Tag: IPG Mediabrands

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands, the media holding company within Interpublic Group, has announced the official launching of My Bot, its latest AI chat assistant today, November 16. 

This innovative tool aims to optimise the internal productivity of the workplace as well as their employees’ workstyles through gen AI technology powered by Google Cloud. 

In particular, the assistant is set to streamline day-to-day tasks, enabling easier management of multiple projects and workflows for IPG Mediabrands employees.

Some of its features include an intuitive task management support which covers the project brainstorming to agenda-making for meetings. With a dedicated space for human creativity and strategy development, it also responds efficiently to user needs with time. 

Meanwhile, its capacity to understand 38 different languages enables smooth communication in various contexts and promotes inclusivity.

Speaking about this launch, Graham Wilkinson, chief innovation officer at KINESSO, said, “We couldn’t be more excited to launch our first of what will be many products leveraging gen AI, with the support of Google Cloud.”

“My Bot will take our workplace capabilities to new heights without compromising the humanity and thoughtfulness of our client-centric approach,” he ended. 

My Bot comes after IPG Mediabrands recently partnered with Google Cloud to integrate gen AI technology into product development. 

It is developed by the product team within KINESSO which works with Google’s PaLM 2 language model and boasts enterprise-level security to protect intellectual property throughout the workflow. 

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands’s media agency Initiative has announced its recent affiliate agreement with IG Square Pakistan for its second new market launch: the Initiative Pakistan office.

The affiliate office aims to expand the agency’s network footprint across 14 different countries in the APAC region including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Speaking about the collaboration, James Smyllie, president at Initiative APAC said, “Initiative has had an exciting 2023, with our launch in New Zealand, and now our affiliate partnership with IG Square, creating Initiative Pakistan.” 

“Initiative’s continued expansion into growth markets is testament to the prevailing success of our unique proposition which is steadily building Fame & Flow for brands across the Asia-Pacific region,” Smyllie added. 

Adnan Shaikh, director and chief operating officer at IG Square Pakistan supported this particular announcement and said, “The extension of our collaboration with IPG Mediabrands by introducing Initiative to Pakistan is a dream come true. Not only does it signify another step towards enlarging IPG’s footprint in this market, but it answers the industry demand for global tools and experience with local knowledge under one single umbrella.”

The Initiative affiliate relationship with IG Square Pakistan is set to take effect immediately upon announcement.

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.”

Sydney, Australia – IPG Mediabrands announced the appointment of Clay Gill as the organisation’s first chief data and technology officer for IPG Mediabrands Australia. He will continue serving a role in the executive leadership team of Mediabrands in addition to this position.

Gill will be responsible for establishing and driving strategic expansion and operational excellence across the Group, with the goal of improving IPG Mediabrands into Australia’s leading digital and data-driven agency group. 

Gill’s career at IPG began in early 2020 with the transition of Cadreon into Matterkind. Following that, he rose to the position of CEO at IPG Kinesso, where he was key in advancing IPG’s programmatic capabilities and steering the agency’s growth in data and technology solutions. Under his leadership, the agency reached a milestone by introducing Acxiom’s 1PD programmatic offering in Australia, a first for the group.

Mark Coad, CEO of Mediabrands, said, “Gill will be leading the ongoing transformation of data through exploration and analysis, uncovering patterns, opportunities and insights that drive evidence-based decision-making solutions for clients. With a clear ambition for Mediabrands to lead and transform the industry’s response to data and technology, Coad said the role was paramount to the Group’s future success.” 

He added, said: “We needed a leader at Executive level to help drive IPG’s ambition to revolutionise the industry, drive innovation, and achieve unparalleled success driven on the power of data and technology. Clay has been very successful in building our data led programmatic offering, he has incredible product knowledge, is a visionary leader and will play a pivotal role in shaping the Group’s data-driven future. I am delighted he has moved into this new strategic role. 

“With Clay at the core of Mediabrands’ data and technology offering, it allows us to create the best collective thinking we can for client outcomes across our brands. No one has all the answers on the future, and some are trying to complete this unknown with badged on tools and techniques but Clay’s global experience positions him perfectly to make things happen,” Coad said. 

Speaking about his appointment, Gill said, “As data and technology continue to frame the future of our clients’ businesses, it is critical that we stay on top of this evolving landscape.I have always been strongly attracted to accelerated levels of engagement for brands and customers through the analyses of sophisticated data streams. 

He added, “The intelligence in these streams means we can share better insights with our clients and ultimately deliver better actions in media outcomes. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to strategically lead this area for Mediabrands, supported by resources from across the group.” 

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands, the media holding company within Interpublic Group, announced the launch of its newest tech-driven performance unit, KINESSO, which delivers real intelligence to move brands forward.

KINESSO is uniquely positioned to unify the data derived from a brand’s full marketing system into one renowned, intelligent, growth-driving capability.

The new unit brings together the collective power of brands Kinesso, Reprise, and Matterkind to form an engine that is expected to deliver accelerated growth for the company.

KINESSO performance solutions, end-to-end media activation and optimisation, global capability centres, and data and technology prowess are expected to provide an even more holistic and integrated approach to servicing and ensuring the success of IPG Mediabrands clients.

With its launch, it will have an extensive offering spanning performance marketing, data, and technology and is poised for digital excellence via advanced capabilities including progressive search engines, digital experiences, platform intelligence, media activation, AI, and audience development.

KINESSO, created with a deep understanding of consumer behaviour, offers an end-to-end engine of planning and optimisation. It will deliver on data-driven strategy for social platforms, actionable growth in e-commerce, and creating curated marketplaces specific to each client’s function and needs.

The unveiling of the new tech unit is rooted in the company’s understanding of the rapidly shifting media landscape brought about by developments in technology.

Jarrod Martin, global CEO at KINESSO, said, “KINESSO by definition means movement and change, and that is what we’re bringing to the forefront of this new business. We’re here to help our clients win and make sure those wins stand out above the rest. KINESSO will make up the most efficient and powerful operating system in the   marketueled by an infrastructure that allows all our agencies to function with agility and consistency in a global capacity.”

Meanwhile, Eileen Kiernan, Global CEO of IPG Mediabrands, also shared, “This is an important time in our history to build upon the collective success of Matterkind, Reprise, and Kinesso. Positioned at the heart of IPG Mediabrands, KINESSO will expand horizons for our clients by prioritising excellence in the future of media, superior value delivery, and a commitment to innovation, breaking down industry barriers. We’re excited to bring this offering to our clients and drive actionable growth for their businesses.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Mediabrands Content Studio (MBCS), the media-fuelled creative content practice within the IPG Mediabrands network, has released PETRONAS’ festive film that commemorates the upcoming Merdeka and Malaysia Day celebrations.

PETRONAS’ new film is anchored on their festive theme of the year, ‘Roots of Our Future’, which highlights and embeds the richness of heritage, customs, and culture into all the festive films of 2023.

The film, titled Rai, honours the many significant things that have progressed in Malaysia since independence. Rai means to celebrate, which is in line with the film celebrating love, legacy, and lagu (song) sudirman for Merdeka and Malaysia Day.

Set with the 70s and 80s as a backdrop, Rai is a love story at heart that will showcase the remarkable journey of PETRONAS through the decades. The interracial storyline follows Amir with his small-town innocence as he joins PETRONAS in the big city, his friendship with Maniam, and his infatuation with Ah Moi, amidst a fast-changing Malaysia.

The film features local actor Faizal Hussein, popular in the 80s, as the older Amir and was directed by Kabir Bhatia in collaboration with Mastermind Group as the production house.

The film also features the late Datuk Sudirman Arshad’s song titled Warisan, meaning legacy, heritage, or bequeath. The concert by the famous Malaysian singer will serve as another central narrative in the film. 

Well-known in local history for uniting Malaysians of all races and religions, the icon organized a free mega concert at Chow Kit Street that was attended by over 100,000 fans across Malaysia and featured songs across all local and national languages. 

Iskandar Putra, group business director at MBCS, said, “The 70s and 80s was a time of immense transformation in Malaysia. Cities were blossoming with the advent of capitalism, industrialisation and commercialisation, and PETRONAS was at the very heart of our nation’s evolution. We wanted to show the resilience of our people and the strides we’ve made, not just economically, but with our thinking and harmony.”

“Using Sudirman’s concert was significant in our storyline, as music unites, and love transcends all. The song we used was also a special nod to Malaysia and PETRONAS, as all that has come before us is a legacy for future generations. Everyone from an older generation would recognise that cassette tape, and we’ve come a long way from then to now, where our future possibilities are limited only by our imagination,” Iskandar added. 

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands has announced a partnership with Google Cloud to develop a suite of generative AI-powered applications that put brands at their center. Under the terms of the partnership, IPG Mediabrands will develop two pilot platforms, ‘Branvoice AI’ for branded content generation, and ‘BrandPortrait AI’ for audience and research insights.

The ‘BrandVoice AI’ pilot will use Google Cloud’s latest generative AI technology to codify the essence of brands so that written and image-based content can be ideated, briefed, and drafted in an automated, safe, and on-brand manner.

Meanwhile, the ‘BrandPortrait’ pilot will use the advanced conversational capabilities of Google’s large language models to provide IPG Mediabrands strategists and planners with the ability to generate and summarize proprietary research and audience data. 

All content will be approved by the brands – IPG Mediabrands clients – before being utilised by the AI pilot platforms. The first phase of the platform will completed by the third quarter this year.

The IPG Mediabrands Data & Technology Innovation department has been working exclusively on AI-based solutions for nearly four years, seeing AI as the ideal technology to augment the people and capabilities of IPG Mediabrands agencies. The innovation team has first experimented with generative AI technologies several years ago. Since then, it has built applications and prototypes that generate ad copy, imagery, reporting insights and SEO content, all proven out in real-world campaign scenarios.

IPG Mediabrands will now also use the power of Google Cloud’s generative AI support in Vertex AI, specifically the PaLM 2 language model, to take its solutions to the next level.

Eileen Kiernan, global CEO at IPG Mediabrands, said, “We are excited to partner with Google Cloud to develop this new platform. Not only does this partnership let us leverage market leading technology, but also we are aligned to Google’s responsible approach on data governance which ensures our clients information is well protected.”

She added, “We know that the potential of this technology is just scratching the surface, but we believe that by placing brands at the center of AI solutions, we get to a place where the true potential can be unlocked for brands and the industry overall.”

Meanwhile, Manvinder Singh, managing director of partnerships at Google Cloud, commented, “IPG Mediabrands will help to empower brands in new ways with their AI-based platform. The ability to quickly and effectively create content that is both engaging and aligned with brand values has the potential to help companies save money and more deeply connect with customers.”

Singapore – Global media company IPG Mediabrands has announced the launch of ‘Unified Retail Media Solution’, a dedicated business unit that will enable brands to intelligently manage their investment performance seamlessly across all retail media network.

Through the new business unit, IPG Mediabrands aims to bring transparency and trust to the space — powered by a unique tech platform focusing on unified audience, measurement, optimisation and intelligence. 

The solution also empowers brands with a holistic view of their performance, automated cross-retailer activation and optimization, maximizing sales and profitability.

‘Unified Retail Media Solution’ is led by Glen Conybeare, executive lead and global president for Reprise Commerce and Retail Media at IPG Mediabrands, and has been beta tested by IPG Mediabrands clients in the CPG, gaming and over-the-counter (OTC) sectors, and already has hundreds of bespoke audiences built out with a roadmap to hit over 10,000 by year-end.

“Retail Media Networks offer a huge opportunity for marketers. However, each network operates as a closed-loop system which makes it really difficult to drive ROI effectively. With dozens of retail channels as part of many clients’ investment strategies, it has been difficult to compare their relative performance. With our Unified Retail Media Platform, we have standardized a key part of the process,” he said.

Meanwhile, Eileen Kiernan, global CEO at IPG Mediabrands, commented, “Brands activating in retail media face the challenge of navigating through multiple closed garden networks, each with their own data approach, metrics and ROI methods. This complexity is amplified for brands that also sell their products through these retailers.”

She added, “Therefore, it is crucial for brands seeking to maximize their investment to leverage data and insight across networks with an ability to make intelligent decisions in real time about what’s working and not.”

Singapore – UM, a global media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, announced its sixth global Impact Day, ‘Building a Better Future.’ 

Impact Day launched in 2016 and expanded globally in 2018, with volunteers across 50 offices in 40 countries. The yearly event, which was first introduced in 2016 under UM’s corporate social responsibility division, Better World, shows the organisation’s goal of dedication to the values of community and care. 

On Thursday, July 20, UM closed its offices across APAC, EMEA, LATAM and North America to partner with local charities, NGOs and community organisations. 

UM’s partners for this event include the Special Olympics Shanghai Team from China, FareShare, OzHarvest and Our Big Kitchen from Australia, the Indonesian Children Creativity Park Elementary School, Ecokaari from India, Free the Children Japan, Yayasan Generasi Gemilang from Malaysia, Young Focus Organization from the Philippines, MINDS from Singapore, the Goodwill Store from South Korea, NangKang Harmony Home from Taiwan, and Precious Plastic Bangkok from Thailand. 

Kasper Aakerlund, the president for UM APAC, said, “As we continue to focus our efforts around the three key pillars of equity, sustainability and wellness, it’s truly heartening to see the very real impact that our people are making in their local communities. Many of these relationships with NGOs and social service programs have been building over a number of years now, and the impact of connecting and collaborating at a human level within your local community is incredibly powerful.”

Meanwhile, Eric Guzman, vice President, global operations and head of Better World, also commented, “At UM, we are on a constant quest to make a difference in the communities in which we live and work, and Impact Day is a meaningful part of that commitment. We’re honoured to partner with community organisations around the world that are driving genuine change through the lens of equity, sustainability and wellness.”

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands’ intel arm MAGNA has released its APAC ad market forecast for the period of June 2023. One of the main findings indicates that digital growth is primarily being driven by mobile advertising campaigns in the region comprising nearly 84% of total digital budgets. 

Overall in APAC, digital advertising is powering total market growth. According to the report, digital advertising revenues are seen to increase by +10% and will increase by another +8% in 2024 to represent 76% of total advertiser budgets at the said period. 

In terms of format, this year’s growth comes from social (+12%) and video (+11%), with search also increasing by +9%, but is said to already represent a huge 47% of total digital budgets. 

In 2024, mobile advertising spending will increase further (+10% to reach 86% of total digital budgets), with social and video leading growth, both to increase by +9%. Search is also forecasted to grow by +7% in 2024.

“Smartphones are not just the dominant way that most consumers access the internet; in many APAC [markets,] they are the only way most consumers access the internet. Because GDP per capita has only increased lately, many consumers skipped the desktop hardware generation and conduct their digital lives solely on their smartphones,” said the MAGNA report. 

Furthermore, in China, smartphones are more integrated into consumer lives than they are in almost every other market. Consumers regularly conduct not just their shopping and communications, but also their banking, insurance, and many work functions on their smartphones. By 2027, mobile advertising spending in APAC will represent 88% of total digital budgets, said MAGNA.

The forecast indicates search/commerce to remain the largest ad format, approaching the $300bn milestone (+9.1% to $296b). 

Within Search/Commerce, Commerce/Retail players will grow ad sales by 12% this year (to $121b ) i.e., faster than traditional Search Engine companies like Google or Baidu. Within Commerce/Retail players, e-commerce specialists like Amazon or Alibaba are by far the most developed (83% of the segment) but traditional retail chains like Walmart or Carrefour are leveraging first-party consumer data to attract CPG brands into spending on their retail media networks or third-party media partners. 

Meanwhile, traditional retailers are seen to grow Search-like ad revenues by +24% this year to $21b. 

Furthermore, the report finds social media formats to re-accelerate by +9.4% this year to $172b.

The industry seems to have turned a corner in 1Q23 when Meta reported a return to YOY growth on an FX-adjusted basis after two consecutive quarters of flat or negative growth. Meta and other established social media vendors seem to have finally recovered from the loss of workable consumer data in the Apple ecosystem since late 2021, and they are making inroads in the monetization of the short vertical videos that have completely changed the user experience, challenging ad optimization, in less than two years. 

Finally, pure-play short-form digital video (instream platforms like YouTube or Twitch, plus outstream networks) will grow ad sales by +8.6% to $71b this year.

Gurpreet Singh, managing director of MAGNA APAC, commented, “After experiencing a slowdown in 2020 due to covid, bouncing back with double digit growth in 2021, ad spends growth rates in most Asia [Pacific] markets are now getting back to the levels/trends we saw pre-covid. After 2020, the gap between digital & linear media spends has widened at a much higher pace than predicted.” 

“Current growth across most APAC markets continues to be largely driven by digital which is getting the dominant share of spend in the majority of markets, taking it away from linear media which shows a decline in most markets. In the next 5 years, digital spends are expected to further consolidate and increase dominance,” concluded Singh.