Sydney, Australia – Australia-based independent media agency, Nunn Media, has been appointed by global children’s entertainment company Spin Master for its portfolio of brands in Australia, including Bakugan, PAW Patrol, Hatchimals, Kinetic Sand, and Air Hogs.

The remit will be a multi-year engagement, and Nunn Media will be managing the integrated strategy, planning, and buying across all media channels for Spin Master Australia’s more than 25 brands. 

Spin Master is headquartered in Canada and has 28 offices around the world. Its entertainment properties are viewed in more than 190 countries and it distributes toys in more than 100 markets.

Geoff Oliver, marketing director of Spin Master ANZ, shared that they have ambitious plans to continue growing its business in Australia and creating exceptional play experiences for children. 

Oliver said, “The team from Nunn Media showed a strong understanding of the market and how to best engage with our target audience to help realize our plans. We look forward to partnering with them as we continue to delight Aussie kids.”

Meanwhile, Chris Walton, the agency’s managing director, jovially commented, “Spin Master creates and manages some of the world’s most popular children’s entertainment properties, I mean who doesn’t love Ryder, Chase, Everest, and Rocky from PAW Patrol??! Starting in November, we’ll work closely with the team to amplify all of the Spin Master portfolio in Australia.”

The appointment by Spin Master follows Nunn Media’s recent acquisition of Australia-based performance agency, Alley Group. The two will be forming an integrated business proposition leveraging Alley’s capabilities in search, social, programmatic, e-commerce, and digital creative. 

Singapore – HBO GO, WarnerMedia’s regional streaming service in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, has revealed a new pricing strategy and confirmed some of its new programming for the rest of 2021.

In the price update, HBO GO has announced that three-month subscriptions in its six direct-to-consumer territories will be available at the following discounted monthly prices, namely in Singapore (S$9.99), Malaysia (RM23.30), Philippines (₱99.70), Indonesia (Rp.33,000), Thailand (Bt.99.70), and Taiwan (NT$97).

HBO GO is still available in Hong Kong and Vietnam, but will be relayed through third-party operators.

Meanwhile, new programs for the streaming service include mystery adventure drama series ‘La Brea’, comedy series ‘Hacks’, and drama series ‘Succession’. These global titles complement the premiere of the Taiwanese HBO Asia Original ‘Who’s By Your Side’ along with hit Warner Bros. movies, including ‘The Suicide Squad’, ‘Malignant’ and ‘Reminiscence’.

In addition, boxsets for the original 2007 ‘Gossip Girl’ series, ‘Pretty Little Liars’ and HBO classic ‘The Sopranos’ will be available to stream. Fans of the latter series will also enjoy the exclusive direct to streaming availability of the prequel theatrical title ‘The Many Saints of Newark’ in November.

“With a new price point and some of the best-loved content out there, HBO GO presents its most compelling proposition yet. As we close out 2021, there are more and more reasons to subscribe, especially with the holiday season around the corner,” said Amit Malhotra, managing director for HBO GO/HBO Max in Southeast Asia, India and Korea.

Upgrades to the service are ongoing with direct credit card payments now available in Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. Dolby 5.1 sound will be introduced shortly, while three concurrent streams are now allowed.

HBO GO subscribers can choose from a vast collection of premium series and movies, across drama, comedy, kids and documentary genres. Titles include HBO Originals, Max Originals, HBO Asia Originals, content from Warner Bros. TV and Pictures, DC, Adult Swim and Cartoon Network originals, in addition to licensed content.

Singapore – As part of the company’s stride to expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, user-generated entertainment company Jukin Media has appointed former ESPN head of ad sales and content partnerships Manu Sanghi as its senior commercial director for APAC.

Sanghi will be responsible for fueling growth in the region across multiple lines of business including growing Jukin’s presence on connected TV (CTV), managing its licensing revenue, content distribution and audience monetization, as well as developing partnerships with brands and agencies.

He brings over 18 years of experience in media planning and buying, trading, as well as content and advertiser partnerships across multicultural teams, business models and markets that include APAC and the Middle East.

Aside from his previous role at ESPN, he has also worked with Scripps Networks and Havas Media Group in Singapore, where he moved from Dubai after spending 5 years with GroupM.

“The APAC region is ready for a company like Jukin that empowers brands and advertisers to reach their target consumers in so many innovative and powerful ways. I’m thrilled to be a part of the team and help brands tell amazing stories with Jukin’s engaging and authentic content,” Sanghi said regarding his appointment.

He is based in Singapore and will report to Ravi Pillai, managing director for APAC at Jukin Media.

“Over the last 12 months, Jukin has seen rapid growth across the Asia Pacific region. We are excited to bring Manu on board to help expand our presence beyond the substantial footprint we’ve built in India. Manu’s experience in advertising and content will be invaluable as he helps Jukin establish key relationships. We have ambitious plans for the region and I look forward to working closely with him,” Pillai stated.

Jukin Media, which has been acquired by media company Trusted Media Brands, first expanded to the APAC region in 2018 with the opening of its New Delhi, India office, which has grown to more than 50 employees. As the two companies integrate over the next several months, Sanghi is expected to help fuel growth across the entire portfolio of properties throughout APAC.

Sydney, Australia – Local entertainment service Fetch TV has renewed its existing partnership with global content company BBC Studios, which spans seven channels of BBC Studio available on Fetch, following the availability of BBC Kids on the platform last March this year.

The seven channels are namely BBC First, BBC World News, UKTV, BBC Earth and CBeebies, along with Virtual Playlist Channels BBC Brit and BBC Kids which are only available on Fetch.

Fetch subscribers can view the BBC linear channels on their TV or on the Fetch Mobi app, with a ‘start over’ option available for the majority of programs which enables viewers to join the channel at any point and watch from the start.

“We are delighted to continue our decade-long relationship with BBC Studios, which thrives on innovation and creativity to deliver the best of British content to our customers,” said Sam Hall, chief content and commercial officer at Fetch TV.

Meanwhile, Fiona Lang, general manager at BBC Studios ANZ, commented, “Our partnership with Fetch showcases the breadth and depth of the BBC’s content across world-class drama, documentaries, entertainment, children’s programming, and news.”

She added, “We’re excited to renew our agreement with Fetch to bring their audiences this comprehensive offering via their unique mix of linear and virtual playlist channels.”

The BBC channels are all available in the 46 channel Fetch Ultimate Pack for AU$20 per month, and also in the AU$6 per month Fetch Channel Packs.

Mumbai, India – Local-based full-on independent marketing company IdeateLabs has successfully aided the launch of its latest projects: a new over-the-top (OTT) service Planet Marathi OTT, the first OTT service catered to the Marathi-speaking people in India.

IdeateLabs, India’s leading independent full-service marketing company, aided the launch of Planet Marathi OTT, the world’s first Marathi OTT, earlier last week, in an event inaugurated by Madhuri Dixit Nene, a well-known Indian actress.

Renowned artists from the Marathi entertainment industry like Amruta Khanvilkar, Sonalee Kulkarni, Siddharth Jadhav and others actively participated. 

The OTT launch was complete with logo to the #MadhuriAaliMaheri launch campaign, to the print and other mainline media campaigns, the digital and social campaigns, the press engagement, the audience interaction, the influencer and content strategy.

“Ideate has been a great partner from the early stages, and we are glad to have them on board to take our brand to Marathi audiences worldwide. Well-thought-out and carefully actioned, the attention to detail and nuances brought forth emotions from Madhuri as well as all the celebrities attending the launch. We believe the wide variety of content on the platform will be appealing to the Marathi as well as the non-Marathi audiences across India and the globe,” said Akshay Bardapurkar, head and founder at Planet Marathi OTT.

Planet Marathi OTT has a rich blend of Marathi content such as movies, talk shows, concerts, karaoke, and its planned original web series.

Meanwhile, Vrutika Dawda, director at IdeateLabs, commented that the agency had a delightful experience in conceptualizing Planet Marathi OTT, noting that the regional content industry is booming and expanding its foothold in the global markets, to which the Planet Marathi OTT launch is a true testimony.

“Great content is readily consumed and helps make a story universal. The channel will allow India’s diverse culture to be enjoyed globally. We are looking forward to introducing extensive content offerings from the Planet Marathi stables and building conversations for the channel,” Dawda stated.

Singapore – Wootag, a visual interactives and insights platform, has announced the launch of Sports Signals, the newest feature catered for marketers to enable video interactives through sports event content, such as football matches.

This enables clients to be more engaging for the audience by tapping into a new audience segment and using the real-time live events as a trigger to showcase customized marketing messaging and advertisement to enhance the branding experiences on video and display.

Furthermore, marketers can choose a sports event as a new trigger for the video ad. For instance, brands that are sponsoring teams can engage with their audience during the live gameplay and even structure offerings based on outcomes.

In addition, messages and offerings can further be customized based on both positive and negative outcomes and a host of other signals. Brands can further build based on individuals/players who are their brand influencers and structure experience and message based on their individual/ team performances.

Lastly, brands can amplify their message during breaks encouraging for a quick snack break.

The launch of ‘Sports Signals’ follows after Wootag recently launched the parent platform Wootag Signals last April, in which it provided marketers with the ability from customizing viewers’ experience by weather to customizing videos or interactive content based on weather conditions. They can simply select the location, trigger type from weather factors to temperature, and then assign the interactivity.

“In the video marketing industry, that has long been plagued by lack of a way to drive conversions. Sports Signal helps drive the engagement with 230%-370% uplift by allowing meaningful targeted reach at real-time live events. It is fundamentally important for marketers to engage their target audience on the digital journey and convert the viewers into customers,” said Raj Sunder, the founder and chief executive officer of Wootag.

For instance, marketers from the food and beverage industry can leverage Wootag’s Sports Signals to showcase a discount for their drink to celebrate if your home team scored a goal. If there’s a financial brand sponsoring a match and their team wins, Sports Signal enables marketers to showcase a preferential discount for team jerseys on the video. 

“Wootag will continually enhance Wootag Signal to provide marketers more features to increase business efficiency and maximize the marketing effort,” Sundar concluded.

Wootag’s market is present in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia – Media Prima Audio (MPA), the radio platform of Malaysia-based media and entertainment company Media Prima, has announced a new slew of business revamps, including brand revamps and changes in content strategy implementation, following new leadership appointments set last June.

Two radio stations, namely Hot FM and Fly FM, are coming out with a “very new” and “very different” sound, complemented with refreshed logos, look and feel. Meanwhile, the other two radio stations, previously known as One FM and Kool FM, are now branded as 8FM and Buletin FM respectively. 

According to Nazri Noran, chief executive officer at Media Prima Audio, this marks the company’s first holistic rebrand in over 15 years and it’s all about allowing them to reinvigorate and strengthen its standing as a leading radio station in the country.

“Today we kick it off with on-air programming, new radio talents, fresh logos, and branding across our assets including digital, social and mobile. We are also thrilled with this new journey as it is also being supported by an extensive marketing campaign across all Media Prima group platforms,” Noran stated.

He also added that there will be changes as well in the talent lineups for all the radio stations.

“Our mission is to drive positive and beneficial changes to the company. Thus, the changes of the talent lineup are a part of the new strategy for the brands to appear relevant and competitive in the market. There are lots in store from today onwards for Hot FM, Buletin FM, Fly FM, and 8FM. Malaysia’s radio fans can expect to be thrilled and fall in love with radio all over again with this master brand overhaul,” Noran concluded.

In addition to these changes, MPA also announced the launch of a new mobile app brand called Audio+ which will be the home for all radio, digital and social content such as live radio, podcasts, videos, and many more. Instead of downloading a separate app for each station, all of the brands will now be parked under one easy and fresh app, Audio+. 

The app can be downloaded via Google Play, Apple App Store, and Huawei App Gallery. 

Tokyo, Japan – In the newest stride of big brands tapping into the virtual talent scene, music label Sony Music Japan has announced the launch of its newest VTuber project called ‘VEE’ and are also pushing the call for around 50 new talents to join their V-Tuber project.

According to the project’s website, in addition to creating virtual media distribution and video production, they will be involved in music, voice acting, creative work, and other activities to make the talents ‘dreams’ come true. 

Sony Music Group in Japan, which has developed a wide range of entertainment businesses, will support the activities of the virtual talents by making the most of its know-how and solutions.

Requirements stated by the project side involve that the talent must be over 16 years old and of any nationality and gender, however they must be resident at the moment in Japan. Contracts for accepted talents are slated for a commitment of one year with the agency.

Registration for the VEE Project is now open, albeit the registration form is only available in Japanese, despite the project’s official site being officially available in English and Chinese. The registration opens from 20 July to 30 September this year.

The rate of corporate-backed VTubers is not slowing down, with more and more online users now rallying in support of these virtual idols. More recently, Hololive, a virtual talent agency owned by Japan-based tech entertainment company Cover Corporation, recently debuted its newest talent IRyS, a ‘virtual singer’ under its newest branch ‘Project:HOPE’ last 11 July.

Furthermore, brands who are not previously affiliated with VTubers in the mid of their corporate background are also getting involved with these virtual talents, including of AirAsia’s newest virtual idol, Aozora Kurumi of the agency Project Kavvaii, who debuted last 8 May, two months after AirAsia launched Project Kavvaii in search for the talent behind their first-ever virtual talent.

Manila, Philippines – Philippine media network giant GMA Network has unveiled seven new executive promotions, ranging from updates positions for their entertainment arm and business strategies.

Redgie A. Magno is appointed as first vice president for the business development department of drama productions at GMA, and Cheryl Ching-Sy was likewise promoted to senior assistant vice president of drama productions at GMA.

Under Magno’s leadership, GMA Drama has consistently produced content for the growing audience across media platforms, while Ching-Sy played a vital role in creating strong foundations for the Drama Department’s operational success, and in providing key management support to drive content production and development to the highest standard.

Magno and Ching-Sy have worked closely together to spearhead GMA Entertainment Group’s Drama Department as it continuously produces new stories and entertainment pieces that cater to the different tastes of viewers. Some of these notable GMA Drama programs include ‘Encantadia’, ‘Ika-6 Na Utos’ and the Philippine adaptation of Korean drama series ‘Descendants of the Sun’.

Meanwhile, Darling De Jesus-Bodegon was named first vice president for business development department III (Talk/Magazine/Musical Variety/Specials and Alternative Productions), where under her helm, the department was able to rise up to the challenge of innovating formats to adapt to the challenges brought about by the pandemic. Her team continued to produce fresh episodes for the Network’s flagship musical-variety program ‘All-Out Sundays’.

Other promotions include Arlene Carnay as vice president for GMA Public Affairs, Jaileen Jimeno as senior assistant vice president at GMA Public Affairs, Jaemark Tordecilla as senior assistant vice president for news and public affairs digital media at GMA, and Victoria T. Arradaza as first vice president and head of supply and asset management department at GMA.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysian satellite television provider Astro has announced that it has been appointed by global mass media company The Walt Disney Company to be an official distributor of its streaming service Disney+ Hotsuite in the country.

Astro customers will be able to stream more than 800 films and 18,000 episodes of Disney’s content on the Disney+ Hotstar app. Astro is working towards making Disney+ Hotstar available via the Ultra and Ulti connected boxes of Astro later this year, providing Astro customers with a one-stop entertainment convenience.

Henry Tan, group CEO at Astro, expressed his delight with their recent partnership with Disney to aggregate more global to their platform.

“Soon customers can enjoy the dazzling line-up from Disney+ Hotstar in addition to the much-loved Astro hits, local signatures, award-winning originals and unparalleled live sports, making us the undisputed entertainment destination for Malaysians,” Tan stated.

He also noted that their ‘Movies Pack’ customers will soon be able to stream content entertainment on Disney+ Hotstar for an additional RM5 per month while non-Movies Pack customers can also enjoy Disney+ Hotstar via other value bundles.

“This is a great start to an action-packed year where we will be aggregating subscription-based video on demand (SVOD) streaming services, giving our customers the widest variety of entertainment to choose from, value and convenience,” he added.

Meanwhile, David Shin, general manager at The Walt Disney Company Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, commented, “We are excited to launch Disney+ Hotstar in Malaysia for the consumers and also collaborate closely with Astro to deliver powerful entertainment with heart. From iconic Disney classics, to brand-new Disney+ Original series, Malaysian hits from homegrown creators, filmmakers and talent and Asian series and films, there is something for everyone of all ages.”

The Disney+ Hotsuite will feature blockbuster Hollywood movies and award-winning content from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, National Geographic, FX, 20th Century Studios and many more, which also includes exclusive premieres and blockbusters from leading Malaysian studios.