Tag: Facebook

Singapore – Global innovation platform Plug and Play has recently concluded its APAC-centric summit last 1 to 2 June, in which the firm introduced three new programs for startups and SMEs. 

The three new programs are the ‘Sustainability Program’, ‘Business Solutions Accelerator by Facebook’, and its ‘GK – Plug and Play Program’. 

In the virtual event, it was announced that the ‘Sustainability Program’ seeks to provide the tools and network for startups with disruptive technologies that will allow them to empower big corporations to meet their green initiatives.

Part of the solutions instated include equipping SMEs forward thinking into creating sustainable supply chains, implementation of digital technologies for sustainable production, training and advisory for sustainable practices, and compliance or certification of sustainable practices. 

Jupe Tan, managing partner at Plug and Play APAC, commented, “This year we celebrate our 15th anniversary with a global team of almost 600 across 35 cities around the world. We will look to actively invest in technologies that focus on enhancing our living environment and address our resource constraints in a sustainable manner that reduces emissions and efficiently uses natural resources.” 

Meanwhile, the ‘Business Solutions Accelerator by Facebook’ will be made possible by Facebook and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to which Tan describes as an innovation catered to looking into areas such as cleantech and clean energy, sustainable agriculture, inclusive fintech as well as inclusive healthcare.

Through the accelerator, Facebook is looking forward to nurturing and collaborating with technology partners that share Facebook’s commitment to improving the merchant experience for businesses across the Facebook family of apps. Program benefits include product education, dedicated Facebook mentors for guidance on product development and business growth, networking with fellow startups and ecosystem enablers, insights into industry and innovation trends.

Lastly, the ‘GK Plug and Play’ aims to make innovation within reach for enterprising groups and individuals. Plug and Play aims to build a smart future by connecting innovation to the brightest minds, as well as building a unique ecosystem as their mission that connects change-makers and leading organizations. So far, the accelerator program has run 8 batches and accelerated 123 startups giving them enhanced access to mentors, investors, and corporations.

On the program with Facebook and ADB, Tan said, “I am proud to announce that we have embarked on a regional partnership with the Asian Development Bank through ADB Ventures, the new venture arm of the ADB. Together with ADB Ventures, we hope to source for and invest in bold technology startups that are working to solve Asia Pacific’s biggest unsolved problems. 

Singapore – DoubleVerify (DV), the global software platform for digital media measurement, data, and analytics, has partnered with Facebook, to expand brand safety and suitability integration.

DV provides advertisers with comprehensive brand safety and suitability controls, category options, and languages. The platform’s brand safety technology protects a brand’s equity and reputation across all media environments and is built for the modern brand suitability era.

The partnership aims to extend verification to new premium inventory channels such as Facebook In-Stream Reserve, which is Facebook’s invite-only program that gives certain, high-quality ‘video pages’ access to premium advertising opportunities, while providing new tools to boost control and efficiency. With the expansion, DV will now offer comprehensive brand measurement solutions on Facebook and Instagram, optimizing campaign quality.

Through the partnership, the advertisers on Facebook using DV can now manage brand safety and suitability settings with precision and accuracy using 53 content avoidance categories and 39 supported languages, as well as to create ‘Allow Lists’ for Facebook In-Stream Video inventory, supporting brand and content suitability and alignment. Furthermore, the advertisers can create ‘Block Lists’ that work across In-Stream Reserve, In-Stream Video, and Instant Articles, as well as Facebook Audience Network. And lastly, they can improve operational efficiency with automated Allow and Block List updates and delivery.

In addition to its brand safety and suitability capabilities, DV has partnered with Facebook for fraud protection and viewability measurement across their inventory. The platform enables advertisers to leverage a single viewability metric to measure performance across Facebook, Instagram, other large platforms, and publishers, as well as open exchanges. With DV, brands gain a holistic view of viewability performance across platforms and can use those learnings to validate their media plan and adjust budget allocation.

“We are excited to enter this phase in our work with Facebook. We are expanding our partnership to ensure an even more brand-safe and brand-suitable advertising environment for the global brands we serve across the Facebook ecosystem,” said Mark Zagorski, the CEO of DoubleVerify.

Singapore – Southeast Asia brands still see ad networks Google Ads and Facebook Ad Networks holding significant relevance in achieving retention among target consumers as well as in applying remarketing, a new report from mobile marketing analytics company AppsFlyer showed.

According to the report, Google Ads ranked number one when it comes to retention in Southeast Asia (SEA), while Facebook Ads fare better when delivering high-quality users from remarketing campaigns across Asia Pacific (APAC).

Google extended its lead over Facebook at the top of the index report, claiming first spot in all gaming and non-gaming categories, especially finance-based apps. Indonesia’s financial consultant app, Pendanaan Teknologi ranks third place in the overall finance-based apps in SEA, followed by Cashcash and Akulaku. 

Meanwhile, in all lifestyle non-gaming categories such as shopping, life, and culture, as well as social, Facebook ranked first in SEA, followed by Google Ads and Apple Search. 

As the report stated on the high index ranks of finance-based apps and well-known gaming apps, share of non-organic installs (NOI) on iOS dropped 17% in the second half of 2020 in Southeast Asia compared to the first half of the year, while NOI on Android saw the opposite effect — increasing by 9% in the same period. This is especially relevant in Southeast Asia, where AppsFlyer’s data from July to December 202 shows that Android users contribute 84% of organic installs, versus just 13% for iOS.

“2021 is going to be significantly different to previous years for marketers with end users enabling Limited Ad Tracking (LAT), and growing attention around user privacy alongside Apple’s privacy changes. iOS reliant networks and advertisers using them need to start thinking of active solutions to limit impact now,” said Beverly Chen, marketing director for APAC at AppsFlyer.

AppsFlyer also noted a 30% jump in the cost per install (CPI) on iOS in July to December 2020 which was a key factor behind the significant drop (Android cost increased by only 10%). As a result, mobile app marketers generated fewer installs for the same budget. The rise in media cost for iOS users was driven by two main elements: an increase in demand due to accelerated digital transformation caused by Covid-19, and a decrease in supply due to a 40% rise in the share of users who enabled Limited Ad Tracking (LAT). 

Other key insights noted in the report are TikTok Ads’ significant growth on iOS (+52% in its share of the pie). From 2019 to 2020, TikTok Ads recorded 82% more NOIs in APAC, climbing five spots in the global iOS gaming power ranking to reach an impressive 9 position from 14. Meanwhile, Unity Ads is still establishing its dominance in the gaming battleground, specifically in hypercasual gaming.

India – Facebook in India has launched the second film ‘Dhara’ as part of the platform’s ongoing ‘More Together’ campaign series, done in collaboration with dentsu international’s creative agency Taproot Dentsu India.

The ‘More Together’ campaign intends to celebrate the first anniversary of Facebook’s consumer marketing journey in the country. The campaign series showcases the platform’s power of connections and communities through inspirational stories.

The previously released film focuses on the life of ‘Richen’, a female football coach in Ladakh – a region in northern India, who shares her players’ videos on the social media platform. It highlights how the power of connections not only creates a fan-following for her team but also drives her and the team’s career forward.

The sequel, meanwhile, focuses on the life of Dhara, a book lover who rescues books from being consigned to the bin and that with the help of Facebook, finds homes for many of her rescued books.

The story continues to explain how people can do more together and that there are endless possibilities one can achieve through the power of Facebook.

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According to Neeraj Kanitkar, senior creative director of Taproot Dentsu, the film is a sweet and simple demonstration of Facebook’s inherent power which is to supercharge the efforts of one person when the community gets behind it. 

“It is quite rare to be in the advertising business without having some love for the written word. So when Gauri Burma – the most passionate book lover amongst us – came up with the idea, we knew we simply had to make it happen. We hope that it inspires people to consider using Facebook to give a new lease of life to old, forgotten, and about-to-be-turned-into-pulp books,” said Kanitkar.

California, USA – Instagram launched a new streaming feature for creators, ‘Live Rooms’, which has been upgraded to now enable up to four streamers to run a broadcast session. 

With the update, Instagram aims to provide more creative opportunities for the users, such as starting a talk show, hosting a jam session or co-creating with other artists, or to simply hang out with friends. 

Furthermore, the platform’s Live Room was also recently enhanced to give creators more means to build a business and earn money, as viewers can now purchase badges of their favorite creators and use other interactive features like Shopping and Live Fundraisers. Instagram said that in the coming months, users can expect more interactive tools, such as offering moderator controls and audio features.

To start a Live Room, hosts will have to swipe left and pick the Live Camera option. Afterward, they must add a title and tap the Rooms icon to add the guests. People who have requested to go live with the host will appear. While the hosts can also search for guests to add. Guests’ followers can also be notified to increase the live stream’s reach.

Instagram also assures that the new update was designed with safety in mind. Users that are blocked by any participants in the Live Room will not be able to join the live stream, as well as guests who have had their live access revoked because of violations of the Community Guidelines.

The current available features for Live Room hosts include the ability to report and block comments and apply comment filters.

Instagram said the updated Live Rooms will soon be available globally.

Australia – Facebook has decided to restore news provision for Australian users on its platform after the country’s government announced its latest amendments to the news media bargaining code.

On 17 February, Facebook broke the announcement that it will be restricting the users in the country from sharing and viewing Australian and international news content on its platform in response to the nation’s proposed media bargaining law, which obliges technology platform giants that operate in Australia to pay local news publishers for the news content made available on their platforms.

Following the platform’s statement, the Morrison Government of Australia has decided to introduce further amendments to the law to ensure news media businesses are fairly remunerated, and to address the concerns of Facebook and other digital platforms such as Google.

The new law will now take into consideration a digital platform’s significant contribution to the sustainability of the Australian news industry before deciding to put it under the law, and this will be based on the commercial agreements it has reached with news media businesses.

In line with this, the changes to the law also state that a digital platform will be notified of the government’s intention to designate it under the law before any final decision, where confirmation will be no sooner than one month from the date of the flag. 

The refreshed law also states that non-differentiation provisions will not be triggered for reasons of commercial agreements resulting in different remuneration amounts or commercial outcomes in the course of usual business practices

Furthermore, within the new law, final offer arbitration will be the last resort with unsettled commercial deals requiring mediation, which implies that if a deal could not be reached, both parties would present their commercial deals to a fair mediator, picking one that would become binding under law.

The Australian government believes that these amendments will strengthen the hand of regional and small publishers in obtaining appropriate remuneration for the use of their content by the digital platforms. Also, these amendments can further add purpose for parties to engage in commercial negotiations outside the law, a central feature of the framework that aims to promote more sustainable public interest journalism in Australia.

Facebook said that they are pleased to have been able to reach an agreement with the Australian government and appreciate the constructive discussions they’ve had with Treasurer Frydenberg and Minister Fletcher. 

“We have consistently supported a framework that would encourage innovation and collaboration between online platforms and publishers. After further discussions, we are satisfied that the Australian government has agreed to a number of changes and guarantees that address our core concerns about allowing commercial deals that recognize the value our platform provides to publishers relative to the value we receive from them,” Facebook stated. 

The platform also said that within the agreement, the government has clarified that it will retain its ability to decide if news appears on Facebook so it won’t automatically be subject to a forced negotiation. 

As a result of the changes, aside from restoring access to news content, Facebook has now decided to resume further working on its investment in public interest journalism in the country. 

“It’s always been our intention to support journalism in Australia and around the world, and we’ll continue to invest in the news globally and resist efforts by media conglomerates to advance regulatory frameworks that do not take account of the true value exchange between publishers and platforms like Facebook,” said Facebook.

Australia – In a statement Wednesday, Facebook has announced that it has decided to restrict publishers and users in Australia from sharing and viewing Australian and international news content on its platform. This is in response to the country’s proposed media bargaining law.

What this means is, aside from limited viewing, people and news organizations in Australia are now restricted from posting news links and sharing Australian and international news content on Facebook. Globally, posting and sharing news links from Australian publishers is also restricted.

The media bargaining law which was announced in December last year by Australia, requires both Google and Facebook to share a portion of their revenues with news publishers through a mandatory code of agreement.

Facebook said that the proposed law “fundamentally misunderstands” the relationship between the platform and publishers who use it to share news content. 

“It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia, ” wrote Managing Director of Facebook’s Australia and New Zealand William Easton in a blog post 

Facebook has chosen the latter, which he said the platform had done it with a “heavy heart.” 

The platform further shared that it has made clear to the Australian government for many months, that the value exchange between Facebook and publishers runs in favor of the publisher. Last year, Facebook said it generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated A$407M.

Facebook News was ready to be launched in Australia with the platform having significantly increased its investments with local publishers, however, it resulted in a suspension, with Facebook saying it was only prepared to do it with the “right rules in place.” 

“We’ve long worked toward rules that would encourage innovation and collaboration between digital platforms and news organizations. Unfortunately, this legislation does not do that. Instead, it seeks to penalize Facebook for content it didn’t take or ask for,” Easton further wrote. 

In the announcement, Facebook gave an itemized list of the features of the restriction:

For Australian publishers:
• Restriction from sharing or posting any content on Facebook Pages
• Admins will still be able to access other features from their Facebook Page, including Page insights and Creator Studio
• Facebook will continue to provide access to all other standard Facebook services, including data tools and CrowdTangle

For international publishers:
• Publishers can continue to publish news content on Facebook, but links and posts can’t be viewed or shared by Australian audiences

For our Australian community:
• Australians cannot view or share local or international news content on Facebook or content from local and international news Pages

For our international community:
• Viewing or sharing of Australian news content on Facebook or content from Australian News Pages is prohibited

Amid the restriction, Facebook reassured that the changes affecting news content will not halt its products and services in Australia, as it will continue to assist users to connect with friends and family, grow their businesses, and join groups to help support their local communities. Also, Facebook will remain committed to its third-party fact-checking program, Agence France-Presse, and will continue to invest and support the important work of the Australian Associated Press.

Hong Kong – Hong Kong internet users spent on average almost a whole hour more online each day in 2020 compared to the previous year, a new report from creative agency We Are Social and social media management Hootsuite shows.

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According to the report, time spent on the internet daily has increased from 6 hours and 16 minutes a year ago to 7 hours and 15 minutes today, following a year of COVID-19 related lockdowns, which curtailed many normal activities. This means Hong Kong’s internet users devote over a day more per month to being online versus a year ago.

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In terms of demographics, users aged 16-64 spend an average of an hour and 57 minutes a day on social media, making it the second most popular online activity for Hong Kongers after watching television. YouTube, WhatsApp, and Facebook are the most used networks but Snapchat is growing in popularity as parent company Snap reports its advertising reach in Hong Kong rose by 13% over the previous quarter.

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Of the same demographic, social media is mostly used for brand research with 44% of internet users, higher than for most countries, while 34% use voice commands in searches. 

The increase in time on the internet also shone a light on ad spend which the report revealed is in tandem with such leap. A year-on-year increase of 7% was seen in the amount brands spent on advertising on social media against a 4% rise in overall digital ad spend for 2020.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Despite concerns of WhatsApp users on its new privacy policy, which the platform announced in January of this year, 7 in 10 of users in Malaysia are still shown to stick to the messaging app, a recent study by marketing data insights platform InsightzClub shows.

The new terms require users to share their personal data with Facebook. WhatsApp clarified that it has nothing to do with the messages and profile data, and instead is related to business advertising purposes.The new policy stirred panic among users worldwide, with a large portion migrating to other messaging applications such as Telegram and Signal. 

According to the report, reliance on WhatsApp usage among Malaysians increased during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, swelling to 68%, compared to pre-pandemic periods. Even when the platform amended its privacy policies, Malaysian patrons were shown to stay, which majority, or 65%, use for personal and professional communication. 

Still, amid the changes, Malaysian users were still shown to be in tandem with majority of users of the platform, creating a mild state of paranoia, worrying about their location sharing (60%), stored private messages (56%), and accessing media files (54%). 

The report stated that Malaysians’ loyalty is necessitated by circumstances to remain on the platform, and only 3 out of 10 users installed an alternative app compared to the big chunk of WhatsApp users worldwide, which is said to be 82%, who have installed one or more additional messaging apps recently, like Signal and Telegram, owing to the bandwagon effect.

Meanwhile, the small portion of Malaysian users who made the switch were due to concerns over migrating personal circles (48%), and simply, curiosity (32%).

Telegram is already capitalizing on this opportunity in the coming year, as they have set a target of gaining 1 billion a user base by 2022 – something that’s unimaginable just a year ago. 

Malaysia – The first month of the year is coming to an end, but it seems thank you messages have yet to reach their deadline – especially when it’s done creatively and sincerely. 

One social and content agency based in Malaysia melted hearts when it surprised each of its partners on its Facebook page with a personalized thank you and appreciation card. 

Kingdom Digital, whose main services are social media and content marketing, pulled its own expertise in whipping up its #KDWrapUp2020, creating a total of 340 messages for all of its partners – from clients and media partners down to its own employees – through brief clips. Receiving a year-ender regards from the people you’ve worked with is touching enough, but Kingdom Digital, on the other hand, takes it up a notch by curating each of the messages as sincerely as possible, truthful of the relationship it had with the partner. 

One of its messages, for Malaysian leisure and entertainment resort, Resorts World Genting, whose account Kingdom Digital bagged for the year, read, “Thank you for choosing us this year! We managed to create something awesome despite the tough year. Hopefully, we can work on more amazing projects in years to come.” 

Of course, long-time partners got the share of the love from Kingdom Digital, such as local wedding vendors platform, Weddings Malaysia. 

In its message, the agency emphasizes its eight-year affiliation with the brand, saying, “Where do we begin. Still in love after 8 years. Yup, we’ve been counting. Together, we created a space where lovebirds flock to. And since then, it has been the go-to nest for these lovebirds.” 

The same kind of touching messages was also given out to its media partners, while for employees, the message highlighted their most memorable achievement in 2020, along with their hopes for the new year.

For the agency’s message for yours truly, it highlighted the new relationship we have forged which started in the latter part of the year.

According to Kingdom Digital’s Head of Strategy Edmund Lou, the key message behind the initiative is ‘gratitude’. 

“Despite the unpredictable times in 2020, we wanted to show that we’re grateful for the little things that kept us going and brought joy to an otherwise distressing year. Through this, we hope we can also encourage others to appreciate the present and look forward to future opportunities,” said Lou.

Lou added, “Being a creative agency, we are always finding new ways to tell stories. The idea spawned from our behavior of sending personalized festive greeting cards. So, we thought, why not? We love it when we receive something personal, don’t we?”

Aside from Facebook, clips were also uploaded on the agency’s Instagram stories. In creating the videos, which required 170 varied visuals and copy, Kingdom Digital shared it made use of its proprietary system, Digital Creative Automation (DCA), which deploys personalized banners. 

The agency’s wrap-up initiative this year definitely ran the extra mile, where last year’s year-ender was a simpler single video format highlighting the agency’s 2019 achievements.

Kingdom Digital, which also has a growing presence in Singapore, recently bagged notable accounts as the year came to an end such as Scotch brands Johnnie Walker and Singleton, and South Korean skincare brand The History of Whoo.