Tag: Indonesia

Jakarta, Indonesia – SCOP3 Group has announced the appointment of Mike Forster as its new managing director, following the company’s recent acquisition of clients in Indonesia

Mike Forster brings a wealth of experience and an impressive track record in his role at SCOP3 Group. Before joining the agency, Forster played a pivotal role in launching ShopEx for M&C Saatchi Indonesia, showcasing his innovative approach to brand activation and commerce marketing.

With a distinguished career spanning over 19 years, Forster has held various leadership positions within WPP agencies, demonstrating his expertise in brand building and fostering client relationships. 

Notably, he spent 12 years in the APAC markets, contributing to the growth and success of the region. Forster’s career has taken him across the globe, with significant roles in the UK, Netherlands, Russia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Korea. 

Throughout his career, he has also worked with renowned brands such as Chanel, Dunhill, Diageo, Google, and Porsche. His extensive experience in diverse markets and industries positions him as a strategic leader capable of driving SCOP3 Group’s continued success in the dynamic world of public relations. 

Speaking on his new role, he said, “I am thrilled to be a part of the SCOP3 Group family during this exciting phase of growth. Together, we aim to elevate SCOP3 Group’s standing in the industry and introduce innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of our esteemed clients in Indonesia and the Asia-Pacific region.” 

Meanwhile, Rene Mayer, co-founder and CEO at SCOP3 Group, commented, “SCOP3 Group has always been committed to pushing boundaries and achieving excellence. With our recent partnerships and the addition of Mike Forster as our managing director, we are confident in our ability to expand our service offerings, particularly in branding and digital marketing. This marks a significant step forward in our aspiration to provide comprehensive and cutting-edge solutions to our esteemed clients in Indonesia and the broader APAC region.”

SCOP3 Group has further strengthened its leadership in the industry by securing the representation of AYANA Hospitality. Moreover, its recent accomplishments go beyond its collaboration with Pan Pacific Hotels Group, where it manages global PR activities for Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts, PARKROYAL Collection Hotels & Resorts, and PARKROYAL Hotels & Resorts. Additionally, it also oversees the launch of Pan Pacific Hotels Group in Jakarta, located in the prestigious Thamrin Nine Complex.

Indonesia – Creative agency M&C Saatchi Indonesia has officially rebranded itself as ‘Moonfolks’ on its sixth year anniversary, following CEO Anish Diryani’s acquisition of the company as an independent entity and exit from the M&C Saatchi group of companies.

As such, Moonfolks will be led by its co-founders, with Anish Daryani as president director and CEO, Dami Sidharta as chief creative officer, and Elki Hendra as chief strategy & digital officer. 

With the new agency’s new purpose being “Make Audacious Possible”, Moonfolks aims to deliver ideas that are out-of-this-world to help brands achieve the impossible and take them to new heights. 

In order to achieve this, the agency has created an ‘accelerated commerce” model, whereby all agency services are directed towards generating commerce for clients, delivering higher ROAS (Return on ad spend).

The services, according to the agency’s newly launched website, are, Moonfolks Advertising as the advertising arm, Moonfolks Digital as the digital services arm, Moonfolks Shopex as the retail and brand experience arm, and Moonfolks PR as the brand reputation arm. 

Furthermore Moonfolks Authentic Intelligence is another solution the agency has launched, riding on Gen-AI expertise to create high volumes of content with a distinct cost advantage for clients. The agency has also announced the launch of its internal content production unit, Goosebump Pictures.

On the acquisition, the company retains all business licences and tax papers, with complete continuity of business where the agency retains all client, talent and partner contracts. The rebranding does not affect any significant changes to the team.

Commenting on the launch, Daryani said, “We’ve had tremendous success as M&C Saatchi Indonesia. And we’ll take that several notches higher as we relaunch the agency with the freedom that comes with our independence. We will be more agile and fluid in our approach, and build further on the values we have created over the past 6 years.”

“Moonfolks has all the ingredients for success. A loyal and satisfied client base, a fun-loving culture that embraces DEI, a talent-centric approach to business and an environment that encourages people to do their life’s best work. The industry is going to feel our impact in Indonesia, and across the region,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sidharta also commented, “We’re taking our second-first step. But unlike our first-first, it won’t just be the three of us. We have some of the brightest minds in the industry with us this time around and we’ll get to where we want to be a lot sooner. It’ll be very exciting every step of the way.”

Lastly, Hendria concluded, “Our goal is clear: not only do we curate compelling ideas and content, but we’re committed to crafting narratives that not only captivate but also catalyse commerce. We are here to redefine the boundaries of possibility, making audacious goals strategically achievable in an AI driven world”.

Jakarta, Indonesia – VinFast, a Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer, has gotten approval from the Indonesian government regarding its plans to invest in the country. It should be recalled that VinFast plans to invest US$1.2b in the country in the long run.

“We fully support VinFast’s investment plan in Indonesia. You can ask about permits to my minister,” President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said during a meeting with Pham Nat Vuong, chairman at VinFast during the president’s meeting at the head office of VinFast in Hai Phong City in Vietnam.

The president said that VinFast is one of the fastest-growing automotive companies. He also expressed hope that the investment can improve Indonesia’s EV ecosystem and be linked with EV battery industry.

“We expect–as I’ve mentioned before–the ecosystem to be established immediately. [The] chairman of VinFast has confirmed that construction works will start immediately,” he added.

After that meeting, President Jokowi visited VinFast electric vehicle manufacture and observed the assembly process including installation of electric car battery.

It is also worth mentioning that VinFast is also set to build its first plant in Indonesia by 2026.

Indonesia – The latest YouGov Profiles has noted that Tokopedia holds a 39% share among Indonesian consumers, securing its position as the second most popular e-commerce platform, trailing only Shopee, where a staggering 73% of customers have recently made purchases.

For context, Bytedance’s TikTok plans to return to the Indonesian e-commerce market by purchasing a majority share in GoTo’s Tokopedia for around $840 million. Following the Indonesian government’s prohibition of online purchasing on social media platforms, the firm was forced to close its social commerce service, TikTok Shop, in October. 

Analysing the broader market, Lazada captures the attention with a substantial 22% share among all consumers, ranking third in popularity. Other players, such as Bukalapak (6%), Blibli (5%), and Zalora (2%), follow suit.

For regular online buyers, Shopee emerges as the leading e-commerce platform with 77% popularity. In this category, Tokopedia (43%) and Lazada (24%) secure the second and third positions, while Bukalapak (7%), Blibli (6%), and Zalora (3%) also make notable appearances.

Zooming in on TikTok Shop users, the data indicates that 32% of them engage in shopping on Tokopedia. Although surpassing Lazada (23%), this percentage is notably lower than the overwhelming preference for Shopee, where a substantial 71% of TikTok Shop users make their purchases. As the e-commerce narrative unfolds, the data showcases a dynamic interplay of market forces and consumer behaviours, paving the way for potential shifts in Indonesia’s e-commerce landscape.

Two months later, the Indonesian ministry of trade announced that TikTok and Tokopedia will be launching a pilot program for e-commerce together. The project will take effect in the next months after extensive engagement with regulatory authorities. 

Jakarta, Indonesia – As part of the hype during the popular 12.12 sale period across online e-commerce players, popular Indonesian e-commerce player Tokopedia has engaged with Kobo Kanaeru, the biggest Indonesian virtual YouTuber (VTuber) in terms of subscriber count; and popular online music creator Harry Citradi, also known as Heiakim, to create the platform’s latest 12.12 campaign jingle. First uploaded on Tokopedia’s Instagram and X (Twitter) accounts, the jingle proved to be a viral success, prompting the company as well to upload a 1-hour version on its YouTube channel.

While campaign jingles are pretty common, this was the first time Tokopedia tapped a VTuber for its own campaign. Despite the fact that the jingle borrows cues from popular Japanese pop culture trends like anime and VTubers, it is also worth noting that the company took into consideration its roots of local culture relevance to create the new jingle. In turn, this made the campaign more popular especially to the younger consumer demographic while still rooted to be relevant across Indonesians.

MARKETECH APAC caught up exclusively with Jonathan Locanawan, senior lead for social media at Tokopedia, to learn more about the campaign’s creative process, as well as hear his insights on how brands can be authentic in tapping the younger demographic.

Understanding the roots of Tokopedia’s “Waktu Indonesia Belanja (WIB)” campaign

To fully understand how Tokopedia came up with the new Jingle, Locanawan notes that it is worth noting to understand how its yearly 12.12 campaign came to life.

In 2020, the company introduced the monthly shopping festival, “Waktu Indonesia Belanja” (WIB) or Indonesian Shopping Time. Since Waktu Indonesia Belanja was launched to be an inclusive shopping campaign for all Indonesians across the country, they created the WIB campaign jingle with tunes that took major inspiration from ‘Ampar Ampar Pisang’, a South Kalimantan traditional song that would resonate with most Indonesian people.

“The Waktu Indonesia Belanja campaign and its campaign jingle itself were met with high enthusiasm. This became the impetus for Tokopedia’s continued innovation into providing new ways that cater to the ever-evolving preferences of Indonesian consumers. For example, we continuously try to develop a more ‘personal’ approach between Tokopedia and the audience through social media,” he explained.

And while they believe that the monthly campaign was a success, they believed they need to penetrate the much younger audiences, especially those who are active online in social media. This is where the Tokopedia team found out how fans of Japanese pop culture are one of the most active demographics in Indonesia, and yet remains untapped by the market.

“We saw that Japanese popular culture represents a big yet untapped market in Indonesia, especially in the social media sphere. We also learned that Kobo Kanaeru—a female Indonesian
VTuber or virtual content creator who uses an animated avatar—and Harry Citradi or popularly known as Heiakim, are one of the biggest and well-known content creators in Japanese pop culture in Indonesia, especially amongst younger generations including millennials and Gen Z,” he added.

Why collaborating with Kobo Kanaeru and Heiakim is the correct step for the brand’s authenticity

When asked how the jingle came to life, they said that this was done in-house, alongside active participation with Kobo Kanaeru and Heiakim. It is worth noting as well that while they were the ones that provided that initial ideas, the co-creation of the jingle was mostly done by the duo. For Locanawan, this speaks on their mission of always tapping into these collaborations, providing trust to its consumer base.

“Tokopedia always believes that collaboration with partners, including content creators, always goes beyond the numbers of likes and followers. Tokopedia is a business of trust, so to maintain business continuity, maintaining the trust of Indonesians is the most important thing,” he said.

The new 12.12 campaign jingle from Tokopedia, co-created by popular Indonesian VTuber Kobo Kanaeru from Hololive and popular music producer Heiakim

Moreover, it is also worth noting that Tokopedia wanted a fresher take on its campaigns, hence the brand is willing to explore more niche cultural trends to bring colour and life to its campaigns.

“Appealing to the younger audience is definitely one of the main drivers for this collaboration as we continuously try to stay relevant with the Indonesian consumers. However, we were also aiming for distinctiveness. Amongst the sea of heavy promotions from the entire industry, we knew we needed to come up with something special to really stand out from the crowd yet still maintain the local authenticity, sensibility and voice of ‘Tokopedia’, he explained.

Advice on brands on how to ride niche cultural brands to stay authentic

Tokopedia believes that tapping creators that share the same brand value to the company and creative positive influence to the Indonesian society help them create authentic campaigns while also at the same time being at the top of mind of the younger demographic.

According to Locanawan, with Tokopedia willing to explore unique yet relevant niches, the brand has seen greater increase on positive brand mentions, higher views on its social media
accounts, like TikTok; and even noted an increase in better engagement with their audience through Tokopedia’s social media accounts.

“As brand marketers, we need to always be sensitive with the ever changing trends in pop culture to remain relevant. By fully immersing ourselves in the culture and by having the campaign co-created together with the creators, we were able to launch content that effectively rides the wave while maintaining the authenticity and voice of ‘Tokopedia’,” he explained.

Lastly, when asked what should brands do in terms of exuding authenticity to its consumers, Locanawan had this to say: “Regardless of whatever strategy is used, consumer centricity has always been our guiding star—how we can ensure our consumers can benefit from the products, services and partnerships provided. That is what Tokopedia will always do to keep winning the hearts of Indonesians.”

Singapore – Accenture has agreed to buy Jixie, a media and marketing technology company. Accenture’s integration of Jixie’s intelligent digital marketing platform and team intends to improve the firm’s marketing transformation capabilities and resources.

This strategic move aims to help Indonesian clients provide more individualised experiences. It is facilitated by Accenture Song, the company’s tech-powered creative group. Increasing client involvement is the aim in order to achieve long-term business growth.

Jixie, based in Singapore, offers a wide range of monetization and marketing growth tools, with a focus on Indonesian clients. The company’s platform serves as an advertising ecosystem that makes it accessible to publishers and brand owners to work together to co-create solutions that are grounded in consumer data. This transformation makes marketing a strategic focus instead of a dispersed, uncontrollable process, improving accessibility and safeguarding consumer privacy, brand safety, and data.

Publishers may maximise advertising revenues by using Jixie’s platform to access monetization capabilities such as performance marketing and header-bidding solutions. On the other hand, brand owners can improve and safely include content without the need for middlemen, utilising insightful data to create unique and significant brand interactions.

Speaking about the acquisition, Jayant Bhargava, country managing director, Indonesia, at Accenture, said, “The convergence of marketing, data science and technology creates opportunities for businesses to redefine their customer engagement model. Jixie’s intelligent digital marketing solutions complement our technology expertise, providing a winning proposition for businesses to bring a higher level of personalization and effectiveness to their marketing efforts. 

“This acquisition will allow us to better serve our clients in navigating complex marketing challenges in this era of interconnected digital world, which is crucial in driving long-term growth,” Bhargava added. 

Meanwhile, Vincent Martin, co-founder and managing director, Jixie, said, “Jixie has seen proven success in its marketing performance capabilities that boost publishers’ revenue and the formation of an ecosystem that has attracted advertisers to run successful campaigns. The next step for us is scale. We’re thrilled to be joining Accenture and contribute to shaping a more sustainable media industry, helping companies leverage their data in a trusted and advantageous manner in service of their customers.”

Joseph Tan, Indonesia lead for Accenture Song, stated, “The value of data in today’s rapidly changing digital economy is immense, and the digital media ecosystem has seen much disruption, including the impending loss of third-party cookies. Jixie is an impactful platform that amplifies publishers’ perspectives and simplifies the digital marketing experience. This investment extends Accenture Song’s data-led commerce and marketing transformation work in Indonesia, empowering clients with highly relevant and results-driven solutions for sustainable business growth.” 

Singapore – Skyscanner, the global travel marketplace, looks at a year in which it assisted a record number of passengers in experiencing the world. It now provides a complete overview of Singapore’s travel trends for 2023.

Bangkok maintains its position as the most popular destination in 2023. Travellers from Singapore clearly consider The Land of Smiles to be their first choice, whether they are taking tuk-tuk rides, taking in the nightlife of the city, enjoying mango sticky rice and drinking Thai milk tea at lively night markets, or touring the newest, largest shopping malls.

Bali was named the second most popular location for Singaporean tourists this year. Bali’s attraction is based on its beaches, beach clubs, and a range of water activities, including surfing experiences, making it the ideal retreat for friends, couples, and children.

Travellers from Singapore are increasingly opting to visit affordable Southeast Asian destinations that provide cultural experiences and varied culinary options in the current year. Yogyakarta is the most affordable travel destination, according to Skyscanner data, with return tickets averaged about S$168 per person in 2023.

Yogyakarta is ranked seventh out of the top ten trending locations for Singaporeans in Skyscanner’s Travel Trends 2024 report, indicating one of the largest annual growth rates in search volume.

Speaking about the travel trends, Cyndi Hui, a trend expert, said, “Looking back on the year of travel shows how Singapore has embraced the freedoms of international travel despite the pinch on purse strings. We see how this traveller behaviour correlates with the emerging trends for 2024. Our latest Travel Trends 2024 report highlights how value will remain a key consideration, but not at the expense of cultural exploration, travellers are simply being savvier with how they travel.” 

She added, “Next year will see Singapore travellers planning trips to smaller cities in their favourite country, Japan, with 4 Japanese cities coming out as the top trending destination for 2024. We also predict Los Angeles in the US to be a great-value destination for SG travellers in 2024, with flights having dropped by almost a quarter over the past 12 months.” 

“2024 will also see Singapore travellers going on Netflix-inspired vacations, with 84% being inspired to take a trip to a destination they’ve seen on the big or small screen. In addition, many may be heading abroad to see their favourite artists play, with almost half (46%) saying they would travel to short-haul destinations to hear their favourite tracks live,” Hui stated. 

Indonesia – ByteDance’s TikTok is reportedly in talks to partner with Indonesian technology company GoTo Group to restart its online retail operations in the country, Bloomberg reports.

According to an insider familiar with the matter, the deal may take the form of a joint venture instead of a direct investment. The two companies’ discussion also involved jointly creating a brand-new e-commerce platform.

While looking for several more options, TikTok is reportedly working to invest in GoTo’s e-commerce arm, Tokopedia, to bring its online shop back to the Indonesian market.

These talks come after TikTok Shop announced the shutdown of its local operations in Indonesia in October 2023 in accordance with local orders. The company was forced to close down after the country’s government passed a regulation prohibiting the use of social media for e-commerce transactions.

It is worth mentioning that the new regulations were placed with the aim of protecting the interests of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME’s). However, the shutdown also meant a loss of livelihood for about 6 million social sellers and 7 million affiliates on TikTok Shop alone.

In an previous exclusive interview with MARKETECH APAC, industry leaders in Indonesia also shared their insights on the future of social commerce in the country after the regulations were set in place.

Rolly Pane, managing director for Indonesia at Clozette, shared that “Social commerce can still be done, promoting products in social and driving people to e-commerce. The only difference is that it will not happen in one ecosystem or app. It just has to cross over apps.”

Pane noted that while the regulation would cause a significant drop in e-commerce transactions originating from social media posts and engagements, brands can still implement alternative strategies to make their social commerce strategies stand out.

Meanwhile, Anish Daryani, founder and president director at M&C Saatchi Indonesia, also believed that social commerce will continue to move forward in Indonesia, adding that there is more growth for the Indonesian social commerce scene compared to more mature markets like China’s.

“Though this regulation would bring social commerce to a stop, there is no stopping commerce from becoming more social,” Daryani told MARKETECH APAC.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Citi has announced that it has completed the sale of its Indonesian consumer banking business to UOB, effective November 20 this year. The sale includes retail banking, credit card, and unsecured lending businesses, as well as the transfer of employees.

This is the latest completed deal by UOB after it entered into an agreement with Citi January 2022 as part of a broader sale agreement covering consumer banking across Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Sales in Malaysia and Thailand were completed on November 1, 2022, and the sale in Vietnam was completed on March 1, 2023.

The sale excludes the bank’s institutional businesses, and Citi remains focused on serving institutional clients in Indonesia locally, regionally and globally.

Batara Sianturi, country officer for Indonesia at Citi, said, “Citi is proud to have a long history in Indonesia, and we are intently focused on growing Citi’s institutional businesses in Indonesia, serving clients in the market, regionally and globally through our network to support cross-border needs.”

Meanwhile, Titi Cole, head of legacy franchises at Citi, commented, “Completing our final divestiture of a full consumer franchise in Asia marks a significant milestone in simplifying the firm. This is a testament to the commitment of our employees across these markets and a clear demonstration of Citi’s ability to execute on our strategy. We are sincerely grateful to our former employees in Indonesia and wish them the very best in their careers with UOB.”

Since announcing its intention to exit consumer banking across 14 markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Mexico as part of its strategic refresh, Citi has now closed sales in nine of those markets including Australia, Bahrain, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, in addition to Indonesia.

Indonesia – M&C Saatchi Performance, a global performance marketing agency, has announced the promotion of Nachiket Desai to the position of country director for Indonesia. Desai will continue to report to Roshat Adnani in his new role as country director Indonesia.

As the country director for Indonesia, He will focus on driving company expansion and improving profitability. Among his duties are the creation of services tailored to the Indonesian market, with a focus on direct-to-consumer (D2C) businesses, digital transformations, and retail commerce.

After more than six years with the firm, Desai started his career in Mumbai and afterwards moved to Indonesia. He is credited for leading the charge to open the Jakarta office in 2019.

The Indonesia team at M&C Saatchi Performance has grown under Desai’s direction, growing to include more than 70 marketers and contributing to the agency’s overall success. His strategic insight and dedication to quality have not only increased income but also expanded the customer base, allowing to create a firm presence in the Indonesian market.

Speaking about the appointment, Roshat Adnani, managing partner APAC at M&C Saatchi Performance, expressed, “I am delighted to announce Nachiket’s promotion to Country Director Indonesia, a journey that began when he joined as our first hire in 2019 for the Jakarta office. From Sr. Account Manager to a key leader in our 70+ member team, Nachiket has played a pivotal role in not only growing our business but has also been instrumental in shaping a collaborative and innovative work culture. 

He added, “As we expand in the market, we trust Nachiket to take our business to newer heights while making Jakarta a centre of excellence in the region.”

Meanwhile, talking about his appointment, Desai said, “I’ve witnessed in first-person the huge growth that our business has experienced in Indonesia since we first launched. When we opened in 2019, there was only a few of us and today we’re over 70 in the team. The country’s growing economy and fast talent development in the digital industry present us with a dynamic landscape to make a meaningful impact for brands investing in digital media.” 

“Stepping into this role, I’m enthusiastic about the opportunities that lie ahead. Driving our clients’ growth will remain our priority while we leverage the latest performance marketing technologies to innovate. In the long-term, we hope to make our business in Jakarta a centre of excellence for the whole APAC region,” Desai added.