India — Sony Pictures Television India and Isobar, the creative experience agency from dentsu India, have launched a campaign to give the audience an experience of the Multiverse, a popular physics theory that Hollywood is experimenting with and a big staple of the latest Spider-man movie. Via this collaboration, the duo has created a Multiverse on mobile devices to bring the essence of the movie ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ to the fans before they buy or rent the movie on the BookMyShow stream.

Isobar India has developed a website titled, ‘Tap Into The Multiverse’, where a single URL – tapintothemultiverse.com can be opened on different browsers to get an experience of different villain universes each time. The website is created to showcase the 2 universes belonging to the 3 villains – Doc Ock, Electro and Green Goblin. One villain can be accessed with each unique browser visit, while the URL remains the same.

Heeru Dingra, CEO of Isobar India group, said, “It is just not enough to give the audience a taste of a film like this through a trailer. A unique experience is what Spidey fans deserve, and it’s what they got with Tap Into The Multiverse.”

Additionally, The fans are further tested on their villain IQ with interactive questions for a more immersive experience. After this unique experience, the fans are given the option to purchase Spider-Man: No Way Home on BookMyShow Stream and enjoy extra footage that has never been seen before.

Talking about the collaboration, Sonika Bhasin, VP of sales and international distribution for Sony Pictures Television South Asia, said, “For a movie like this, the experience of the Multiverse just leaves you wanting more. It’s a prelude to an experience that’s completed by streaming Spider-Man: No Way Home on BookMyShow Stream. People want to not just watch, but also engage with the brand and experience it.”

Meanwhile, Aalap Desai, chief creative officer of Isobar India and Taproot Dentsu, commented, “An iconic franchise like Spider-Man calls for an iconic idea to promote it. A simple question we asked ourselves was, why wait for the movie to get an experience of your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man? Why not give fans an experience even before they stream it at home? That’s what we did with ‘Tap Into The Multiverse’.”

Fans can now experience the Multiverse right on their phone and test if they’re a true Spidey aficionado with the campaign by Sony Pictures Television India and Isobar. Afterwards, they can buy or rent the movie on BookMyShow Stream today to enjoy it at home.

This April, we have a new payments feature, a fresh creative leadership as well as an empowering campaign on gender inclusivity coming out as our top stories.

For the first time, a story from New Zealand enters the list – a web code developed by a telco and shared through a moving creative campaign. 

A rewards and discovery platform in Singapore has also launched a new payment feature that offers something new through its fresh payment process. 

Meanwhile, the Indian arm of a global communications network has named a new creative leader.

Top 3: Spark to make the internet more inclusive with launch of web code campaign

Spark releases new web code to urge all websites to ‘see all genders’

To kick off this month’s Top Stories is a unique proposition to ‘see all genders’ online: a web code released by New Zealand telco Spark, with creative campaign done by Colenso BBDO. 

With our society being more open and inclusive, there is stronger call for every part of our daily lives to align with this inclusivity. One of those areas is the gender selection on forms online, where traditionally, they are fixated on the choices of male and female. 

Speaking about the campaign, Frith Wilson-Hughes, brand lead partner at Spark New Zealand, said that their campaign direction has been inspired by their company’s motive to use data in a much more healthy way, which will benefit New Zealanders in general, including promoting diversity and inclusion.

“It does seem to be like a simple thing, but one of the things that we have made clear on our [campaign] site is that it’s not just about changing the code, it’s about looking at how you treat people with different genders holistically,” she said.

She also noted that their campaign site featured resources that companies and organisations can use to integrate the code into their website. This is aimed at educating them on the importance of diversity and inclusion and not overwhelming them.

Top 2: dentsu India names new creative leaders for Isobar and Taproot Dentsu

Dentsu India unveils two new appointments in creative leadership

Coming out on our top stories is the fresh appointment of Aalap Desai and Titus Upputuru as its new chief creative officer and national creative director respectively for Taproot Dentsu. Desai, who will carry the role for both Taproot Dentsu and Isobar, sat down with MARKETECH APAC and shared what he thinks has been the biggest change in brands over the pandemic. 

Without a doubt, Desai said it’s them going digital. 

“In the past 2 years, I think COVID has expedited the interaction element in every brand. Because everyone is at home, we had to shift to digital, and that’s the biggest change in the brand narrative that I’ve seen,” said Desai. 

He shared that the good thing is, over at dentsu, ‘digital’ has been an ongoing conversation. Brands are now more open to exploring, however, Desai points that their understanding can be limited. 

“We’ve also started upselling things, and brands have also started buying them. For example, [something] like a legacy Indian brand getting into a metaverse conversation,” he shared. 

Top 1: ShopBack launches new ShopBack Pay

ShopBack unveils new payment feature in Singapore

Landing on the Top 1 is the recent launch of ShopBack’s cashless payment feature Shopback Pay, which at its core, eliminates the process of topping up funds, instead enables to directly pay in the ShopBack app with only the linked payment method.

In an interview with Julian Foo, head of payments at ShopBack, he shared that the main idea behind Shopback Pay is primarily overcoming the adversities that consumers and merchants faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I think in terms of what we saw, in our user base and surveys, it was that consumers actually had quite a fair bit of cashback, right, in the shop bank account. On average, we see about like, $200 worth of cash in every customer’s account, which is actually not doing anything at this point in time. So then we ask ourselves, hey, what can we do to help the users actually use their cashback? And for us, it was quite simple. What if we developed a payment method that allowed users to burn the cashback that they had earned online,” Foo said.

He added, “With this product innovation, I think it really allowed users to see an additional use case of earning cashback on shopping, where they can now use their cashback to burn at the merchants.”

Foo also shared that their primary goal has always been making the consumer experience convenient and rewarding.

Watch our exclusive interviews with the brands themselves on the latest episode of MARKETECH APAC Top Stories, now live on our YouTube channel.

Rankings are based on Google Analytics from the period of 16 March to 15 April.

Vietnam – Advertising and marketing agency network dentsu in Asia Pacific has announced the promotion of Siddarth Malhotra to CEO of Isobar, dentsu’s digital experience agency, in Vietnam. This is in addition to his current role as managing director of dentsu mcgarrybowen, one of the network’s creative agencies, in Vietnam. 

In the expanded role, Malhotra will be responsible for evolving the brand’s offerings, building offerings around commerce and content, brand and product design as well as establishing a network of different specialist partners.

Malhotra brings with him over 20 years of work experience – of which 12 years were spent specialising in the Vietnam market. He joined dentsu in 2018 as chief client officer and the network said that for the last three consecutive years, he has successfully led his team to win at the MMA Smarties awards at both the APAC and Vietnam level. 

“Isobar Vietnam has one of the best agency teams and together with this excellent team I look forward to expand our capabilities and that can benefit our current and future clients,” commented Malhotra. 

As Malhotra steps in, former CEO of Isobar Vietnam, Denise Thi, will now be moving into the chair lady role to focus on employee engagement and in strengthening client relationships and developing innovative solutions. The network said Malhotra and Thi will be working closely together, where both will be responsible for realising the agency’s vision. Both report directly to Sanjay Bhasin, CEO of dentsu Thailand, Vietnam & Myanmar.

Bhasin said, “Denise has given us nothing but her full dedication and sheer commitment since she joined dentsu eight years ago. She is a remarkable leader who has spearheaded Isobar Vietnam into one of the market’s leading creative agencies, and has made headlines in the industry creating innovative concepts for brand activation.” 

In 2015, Thi co-founded Emerald, which was acquired and rebranded to Isobar Vietnam by dentsu in 2015. During her time as CEO of Isobar Vietnam, the brand has grown from a local digital agency to an end-to-end integrated marketing agency, being the first in the market to introduce brand commerce concept and solution design through digital activation in 2015. 

Thi comments on her new role, “Being the Chair Lady would allow me to have greater focus on what really builds sustainable impact to our people and business, while ensuring that the agency [has] strong support from Siddarth, the new CEO to take Isobar Vietnam to the next chapter of growth.”

Meanwhile, on Malhotra’s appointment, Bhasin believes that Malhotra brings with him not only strong business acumen but also a strategic mind of dexterity and stamina. 

“He has a deep understanding of how brands are built and [have] earned a reputation across the network as the best partner to help steer Isobar Vietnam and our clients to greater heights. This is a well-deserved promotion for Siddarth,” said Bhasin.

Both new roles of Malhotra and Thi will commence effective immediately.

India – While the awareness on breast cancer is one that is said to be in its full form, Marks & Spencer in India thinks that you can never gain too much knowledge on the disease, launching a new campaign that aims to add to people’s vigilance on breast cancer. 

Being a lingerie brand, Marks & Spencer in the country aims to leverage its top-of-mind position among women consumers, releasing a special set of imprinted bra straps, that helps women be reminded to be on top of their breast health.

Done in collaboration with its charity partner Women’s Cancer Initiative and digital agency Isobar India, the transparent bra straps, called ‘Straps That Remind’, are imprinted with an important reminder – ‘With regular check-ups, the chances of late-detection of cancer can diminish, just like this message’.

‘Straps That Remind’ aims to be a helpful nudge for every woman to examine herself for early signs of breast cancer. Printed with thermochromic ink, the message will start to diminish due to body heat when the straps are worn and reappear when the straps are taken off.

Furthermore, the straps also come with a detailed leaflet from the Women’s Cancer Initiative to encourage women to look out for the symptoms of breast cancer, and to provide advice around where to get support when they notice anything unusual.

Marks & Spencer has been working with the Women’s Cancer Initiative at Tata Memorial Hospital since 2016 to raise awareness and educate women about the cause, signs, and symptoms of breast cancer. ‘Straps That Remind’ is another prominent action towards the same cause, as both believe that regular awareness is created via disseminating key messages, asking women to self-examine themselves all year round.

James Munson, the managing director of Marks & Spencer India, said, “‘Straps That Remind’ is a unique tool to remind women to check for the unusual in their own personal space. I feel proud that we have been able to support such an important cause innovatively.”

Meanwhile, Deveika S. Bhojwani, the vice president of the Women’s Cancer Initiative at Tata Memorial Hospital, shared that breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women in India, which if detected at the early stages, can be cured. 

“‘Straps That Remind’ is an excellent step in that direction to help women read the early signs of breast cancer and get them checked. It can be a life-changing product for so many women out there and it is such a personal way to remind them of their well-being,” added Bhojwani.

“With ‘Straps That Remind’, we have set out to achieve that with the Women’s Cancer Initiative and Marks & Spencer. I am proud of the team for coming up with an entirely new means of communication to spread such an important message. I hope that the straps reach women across the country and can help detect the disease right at the start,” said Anadi Sah, the executive creative director of Isobar India.

The lifesaving bra straps are accessible to all women on selected M&S India stores and come free of cost.

Colombo, Sri Lanka – YouLead, a program initiated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for better workforce in Sri Lanka, has released a new campaign made in collaboration with dentsu’s digital experience arm Isobar centered around success among the youth.

The campaign narrates the story of the mysterious pond ‘Kalumal Pokuna’ which allows people to magically transform their lives just by drinking from it, and how three teenagers found the hard path to the answer of succeeding in life through the depiction of forest creature voices disturbing their itinerary. YouLead’s campaign teaches its viewers that there are no shortcuts in life, and one must do the hard work in real life in order to succeed.

Furthermore, the campaign wanted to trigger conversations around the need to equip oneself with the necessary tools and knowledge to pursue success and prosperity. YouLead aims to empower the youth to engage in new-found opportunities for skill development such as career guidance and entrepreneurship training made available to today’s youth.

According to Mohenesh Chamith Buthgumwa, director at Isobar Sri Lanka, the campaign was organically successful through the use of astroturfing or guising itself as unsolicited participants in presenting an orchestrated marketing campaign.

“[The campaign] means being bold and ready to take calculated risks along the way. Taking cues from the Hollywood hype machine, we give fans little bits of content every few days. Each element of the promotional campaign has been designed to give it legitimacy, and it even made a group of local treasure hunters team up to go in search of the mythical ‘Kalumal Pokuna’,” Buthgumwa stated.

In a time where it is difficult to tap into digital native youth across rural and urban Sri Lanka, this campaign helped to create a one-of-kind storyline to deliver a timeless message.

“Storytelling is a powerful tool in the digital age. Sri Lankan youth are extremely social media savvy and engaged. We are excited to have launched this unique campaign. We believe that the story of Kalu Mal Pokuna will inspire youth to think outside the box and take a proactive role in deciding their future while pursuing their dreams,” commented Neela Marikkar, chairperson and managing director at Dentsu Grant Group.

The campaign is live on YouTube, and is available in both Sinhala and Tamil languages.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Dentsu Malaysia has unified its creative line of service, Lemonade and Isobar, in an aim to enhance and scale its in-house digital experience technology solutions.

Prior to the merge, Dentsu MY tapped Lemonade’s Managing Director Ruhana DaSilva to lead the newly expanded Isobar, as Lemonade’s marketing and social commerce offerings will now reside within Isobar. She will directly report to the CEO of dentsu Malaysia Kien Eng Tan.

During DaSilva’s five years in dentsu, she has played an important role in developing partnerships and effective digital teams driving the growth of Lemonade. She managed to successfully collaborate with international brands Spotify, NBA, Estée Lauder Companies, and Abbott. 

The now expanded Isobar will become the network’s go-to-market brand for experience-led transformation for brands. Dentsu’s modern creativity offering will bring together creative, marketing, and technology services through its new ‘on-demand’ delivery model.

Commenting on her appointment, DaSilva said that with dentsu’s global transformation to simplify and deliver integrated marketing solutions that are data-driven, tech-enabled, and ideas-led, Lemonade was positioned to integrate a hyper-personalized and consumer-first approach to that of Isobar’s global digital experience as a market leader.

“From scaling a team with a variety of clients and partners from sports and entertainment, health and beauty, and more. This represents a meaningful milestone for our teams and partners as we look ahead to forge the way for the new virtual economy,” said DaSilva.

Meanwhile, Tan also commented that the merge is for clients to have easier access to end-to-end creative solutions that are driven by everything from building meaningful brands, driving end-to-end platform experiences, and to innovating products and services, and transformation consulting in an age of inclusive intelligence. 

“Customer experiences have changed in 2020, and we can only expect to see more brands shifting their focus on creating and realizing hyper-transformational customer experiences,” added Tan.