Tag: Expansion

India – Urban Company, an Indian home service company, has chosen M&C Saatchi Performance, a growth marketing agency, to help it expand into international markets in Singapore and the UAE. 

Through this partnership, Urban Company will be able to take advantage of M&C Saatchi Performance’s strategic advice and experience to prosper in global markets.

Urban Company’s international expansion will be spearheaded by M&C Saatchi Performance, which has a track record of leading digitally-driven companies like MPL and UpGrad in their international expansion. 

As part of this partnership, M&C Saatchi Performance has promoted Partha Sharma to country director in India. Sharma will lead the Urban Company account.

Speaking about the partnership, Roshat Adnani, managing director APAC, at M&C Saatchi Performance, said, “It is with great enthusiasm that we partner with Urban Company as their chosen Digital Agency on Record to support their international expansion into the dynamic markets of Singapore and the UAE. Our extensive experience steering Indian brands toward global success equips us for this endeavour. With experience and teams in markets like Singapore & UAE, proven data-driven strategies, and a nuanced understanding of digital businesses, we are well-prepared to amplify Urban Company’s growth. We are dedicated to delivering substantial value to Urban Company.”

Meanwhile, Joon Ming, AVP, marketing, at Urban Company, expressed, “We are excited to partner with M&C Saatchi Performance for our expansion in Singapore. Their deep market insights, combined with a robust local presence and a proven track record in digital business growth, make them the ideal choice to support our international ambitions. We look forward to leveraging their innovative strategies to enhance our footprint and achieve new milestones in these dynamic markets.”

Sydney, Australia – Omnichannel supply-side platform OpenX has recently announced the international expansion of TV by OpenX to Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

In parallel, OpenX is enhancing TV by OpenX in the US to deliver future-proofed and differentiated data-driven curation to high-quality biddable CTV.

The global expansion of TV by OpenX marks the first step toward transparent, biddable CTV in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom, allowing buyers to continue to target viewers as they choose to watch CTV.

This expansion is an important step in the TV by OpenX mission to protect the value of broadcaster and publisher inventory while providing transparency, ease of purchase, and incremental reach for buyers.

While the first phase of TV by OpenX focused on transparency, this next step in OpenX’s evolution of programmatic television buying combines future-proofed data-driven curation with high-quality, transparent, biddable CTV in the US.

As brands and agencies continue to invest in scatter to buy closer to campaign activation, TV by OpenX’s US enhancements empower buyers to leverage the largest independent supply-side graph to target audiences across direct CTV inventory. In this next phase of TV by OpenX, data-driven, contextual, attention, and sustainability offerings power the direct activation of curated audiences at scale.

With TV by OpenX, US buyers can choose from any one of OpenX’s 250+ data partners, including Captify, Samba TV, and TVision, to target an audience via CTV inventory using OpenX’s cross-platform identity graph. 

This allows buyers to increase scale and optimise toward their desired campaign outcomes via their preferred DSP. Additionally, TV by OpenX enables political advertisers to reach high-value audiences on direct, premium supply this political cycle by leveraging ACR audiences from Samba TV.

Talking about the expansion, Matt Sattel, SVP of buyer development at OpenX, said, “We’re thrilled to build on the success of TV by OpenX, both in geographical expansion as well as in enhancing the US offering to deliver buyers more data-driven curation options. These innovations, among others, enable us to partner with the most premium CTV publishers and ultimately deliver exceptional results for buyers.”

London, United Kingdom – Pixalate, a global ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, has opened a new office in Singapore to strengthen its local presence and collaborations in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. 

The new office will be headed by Alvin Ling, vice president of sales and operations at Pixalate, with over 20 years of technical experience in digital advertising in the region. In his role, he will head the company’s APAC workforce. 

Pixalate provides ad fraud protection technologies, local client support, APIs for developers, and an analytics platform that has been recognised by the MRC in order to cater to the regional market. Since the region has seen a rise in both ad spending and invalid traffic (IVT), which includes ad fraud, many APAC countries have stepped up their efforts to prevent sophisticated ad fraud. 

Pixalate has also partnered with several worldwide businesses operating in APAC, including Pangle, TikTok for Business’s ad network, which is owned by Bytedance. Pangle recently announced that it has upgraded its mobile ad platform to include Pixalate’s Third-Party Content Risk Assessment, providing global advertisers with brand protection and media transparency. 

Speaking about the expansion, Jalal Nasir, CEO of Pixalate, said, “Advertising fraud is a global concern, posing an ever-evolving threat that continues to grow in size, scale, and sophistication. We are thrilled to launch our 3-D anti-fraud technology and operations in APAC to ensure the safety and security of our partners.” 

Meanwhile, Ling stated, “I am honoured to lead the growth of Pixalate’s APAC team and partnerships at a crucial inflection point for the region. Our unparalleled technology tools and exceptional team are uniquely positioned to serve the market’s needs at a time when the industry’s heightened emphasis on a more white-boxed global fraud protection solution and supply path object verification has spurred strong demand for greater transparency and improved traffic quality.” 

Malaysia – Apple will open its first store in Malaysia, becoming the company’s newest location as it expands across Asia. It is the first Apple Store to open in Malaysia, creating a whole new set of potential for both the brand and its dedicated customers. 

In a statement, Apple announced its intention to open its first shop in Malaysia, with the store projected to be in Kuala Lumpur. Customers will have access to the complete line of Apple products and services at this shop, including the newest iPads and iPhones, Mac computers, Apple Watches, and more. 

The Apple Store will offer direct job opportunities as it seeks store leaders, experts, and creatives capable of providing the unique Apple retail customer experience. Local training activities will be conducted to help establish a skilled team that can support consumers and interact with the larger community. 

A key component of Apple’s strategic global expansion plan, which aims to meet the diverse needs of customers worldwide, is the company’s increased presence in Asia. Through this attempt, Apple is able to better serve a wider range of consumers and understand the needs and preferences of customers from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. The opening of this new location in Malaysia is Apple’s commitment to growing its customer base. 

With its growing presence in Asia, the business promises to continually present solutions and provide customer service to its growing customers. As Apple continues to develop and grow, these international endeavours highlight the significant degree to which technology has become ingrained in society globally, enabling people to stay connected, productive, and enthralled with technology. 

Jakarta, Indonesia – The Lego Group has officially opened its largest store in Southeast Asia, with its latest outlet located at the Senayan City shopping mall in Jakarta, Indonesia.

This opening is part of the LEGO Group’s ongoing efforts to expand its presence in Indonesia and strengthen its domestic and travel retail presence in Asia.

The 365 square metre store in Senayan City offers immersive Lego experiences, including Southeast Asia’s first “Lego Minifigure Factory” where shoppers can customise Lego minifigures.

It also features three-dimensional Lego brick models of popular Indonesian icons such as the National Monument and the Jakarta bus, as well as a 3m-tall mosaic wall of the historical Selamat Datang Monument made with 21,562 Lego bricks.

Alongside this, the LEGO Group, together with the LEGO Foundation, has pledged to donate US$1 million over three years to support initiatives designed to provide children and caregivers greater access to “Learning Through Play”.

This store is one of six set to open this year, bringing the total number of Lego stores in Indonesia to 26 across nine cities. Additionally, Lego products are available at 300 other retailers, including toy stores, department stores and official online shops.

Talking about the opening, Claus Kristensen, senior vice president at the LEGO Group APAC, said, “Today marks an exciting milestone in our journey to bring joy and creativity to children across Indonesia. We see potential in this dynamic, growing market and are looking forward to strengthening our presence, reaching more children and inspiring the builders of tomorrow.”

“We have been present in Indonesia for over ten years through distribution and manufacturing partners and appreciate the strong support shown for our brand and business. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with local partners as we further build our presence,” he added.

Notably, this opening also follows LEGO’s recent appointment of two general managers to its Asia Pacific leadership team for business units of Singapore, Malaysia and Travel Retail (SMTR), and India & Emerging Asia (IEA).

Singapore – International travel, lifestyle, and accessories brand TUMI recently opened two new airport outlets in South Korea and Thailand, along with the announcement of two more locations in major international airports throughout Asia-Pacific. 

These openings mark TUMI’s commitment to delivering sleek, sophisticated and inviting spaces to travellers, redefining and reinvigorating travel retail with an expanded and refreshed presence at major international airports throughout Asia.

Going into detail, the first two stores opened on May 1, 2024 at South Korea’s Incheon International Airport and Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, which both showcase TUMI’s evolution as a sleek and sophisticated global performance luxury brand, while providing a comfortable and easy-to-navigate environment to browse the wide range of products curated to meet the needs of discerning travellers.

On the other hand, scheduled to open in late May, the new store at Soekarno–Hatto International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, joins various duty-free shops and restaurants inside its largest and newest Terminal 3. This will then be followed by the new store at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India, slated to open in mid-June, which will feature a similarly sleek design in a high-traffic location inside the country’s second-busiest airport.

Talking about these openings, Aris Maroulis, vice president for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at TUMI, said, “The latest openings at Incheon International Airport and Suvarnabhumi Airport are a testament to TUMI’s ongoing commitment to creating unique and exceptional experiences for our international customers through our high-performance products and stores.”

“With more launches coming soon at Soekarno–Hatto International Airport in Jakarta and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, which are also among the busiest in the region, travel retail will continue to be a key focus through thoughtfully planned and skilfully executed designs that bring customers into our world and speak to the way they travel today,” he added.

Singapore – Global innovation firm I&CO has recently announced the launch of I&CO APAC, which was marked by the opening of its new Singapore Office.

The new office in Singapore marks the second in Asia, following its Tokyo office in 2019, and will be spearheading business development in the Asian market.

In line with this, Norikuni Takamiya will be appointed head of I&CO APAC, and Kyohei Takeuchi will be appointed as business development manager.

I&CO APAC and its new Singapore office will leverage its extensive experience in global strategy and design to provide bi-directional support to assist companies entering the APAC market, and Asia-based companies expanding out of the region.

Furthermore, I&CO has successfully initiated connections between Japan and its surrounding countries with projects such as promoting Japanese liquor brand Awamori in Asia, providing design and branding support for open innovation firm Cross Capital, and branding and design support for Malaysian startup platform Trambellir. 

Talking about this expansion, Takamiya said, “Since our inception in New York in 2016 and the Tokyo office’s launch in 2019, I&CO has worked on numerous branding projects for Japanese and international companies.”

“With our new Singapore office in 2024, we will leverage our global portfolio to foster cultural and economic exchanges across Asia and worldwide. Our mission is to create global brands, services, and innovation from Asia”, he added.

Singapore – B2B full-service marketing agency Green Hat has announced its expansion to Singapore with a new office and the appointment of Shawn Low as the new Singapore director to spearhead the agency’s growth across APAC. 

Green Hat’s expansion to Singapore comes as more of its global clients seek representation in the APAC region. 

As part of BBN International, a global network of 30 B2B agencies, this expansion allows Green Hat to provide the group with greater APAC coverage and, at the same time,the agency can provide its clients with global support through the BBN agency network. 

Among the agency’s current clients are Nestlé Professional, Korn Ferry, NEXTDC, and Workday.

Meanwhile, leading the agency’s APAC growth is the newly appointed Singapore director, Low, who will also take on the additional role of global account director for Green Hat’s long-term client, Korn Ferry. 

A former head of content and social for Australasia in Green Hat, Low is a multi-channel digital native who has worked in start-ups, B2B, and B2C in Australia, London, Singapore, and APAC. 

He re-joins Green Hat after nearly three years of serving as head of social and digital at Grey Group Singapore, part of WPP. Low has also held leadership roles at King Content and Immedia in Singapore. 

Stuart Jaffray, managing director at Green Hat, said, “Singapore is a key part of Green Hat’s growth plan, with an increasing need from our client portfolio for us to have talent on the ground in the market. It’s great to be able to welcome Shawn back to Green Hat to lead our expansion in the region. He knows Green Hat well and has great connections in the Singapore market.”

Also speaking on his appointment, Low shared, “Singapore’s the APAC hub for many global businesses and clients. Green Hat’s proposition is to help our clients rethink B2B to implement effective account-based marketing (ABM) programs, conduct strategic work that builds key brand and messaging frameworks, and develop robust content strategy and demand generation programs – there’s collectively so much experience we can bring to the table. I’m excited to be delivering and implementing best-practice B2B marketing for our APAC clients.”

Jakarta, Indonesia – Petite Fleur, a florist based in Singapore, has announced the expansion of its operations with the launch of Petite Fleur Indonesia.

This new venture of bringing Petite Fleur to a new market was motivated by a desire to share their unique floral arrangements with a broader audience with a love of fresh blooms.

Petite Fleur’s decision to expand into Indonesia is backed by extensive market research, which identified an opportunity for same-day fresh and premium flower delivery services in Jakarta.

Through this expansion, Petite Fleur will be capitalising on the city’s vibrant atmosphere, dynamic lifestyle, and fertile ground for growth with a comprehensive market entry strategy that includes establishing a robust logistics network to ensure swift deliveries across Jakarta and its surroundings.

With this in mind, Petite Fleur Indonesia takes a bespoke approach to its product offerings to delight customers. Rather than replicating its entire Singapore collection, the company’s founder personally handpicked popular floral varieties to be featured on the new website, ensuring a personalised experience for Indonesian customers.

With a vision to become the leading florist in the Asia Pacific region, Petite Fleur actively seeks new partnerships and collaborations with local brands in Indonesia, aiming to build brand awareness, foster trust, and strengthen brand affinity among Indonesian consumers, further solidifying its position as the preferred choice for premium floral services.

Talking about the expansion, Patricia Tanuwijaya, founder and CEO of Petite Fleur, said, “We are thrilled to extend our presence into Indonesia, bringing our passion for floral artistry to a new audience. With our carefully curated offerings and commitment to customer satisfaction, we look forward to forging lasting connections and creating memorable experiences for customers across borders.”

Singapore – RICE, a strategic communications firm, has just opened operations in Thailand and the Philippines, capping 15 years of expansion around Asia. This initiative broadens the firm’s reach beyond its existing operations in Singapore, Myanmar, and Hong Kong. 

The expansion highlights social impact as a primary goal, utilising RICE’s ESG communications experience and partnerships with international development organisations, non-profit organisations, and global corporations. Leading the regional expansion initiatives and overseeing operations in Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines is Donna Garcia as its firm’s partner and regional director.

Now that the offices in Thailand and the Philippines are up and running, RICE is committed to offering thorough insights, tailored strategies, and involvement that is grounded in meaningful results.

Speaking about the expansion, Garcia said, “Our expansion into Thailand and the Philippines aligns with our larger vision of stewardship, which focuses on how RICE and our people can positively impact our team, clients, and the wider community. We’re not only broadening our reach geographically; we’re building creative impact hubs similar to what we’ve established in Myanmar, and making services more accessible to non-profits, NGOs, and social enterprises in the region.” 

She added, “As we grow, we deepen our commitment to this philosophy by employing marginalised people who might otherwise find it challenging to land meaningful roles in our industry. In Thailand, RICE has partnered with Education for the Deaf (EDeaf) to train and hire graphic designers from their network.” 

Meanwhile, James Brasher, managing partner at RICE, said, “The Philippines and Thailand offer RICE plenty of opportunity for growth and social good. Guided by our vision, we’re always looking at how our work can make a positive contribution to our clients, colleagues, and the communities we serve.”