Tag: Hong Kong

Hong Kong — Pizza Hut in Hong Kong has launched its latest campaign in support of Earth Hour 2022. The campaign seeks to connect Pizzahut with its fans on topics close to their hearts – this time with its ‘Join The Dark Side’ promotion. The campaign was done with advertising company Ogilvy.

Earth hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wildlife Fund. To mark this year’s event, the brand went ‘dark’ on its Hong Kong social media feeds on March 26, displaying a black logo and posting ‘blackout’ content.

To further support the World Wide Fund for Nature’s initiative, Pizza Hut also released limited edition candle ‘pizza savers’ on a first-come-first-served basis at stores across the territory. Starting at 6 pm on March 26, kits were given away to customers with any takeaway purchase. Fans were also encouraged to share their ‘dark side’ moments as they enjoyed a candlelit slice, to further increase awareness of Earth Hour.

Wendy Leung, marketing director at Pizza Hut Hong Kong, shared her thoughts on the campaign, saying “Environmental responsibility is important to all of us at Pizza Hut and the opportunity to support Earth Hour and raise awareness of climate change really aligns with our values as a brand.”

Simultaneously, Amy Cheng, associate creative director at Ogilvy Hong Kong, commented, “We want people to feel good about the contribution without compromising, so we make the hour in the dark enjoyable for Pizza Hut fans.”

Singapore — Full-suite payments platform 2C2P has announced its regional collaboration with hoolah, Asian Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) provider. The partnership enables 2C2P to offer hoolah’s service to merchants in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, and extend to new markets through 2022.

Through 2C2P’s comprehensive payments platform, merchants can seamlessly provide hoolah’s BNPL payment option at checkout for consumers to split purchases into three monthly interest-free repayments. Jointly, 2C2P and hoolah will help merchants boost their order size and reach more millennial and Generation Z customers who favour BNPL payment methods.

Aung Kyaw Moe, CEO and founder of 2C2P, said, “This partnership with hoolah bolsters our continuous effort to build an integrated payment solution that will help businesses securely accept payments across all channels to reach different customer segments and capitalise on the e-commerce boom. Our goal at 2C2P is to ensure that we constantly innovate to meet evolving business and consumer needs.”

Simultaneously, Arvin Singh, CEO and co-founder of hoolah, commented, “With more consumers looking for a flexible, transparent, and highly personalised way of paying online, our partnership with 2C2P will empower merchants and enhance BNPL adoption in the region. 2C2P’s expertise in payments acceptance in Asia is a great complement to the hoolah ecosystem, and we’re excited to embark on this journey to support merchants and take their businesses to greater heights.”

hoolah was recently added as a BNPL payment option by Malaysia Airlines and parent Malaysia Aviation Group’s travel and lifestyle platform, Journify.

Lau Yin May, group chief marketing and customer experience officer of Malaysia Airlines, shared that they are committed to offering safe and seamless end-to-end travel experiences for their customers and paying for their trip is part of the experience.

“We are delighted to work with hoolah and 2C2P to offer flexible payment choices to our customers so they can continue to Fly Confidently and shop seamlessly at Journify while enjoying interest-free BNPL convenience,” May said.

According to an IDC report commissioned by 2C2P, BNPL will rise from 1 per cent to 5 per cent of the total e-commerce payments in Southeast Asia by 2025 and become a key payment method shaping the region’s digital commerce landscape.

Hong Kong – In a bid to support families in Hong Kong in every step of their way. HSBC Premier has launched a new campaign called ‘#ThisIsMyFamily’, whose core is all about the belief that a family can be however the family defines it, and that the future of families lies in their determination to make bold moves.

Conceptualised alongside Wunderman Thompson Hong Kong, the campaign features three stories, where three celebrity actors encapsulate three distinct Hong Kong families who face various life changes. The celebrities who played the characters were also carefully selected based on their personal stories to better connect with Hongkongers.

In addition, the stories were delivered through a series of thematic videos followed by a number of functional ads, depicting how each family has embraced change and made bold life decisions with HSBC Premier.

Brian Hui, head of customer propositions, international and marketing, wealth and personal banking for Hong Kong at HSBC, said, “Since its rollout in 2007, HSBC Premier has been a market-leading proposition to support the wealth aspirations of families in Hong Kong. As their banking needs continue to evolve with time and the changing concepts of family, we have reimagined our service offerings by leveraging HSBC’s global presence and connectivity, as well as solid wealth credentials.” 

He added, “Under the service reinvention, we have significantly enriched our wealth and international banking services to drive wealth creation for customers and support their children’s overseas education needs.”

The campaign started with a teaser video to arouse public interest on 21 January 2022. The three thematic videos were launched in 3 phases via TV, digital and social media channels, spanning from late January to early March 2022, to touch the hearts of our target audience. 

To maximise awareness among the mass affluent audience, specific locations were strategically selected for out-of-home ad displays in Causeway Bay, Admiralty, Tsim Sha Tsui and Central as well as digital dominations to take over the city

Meanwhile, SheungYan Lo, APAC Regional Chief Creative Officer and HSBC Global Chief Creative Officer, commented, “To enlighten Hongkongers with the warmth and hope that “family” can bring in a time like now, has given this campaign a bigger purpose. Everyone in the client, agency and production team has put in a lot of love to make sure people feel it.”

Hong Kong – Q-commerce platform foodpanda in Hong Kong has announced a partnership with buy now pay later platform Atome, to introduce Atome’s buy now pay later acceptance and payment flexibility to the Hong Kong market. 

Starting 14 March, foodpanda customers in Hong Kong can split purchases into three zero-interest deferred payments upon checkout. To pay, users must first download the Atome app and register before selecting Atome as a payment option at the checkout.

Ryan Lai, managing director at foodpanda Hong Kong, shared,  that both oth foodpanda and Atome are aligned in our mission of better serving the people of Hong Kong. 

“By adding the buy now pay later payment flexibility on our all-in-one quick commerce platform, it makes food and grocery shopping even more instant, affordable and convenient for foodpanda customers. The launch of this partnership is very timely, given COVID-19 restrictions and the economic impacts it brings, allowing Hong Kong residents to enjoy better financial flexibility while making food or grocery purchases safely from home.” 

Eric Yu, general manager at Atome Hong Kong, commented, “We are pleased to partner with foodpanda, Hong Kong’s leading on-demand delivery platform. foodpanda customers can now enjoy a flexible, transparent and seamless shopping and payment experience by checking out with Atome. This will make it even more convenient and affordable to Hong Kong residents to eat and shop for food and groceries safely, and from the comfort of their own home.”

To commemorate the launch of the partnership and to encourage Hong Kong residents to eat and shop safely from home during the COVID-19 crisis, all foodpanda customers can redeem a one-time HK$50 foodpanda voucher when they check out with Atome’s minimum spend of HK$350 for existing customers and HK$250 for new customers.

Hong Kong – Hong Kong-based beauty retailer Sa Sa has partnered with foodpanda mall in Hong Kong, the online grocery and goods shopping mall under foodpanda, to accelerate its online-merge-offline (OMO) functions. 

It would be remembered that in June of 2021, the HK retailer announced the closing of a number of its physical stores with the goal to build a stronger O2O business.

With the new partnership via foodpanda mall’s round-the-clock delivery service, Sa Sa will be opening up for local customers a more convenient way of shopping to enhance customer experience. It will also be offering about 700 selected products on foodpanda mall, including anti-epidemic products for which Hong Kong citizens have an urgent need, and popular products such as cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, haircare, and body care products, as well as health supplements. 

After customers have placed orders at the online supermarket, foodpanda’s couriers will collect the goods at Sa Sa’s physical stores and deliver them to the customers in as fast as 10 minutes. Customers can thus quickly obtain the products without going out, especially meeting their urgent needs for anti-epidemic products and their favourite items within the cosmetic and personal care categories. This service will initially be piloted at 20 of Sa Sa’s stores and will be rolled out at more stores in the future.

Following the launch of the ‘click-and-collect’ service, Sa Sa’s partnership with foodpanda mall will further enhance the OMO development of the Group’s physical stores and its online business in Hong Kong. It also provides customers with one more customer-centric and convenient channel for online shopping, complementing Sa Sa’s shopping website.

Moreover, the partnership will allow Sa Sa and foodpanda mall to manifest their respective advantages and generate synergy. Sa Sa will be enriching foodpanda mall’s product assortment with its cosmetics, health supplements, and anti-epidemic products. Both foodpanda and Sa Sa have large customer bases, which can enable mutual conversion and thus enlarge their respective target customer bases. Sa Sa can also strengthen and expand its own base of young customers by serving foodpanda members who are used to quick commerce.

Simon Kwok, Sa Sa’s chairman and CEO, shared that online shopping trend is especially more pronounced amidst the raging pandemic as more consumers would rather stay at home than go out to protect themselves against the disease, and they believe that foodpanda’s quick delivery meets their customers’ increasing demand for convenient, fast online shopping service.

“In the light of the urgent demand for anti-epidemic products, we are offering them at foodpanda mall in the hope of providing citizens one more convenient shopping channel to help fight the pandemic. We also hope to enhance the OMO function at Sa Sa’s operation through the partnership with foodpanda mall so as to provide customers with a more seamless and convenient shopping experience,” said Kwok.

Meanwhile, Ryan Lai, foodpanda’s managing director for Hong Kong, said that they are extremely pleased to have Sa Sa as a foodpanda mall retail partner, benefiting from complementary strengths in advancing each other’s OMO business strategy, and elevating customers’ shopping experience for personal care, health and beauty products, amongst others. 

“This partnership also expands and diversifies foodpanda mall’s product offerings, to better satisfy the wants and needs of our customers,” added Lai.

To celebrate its partnership with Sa Sa, foodpanda mall launches promotional offers from 15 March to 30 April, where customers will enjoy a HK$50 discount upon spending of HK$400 or above with their first purchase at Sa Sa on foodpanda mall by entering the promotional offer code ‘SASA’.

Hong Kong — Global media agency Wavemaker has announced the appointment of Matt Hofmeyer, the former managing director of Wavemaker Adelaide, to his new position as managing director of Wavemaker Hong Kong.

Hofmeyer has worked for Wavemaker for nearly two decades, playing an instrumental role in developing long-standing client partnerships with Mitsubishi Motors, the Government of South Australia, Bridgestone, and South Australian Tourism, among others.

Hofmeyer commented on his appointment, saying, “I’m thrilled at the opportunity to continue my career with Wavemaker in the Asia Pacific, joining our talented team servicing in Hong Kong. I’m driven to experience and learn new things, working with our Hong Kong team and clients represents a fantastic new challenge for me. My ambition is to help our team stretch themselves to unlock the vast, diverse talent we have at Wavemaker, and become a vital business partner for our clients.”

His move is an example of Wavemaker’s talent development strategy through enabling mobility, following the recent move of Ann Lim from CCO of China to managing director of Japan and Korea. This is a key part of the agency’s vision of creating a truly diverse and inclusive environment that builds exceptional careers.

Hofmeyer succeeds Stanley Ngai, who is moving to start another challenge in a new place after his 15 years of service in the agency. Hofmeyer reports jointly to Caroline Chan, CEO of GroupM Hong Kong and Gordon Domlija, CEO of Wavemaker APAC.

Chan commented on Hofmeyer’s appointment, saying, “I am very excited to have Hofmeyer joining the Hong Kong team. He has tremendous experience within the network, and I am sure he will help Wavemaker Hong Kong to advance the practices on performance-led media and unlock more opportunities for both our local and international businesses. I sincerely want to thank Stanley for his 15 years of service helping build Wavemaker (and previously Maxus) into the network it is today. I wish him the best of luck in his new adventures.”

Meanwhile, CEO of Wavemaker APAC Gordon Domlija shares that at Wavemaker they build exceptional careers. Domlija added that their learning and mobility programs ensure every individual has a safe and inclusive environment to develop as leaders and grow as human beings.

“Hofmeyer is a proven home-grown talent, and I am absolutely delighted he has taken on the challenge of delivering our ambition for the Hong Kong office, by leading the integration of our local, international, and outbound businesses in this hugely important hub. I have no doubt he will be a sensational success,” Domlija said.

With clients such as Colgate-Palmolive, Huawei, FrieslandCampina, Kimberly-Clark, Honor and PrimeCredit, coupled with a network committed to supporting infrastructure and talent in the market, the Hong Kong business is already well established and poised to meet the proposition of being a major global hub for Wavemaker.

Last January, Wavemaker launched the automation software technology ‘Intelligence Engine’ within its own network.

Hong Kong – In a bid to encourage Hongkongers to shift focus on planning more purposeful long-term financial and health investments, insurance company Manulife has launched a light-hearted digital series resonating different health struggles of Hong Kongers and highlight how Manulife can help devise customers’ own versions of a better health protection plan during these critical times. 

Conceptualised alongside creative agency dentsumcgarrybowen, the series is titled ‘Stressing on a Bright Day’, which is a play on an existing podcast series by Jan Lamb, and also part of the campaign. The campaign is also flanked with child star Mui G, where she listens to Lamb’s dial-in when facing various life struggles. 

The campaign, which promotes Manulife’s Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme, is highly provocative to reflect Hong Kongers’ recent struggles, dramatised by Lamb’s persuasive performance pairing with Mui G’s innocent acting. Manulife’s perspective on VHIS is also to help make choices as simple and easily understood for its audience that even a little girl can help explain.

Speaking about the campaign creation process, Jeffry Gamble, chief creative officer at dentsu international Hong Kong, said, “Continuing Manulife’s positive marketing approach, these are snappy and fun stories. We want our audiences to take away simple ideas and not to feel overwhelmed during these already very gloomy times. And it’s living entirely on digital, so it should feel like watching a relaxing Youtube video but also inspiring.”

Meanwhile, Isabella Lau, chief customer officer at Manulife Hong Kong, commented, “We all heard of the usage and benefits of VHIS but often in a broad sense. Therefore, given the right timing and circumstances, we decided to reintroduce this topic to our customers so they can digest the scheme in a more relevant way, and through Manulife’s support to make easier decisions and unlock its greatest benefits.”

The series is both available on English and Traditional Chinese.

Hong Kong – The South China Morning Post (SCMP) has announced the launch of its inaugural NFT collection called ‘1997 Premium Series’, which gives Hongkongers, history buffs and NFT enthusiasts the opportunity to own a piece of history–all from Hong Kong’s historic year of 1997.

The year 1997 has been a pivotal year for Hong Kong, primarily because of the British handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese authorities on July 1, 1997. Other notable events in 1997 that shaped Hong Kong’s history include the Asian financial crisis, the deaths of Deng Xiaoping and Princess Diana, the Avian flu outbreak, among others.

The first drop of the NFTs will release more than 1,300 unique mystery boxes, with each box containing five random NFTs of the Post’s front pages from 1 January to 1 July 1997. An upcoming second drop will release a further 1,300 boxes covering 1 July to 31 December 1997.

As part of the NFT release, SCMP has named portto, the company behind Blocto, as its exclusive wallet partner for the ‘1997 Premium Series.’

For Gary Liu, CEO at SCMP, the publication has witnessed many historic moments as Hong Kong’s newspaper of record and the launch of the ‘1997 Premium Series’ is significant as the city marks the 25th anniversary of the handover this year.

“ARTIFACTs by SCMP brings together collectors and history enthusiasts, and we’ve been delighted by the growth and enthusiasm of our community in the lead-up to the launch. We look forward to releasing more of the Post’s 118-year-old media archives as NFTs as well as partnering with other guardians of history to preserve historical assets on the blockchain,” Liu said.

Meanwhile, Hsuan Lee, CEO of portto, commented, “Blocto has a lot of experience in the deep blockchain having cooperated with large enterprises, from Vault by CNN, MotoGP Ignition and the South China Morning Post. We have been continuously focusing on co-creating an easy-to-use experience that is intuitive to both users and the companies we work with.”

The new NFT launch by SCMP is part of ‘ARTIFACTs by SCMP’, the first NFT collection released using the ARTIFACT metadata standard, serving as the foundation upon which history can be discovered, connected, and collected on the blockchain. The project aims to seed a community of collectors and eventually produce an ecosystem around the preservation of historical accounts and assets.

Hong Kong – Visual marketing SaaS company Wootag has announced the launch of its Hong Kong operation, aimed at supporting its growing client base in North Asia as well as expanding its global expansion blueprint.

Wootag’s expansion follows their latest US$1.7m funding round from Wavemaker, Cornerstone Venture Partners Fund (CSVP) and SEED Capital.

The company has served clients in Hong Kong since 2019, and recently launched its operations in North Asia to serve its growing list of clients in the region. The company will support the next phase of its growth through expanding its local marketing, sales, operations staff to support clients locally. 

Raj Sunder, CEO and founder at Wootag, said, “Since more and more consumers spend a quarter or more of their time on watching videos, the launch of the Hong Kong office will better position Wootag with a solid on-the-ground presence in the face of increasing demand for visual marketing solutions, and further accelerate our momentum in North Asia.”

He added, “As we are entering the era of always-on shopping, it’s now more important than ever that marketers need to engage with their target audience and better leverage the data-driven insights to adapt to the changing. We will fulfill the growing demand and empower marketers to engage meaningfully with the audience to drive better business outcomes.”

Hong Kong – Just in time for Women’s Month, Hong Kong-based insurance broker Alea has launched a new platform, ‘Alea for Women’, that aims to empower women to take control of their mental & physical health.

The company said the new platform is in response to the lack or difficulty of access to available resources and information on women’s health. The new platform aims to serve as a supportive community through helpful wellness content and exclusive webinars with top female health professionals on important topics like maternity care, annual checkups, fertility support, and mental wellbeing, as well as parenting, cancer prevention & treatment, and general health coverage, among others. 

Amelie Dionne-Charest, co-founder of Alea, said that they want to improve how insurance is usually perceived by bringing something different to consumers; offering unbiased information, ongoing education, expert health & wellness knowledge and insights about their healthcare options. 

“We believe that knowledge is power. We help people better understand their health, and insurance is an essential part of their wellbeing, too,” said Dionne-Charest. 

As a health & life insurance broker, Alea helps find the right insurance for consumers through its partner network of trusted insurance providers. As part of the said women-focused offering, Alea will help women find the right insurance for them, from health insurance to critical illness and life insurance options. 

The new offering goes under its goal of shifting the traditional model from cure to ‘care’ which it believes helps people feel more empowered and well-protected.