Tag: Expansion

Manila, Philippines – In pursuit of growing their businesses online, internet and digital service providers PLDT and Smart have announced the expansion of their digital upskilling to e-commerce program. 

Called eBiznovation initiative, the program supports the businesses of local entrepreneurs, cooperatives and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country to advance the digitalization of their market and motivate prospective partners to expand their reach. 

In this innovation, the two have leveraged the use of Tiktok shop in connecting them online. This collaboration then enabled further partnerships in local bazaars allowing direct access to revenue opportunities simply by engaging them with the digital shop. 

Talking about the expansion project, Stephanie V. Orlino, AVP and head of stakeholder management at PLDT and Smart, said, “At PLDT and Smart, we believe that collaboration is key to advancing the goals of eBiznovation and achieving them more efficiently.”

“By working with like-minded partners from various industries, we are able to boost our efforts to digitally upskill and assist local enterprises, helping them to increase productivity and income through digital technology,” she added. 

Apart from this, leaders and experts from the technology industry also express their insights following the essential role of small-to medium-scale local enterprises and their contribution towards the country’s economic growth at the recent Philippine Digital Convention 2023.

Euan Rex Toralballa, customer relationship management head at Luzon’s PLDT Enterprise also said “Our clients and partners have so far done an amazing job in driving the evolving digital landscape of the MSMEs. During this gathering at Digicon, PLDT Enterprise recognizes and celebrates MSMEs as the life force of our country.” 

On the other hand, Toff Rada, head of public policy at TikTok Philippines said, “TikTok Shop connects Filipino MSMEs with the wider TikTok community, allowing them to reach a broader market and expand from offline to online.”

“Through PLDT and Smart’s eBiznovation Buy Local Bazaar on TikTok Shop and in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry, we have enabled Filipino farmers from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to gain direct access to consumers and expand their revenue opportunities by onboarding them onto TikTok Shop. We are committed to building the digital capacity of Filipino MSMEs and enabling them to grow and expand their business,” he ended.

New Zealand – Digital content company VideoTaxi (VT) announces the appointment of two new senior roles in the form of Jared Grib as group national sales manager and Calum Davies as marketing and customer experience manager. 

These appointments follow VideoTaxi’s recent client wins, as well as its Wellington office launch last month, advancing VT’s national expansion plans and business model development.

In his new role, Grib will be supporting new business growth across VT and independent communications agency Artemis Communications, bringing his extensive experience in digital strategy and business development from his time as the previous head of growth at Firefly Digital. 

On the other hand, Davies will be further enhancing customer relationships in his new role, with his experience at VT as a content producer and in digital marketing, giving him a unique insight into VT’s evolving customer needs.

Going forward, these appointments prove substantial as VT has recently been engaged by brands and companies such as New Zealand grocery company Foodstuffs North Island, Tui Tuia Learning Circle, iconic Kiwi restaurant chain Cobb & Co, early childhood education provider Best Start, New Zealand’s largest parking provider Wilson Parking and international gym franchise Anytime Fitness, amongst others.

Speaking on these developments, Isobel Kerr-Newell, group CEO of VideoTaxi and Artemis Communications, said, “Visual content is at the heart of modern communications and it is an honour to be trusted as the production partner for more of Aotearoa’s best-known brands. We are also delighted to announce the appointment of Jared Grib and the promotion of Calum Davies.”

“Both are truly multi-talented digital content operators, deeply connected to and passionate about this rapidly evolving space. I know they will bring incredible value to clients and our business as we continue to evolve our offering and footprint,” she added.

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands’s media agency Initiative has announced its recent affiliate agreement with IG Square Pakistan for its second new market launch: the Initiative Pakistan office.

The affiliate office aims to expand the agency’s network footprint across 14 different countries in the APAC region including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Speaking about the collaboration, James Smyllie, president at Initiative APAC said, “Initiative has had an exciting 2023, with our launch in New Zealand, and now our affiliate partnership with IG Square, creating Initiative Pakistan.” 

“Initiative’s continued expansion into growth markets is testament to the prevailing success of our unique proposition which is steadily building Fame & Flow for brands across the Asia-Pacific region,” Smyllie added. 

Adnan Shaikh, director and chief operating officer at IG Square Pakistan supported this particular announcement and said, “The extension of our collaboration with IPG Mediabrands by introducing Initiative to Pakistan is a dream come true. Not only does it signify another step towards enlarging IPG’s footprint in this market, but it answers the industry demand for global tools and experience with local knowledge under one single umbrella.”

The Initiative affiliate relationship with IG Square Pakistan is set to take effect immediately upon announcement.

Melbourne, Australia – CommerceHub has announced its appointment of Gordana Redzovski as managing director for the Asia Pacific region to lead the company’s plans of expansion.

With a specific focus on the Asia Pacific region, Redzovski will be employing her expertise to provide strategic guidance and direction in support of the company’s expansion plans. 

Based in Australia, she brings 15 years of experience in high-growth industries. Most recently, Redzovski was VP retail APAC at Lightspeed Commerce where she successfully developed new revenue streams during the pandemic, launched Lightspeed Payments in Australia and led the integration of Vend and Lightspeed Commerce retail teams in APAC. She has also served in senior leadership roles at Deliveroo, Catch.com and iSentia.

Speaking on her appointment, Redzovski said, “I’m thrilled to join the talented, flagship team at CommerceHub during this exciting period of transition and growth. Retailers and brands in APAC continue to seek out innovative partners to support their focus on enhancing the customer experience, and indeed business outcomes, through utilising a unified omnichannel approach.”

Meanwhile, Pete Elmgren, CRO at CommerceHub, commented, “As someone who is known for her ability to engage stakeholders and deliver outstanding results by making data-driven decisions and galvanising teams, Gordana is an outstanding choice to lead APAC. She’s a seasoned executive who is passionate about driving operational efficiency and helping customers experience profitable growth.”

Singapore – Global socially-led creative agency We Are Social has announced its reaffirmation to commit to investing in future focused technologies, through a slew of updates to its innovation arm, .XYZ, complemented with new leadership appointments for the department.

With We Are Social’s appointment, .XYZ will be led by Christina Chong, CEO of We Are Social Southeast Asia, and will expand the agency’s offering across future strategy, creative innovation and virtual production.

Under Chong’s leadership, a number of the agency’s Singapore team, along with specialist colleagues from the US, UK, Europe and the Middle East, will be tasked with further developing the .XYZ offering in three key areas: future strategy, creative innovation and virtual production.

The .XYZ team will be looking for opportunities to embed innovative work across the agency’s entire client portfolio, for brands in all sectors and industries. With experts and practitioners across the spectrum of spatial, phygital, cognitive and distributed technologies, they will also work to keep the entire agency up to speed with the latest advances in technology.

The investment in .XYZ complements the agency’s other investments in future tech and innovation, such as its gaming division We Are Social Gaming, and new augmented reality offering, Make My Day.

Speaking on her own appointment, Chong said, “.XYZ will help our clients feel confident in exploring future focused technologies – the benefits of being an early mover, if managed in a strategic and considered way, can be huge. I’m delighted to be taking the lead on .XYZ – an area I feel passionate about – and helping more brands use technology to get ahead of the pack.”

Meanwhile, Nathan McDonald, co-founder and group chief executive of We Are Social ,commented, “Chris and the team in Singapore have always been up to speed on cutting edge technology and helping clients make the most of the latest advancements so it was clear that .XYZ would thrive under her leadership. I’m confident that we’ll be able to help even more of the world’s most forward-thinking brands navigate the intersection of creativity and technology.”

Singapore – The advertising arm of Samsung Electronics, Samsung Ads, has expanded into Southeast Asia in an effort to facilitate the wider deployment of native advertising solutions across millions of Samsung-powered smart TVs.

The company claims that native ad formats can now, for the first time, be integrated into the Samsung Smart TV experience, allowing marketers to use Samsung Ads’ first-party device data for improved targeting, measurability, and insights.

Samsung Ads will now be operating in the countries ofIndonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam in Southeast Asia.

Speaking about the expansion in SEA, Alex Spurzem, managing director of Samsung Ads ANZ & SEA, said, “Connected TV penetration is above 50 percent in several key markets across Southeast Asia. By bringing our native advertising solutions to market, brands and advertisers can now reach households as soon as they turn their TV on.”

Australia – Digital marketing and automation platform Constant Contact has announced its appointment of Renee Chaplin as its new vice president of Asia-Pacific. 

In her new role, Chaplin will be responsible for leading Constant Contact’s growth in the APAC region and will be scaling its operations. 

Based in the company’s APAC headquarters in Brisbane, Chaplin brings over 20 years of experience growing B2B brands. Prior to joining Constant Contact, Chaplin also worked for a variety of technology companies, from Australian start-ups to multinational SaaS organisations specialising in AI, automation, customer experience and billing technology.

This strategic hire represents Constant Contact’s continued investment into growing its presence in Australia following the acquisition of Vision6 in 2022, as Chaplin will help drive broader awareness and adoption of Constant Contact’s digital marketing platform in APAC and deliver value to customers in that region. 

Speaking on her appointment, Chaplin said, “Constant Contact is well known globally for being a pioneer of digital marketing innovation in the small business space, and the company’s recent advancements in AI and marketing automation make this an exciting time to join the organisation.”

“Our Vision6 product is already Australia’s most reliable email marketing and SMS platform with sovereign onshore data storage and local customer support. I look forward to growing Constant Contact’s APAC business and helping our customers and agency partners develop stronger relationships with their customers”, she added. 

Meanwhile, Frank Vella, CEO at Constant Contact, commented, “We’ve invested in APAC through our acquisition of Vision6, and we see an opportunity to build on that momentum to deliver even more value to our global customers and partners. I am confident that Renée’s experience and local presence will help accelerate our efforts in APAC and make an immediate impact on our business and our customers’ businesses within the region.”

Bangkok, Thailand – Hivestack, a global programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising technology, has expanded its presence in Thailand through a strategic DOOH partnership with Up Media, a local media owner specialising in elevator screens.

This partnership will involve the integration of 2,000 Up Media DOOH screens located in upscale shopping malls, office buildings, hotels, and residential complexes into the Hivestack supply side platform (SSP). Through private marketplace (PMP) and open exchange agreements, these screens will be made available to local DOOH buyers in Southeast Asia as well as global advertisers.

Hivestack incorporates Up Media’s most recent elevator screens, providing DOOH buyers in Thailand with a new form of audience engagement while also providing Up Media with an additional revenue stream through global “outside-in” purchases.

Speaking about the partnership, Joey Zhou, founder and CEO of Up Media, expressed, “We are excited to collaborate with Hivestack and we are going to scale up our inventory – aiming to triple it in the next 12 months. Exciting times ahead as we are offering advertisers impactful media for high end audiences in the best locations across Thailand.”

Also speaking about the partnership, Jan Harling, CEO of Virtus Asia Consulting, remarked, “I am confident that many marketers with a focus on premium audiences will view the availability of this inventory, now accessible programmatically, as a game-changer in Thailand. This opportunity aligns perfectly with Thailand’s recovery, marked by bustling shopping malls and offices returning to their full-capacity state. It promises a significant shift in the landscape of impactful media opportunities.” 

Meanwhile, Matt Bushby, managing director ANZSEA, Hivestack, said, “It’s been an incredible journey for us in Thailand with the amount of growth we’ve achieved with our partners. We’re so proud to be building the largest DOOH inventory network with the addition of Up Media’s elevator screens, and are proud of the large number of successful brand campaigns we have under our belt already in the region.”

He added, “Our partnership with Up Media comes at an exciting time for our business as we onboard more screens in different formats across Thailand, located in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phuket.” 

APAC – SaaS technology company Eagle Eye has released its audited results for the financial year, showcasing 36% group revenue growth, and significant international revenue expansion driven by the US (129%) and APAC (56%), including its first customer in Singapore.

This is in line with the Eagle Eye’s continued expansions in the UK, Taiwan, and Australia, as well as their upcoming launch of ‘Eagle AI’ in 2024, an AI offering building on the company’s previous capabilities.

According to Tim Mason, chief executive of Eagle Eye, the development in the field of AI represents an enormous opportunity for their future, where the company sees three tangible areas for progression. First would be to continue aiming to be the leading enabler of advanced analytics and AI, followed by launching EagleAI for retailers globally, and using AI to enhance their tech stack and development capabilities. 

He also mentioned that recent developments in AI across the retail industry demonstrate that personalisation is going to be easier for all types of retailers globally to adopt, which presents an exciting opportunity for Eagle Eye’s existing AIR platform.

Talking about the upcoming AI offering, Mason said, “We have entered FY24 in a strong position with considerable momentum across the group. We are particularly excited by the opportunity for EagleAI, our new AI offering launching in 2024, building on the capabilities brought into the group with the acquisition of Untie Nots”. 

“Internally, we are exploring how AI can be applied to our own internal projects, processes  and tools to continue running the business in a more efficient way. It is in its early stages, but we believe this will be vital to reducing toil whilst maximising the time spent on innovation and product development. We expect AI to be the capability that enables further efficiencies within Eagle Eye which in turn could drive higher margins to allow us to reinvest into the business to support our continued growth,” concluded Mason. 

Manila, Philippines – Global technology company SHAREit has announced its appointment of Chay Mondejar-Saputil as country director for the Philippines.

In line with SHAREit’s growing expansion within the ASEAN region, her appointment seeks to shore up the various offerings and business solutions that the company has to offer within the region.

Prior to her appointment, Mondejar-Saputil has more than a decade of knowledge and experience within the industry, having previously been the vertical lead of the ecommerce and retail side of Meta. While in this role, she has been responsible for managing the team across a mixed portfolio of businesses covering multiple industries, as well as driving product development to include the needs of omnichannel retailers in Southeast Asia.

Apart from the aforementioned roles, she was also the primary external representative of Meta and board member at IMMAP (Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines) – the premier organisation for influencing local industry policies on digital marketing, while also being the primary representative at the Philippine Retailers Association.

Karam Malhotra, partner & VP at SHAREit Group, said, “We are extremely excited to announce the appointment of Chay as the Country Director of Philippines, as we continue to expand our offerings into the various ASEAN markets to meet the growing demand from enterprises.”

“Ranging across our full suite of services, from consumer facing technological solutions to addressing the various needs of businesses and enterprises across the region, we believe that Chay will help grow the Philippines market substantially as the country continues to develop their technology infrastructure,” he added. 

Speaking on her appointment, Mondejar-Saputil commented, “In this new role, our goal is to expand the multitude of services and solutions SHAREit brings together with Xtend, to help bolster our portfolio of services within the Philippines and the ASEAN region as a whole. We are aiming for remarkable growth in the Philippines market as we seize the opportunities presented by the region’s dynamic business environment.”

Notably, SHAREit’s expansion will be featuring its new brand arm called Xtend, which is a game-changing digital advertising optimization solution dedicated to pioneering Android campaigns.