Tag: insights

India – The hyperlocal space has seen a rise in the number of niche brands across categories like home décor, home services, groceries, essentials, and pharmaceutical sectors. Since India has witnessed growth, traditional brands have shifted their focus towards hyperlocal and direct-to-consumer business models. This transition has been accelerated further due to increased internet usage and evolved consumer behaviour.

The hyperlocal approach enables the brands to reach out to their target customers directly, removing the middlemen and retail stores as part of the traditional business model. This provides customers with a better shopping experience as it offers convenience and quick delivery, especially in the areas of logistics, food, pharmaceutical, and groceries. Some examples of hyperlocal commerce include Dunzo, 1mg, UrbanCompany, BigBasket, to name a few.

New report by WATConsult unveils insights on the demand for hyperlocal delivery, the effects of the pandemic on the hyperlocal usage and captures the benefits, and challenges of the model.

According to the report, this format of e-commerce has seen a huge surge of customers in both metros and beyond. Currently, there are around 141 million hyperlocal commerce shoppers in India, which is 48% of all e-commerce users. This number of hyperlocal commerce shoppers will increase by 52% to reach 214 million by the end of 2022.

The report further reveals that while Zomato tops the list of the most used hyperlocal apps, SwiggyGo, Amazon Fresh and BigBasket are some of the popular choices among consumers. This is followed by 1mg, Grofers and UberConnect.

Moreover, while most females have used services from Zomato, BigBasket and Grofers, some males have used services like Zomato, SwiggyGo, BigBasket and 1mg. On the other hand, the majority of young customers belonging to the age groups of under 18 years, 18 years to 24 years and 25 years to 34 years, have been seen using Zomato, SwiggyGo, and Amazon Fresh.

In a conversation with Angeli Beltran, director of interactive commerce ASEAN & global care centre of excellence at Reckitt, she shares her industry journey and the challenges she faced upon building her marketing career.

Angeli boasts more than 20 years of experience in marketing, communications and business management. Of what makes her thrive in handling different market profiles she shared, “I always tell my teams that if we are generalizing, we’re probably not doing the right thing for the consumer because the purpose of digital and CRM is to recognize consumers as individuals and rather than nameless homogeneous cohorts.”

“My role has been really focused on capabilities building, which is equipping and empowering the markets with lasting competency so that they can outperform in their categories and their markets,” Angeli adds.

During the conversation with Angeli, we asked about what remarkable progress in gender equality in the workplace she experienced and how she addressed it, she shared, “You know, the reason why I’m passionate about gender equality is that I’ve experienced firsthand what it means to be a victim of gender inequality.”

Angeli emphasised, “In Reckitt, for example, we believe that gender equality is not just a moral imperative, it’s also good for business. Our focus is to increase the number of women in Reckitt’s leadership. So right now, within Reckitt, men and women have the same level have the same earning opportunity, which is great.”

Currently, Angeli is the sponsor for the Asian chapter of Spark, which is the empowerment of women in digital and e-commerce within Reckitt. This initiative encourages women to learn from the success of other women and build a network of support within the organization. [And also] leveraging that enormous skill set and capabilities that women can bring to the industry.

Listen to the full conversation with Angeli over on Spotify, where she further discusses her marketing strategies in this time of pandemic and her passion for interactive commerce as well as her advice for marketers who take care of multiple markets. You can also view the video highlights of the conversation on our YouTube channel.

If you are a marketing or tech leader who wants to share your industry journey and insights, email us at [email protected]. 

Singapore — Almost three out of four shoppers, or 73 per cent, now consider shopping online to be integral to everyday life, with 67 per cent of them identifying e-commerce mega campaigns as a key factor in shaping their consumer buying behaviour. Furthermore, nearly 60 per cent of consumers also welcomed online shopping as a part of their daily life less than two years ago – possibly owing to the pandemic. These are the results of a recent report by SEA e-commerce platform Lazada in collaboration with Milieu Insights.

Regional findings note that consumers continue to actively participate during Mega Campaigns such as Lazada 12.12, with 67 per cent of the digital consumers completing a purchase during a Mega Campaign.

Additionally, the report unveiled key reasons Southeast Asians shop, which is a number of motivations such as pricing and functionality. Low prices (45%), and affordable shipping (45%) topped the list followed closely by the ease of search (43%) and convenience (43%). Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines show a strong preference for the items to be delivered straight to them, with 55 per cent, 48 per cent, and 49 per cent, respectively.

Reviews and ratings are also key to a positive shopping experience, especially for online shoppers in Singapore (61%), and Thailand (66%). In regards to reviews, the study uncovered that one in two shoppers, or 54 per cent, said reviews make the shopping experience positive. In addition, half, or 50 per cent of those surveyed said they leave reviews on the product post-purchase, and one in three, or 32 per cent, said the reviews are one of the top 3 reasons why they prefer to buy online. This shows that the culture of shopper engagement by leaving authentic reviews helps build trust and has a significant influence on the final purchase behaviour of shoppers.

James Chang, chief business officer of Lazada Group, shared that digital commerce has changed the way people shop in the past decade, especially in the last two years with the pandemic accelerating the shift towards online retail.

He added: “Such changes are showing a lasting effect, especially in emerging markets. This first region-wide Lazada Consumer Study shows that Mega Campaigns, pioneered by Lazada in Southeast Asia a few years ago, still matter to the consumer. They look forward to the deals and shoppertainment features that come with each campaign.”

Gerald Ang, chief executive officer of Milieu Insight, commented that the online shopping landscape has evolved massively in the last two years with Southeast Asia leading this change globally.

“This is why we wanted to identify the new behaviours and current sentiments of online shoppers in Southeast Asia. On the back of this partnership with Lazada, we’ve gathered fundamental data across their 6 regional markets, helping them understand the intricacies of each. As Lazada continues to shape the thriving modern-day e-commerce economy, these insights are meant to equip them in formulating the most effective consumer outreach strategies in the current environment,” Ang said.

In a conversation with Charlotte Ward, founder of Agnes Media, she shared her entrepreneurial background, which fueled her desire to one day establish her own business. 

Even as a teenager in secondary school, Charlotte was able to demonstrate this character, when she developed her own business plan and launched her own organic soap company. Fast forward to her professional career, she built the Agnes Media we now have today through tremendous effort, starting as a freelancer and taking contract works.

“I always felt that we can do things better ourselves after working in various large agency corporations,” Charlotte adds.

During the conversation with Charlotte, we asked about her philosophy in leadership, by which she shared, “Empathy and transparency are at the core of my leadership style, I think this is [something many leaders missed], without this, you’re really just a business owner or a manager, you’re not a true leader.”

Charlotte emphasized, “Leadership is not something that I developed overnight, definitely, when I started out my career I was not the best manager and it’s something that comes with mentorship and learning and being able to admit to yourself when you’ve made a mistake.”

Listen to the full conversation with Charlotte over on Spotify, where she further discusses her passion for marketing measurement and the challenges she had to face in leading Agnes Media. Hear her insights as well about the biggest marketing challenge that B2B brands face nowadays. You can also view the video highlights of the conversation on our YouTube channel.

If you are a marketing or tech leader who wants to share your industry journey and insights, email us at [email protected]. 

In a conversation with Raushida Vasaiwala, general manager for Asia-Pacific at Celtra, Inc., she shares her career trajectory and what motivated her to pursue the marketing and tech industry. 

“I grew up in a family of businessmen so entrepreneurship quite comes akin to my nature. So there was this constant internal push of leading business that would help me pursue my varied passion in advertising, brand communication, art, and technology, ” she shared in the ‘Empowered Women’ interview.

Raushida believes that having a different career from the degree of specialisation is perfectly fine, especially if you have developed a new interest or have better self-awareness.

“So essentially love what you do and do what you love,” she remarked.

During the conversation with Raushida, we asked about her marketing journey and her leadership, and she shared, “A mentor in my family guided me to explore digital marketing especially the adtech and martech ecosystem.”

“As leaders, we need to ensure that our teams are upskilled and kept abreast with the latest tools that can help in driving better business outcomes,” Raushida adds.

Meanwhile, Raushida strongly urges marketers to re-evaluate the implementation process of their marketing activities and do a deep dive to look for areas that keep them from achieving their goals.

Listen to the full conversation with Raushida Vasaiwala over on Spotify, where Vasaiwala shares the importance of technology adoption as well as her insights about the importance of creative automation for brands. You can also view the video highlights of the conversation on our YouTube channel.

If you are a marketing or tech leader who wants to share your industry journey and insights, email us at [email protected]. 

The fight for gender parity has achieved tremendous progress, but there is still so much to do. For one, when it comes to leadership, men are still perceived to carry much more capability than women. As time passes and women continue to fight for equality, these public perceptions are changing.

Through the years of progressive effort, women have changed the unfavourable work environment and redefined their roles, particularly at top management and executive levels.

In celebration of International Women’s Month this March, MARKETECH APAC has decided to launch the ‘Empowered Women’ series to honour and spotlight female leaders with the goal of inspiring women marketers to focus on their potential in marketing and leadership. 

The empowered women series features audio and video of conversations with female marketing experts across the Asia-Pacific region with the goal of highlighting their career trajectory and contributions as well as their marketing insights on latest trends and issues in the industry – and how female marketers can continue to thrive and lead the stride for female leadership and ingenuity. 

Check out the line-up of conversations with female marketing leaders under the podcast series:

Expert Up Close: Charlotte Ward, founder at Agnes Media 

  • Charlotte Ward, founder at Agnes Media, she discussed her passion for marketing measurement and the challenges she had to face in leading Agnes Media. Hear her insights as well about the biggest marketing challenge that B2B brands face nowadays.

Expert Up Close: Ace Gapuz, CEO at Blogapalooza

  • Ace Gapuz, CEO at Blogapalooza, described how creators and influencers have a big impact on consumers’ mindsets, their beliefs, and on how they will decide to act as well as the essence of women in the marketing and advertising industry.

Expert Up Close: Raushida Vasaiwala, general manager, APAC at Celtra

  • In an interview with Raushida Vasaiwala, general manager for Asia-pacific at Celtra, she shared her career trajectory and what motivated her to pursue the marketing and tech industry as well as her insights on the importance of creative automation for brands. 

Expert Up Close: Melissa Sandhu, deputy general manager of marketing communications at Desaru Coast

  • Melissa Sandhu, deputy general manager of marketing communications at Desaru Coast, she talked about her approach to content development and her tips and advice for hotel brands that are struggling to cope with the economic consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Expert Up Close: Manisha Seewal, chief marketing officer at Gumtree Australia

  • Manisha Seewal, chief marketing officer at Gumtree Australia, she discussed the changes, innovations, and opportunities in the automotive industry. Hear her insights about trends that would shape the future and her advice for marketers who want to be part of the automotive industry.

Expert Up Close: Vasuta Agarwal, SVP & managing director at InMobi APAC

  • Vasuta Agarwal, SVP & managing director at InMobi APAC, discussed her best advertising practices as well as her insights about the significant changes in the gaming industry in Southeast Asia in terms of consumer behaviour, management, and innovation.

Expert Up Close: Aditi Kapoor, former marketing lead at Metromart Philippines

  • Aditi Kapoor, former marketing lead at Metromart Philippines, shared her biggest takeaways in her decade-long career journey in steering the wheel of the marketing of various brands in the e-commerce, media, and retail sector in Southeast Asia. Aditi also shared the role of mentorship in shaping future marketers. 

Expert Up Close: Angeli Beltran, director of interactive commerce ASEAN & global care centre of excellence at Reckitt

  • Angeli Beltran, director of interactive commerce ASEAN & global care centre of excellence at Reckitt, she discussed her marketing strategies in this time of pandemic and her passion for interactive commerce as well as her advice for marketers who take care of multiple markets.

Expert Up Close: The women leaders of Society Pass

  • In this episode, we feature the women leaders of Society Pass, Arbie Pagdanganan, Philippines country manager & vice president of product development, and Pamela Aw-Young, chief operating officer, as they talk about the next generation of e-commerce platforms and loyalty programs in the Philippines.

You can also check out the lineup of conversations with Women marketers under the video content series: 

Empowered Women 2022 series: Gretchen Largoza, CEO at AdSpark Philippines

  • Gretchen Largoza, CEO at AdSpark Philippines, she shares her marketing journey across different domains in Southeast Asia as well as her insights about the cultural differences and unique features between Southeast Asian countries as well as her advice for future marketers.

Empowered Women 2022 series: Azadeh Williams, founder and managing partner at AZK Media

  • Azadeh Williams, founder and managing partner at AZK Media, talked about her career journey, and her leadership philosophy as well as sharing her tips for women marketers seeking to balance personal and business life.

Empowered Women 2022 series: Eileen Ooi, CEO at Omnicom Media Group Malaysia

  • Eileen Ooi, CEO at Omnicom Media Group Malaysia, shared her career journey in working as a leader in the media agency industry and her philosophy in leadership as well as her insights on how the landscape of the media affects consumer behaviour. 

Listen and watch our space as we showcase more in-depth conversations with female marketing leaders in discussing cutting-edge marketing trends and empowering professional insights.

If you are a marketing or tech leader who wants to share your industry journey and insights, email us at [email protected].

Manila, Philippines – Globe’s corporate venture builder, 917Ventures, has launched a new portfolio company, iNQUiRO, to help SMEs make data-driven decisions in their operations.

The start-up aims to address the challenges encountered by businesses in their journey towards data-driven insights, which include access to the right data, tools, and technology. Its products are designed to provide organizations with the knowledge that creates impact from customer analytics to risk assessment and even fraud detection.

For instance, iNQUiRO’s 360° Customer Dashboard and Audience Builder, an intuitive platform, gives clients access to valuable consumer information particularly, behaviors and trends. The service is complete with optimized tools and resources that help businesses transform data into valuable and actionable insights and explore various opportunities.

Furthermore, iNQUiRO’s Credibility Score intends to use behavioral data in creating a credibility profile for consumers to help businesses assess the credibility of consumers with limited or no available financial data and to provide these consumers with access to a wider range of financial products.

Pancho Reyna, iNQUiRO’s chief operating officer, said, “By providing organizations of all sizes with access to otherwise unobtainable insights, we enable them to make exceptional and impactful data-driven decisions. This is what makes iNQUiRO truly a game-changer.”

Meanwhile, Vince Yamat, 917Ventures’s managing director, shared, “As we expand our services and continue to grow our portfolio companies, we are committed to taking Globe’s vision of creating a digital nation forward, as we empower more Filipinos through our tech and digital solutions.”

Aside from iNQUiRO, 917Ventures’ lineup of portfolio companies also includes mobile wallet giant GCash, digital health companies KonsultaMD and HealthNow, and digital marketing solutions firm AdSpark, as well as online grocery platform PureGo, and loyalty and e-commerce solutions provider RUSH.

Sydney, Australia – Talkwalker, a consumer intelligence company, has recently acquired consumer and cultural insight platform discover.ai in order to boost its consumer intelligence offering to businesses who need actionable intelligence to drive business impact.

With discover.ai’s unique combination of machine learning and human insights, Talkwalker can now build into their services a deeper reading into the human stories and emotive human drivers that lie beneath and behind the intelligence they provide through data.

Integrating discover.ai’s capabilities is now part of the new offering from the Talkwalker Activate professional services team, which will now provide a range of go live, operational, and strategic consultancy services to enable businesses to identify, analyze, and act on presented relevant consumer insights across their organizations.

For Tod Nielsen, CEO at Talkwalker, they are not just providing brands and agencies with powerful consumer intelligence from a multitude of data sources, adding that they have learned from their clients, and the wider industry, that there is a need for professional services to help make this intelligence more actionable.

“With the addition of discover.ai to our already fast developing Talkwalker Activate professional services, we can provide a high-level consultancy layer on top of our powerful platform, that explores and discovers, at scale and at human scale, with rigour but also with resonance. Inspiring brands with rich human stories and cultural insights, and getting them closer to their customers,” Nielsen stated.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Williams, founder at discover.ai, commented that there has already been a very natural alliance between the two businesses, adding that they have been working for many of the same clients, even on the very same projects.

“Bringing our two businesses together will help our clients to further benefit from this powerful combination, with Talkwalker providing consumer intelligence and discover.ai bringing deeper human insight and cultural context, together inspiring brands to better unlock future growth opportunities. There is just so much exciting white space where our complementary cultures and collective capability across people and platforms can create some really exciting new developments,” Williams explained.

Talkwalker has also recently acquired Nielsen Social Content Ratings, now called Social Content Ratings, and Reviewbox, to provide additional insights and intelligence for all their clients.

Singapore – Global trend forecasting WGSN has announced the launch of their latest consumer tech vertical aptly called the ‘WGSN Consumer Tech’ which will aid brands in Asia in providing specialized vertical insights from up-to-the-minute movements to 10-year forecasts of the consumer tech scene in the region.

Said vertical is led by Lisa Yong, content director for consumer tech at WGSN, who has 20 years experience in product design and is currently based in Silicon Valley.

With a focus on product experience and driven by technology’s ever-growing presence, WGSN Consumer Tech will help brands, product designers, manufacturers and business owners to innovate with purpose and create meaningful consumer-first products and experiences.

For Yong, the observable breakneck speed at which Asian consumers are adopting new technologies has only been accelerated by the global pandemic and active programs by regional governments to digitize their economies, adding that the next 10 years will see technology transform or disrupt almost all industries, changing the way of live, work, play and move in the new reality.

“As technology continues to permeate all aspects of our lives, it’s vital for companies to understand new behaviors and expectations in tech consumerism, and develop the right products that consumers will want and need for years to come. WGSN Consumer Tech works across industries to outline the shifts that can be actioned today and built on tomorrow,” she stated.

As part of the launch of their consumer tech vertical, WGSN has also published its first flagship report entitled ‘Future of Consumer Tech 2030’, providing actionable insights to help tech businesses adapt and make the most out of the systemic changes affecting the post-pandemic world. 

Key insights in the report include the rise of the augmented self, an increased focus on regeneration and survival, and a post-pandemic focus on wellness that will accelerate consumer adoption of health-tech.

“WGSN Consumer Tech offers specialized insights into evolving consumer tech trends, from up-to-the-minute movements to 10-year forecasts, on one platform. With a talent map of over 250 people around the world, WGSN provides global trend insights and expertly curated data. We empower clients to develop products and services today, for tomorrow’s world,” said Carla Buzasi, president and CEO at WGSN.

Singapore – In order to aid the influx of businesses that are now slowly opening up due to easing pandemic restrictions, data and artificial intelligence company ADA has launched a new dashboard that features data-driven insights on the changing consumer behavior in Southeast Asia and South Asia, widely disrupted by COVID-19.

Said index, called ‘The Recovery Index’, leverages ADA’s in-house data management platform, XACT, and was built with anonymized data sourced from millions of mobile devices and apps. While not a traditional economic indicator, businesses can use the dashboard to guide their decision-making by observing consumers’ mobility and digital consumption in near real-time.

Users of the dashboard, which is free to access, can drill down from the regional view to the national and state-level in eight countries, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

A sample screenshot of ADA’s ‘The Recovery Index’

Some of the notable insights lifted off the index as of September 22 include countries in the Southeast Asian region, where for instance, the Philippines where footfall at malls and F&B outlets had recovered fully in June this year before declining to 70% of pre-COVID levels currently following a recent shift in lockdown policies in Manila.

In Indonesia’s case mobility has recovered more quickly in Java where Jakarta is located compared to surrounding islands. Footfall at F&B outlets has climbed to 110% of pre-COVID levels while footfall at malls has fully recovered. Usage of business and productivity apps, however, has collapsed to 60% of pre-COVID levels, even as usage of fitness apps has surged to 140%.

Lastly, in Malaysia, the main economic hub of Klang Valley is leading the recovery vis-a-vis other corridors in the Peninsula and the Bornean states. The recent easing of lockdown measures has seen footfall in malls jump to 130% of pre-COVID levels, even as road density and other mobility indicators are yet to fully recover.

For Srinivas Gattamneni, chief executive officer at ADA, part of the reason the dashboard was released was in response with the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused to business and to consumers, affecting them how they shop, where they go, and what they do on a daily basis.

“We created this dashboard as a resource for businesses to make sense of and respond to the ‘new normal’ in consumer behavior. The dashboard can serve as a guide to what has changed pre- and post-pandemic in terms of shopping, app usage, and mobility, allowing marketers to pivot their customer acquisition and retention strategies in an environment that continues to be volatile,” Gattamneni stated.