Tag: Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysian aviation and travel services group and parent company of AirAsia, Capital A, has recently announced that it has entered into a non-binding letter of offer with AirAsia X Berhad (AAX) for the proposed disposal of its aviation businesses, which makes up AirAsia Berhad (AirAsia Malaysia) and AirAsia Aviation Group Limited (AirAsia subsidiaries in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, and Cambodia).

The strategic move is aimed at streamlining the group and facilitating a business-centric valuation of the separate entities, potentially unlocking greater value to shareholders, and aiming to create a pure play entity that aligns with market preferences. 

In a press release, AirAsia stated that it is confident that by separating the aviation business from Capital A, the non-aviation businesses within the group, which we feel are currently undervalued by the market, will also be recognised for their intrinsic value and potential. 

Capital A’s companies, including Teleport (logistics), Capital A Aviation Services (MRO and Inflight), and MOVE digital, will also be raising capital, offering shareholders an uplift on their Capital A shares, complemented by shares in the enlarged aviation group under proposed shares distribution. 

Following the sale of the aviation business, Capital A shareholders will become shareholders of the two listed companies.

With the completion of the aviation disposal, Capital A is committed to presenting a comprehensive PN17 regularisation plan by June 2024. Furthermore, Capital A is dedicated to transparent communication and will provide all stakeholders with detailed information throughout this process.

Regarding this, Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, said, “All businesses across Capital A have been thriving and we are ready to grow. We need to raise funds for business expansion, but gaining access to capital has been challenging due to Capital A’s Practice Note 17 (PN17) status. We have been engaging committed investors who have expressed a strong preference for a pure aviation play.”

Talking about the disposal, Fernandes mentioned, “To address this and to ensure a robust financial injection, we are strategically pursuing the sale of the aviation business to AAX to create an aviation pure play, consolidating both long and short-haul airlines under the AirAsia brand, subject to the negotiation of a definitive share sale and purchase agreement and its completion.”

“Following the disposal, the aviation business is poised to benefit from focused management and a well-defined strategic direction, which will boost the aviation business’s capacity to seize growth opportunities, expand market share, and ultimately achieve enhanced profitability,” he added.

Singapore – In a developing story, some Lazada top executives are reportedly among those affected by the company’s retrenchment exercises as the layoffs expand to its other markets in Southeast Asia, The Edge Singapore reported.

According to people familiar with the matter, Lazada has let go of its chief marketing officers across the various countries it serves. Among the C-suite executives affected by the retrenchment was Brigitte Daubry, its chief customer care officer at Lazada Singapore. 

The e-commerce company has also allegedly laid off a fifth of its employees in its Malaysia branch, including its chief executive officer and its chief logistics officer. Currently, there are no updates on the positions of the following top executives in their LinkedIn profiles.

Additionally, reports also said that Lazada had shut down the operations of its LazMall in Vietnam.

These fresh rounds of reported layoffs join the undisclosed number of employees that were included in Lazada Singapore’s retrenchment exercises on January 3.

Lazada Singapore, the first branch to suffer from the sudden mass layoff, is unionised under the Food, Drinks, and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU), which is an affiliated union of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

In a statement issued by NTUC to Singaporean press and news sites, it expressed its disappointment in the matter and said that it had escalated the matter to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

“NTUC would like to reiterate that it is critical for companies to work with their union to ensure that a fair and equitable process is carried out to safeguard the interests of all workers, especially our Singaporean core,” NTUC said in a statement.

Furthermore, NTUC stated that “companies must exhaust all other options before making the call to retrench employees. (NTUC) also appeals to companies to be considerate about the timing of such exercises and to avoid doing such exercises during festive periods, as far as possible.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Global beauty retail brand SEPHORA has officially launched its latest ‘Unwrap Their Beautiful’ holiday season campaign, which featured a 3D interactive showcase on the capital city’s largest 3D screens.

SEPHORA’s ‘Unwrap Their Beautiful’ campaign invites visitors to a virtual journey of discovering their beauty power and sharing their holiday cheer, regardless of age, gender, or background, for this season of gifting.

The campaign features a 3D synchronised interactive show that turns spectators into participants by giving them the chance to dedicate their holiday wishes to their nearest and dearest on the large screen. By scanning a QR code, participants can connect with the 3D interactive screen to send or schedule their wishes in advance.

With the aim of creating a unique holiday experience, SEPHORA’s interactive screen can transform the experience into holiday cheer by fostering connections and sharing moments of love and appreciation.

The 3D interactive show will be displayed on the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur’s Elite screen and Fahrenheit88’s Curve LED screen daily from December 1st, 2023, to January 1st, 2024.

Also part of the campaign that promotes beauty and technology, customers at SEPHORA’s Fahrenheit88 store can discover surprises hidden within its holiday displays.

Valerie Foong, general manager at Sephora Malaysia, said, “There are QR codes consumers can scan that will lead them to an interactive game. As they follow the virtual ribbon, consumers have a chance to not only collect virtual gifts but also turn virtual into reality with tangible gifts by approaching any Beauty Advisors in-store.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Universal McCann (UM) in Malaysia has named Sue-Anne Lim as its new chief executive officer. Her appointment officially takes effect on January 1, 2024; and officially replaces the interim management following Audrey Chong’s departure from the agency.

Sue-Anne has a total of 20 years’ experience in designing growth strategy for business and brand transformation, having worked with established MNC and GLC brands, with experience spanning multiple verticals. 

She has first-hand experience in post-merger cultural integration and raising business value for acquisition, and previously held roles at Trapper, Clear KL (part of M&C Saatchi Global Network), and Dentsu Aegis Network.

Speaking on her new role, she said, “I am excited to join UM and be part of this incredibly dynamic team. I’m here to build a solid business and a brand that people love, trust and respect, while ensuring that UM fulfils its pledge to be future-ready for our people, communities, and clients. It’s crucial for us to stay in tune with current trends, as they not only shape how people work, live, and engage, but also defines what matters most to them now and for the future.”

She added, “UM aims to be a trusted marketing partner that helps clients predict and create innovative strategies to not only protect existing business value, but also discover new opportunities. We cannot avoid economic and industry headwind, but we can prepare ourselves and our clients for it, and together, we will thrive towards the future, despite all uncertainties.”

Meanwhile, Bala Pomaleh, chief executive officer of IPG Mediabrands Malaysia said, “Sue-Anne is a welcome addition to the Mediabrands executive leadership team. Her strong capabilities in leading clients into growth spaces, strategic branding and marketing, and keen experience across data, tech and business transformation hold her in good stead as we look to build on UM’s future growth momentum. She is uniquely suited for this role given her ability to unite talents and deep relationships in the industry, and we look forward to her driving more success for the UM brand.”

Lastly, Kasper Aakerlund, President of UM APAC, commented, “I am pleased to welcome Sue-Anne to the UM network. She is an accomplished executive with a proven track record of success. I am confident she will help propel UM Malaysia to even greater heights as we navigate an ever-evolving landscape for our clients.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – With the debut of MARKETECH APAC’s “What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Malaysia”, CleverTap has joined us as a Gold Sponsor for this conference and will be leading the conversation on the importance of customer lifetime value (CLV) for businesses.

The company offers an all-in-one customer engagement platform that helps brands personalise and optimise all consumer touch points to improve user engagement, retention, and lifetime value. Moreover, it is built to address the needs of retention and growth teams, with audience analytics, deep segmentation, multi-channel engagement, product recommendations, and automation in one unified product.

Through the conference, Jezreel Teng, enterprise account executive at CleverTap will be presenting a keynote presentation on aiding businesses to fully understand why CLV is crucial for the success of businesses, as well as sharing how personalised experiences contribute to increased customer loyalty and, consequently, higher CLV.

This discussion is beneficial in the sense that a high CLV signifies not only financial success but also a thriving customer-centric approach that fosters enduring relationships, boosts brand reputation and secures a resilient position in the market. In essence, customer lifetime value serves as a compass for businesses navigating the complex landscape of sustained profitability and customer engagement.

Jezreel Teng, enterprise account executive at CleverTap, said “An increased focus on customer retention is the obvious choice for any brand when considering the sharp rise in acquisition costs. A mere 5% improvement in retention has been found to increase profits anywhere from 25% to 95%. But brands must not stop there. They must go one step further and ensure users are actively engaged throughout their journey; transacting and adding value regularly. Through this conversation, I intend on diving deep into just how important CLV is in the long term sustainability and profitability of a brand.”

Teddy Cambosa, deputy regional editor at MARKETECH APAC, commented, “Understanding and maximising customer lifetime value (CLV) isn’t just a metric; it’s a strategic imperative, guiding businesses to not only thrive in the present but to compose a symphony of sustained success in the future. It’s the art of turning customers into advocates, transactions into tales, and businesses into legends. We look forward to how CleverTap can spearhead this conversation and inspire marketing leaders in Malaysia to develop efficient CLV strategies for their businesses.”

What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Malaysia is part of the trilogy of conferences from MARKETECH APAC’s “What’s NEXT 2023-2024” series. The conference features a diverse lineup of marketing leaders across Malaysia, representing local and international brands including AEON, Atome, Astro, Boost, CelcomDigi, IHH Healthcare, InterContinental, Gentari, MR. D.I.Y., PropertyGuru, Secret Recipe Cakes & Cafe, Sunway Malls, and Touch ‘n Go Group.

Head over to the official event site to see the full agenda of What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Malaysia.

Malaysia – Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R Singapore has announced they have won the tender for insurance company FWD Takaful’s new mental health awareness campaign in Malaysia.

FWD’s unconventional pitch aims to produce a campaign that targets overcoming Malaysian cultural taboos around talking about mental health. It further aims to normalise and destigmatize this issue across the country by highlighting the benefits of having conversations about negative feelings.

VMLY&R’s upcoming campaign, in partnership with content experience agency Hogarth Malaysia, will tap into Malaysia’s love of music to raise awareness and generate conversations around mental health. It will run for three months, starting in January 2024, and is outlined to include film, video, digital, EDM, out-of-home (OOH), event activation, and radio promotion.

The campaign pitch comes after the company’s mental health survey in 2022 revealed that 62% of Malaysians have experienced mental health challenges and severe social disapproval or know someone who has.

Further solidifying the company’s commitment to their upcoming campaign, FWD Takaful took the topic of mental health to heart through the pitch process itself, which focused on reducing anxiety and stress for participating agencies.

The insurance company created a process that minimises the stressors for teams involved in competitive pitching, including unrealistic client briefs, timelines, expectations, and budgets.

For this to happen, FWD Takaful worked closely with the pitching agencies on an open creative brief, which could be delivered on a flexible timeline, while simultaneously giving them access to FWD’s Mind Strength services.

Raymond Chin, chief creative officer for Asia at VMLY&R, said, “Social change starts with a conversation, and talking about your problems can offer serious relief, so the new campaign aims to highlight this point and encourage open conversation in Malaysia as an antidote to the current stigma.”

He added, “It was refreshing to work on a pitch where the client understood the issues faced by agency teams and was willing to create a pitch brief that made the agencies’ mental health a priority. Everyone benefitted from the way FWD Takaful ran this pitch—the client got better ideas out of it, and the agency team was able to dedicate time and resources while making sure their mental health was taken care of.”

India – Mumbai-based digital business-to-business (B2B) payments company PayMate has announced its expansion into the Asia Pacific region as part of its global growth journey.

With this expansion, PayMate is now launching its operations in Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia to provide digital payment solutions tailored to the specific needs of each market while maintaining a unified global strategy.

Businesses from the aforementioned markets will now also be able to access PayMate’s solutions, which include digitization and automation of financial processes, invoice discounting, and API-as-a-service for financial institutions.

PayMate’s platform offers seamless integration with existing systems and facilitates expedited payments and efficient cash flow analysis, which businesses can now leverage to improve their working capital management.

The B2B payments firm is also looking to explore potential expansion opportunities in other APAC markets, including Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, in Australia and South Africa, PayMate operates under the name “DuNoMo” as a wholly owned subsidiary.

The B2B payments firm now has established subsidiaries in APAC and the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) regions.

Ajay Adiseshan, founder and CEO at PayMate, said, “We are delighted to introduce PayMate’s innovative B2B payment solutions in Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia. Our rapid expansion into these countries highlights our commitment to enabling frictionless and highly secure B2B transactions for enterprises. We look forward to contributing to the thriving fintech ecosystems in these markets and to collaborating with local partners to drive the digital transformation of B2B payments.”

Amirreza Sawal, general manager for APAC at PayMate, also added, “PayMate is committed to expanding its footprint in the APAC regions, delivering local businesses with the means to elevate supply chain payments, minimise expenses, and optimise working capital. Our versatile APIs offer effortless integration with third-party functionalities, fostering innovation, scalability, and a competitive advantage. These B2B Payments APIs transcend industry boundaries, serving as an adaptable solution across diverse sectors.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – As the country strives to enhance training opportunities and digital competitiveness, the Malaysian government has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with global technology company Google. 

This collaborative effort offers businesses of varying sizes to further develop their technological capabilities by employing upskilling programmes, digital infrastructure investments, responsible innovation in artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud-first policies. 

In particular, this enables an array of digital learning paths such as Google Cloud, CloudMile and Trainocate. Users who successfully complete these learning paths will earn digital skills badges which can be used for their resumes and an extended 30-day access to more learning paths.

Talking about this collaboration, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said, “This latest commitment by Google, aimed at accelerating local innovation and talent development in the field of AI, will certainly boost the nation’s digital competitiveness, in line with the Madani Economy framework and the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030).”

“The Madani Economy framework aims to increase the size of Malaysia’s economic pie, as well as ensure that all stakeholders – particularly the Malaysian public and small businesses – will enjoy the ensuing socio-economic benefits,” he added.

Ruth Porat, chief financial officer for Alphabet and Google added, “The partnership we are announcing with the government of Malaysia aligns Google’s local mission of advancing Malaysia together with the government’s goal to create a supportive ecosystem for innovation that includes more meaningful and equitable job opportunities.” 

In 2022, the company’s products and programmes supported over 47,900 jobs and also contributed, directly and indirectly, an estimated US$2.8bil in economic benefits to local businesses.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Digital infrastructure services provider EDOTCO Group has recently announced the appointment of Gayan Koralage as the new director of Malaysia business. 

This key appointment is in line with the company’s strategic vision to strengthen its operations and contribute to Malaysia’s ambition of becoming Asia’s Digital Tiger during this transformative Golden Digital Decade.

In his new role, Koralage is poised to steer EDOTCO Malaysia’s operations towards unprecedented growth at a pivotal time as the telecommunications industry undergoes significant evolution. 

Additionally, he will continue to hold his position as director of strategy for EDOTCO Group and country managing director for EDOTCO Sri Lanka.

With Koralage’s appointment, EDOTCO Malaysia is set to solidify its status as the country’s premier digital infrastructure service provider as it prepares to harness the potential of emerging trends and capitalise on the accelerated deployment of 5G networks, upgrades to the existing 4G network capacity, small cell deployments, and the revolutionary introduction of 3D internet technology.

Adlan Tajudin, group CEO of EDOTCO, said, “As we approach the Golden Digital Decade, our Malaysian business inspires greater confidence in our delivery of cutting-edge digital infrastructure solutions.”

“Gayan Koralage’s appointment will be integral to EDOTCO Malaysia’s digital transformation journey and fostering a culture of excellence within our company,” he added. 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Pos Malaysia, a prominent national postal and parcel service provider, has recently announced the expansion of its second retail store in Kuala Lumpur today, November 17.

Strategically located in Brickfields, the recently inaugurated shop covers approximately 1,100 square feet of retail space and is merged with the existing Pos Laju Brickfields.

A notable addition to the establishment is the Pos Kafe, which provides customers with a variety of freshly cooked, ready-to-eat cuisine and beverages for dine-in or takeout. This can be accessed by the public this year, following the May 2023 launch of its first branch in Medan Tuanku, Kuala Lumpur.

Sumesh Rahavendra, group chief transformation and digital officer at Pos Malaysia, said, “We were heartened by the positive feedback received from the opening of our initial Pos Shop in Medan Tuanku. We are confident this second outlet will be equally embraced by the community. With the introduction of Pos Kafe within Pos Shop, customers will now be able to enjoy freshly prepared food and beverages daily, providing a convenient grab-and-go meal option amidst their busy schedules.”

“As Pos Malaysia continues on its transformation journey, we are committed to delivering innovative retail concepts that add value for our customers. We are enhancing our extensive retail space to offer more services and greater convenience to the rakyat,” added Sumesh.

“As an organisation that is passionate about building trust to connect lives and businesses for a better tomorrow, we are looking forward to serving the community beyond the confines of traditional postal transactions,” he ended.

Leveraging its wide reach and retail footprint, Pos Shop is set to inaugurate nine additional stores in Pahang, Selangor, Johor, and Melaka by the end of the year. This move is aimed at providing customers with an immersive in-store experience and retail convenience across Malaysia.