Tag: Government

Australia – The South Australian government has released a decision to ban advertising related to junk food on public transport, including buses, trams, and trains. The decision will take effect on July 1 this year, and follows similar policies in London, Amsterdam, and the Australian Capital Territory.

The decision, done by the Malinauskas Labor Government, notes the government’s commitment to reduce children’s exposure to unhealthy food and drink advertising on assets it manages and owns. 

Data from Cancer Council SA shows that almost 80% of food and drink advertisements on South Australian buses promote unhealthy food and drinks.

For this initiative, Preventive Health SA, in partnership with the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, are leading the implementation of this policy which aims to reduce exposure to unhealthy food and drink marketing which is associated with a reduction in the purchase of these products.

“Each year, big brands spend millions of dollars on catchy slogans and appealing ads to encourage South Australian children to consume more highly processed foods containing high fat, high salt and high sugar. Banning these ads in some of the key places they are seen regularly – especially by children – is a sensible step towards a healthier South Australia,” MP Chris Picton stated.

Meanwhile, Marina Bowshall, CEO at Preventive Health SA, commented, “Unhealthy diets continue to be a leading public health risk. Reducing exposure to unhealthy food and drink marketing, promotion, and sponsorship, especially children’s exposure, is a focus for Preventive Health SA and is a key priority within the National Obesity Strategy 2022-2032.”

In response to this implementation, the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) and the Outdoor Media Association (OMA) have both slammed the ban, claiming the implementation will be ineffective and doesn’t necessarily address the complex and deeply embedded root causes of obesity.

Josh Faulks, CEO at AANA, said, “Experience from around the world indicates that similar advertising bans have not been effective in reducing obesity rates. Considering the anticipated impact on both the community and the industry, it is crucial that the South Australian government provide evidence demonstrating where such measures have successfully reduced obesity worldwide.”

Faulks also cited a Nielsen study which stated that around 65% of Australians felt that additional restrictions are unnecessary and 74% want health education and subsidies for healthy food over additional bans.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has ordered online cryptocurrency exchange Bybit to register as an officially-registered digital asset exchange (DAX) in Malaysia.

According to the SC, Bybit and its CEO Ben Zhou have been included in the SC’s Investor Alert List since July 2021.

Said decision comes after concerns about the platform’s compliance with local regulatory requirements and protecting investors’ interests. The commission views this breach seriously, as it notes that operating a DAX without obtaining the SC’s registration as a Recognised Market Operator (RMO) is an offence under Section 7(1) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007.

As a result of this, SC has ordered Bybit disable Bybit’s website and mobile applications or any other digital application platform in Malaysia within 14 business days from 11 December 2024.

It has also ordered the platform to immediately cease circulating, publishing or sending any advertisements, whether in social media posts or otherwise, to Malaysian investors; and immediately terminate Bybit’s Telegram support group for Malaysians.

“Investors are reminded to invest and deal only with Recognized Market Operators that are registered with the SC. Registered RMOs have undergone strict regulatory scrutiny and are required to adhere to strict guidelines so that investors are protected under Malaysia’s securities laws,” SC said in a press statement.

They added, “Those who invest in unlicensed or unregistered entities or individuals are not protected under Malaysian securities laws and are thus, exposed to risks such as fraud and money laundering.”

Singapore – In line with Singapore’s continuous efforts to promote safety in situations of crisis, the Ministry of Home Affairs worked alongside Wunderman Thompson Singapore on its latest ‘SGSecure’ campaign, ‘What’s your role?’, to educate the public about what they can do, as well as empower them to play their parts to help keep Singapore safe.

The new campaign by Wunderman Thompson Singapore and the Ministry of Home Affairs features everyday people and shows how they play their roles in protecting others simply by drawing on their personalities and innate strengths.

The campaign was portrayed visually with posters and a short film depicting how individuals can contribute to security with examples such as the ability to bring people together in both peacetime and times of crisis, the eye to spot fake news, the strength to stay calm in emergencies, and even the courage and heart to support those at risk of radicalization.

Nimesh Desai, chief executive officer at Wunderman Thompson Singapore, said,  “Despite being one of the safest countries with a well-established system, we recognise that people living in Singapore cannot take anything for granted. Hence, the premise of the campaign – we all have a part to play.”

Meanwhile, Gerald Chue, group creative director, Wunderman Thompson Singapore, commented, “We wanted to step away from the usual doom and gloom that instils fear, and inspire Singaporeans to rise up instead, by using their own skills to keep our home safe and secure.”

Sydney, Australia – Following the conclusion of the 2022 Australian federal elections, new data from IAB Australia and PwC reveals the dominance of political and government ad spending in the digital advertising space locally for the first quarter of 2022, reaching a value of $3.449b–an increase of 19.2% on the same period in 2021.

The political and government ad spending scene reached a 13.5% share of the general display market for the quarter, up from 3.9% in Q1 of 2021. By contrast, retail experienced the largest decrease in share, dropping from 16.4% to 13.5% share of general display advertising.

Meanwhile, all general display categories recorded growth on the previous year, with video advertising increasing 24% to reach $715.1m for the quarter, infeed/native by 5% to reach $349.80m, standard display by 11% to reach $167.7m and other advertising by 69% to reach $21.5m.

Lastly, spending on classifieds and search & directories grew quarter on quarter, increasing 4.3% and 3.6% respectively while general display advertising seasonally contracted by 15.1% as it does each year. Interestingly, search & directory spend in the quarter seized share from general display advertising as the recovery of travel accelerates.

Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, commented, “The digital ad market saw solid investment growth for the March quarter compared to the previous year with the standard slight seasonal decline from the December quarter. The make-up of the top advertiser categories was greatly disrupted by significant ad spend from the political parties and independents early into the campaign for the Federal Election.”

Singapore – As the first half of 2021 is still spent with how the rest of the world embattles with the ongoing global pandemic, digital engagement has been relevant more than ever, as a new report from unified customer experience (CX) platform Emplifi unveils how Singapore statutory bodies and ministries have leveraged social media to build their online presence.

According to the report, Twitter accounted for the most of social media content posted by these government bodies during the first half of the year, amounting to 15,403 tweets or 54.47% of social media content. This is then followed by Facebook (8,470 posts or 29.95% of overall content), Instagram (2,745 posts or 9.71% of overall content), and YouTube (1,661 posts or 5.87% of overall content).

Despite these numbers, Facebook takes the helm as the social media platform where most followers of these gubernatorial bodies engage the most, accounting to 2.53 million interactions or 75.66% of overall social media interactions. This is followed by Instagram (682,555 interactions or 20.39% of overall interactions), Twitter (71,848 interactions or 2.15% of overall interactions), and YouTube (60,529 interactions or 1.81% of overall interactions).

Collectively, statutory boards produced three times more content than ministries in H1 2021. However, ministries received better engagement, with over 1.7 million total interactions versus 1.6 million interactions received for statutory boards. This trend began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as ministries increased the frequency of content, including pandemic measures from the Ministry of Health (MOH), along with announcements from various ministries on budgets and assistance schemes.

Similar to 2020, the audience remained highly engaged with Singaporean gubernatorial bodies, as over 50% of all content related to government entities was generated by individual users, totaling close to 30,000 of user-generated pieces. There were also 3.35 million interactions across all government profiles in H1 2021.

Despite these engagements, there has been evident social media fatigue across these ministries and statutory bodies in the country. Known for previously engaging only online through Facebook and Twitter, they have been slowly engaging in Instagram as well to attract younger audiences. Instagram was notably the most engaging platform with an engagement rate of 1.19% while share-of-voice grew from 59.44% in H1 2020 to 72.83% in the same period this year.

In response to these social media fatigues, ministries and statutory boards were encouraged to revisit their content approach, utilizing short-form videos, which were also notably the best performing content pieces. For instance, Workforce Singapore leveraged YouTube videos in their campaigns, which skyrocketed in views, increasing by 23 times (388,911 views in H1 2020 to over 9 million views in H1 2021). This made them the top-performing government body by YouTube video views.

For Zarnaz Arlia, chief marketing officer at Emplifi, social media is proving to be an increasingly important channel for the public sector as Singapore’s governmental authorities focus on keeping their inhabitants engaged and informed during the pandemic. She added that frequent communication is key and there really is no other alternative to social media when it comes to reaching and engaging with people at scale.

“The pandemic has encouraged a more humanized approach to social media. This has led more government bodies to focus on revitalizing their social media strategies through relatable and inspirational content presented in engaging formats. The need to understand which platforms and content types work best on social media is no longer just a concern for brands. More and more we see the public sector leverage social media channels to connect with their audiences on a deeper and more meaningful level,” Arlia said.

Singapore – The Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore’s national water agency has recently launched a new campaign highlighting the possibilities of how climate change can create adverse affects not only to the weather but also the country’s coastlines and water supply.

Titled ‘The Climate is Changing’, the spot narrates through a series of news montages and real-life scenarios on how climate change can be destructive by means of extreme drought or excess flooding. Furthermore, the campaign highlights how through various strategies such as emergency preparedness and water conservation can help alleviate the risks brought by climate change.

Overall, PUB’s new campaign speaks through the core of the institution through these four objectives: enhancing flood resilience, strengthening coastal defenses, safeguarding water security and reducing carbon footprint through the use of clean energy.

“While climate change may be an existential challenge that calls for collective effort and the buy-in of entire nations to move the needle, individuals also play an important part to mitigate the effects of climate change. By using only what we need and practising good water habits, the resultant savings in energy and resources required to treat and produce water go towards reducing our collective carbon footprint,” PUB said in a press statement.

For Cindy Keng, director of the 3P Network Department at PUB, the campaign coincides with the board’s annual water campaigns every March and the government’s launch of Singapore Green Plan 2030, which envisions Singapore to be a sustainable city.

“We felt it was also the right time to showcase PUB’s efforts in adapting to climate change which has a serious impact on our water resources. The threat is real – and PUB must demonstrate its ability to rise to the challenge of ensuring we have a sustainable water supply, protecting Singaporeans from sea level rise and flooding, as well as charting a greener future by harnessing energy from the limitless resource that is the sun,” Keng stated.

The ad has been uploaded on PUB’s Facebook and YouTube pages. The campaign also features a microsite called ‘Make Every Drop Count’ where Singaporeans can participate in various campaigns and strategies to support PUB’s social cause. This includes purchase of blue-themed deals, and participation in water conservation awareness events held specifically by institutions and schools across Singapore.