHerb, amongst others.

According to ShopBack, its entry into the market comes at an opportune time, where e-commerce in Hong Kong is poised to rise at a rapid rate of over 11%, potentially reaching revenues of HK$226 billion by 2024. In efforts to turbocharge this sector and boost its overall retail industry, Hong Kong is implementing the 2022 Compensation Voucher Scheme, where shoppers can experience greater financial access to their shopping experience.

Josephine Chow, head of expansion and co-founder at ShopBack, shared that entering Hong Kong is an exciting prospect for them at ShopBack, as the market’s massive potential for e-commerce and the government’s focus on growing the sector illustrates a clear market demand for financial flexibility and convenience in shopping activities.

“With ShopBack’s vast array of Cashback rewards and financial services, we are excited to see even more shoppers enjoy a seamless shopping experience following our official hard launch in Hong Kong later this year,” said Chow.

Just recently, ShopBack has also launched its first global brand refresh across all its 10 markets in APAC. Underscored by its new tagline – ‘For the Wins’, the brand refresh seeks to translate the small wins on ShopBack’s platform into an elevated shopping experience for its users.

Henry Chan, CEO and co-founder at ShopBack, noted that the platform believes in the power of small wins, applied consistently and continuously, and they work relentlessly to deliver smarter ways to shop and pay, and they hope that the rebrand brings out this message more strongly to their shoppers.

“As we continue to grow our network of partners and brands in Hong Kong, we will continue to engage shoppers across multiple touchpoints, and help partners gain visibility and sales while supporting them in achieving their own victories through small wins,” said Chan.

Guangzhou, China – China-based automobile company GAC Motor has awarded its integrated media agency of record duties to full-service media agency Essence, led out of the agency’s Guangzhou office in China.

Essence China’s scope of work includes brand strategy, integrated media planning and activation, and creative development and production, covering all of GAC Motor’s sedans, sport utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles, and new energy electric vehicles across its international business, including in SEA, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Moreover, Essence and GAC Motor will be launching new car models such as GS4 and GS8 in the Middle East and Latin America, as well as establishing a global strategic partnership between GAC Motor and Chilean football club Colo-Colo, resulting in GAC Motor becoming the first Chinese car brand to make an appearance in the Copa Libertadores. In addition to developing new innovations in media and communications in the automobile industry, Essence will also be helping grow GAC Motor’s brand and business through multi-dimensional, cross-industry initiatives.

GAC Motor is devoted to the production and sales of world-class vehicles, engines, automobile components, and car accessories, as well as research and development of automobile engineering technology. Its overseas distribution spans 26 countries across five regions, and strategic plans are in place for further development globally.

Benjamin Wei, CEO of Essence China, noted that as a new generation full-service media agency with a pioneering use of analytics, technology and creativity, Essence is committed to helping companies in China accelerate their data-driven marketing transformation and business growth, both locally and globally.

“In the post-pandemic era, there is strong growth potential for GAC Motor’s outbound business in international markets. We are honoured to have the opportunity to partner with GAC Motor on its journey to further expand globally and help create its next generation of business to achieve its growth goals,” said Wei.

In May 2022, Essence has also been awarded digital media duties by automotive manufacturing company Chang’an Ford in China. Led from Essence’s Shanghai office, the agency’s remit includes media planning, media activation and content innovation for digital brand and performance marketing activities across Chang’an Ford’s automobile business, covering all its vehicles and dealers in the market.

Hong Kong – Mediabrands, the media and marketing solutions division of Interpublic Group, has unveiled three executive leadership promotions, which are in line with the agency’s growth plans for the Greater China network.

The appointees include Joanne Tong, the new managing director for Hong Kong, Penny Chow, the new managing director for Taiwan, and Man Leung, the new head of Reprise and Initiative for Hong Kong.

Promoted from her prior position as head of strategy at Mediabrands Hong Kong and Taiwan, Tong will be charged with the growth leadership of the Mediabrands Hong Kong agency network, drawing upon her 20 years of specialised marketing and advertising industry experience across renowned 4A’s agencies and corporate behemoths.

Meanwhile, adding to her previous remit leading Mediabrands Content Studio (MBCS) for Hong Kong and Taiwan, Chow will be extending her role to include managing director of the Mediabrands agency network in Taiwan. His 20-year career in media and advertising has encompassed celebrated collaborations with numerous brand giants including Disney and Coca-Cola.

And lastly, from his prior role as head of business development for Hong Kong and Taiwan, Leung has been promoted to a broader leadership role as head of Reprise and Initiative at Hong Kong, where he will utilise his over 19 years of industry experience specialising in building the digital infrastructure for data-driven marketing solutions, to drive the transformational, digital, and performance media growth across the Reprise and Initiative agencies in the Hong Kong market.

Melinda Po, CEO of Mediabrands for Greater China, shared that this newly embedded local market leadership is a testament to the growth and diversification of their agency network offering across the greater China region. 

“It has been extremely gratifying to find exactly the right leadership talent we needed to drive this growth from within our own agency network, not only providing the development opportunity for our own people to grow and assume broader leadership responsibilities but also utilising their deep expertise and understanding of our product offering, our culture, in addition to the local market growth opportunities,” added Po.

South Korea – Xaxis, the outcome media specialist under GroupM, has elevated Ji Young Jung, its former programmatic trading lead, to be the new head of Xaxis South Korea.

Jung will be leading her team toward Xaxis’ vision of scaling up and optimising its performance and digital offerings across APAC. Her passion for developing the programmatic advertising landscape in South Korea centres around helping the country’s leading brands and advertisers navigate an evolving landscape, all the while bringing in ever-stronger results from their media investments.

Jung brings a hands-on experience of both the buy and sell sides of programmatic advertising and previously to Xaxis, spent several years at companies such as The Trade Desk and A1 Media Group. She will be taking over the role from Junsu Bae, who has been elevated to the position of head of digital investment at GroupM South Korea.

Commenting on her appointment, Jung said, “I’m excited for this next chapter in my journey with Xaxis. There are so many opportunities to grow the programmatic landscape in South Korea, and with our blend of innovative AI technology, cross-channel solutions and a wealth of programmatic expertise for our clients to tap into, we’re in a perfect position to lead this charge.”

Meanwhile, Michael Beecroft, GroupM’s CEO of Northeast Asia, said, “Ji Young is a pragmatic leader whose experience is backed up by a full range of hands-on experience in the programmatic advertising space. I’m looking forward to seeing how her wealth of industry knowledge inspires the team around her and drives continued success for the Xaxis South Korea team.”

Bae noted, “Since joining in 2019, Ji Young has created a remarkable imprint on the programmatic advertising industry in South Korea. She has shown time and again her ability to create successful business outcomes for Xaxis and our clients, and I’m delighted to be working alongside her when developing and launching future GroupM products in South Korea.”