Tag: Global

London – A new report by We Are Social notes how there is an uptick of ;social reckoning’ for brands in value-driven online spaces. 

The new report explored how individuals on social media are reevaluating and reshaping their sense of self-worth in the context of increased commercialization and commodification. They are questioning the value of their participation and involvement, their communities, and their creative contributions.

It also showed how the changing perception of value in social media is reflected in trends like creators emphasising knowledge over possessions and the debate over users purchasing verification on X (formerly Twitter). 

According to the argument made, cultural phenomena such as ‘Barbiemania’ in 2023 demonstrate people’s willingness to embrace manufactured hype as long as it creates opportunities for play, creativity, and community. 

The report has identified five trends under the umbrella of “The Social Reckoning,” analysing their possible influence on social media in the upcoming year and providing examples of how brands can use these trends into their marketing plans. 

Speaking about the report, Mobbie Nazir, global chief strategy officer at We Are Social, said,  “Our Think Forward report this year, as the name suggests, shows that a reckoning has come in social spaces. The commercialisation of digital worlds is forcing people to try new ways of creating, absorbing and sharing content. First it was the trend of de-influencing, now users are looking for new forms of self-expression even within a more commoditised landscape.” 

She added, “This new coalition government of capitalism and creativity has an inbuilt space for brands – but also a new and nuanced set of demands. Every brand will be judged: are you making a sponsored ad or are you a patron of the arts? It will be fascinating to see if – and how – brands are able to respond to these deeper measures of relevance and authenticity.” 

Washington, USA – Customer data platform Amperity has recently announced that more than 50% of its customer base has adopted Amperity for Paid Media. The rapid adoption of this new application of Amperity demonstrates the important role first-party data will play in informing paid media strategies.

Since its launch in May 2023, Amperity for Paid Media has used industry-leading ad connectors and first-party data to deliver more than 11 billion unified customer profiles each day. 

These are delivered to the ad platforms of Amperity customers, across a range of industries, including retail, quick-serve restaurants (QSR), consumer packaged goods (CPG), travel and hospitality, sports teams and leagues, and financial services.

Brands using Amperity for Paid Media also report experiencing a better conversion rate using unified customer profile lookalike audiences over third party audiences, an 85%+ match rate across major ad platforms, 30% onboarding savings, 5x increase in ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), 94% savings in data management and stitch processing, as well as a 70%+ reduction in marketing timelines. 

To quantify the impact Amperity is having on paid media, the company commissioned Forrester Consulting to examine the potential ROI enterprises may realise by deploying its CDP. According to the study, the composite organisation not only experienced a 505% ROI but also experienced other benefits over three years. 

Other benefits include a $3.4 million incremental increase in net operating revenue from effective messaging, a $3.8 million incremental increase in net operating revenue due to targeted paid media spend, a 25% increase in productivity impact of more efficient campaign preparation and execution, and $4.5 million worth of savings in paid media spend from deduplicating customer records. 

Barry Padgett, CEO at Amperity, said, “Today, we find ourselves at the epicentre of a marketing revolution. The tides have shifted and the old ways of acquiring and retaining customers are giving way to a new era of data privacy and consumer-centricity.”

“In Q1 of next year, Google is going to disable 1% of third party cookies and fully remove them by Q3. This poses a massive challenge for brands across the board. But within this challenge lies immense opportunity. At Amperity, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to lead the charge and help brands and agencies navigate this shift,” he added. 

Tokyo, Japan – International advertising agency dentsu has recently announced the launch of its ‘global practices structure’ along with key leadership appointments, led by Jean Lin, group president – global practices, Dentsu Group Inc.

These developments emphasise dentsu’s ambition to build highly integrated, people-centred, end-to-end solutions, as well as its commitment to its enduring global leadership brands including Carat, iProspect, dentsu X, Dentsu Creative, Merkle and Tag.

Moving on to the appointments, Yasuharu Sasaki becomes global chief creative officer, leading dentsu’s global creative practice. In this new role, Sasaki will be responsible for driving expertise to unlock the full potential of Dentsu Creative’s capability and impact across all practice areas. 

On the other hand, Will Swayne becomes global practice president – media, where he will be building a winning media practice community that delivers continued excellence in its offerings, driving client growth and transformation. 

Lastly, Pete Stein becomes global practice president – CXM, in this role, he will partner with all four Regions to ensure the implementation of the dentsu transformation agenda and global CXM practice initiatives in region and market.

Talking about the new global practice structure and appointments, Lin said, “With the creation of our Global Practices, dentsu is making a statement about what the future of integrated, end-to-end client solutions will look like. We’re removing the barriers and that will allow us to do just that in a way which very few others in the industry can match.”

“I’m so proud to bring together this new line-up of global practice leads and, in turn, their leadership teams, to do just that – unlock the potential of dentsu’s integrated capabilities to help our clients not only grow, but answer some of the greatest challenges of our time,” she added. 

Meanwhile, Hiroshi Igarashi, president and CEO, Dentsu Group Inc., said, “Under Jean’s leadership, within our Global Practice structure, we count many of the world’s most respected and historic agency brands, full of deep expertise and differentiated services. By creating a cross-service structure, we are simultaneously integrating those capabilities while ensuring clients can still benefit from distinct knowledge.”

London, United Kingdom – Global brand and design consultancy Landor & Fitch has announced its appointment of Liz Wilson as its new group chief integration officer.

Prior to joining Landor & Fitch, Wilson served as Managing Director, growth and integration for Accenture Song Europe, and previously as chief operating officer across Karmarama’s diverse group of capabilities, bringing over 25 years of expertise in advertising, branding, digital and customer experience and is a specialist in integrating these disciplines to drive growth.

In her new role, Wilson will be responsible for bringing together Landor & Fitch’s growing group of brand and design specialist agencies to create unique integrated client solutions.

Speaking on her appointment, Wilson said, “I’m thrilled to be joining Landor & Fitch in this exciting new role. I’m looking forward to bringing together everything I’ve learned in creative and professional service businesses elsewhere to help continue the rapid growth already being driven by the enhanced range of skills and capabilities.”

“I’m particularly looking forward to working with the talented Landor & Fitch team to create broader, bolder, more innovative solutions with the power to transform our clients’ brands and businesses,” she added. 

Meanwhile, Jane Geraghty, global CEO of Landor & Fitch, commented, “We are delighted that Liz is joining our team. With the expansion of our offer, and our new specialist partners, Liz is uniquely qualified to help us unite our teams and strengthen our offer for clients.” 

“Her extensive experience and track record of transforming and growing creative businesses make her the ideal candidate to lead our integration and growth efforts as we continue to evolve our offer to meet the needs of our ambitious clients. We are also delighted to bring another strong, inclusive female leader into our leadership team,” she concluded. 

Wilson’s appointment is part of Landor & Fitch’s ongoing strategy to expand its offer to meet the evolving needs of their clients as the group has brought in new capabilities, including ManvsMachine for motion design, Fitch for experience design, bdg for workspace design and most recently, amp for sonic branding, to offer truly multi-faceted brand-led design solutions.

Sydney, Australia – Digital experience platform Optimizely has announced the launch of Optimizely One, its new operating system for marketing practitioners built on their previously established platform.

Composed of Optimizely’s integrated capabilities built on a modern SaaS, Optimizely One offers a highly composable architecture, giving teams the flexibility to choose what they need in their marketing ecosystem.

Optimizely One is enriched through a single, unified workflow accelerated by AI, making it simple for marketers to create, manage, deliver, and optimise content all in one place. Secure and scalable, Optimizely One provides teams with the future-proof stack they need to create and optimise digital experiences for their customers.

With the new operating system, users can design entire web experiences with a low/no-code interface, benefit from automatic upgrades, aggregate, manage, and deliver content efficiently, from any source, and apply pre-built templates and customer data to create engaging experiences via an all-new, user-friendly editor. 

Optimizely One also aims to connect teams through a unified workflow based on a single integrated platform that allows you to log in once and seamlessly navigate across all Optimizely applications. New capabilities include experiment collaboration through a purpose built tool, and an omnichannel authoring feature. 

Taking an ecosystem approach, Optimizely One embeds their own Opal AI with their newly announced solution partner, Writer, helping teams work faster and make better decisions through business-focused language learning models (LLMs) to create enhanced AI-generated content that includes specific industry knowledge.

Alex Atzberger, CEO of Optimizely, said, “Optimizely One provides exactly what marketers need to orchestrate their content, monetize experiences and experiment across all touchpoints – all enriched through smart workflows and accelerated by AI. The time is now for companies to seize the opportunity to reinvent how marketing, product and growth teams work together to create content-driven digital experiences.”

Meanwhile, Rupali Jain, chief product officer at Optimizely, commented, “Optimizely One is a shared operating system that gives teams unprecedented levels of transparency, flexibility and simplicity to manage their entire marketing lifecycle. With the guidance of Opal and the power of experimentation data, every part of the lifecycle is rooted in science.”

Singapore – Global travel service provider Trip.com and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to renew their global partnership for three years. 

Under the MOU, both parties will expand their collaboration and embark on joint campaigns to boost inbound travel to Singapore and promote more in-depth and lesser-known tours and experiences in Singapore. 

In addition, Trip.com Group will also leverage its expertise and resources to promote Singapore’s MICE offerings and explore digital innovations that enhance visitors’ experience in Singapore.

Both parties will launch marketing campaigns in mainland China and other key markets including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea, and also promote the various offerings, experiences and activities in Singapore, including new products relating to wellness and sustainability. Trip.com Group will also customise new itineraries for specific groups of travellers, including families, with the objective of enhancing their experience in Singapore.

Melissa Ow, chief executive at Singapore Tourism Board, said, “The STB and Trip.com Group have forged a longstanding partnership since 2012. Moving forward, we endeavour to deepen our collaboration to elevate Singapore’s status as a leading destination for leisure and MICE travellers. Additionally, we will expand the scope of our partnership to include exchanges on digital solutions and innovation, and jointly develop more in-depth travel products to diversify our destination offerings.”

Meanwhile, Jane Sun, chief executive officer at Trip.com Group, commented, “Singapore has always been one of the most popular destinations for Chinese and other international tourists, and we have been collaborating with the STB to promote tourism and showcase the beauty of this beautiful country.”

She added, “Hosting our annual flagship Global Partner Summit – with its over 2,000 delegates – in Singapore earlier this week reflects our commitment to the local tourism sector and we will utilise our strengths, including content marketing, AI and innovation, to further strengthen Singapore’s position as a destination of choice.”

Singapore – UM, a global media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, announced it has been named global media agency of record to handle all media duties for global food company General Mills.

With the new appointment, UM will handle all strategy, planning, buying, analytics, performance, and commerce efforts across more than 35 markets for General Mills’ suite of brands, including Cheerios, Nature Valley, and Pillsbury.

UM’s appointment as new media AoR for the global consumer foods company follows several high-profile announcements from the agency. Recently, plant-based company Upfield also named UM as its media agency of record. It also launched the industry-first Shoptimizer tool by UM Commerce.

Andrea Suarez, global CEO at UM, said, “General Mills has consistently led the consumer foods category through bold brand building, relentless innovation, and a commitment to values, and we are thrilled to welcome them to the UM family.”

She added, “We look forward to a strong relationship that uncovers new opportunities, underpinned by our industry-leading data and commerce capabilities, to connect with consumers in meaningful ways while maximising business growth well into the future.” 

Speaking on the appointment, Jay Picconatto, vice president of advanced marketing solutions at General Mills, also shared, “We are looking forward to working with IPG’s UM as our global media agency, which includes the support of our customer marketing and retail media efforts. We’re confident that UM is the right partner to continue to build our iconic brands and deliver remarkable experiences for consumers.”

Singapore – How companies respond to global challenges and employee reputation is directly correlated with corporate reputation in today’s business environment, according to the latest ‘Brands in Motion’ global study by global communications firm WE Communications.

Data from the report mainly suggests that a company’s reputation is increasingly determined by its response to immediate and public concerns that have universal reach, such as cost of living and the climate crisis.

This shift has occurred alongside an increase in scepticism, with only 44% of brands seen to be delivering on their commitments, as half of survey respondents said that some brands that do take a stand on societal issues are just doing it for the sake of selling more products and services.

Notably, even as consumers are calling on companies to speak out more about issues such as cost of living (60%), employee pay and benefits (54%), the climate crisis (41%), and the responsible use of technology and artificial intelligence (38%), they expect brands to keep talking about and maintain a focus on social justice, DEI and gender equality.

When it comes to employee reputation on the other hand, social media and crowd-sourced rating sites are now fueling greater openness in the workplace about work conditions, benefits and pay. Beyond business performance, companies now must be transparent about employee experience, with 92% of respondents believing that employer-employee relations are among the essential characteristics of a company to build and maintain a great reputation.

Talking about these findings, Hannah Peters, EVP, corporate reputation & brand purpose at WE Communications, said, “In a world where the need for stability has never felt more personal, companies must go further to demonstrate progress and impact in areas people are feeling most acutely in their daily lives. This being said, long-term commitments remain important, but brands must also meet growing expectations to see and feel urgent action.”

Meanwhile, Rebecca Wilson, executive vice president at WE International, added, “It’s a delicate balance. The old rules of media relations, crisis communications and employee engagement need to evolve to respond to today’s accelerating demands. Brands that successfully pivot to embrace and commit to change will see long-lasting positive effects on their reputation and business success.”

Singapore – Google has rolled out an enhanced real-time scanning feature for its malware protection and detection service, Play Protect, to detect potentially harmful apps during installs.

In this new update, Google Play Protect will recommend a real-time app scan when installing apps that have never been scanned before to help detect emerging threats.

The real-time scanning at the code level will combat novel malicious apps. Through this new scanning feature, Google will be able to extract important signals from the app and send them to the Play Protect backend infrastructure for a code-level evaluation.

After a real-time analysis, users will get a result prompting them if the app looks safe to install or if it is potentially harmful. This will help better protect users against malicious polymorphic apps that leverage various methods, such as AI, to be altered to avoid detection.

Google’s security protections and machine learning algorithms learn from all apps submitted to the company for review. With this, the company can identify thousands of signals and compare app behaviours.

The enhanced feature adds to the already multi-layered defence approach present in Android, which keeps users safe from mobile malware and unwanted software with its built-in proactive and advanced user protections like Google Play Protect, ongoing security updates, app permission controls, safe browsing, and more. 

Google Play Protect has started to roll out to all Android devices with Google Play services in select countries, starting with India, and will expand to all regions in the coming months.

Singapore – Asia based video game distributor and publisher GCL Asia has announced that it, together with its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, has entered into a definitive business combination agreement  with RF Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, and RF Dynamic LLC, resulting in GCL Asia becoming a publicly listed company.

Following the merger, GCL Asia aims to provide engaging gaming experiences across EA and SEA regions through partners and content creators, as well as expanding the gaming ecosystem by promoting Asian games worldwide and bringing Western games to Asia.

Additionally, the merged company will continue to be led by Jacky See Wee Choo, group chairman of GCL Asia, Sebastian Toke, group CEO of GCL Asia, and other key executive leadership members.

GCL Asia’s shareholders will also be retaining a majority of the combined company’s outstanding shares, and GCL Asia will designate a majority of director nominees for the combined company’s board.

Talking about the merger, Choo said, “This is an exciting time for the entire GCL Asia team as we execute our growth strategy in game publishing in Asian markets. Over the past 16 years, we have built a powerful distribution platform based on over 16 multi-year partnerships with AAA and independent game developers and publishers, reaching over 2100 retail touchpoints online and offline.”

“With the support of RF Acquisition and enhanced visibility following the NASDAQ listing, we are now ready to enter the higher-margin segments of game publishing and IP management, deepening our partnership with exceptional content providers, including game studios globally, to bring exciting new experiences to gamers,” he added.

Meanwhile, Tse Meng Ng, chairman and CEO of RF Acquisition, commented, “We are thrilled to work with Jacky and his visionary team at GCL Asia in their next chapter of growth and expansion in the dynamic Asian gaming market. We greatly respect the publishing and distribution platform and the trusted industry relationships that Jacky and his team have built over the last decade.”

“With the expansion of the business to publishing and IP management, GCL Asia can help game publishers in the U.S. and Europe navigate increasingly sophisticated Asian content and unlock the full potential of the high-growth Asian market. This is a unique opportunity for us to participate in a fast-growing, profitable company at an inflection point in its development,” he concluded.