Tag: Marketech Apac

Singapore – Empowered Women 2023: Marketing Conference & Awards, MARKETECH APAC’s latest initiative to recognise women’s leadership and empowerment in the marketing and advertising industry, has officially unveiled the official jury panel of its upcoming awards ceremony. The judging panel represents a wide variety of seasoned and leading women leaders in the Asia-Pacific region.

The panel will be led by head of juries Eileen Ooi Wei Ling, chief executive officer at Omnicom Media Group; and Michelle Eve A. De Guzman, marketing director at Cebu Pacific Air.

Wei Ling said, “I think this is a great way in recognizing women in driving change, leadership and building next generation leaders. Women need to support women more, and bringing awareness and recognition of women who’s done just that and also for others is a great way to encourage more women to do so, and to break barriers of women juggling work and life.”

She added, “I would like to see individuals demonstrating agility in leadership in achieving change, empathy in raising next generation leaders, and creativity in problem solving.”

Other members of the jury include Allenie Caccam, regional commerce head at AirAsia; Melissa Sandhu, head of sales and marketing at Prince Court Medical Centre; Tanushri Rastogi, marketing lead for Popeyes APAC at Restaurant Brands International; and Joanna Teoh, branding director at Una Brands.

There are 5 categories women leaders in the industry can participate in based on the nature of their company.

  1. Empowered Women in Marketing is the category for women leaders from brands.
  2. Empowered Women in Agency is for women leaders from the agency side.
  3. Empowered Women in Tech is for women leaders from tech companies.
  4. Empowered Women in Platforms is the category for women leaders from media, e-commerce, and e-sports brands.
  5. Empowered Women in SMEs is for women entrepreneurs and leaders who own or lead a company with employees below 250.

The nominees for the awards will be judged based on 2 main criteria – (1) the leadership they have shown to their respective companies and agencies; and (2) the contributions they have made to the company during their leadership tenure. 

There would be at least 20 winners for each category. MARKETECH APAC will be writing a dedicated article for each winner to further celebrate their success.

Said event by MARKETECH APAC succeeds last year’s pilot launch, Empowered Women Series 2022. During the said inaugural initiative, it selected 13 women leaders across the Asia Pacific for exclusive conversations in discovering their leadership journey, experiences, and insights into marketing. The content was produced in the form of videos, podcasts, and articles. 

Shaina Teope, regional editor at MARKETECH APAC, said, “We started the initiative with a humble yet notable content series in the form of interviews–it’s now time to bring it further. We’re thrilled to officially announce the co-women leaders in marketing who will be giving justice to the laurels we’ll be conferring in diverse areas of marketing leadership.”

Key dates related to the awards ceremony this 2023 are as follows:

Entry Submission – until March 31, 2023

Judging Period – April 1 – 15, 2023

Virtual Awarding Ceremony – May 31, 2023

The nomination fee is US$249 (early-bird rate), applicable until February 28, 2023. After which, the standard fee of US$349 applies.

Head over to the official event site for the complete details. Interested parties can contact MARKETECH APAC’s team about the nomination process and sponsorship opportunities at [email protected].

With mobile platforms now the lifeline of our content consumption, we have seen storytelling in this space become an extension of the ever-sophisticated and highly elaborate silver screen. One particular Australian brand – Sportsbet – took cinematic value up a notch in the early part of 2022, resulting in the launch of its March campaign emerging as our Video Campaign of the Year. 

Through the use of new technology from virtual production studio Dreamscreen, Sportsbet, Australia-based online betting and entertainment website, has raised the bar in ad delivery, building promotional shorts that boast bespoke production to take audiences into an otherworldly delight. 

Sportsbet’s team, Jason Thatcher and Raman Goraya, the brand’s heads in brand and advertising, and content and partnerships, respectively, jumped in a conversation with MARKETECH APAC to bare with us how the campaign for its betting products spurted out of the seeds of creativity to ultimately take form as films that time-travels viewers into eras of Ancient Egypt and the Middle Ages. 

The campaign sequel that invited Cleopatra into the spotlight

The March 2022 campaign, which put into focus its group betting feature ‘Bet With Mates’ and multi-bet product ‘Same Game Multi’, was in fact a sequel of an earlier series of ads that marked the launch of Sportsbet’s unique cinematic direction. In the 2021 campaign, settings included barbarian times and storylines circled imaginative themes such as an alien invasion and travelling to the future.

Thatcher and Goraya said that these are the lengths necessary in order to create product and brand stickiness. 

“Sportsbet is always focussed on making sure we can drive [cut-through] and memorability,” they said. “With so many messages in [the] market (within the wagering category especially), if we’re not capturing the attention of the audience to promote our products, then we’ve failed.”

The latest one, developed in partnership with production outfit Palomina, had a trio of ads within it. The short titled ‘Alliance’ was set in the Middle Ages, the film ‘Cleopatra’ showed the queen amongst her people in Egypt, and the ad ‘Rescue’ places fictional characters on a deserted island. Each film was striking and on point both in visual and flow – carried out with top-class cinematography, individuals in the historical settings are seen planning to place their bets as a group with gusto. 

“We used a similar approach for [the] 2021 campaign, and we found our audience [was] highly engaged by bringing fascinating but recognisable environments to life,” shared Thatcher and Goraya.

“There was also quite a bit of humour and cheekiness in putting your everyday person in a setting viewers would usually see on a Hollywood feature or Netflix series. By doing [this,] we were not only gaining memorability but staying relevant to our audience.”

The brand outperforming itself

According to Sportsbet’s marketing heads, the brand outdid itself in the March 2022 campaign with the content hitting above-average levels of its own benchmarks in bringing “Enjoyment”, being “Different” and “Unique”, and as an initiative that “Sets trends”. 

Thatcher and Goraya said they wanted to build ‘tension’ and this suspense and excitement was achieved by crafting environments outside of the current time period. 

“[When] faced with the temper of Cleopatra or a medieval witch, we are able to position our product offering as an interesting solution. Whenever we expand outside the scenarios you see on a lot of advertising, we notice viewers have a higher level of engagement and curiosity.”

Of course, whilst consumers are bedazzled with the brand’s creative delivery, a production of such scale is not without its own challenges. According to the team, the numerous iterations needed for the campaign made for intricate logistics. 

In fact, one of the executions which played around the release of the new Top Gun film had to be delayed due to the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine political tensions at the time.

“Our media investment dictates Sportsbet needs to produce a wide range of creative executions to avoid wear out and irritation,” said the brand’s leaders. 

“Having to deliver up to 30 different executions (including bespoke digital media assets) across 5 unique scenarios becomes a complex production challenge. We had challenges where we needed to adjust scripts for filming time and making sure we can talk to the right product offerings.”

The courage the brand mustered in order to get out of its comfort zone in marketing is obviously paying well. The streak of innovative and original films is not just hitting home in terms of brand engagement, but is also adding up to earn the brand a masterful reputation in adland.

To those who wish to adopt a similar level of creative endeavour, the duo said, “The main advice would be to have ambition but stay agile and expect challenges throughout [the] production.” 

What’s next for Sportsbet?

As far as cinematic narratives are concerned, the campaign won’t be the last in the betting brand’s sleeve, the marketing heads ensured. 

Sportsbet had not been laying low a bit and is consistent with its marketing efforts, albeit on a more laid-back approach. The latest one from its content line-up is an ad for the World Cup, still injecting that tongue-in-cheek play we’ve all come to love.

Thatcher and Goraya said they have a commitment to provide the best and most innovative products to their customers. 

The duo concluded, “Our marketing will continue to support that goal as well as [continue] to highlight the fun and engaging nature of our brand.” 

This recognition is based on Google Analytics results on the most-read stories of 2022, along with editorial validation on the significance of a leader’s contribution, campaign results, and overall impact.

Singapore – With social restrictions gradually easing down and the world slowly returning to normal, we are now realising the full potential of the phygital world: a space that brings a combination of digital and physical experiences. From SMEs and institutions to large enterprises, this blended experience is being incorporated into their day-to-day operations because of its numerous advantages.

The year 2022 saw the marketing industry flourishing in more ways than one. This includes the rise of influencer and content marketing, the continuous boom of the e-commerce space, and the metaverse getting more known in the digital world, amongst others. But amidst this upward trajectory, there are still challenges that the marketing industry will face and will have to overcome now that hybrid marketing strategies are in place. 

MARKETECH APAC, in its quest to share key trends, insights, and relevant predictions for the preparation of the marketing community for 2023, has brought back its future-oriented industry series – but now much broader and larger to give the community a 360-degree view of what to expect in the coming year. ‘What’s NEXT 2023’ now comprises of four main pillars – article, interview, webinar, and conference –  and to kick the series off, the digital media starts with the launch of its thought leadership article series. 

The article leg of the industry series features the views, predictions, and some tips from various marketing leaders across APAC on different industry-relevant topics for 2023 and beyond. This includes exclusive written insights on integrated campaigns, personalisation, and B2B marketing, amongst others. 

Part of the series is Andrea Chuang, head of marketing for Malaysia-based used car platform myTukar, who will be discussing the importance of integrated campaigns and things to consider in doing these campaigns; and Jan Harling, director of new customer acquisition for APAC at foodpanda, who will be sharing his knowledge about personalised marketing and what brands need to know about their consumers. He will also be providing tips on how media and creatives can work together for their personalisation initiatives, and how to target consumers in a world that’s becoming less targetable.

Check out the initial line-up of published insights by marketing leaders under the series:

Kick-starting the article series, Amperity’s Area Vice President Billy Loizou explained the consequences of having fragmented customer data for businesses. He also enumerated three reasons why a great identity resolution strategy is a must-have for brands.

Click here to read the full article.

In this insightful read, James Campbell, regional manager of SnapLogic for ANZ, stressed why it is important to incorporate intelligent practices into companies’ data integration, how vital it is to leverage modern technology, and how automation helps enterprises deliver and achieve their goals, amongst other things. 

Click here to read the full article.

With tech companies and governing bodies making stronger restrictions when it comes to data privacy, businesses might find it harder to access customer data. In this article, Billy Loizou, area vice president of Amperity, shares how you can empower your business despite the stricter privacy rules, unlock the value of customer data to drive growth, and use ‘messy’ data to make the year 2023 for your business a success.

Click here to read the full article.

At present, B2B marketers still believe that they should always talk about how ‘good’ their products and services are. Donovan Chee, head of marketing and communications for SEA at Bureau Veritas says that marketers don’t have to do this, and instead learn to understand their customers and “win their hearts and minds,” amongst other tips.

Click here to read the full article.

The fifth installment of this series features Negar Mokhtarnia, director of product at Australian retail brand Pet Circle, weighing the importance of focusing on customer lifetime value over customer acquisition for e-commerce companies. She also shared her own take on leveraging data to boost brands’ customer experience and establishing a relational e-commerce experience to ensure sustainable growth.

Click here to read the full article.

Consumers today expect brands to be more vocal about social movements and contentious topics, which puts the responsibility to brands being an advent of change. In this article, Aaron Brooks, co-founder of influencer marketing platform Vamp, gives his insights on purpose-driven marketing, why it is important, the value of authenticity, its four key elements, and some advice for brands looking to leverage this approach.

Click here to read the full article.

Conventional business knowledge implies that sales and marketing should be tied together to drive profit and define a brand’s success. In this piece, Mark Opao, communications planning partner at Kaspersky for APAC explains why the two are hard to fuse and exposes the underlying realities of marrying Brand Building and Sales Promotion.

Click here to read the full article.

In the post-pandemic era, we just might see economic environments and market situations evolving. So, how can companies leverage these evolutions? Hongchia How, vice president of Appier for APAC answers this question by enumerating three MarTech strategies that can help companies seize great business opportunities and make smarter business decisions.

Click here to read the full article.

Asia-Pacific’s share of the global connected cars market reached 42% in 2020, and is anticipated to register a CAGR of more than 19% in the coming years. But how can this drive the growth of media tech platforms? Sharon Soh, chief planning and audience officer at UM APAC shares with us how, as well as its impact on brands and marketers in this thought-leadership piece.

Click here to read the full article.

As data and measurement becomes a cross-functional effort with marketing research and technology teammates – how can marketing lead the way in being more agile and achieving more success? Anna Henwood, CEO of Stickybeak shares how creating a mindset of experimentation and team collaboration – with your customer deciding if your hypothesis is right.

Click here to read the full article.

With many companies investing in customer data platforms and data agency partners, the real question is how marketers can make the most out of it? Antony Yiu, chief executive officer at PHD Hong Kong explains the process on how marketers can make their first-party data ‘dance’ in harmony and bring impactful revenue to someone’s business.

Click here to read the full article.

In an era of increasingly targeted marketing and limited budgets, how can brands effectively reduce wastage and improve performance by ensuring that their ads reach the right audience? This is the question that Jan Harling, chief executive officer at Virtus Asia Consulting asks in this latest article, centered around the topic of personalised marketing.

Click here to read the full article.

Watch this space as we update this article with details and links for other What’s NEXT 2023 thought-leadership articles.

If you are a marketing leader and would like to share your insights and predictions under the series, email us at [email protected].

Singapore – The immersive space of the metaverse is all the rage now, but the said virtual world with its inherent wellspring of innovation keeps surprising brands and marketers with its capabilities as an interactive platform. With this, it is vital that we keep delving into conversations that would help keep us up to speed and maintain our competence in the metaverse.

MARKETECH APAC, together with consumer intelligence platform Talkwalker, is proud to present the latest industry discussion on marketing in the metaverse. The expansive virtual world gives way for multiple and diverse iterations in the business of marketing, and through a gathering of expert minds in the field, MARKETECH APAC aims to help brands wade their way through the different challenges and opportunities that await them as we enter the new year filled with new trends. 

What’s NEXT 2023: Metaverse Marketing Activations in APAC, which will be held this November 29, 2022, at 2 pm SGT, has roped in brand and marketing leaders that have walked the talk of marketing in the metaverse. Through the webinar, we are going to discuss what has been done, what was deemed effective and not, and what more can we do to keep our consumers engaged and be on top of our game as more players enter and amplify their presence in the metaverse.

This November, learn how you can future-proof your marketing strategies for the metaverse by hearing the insights of Benjamin Soubies, managing director of Talkwalker for JAPAC; Ramakrishnan C.N., managing director & metaverse lead of Accenture Song; Amrita Mallik, vice president of HSBC India; and Chris Gurney, group creative director of Virtue Worldwide.

Soubies will be giving a presentation on Metaverse & Social: How To Effectively Engage Communities where he will deep dive into the sentiment of consumers toward the metaverse: how they think, feel, and do in relation to the highly immersive space. Soubies will also be sharing the top metaverse activations by brands in APAC and how brands can make the best out of the fusion of the two most popular consumer spaces today: metaverse and gaming. 

The panel discussion, The Metaverse – Leading The Charge For Metaverse Marketing Opportunities, will be graced by Ramakrishnan, Mallik, and Gurney. Moderated by Shaina Teope, MARKETECH APAC’s regional editor, the three leaders will be picking each other’s minds and imparting their top insights on how to best launch marketing campaigns in the metaverse. The group of industry leaders will also uncover what consumers have been saying about the most recent trends in the space, and most importantly, enlighten viewers on what brands can expect to see in the virtual ecosystem this 2023. 

Shaina Teope, regional editor of MARKETECH APAC, commented, “MARKETECH APAC has been leading the conversation on the metaverse, and after our comprehensive 3-episode series on the space, we are proud to bring the discussion much further through this industry webinar with our partner, consumer intelligence platform Talkwalker.”

Meanwhile, Benjamin Soubies, managing director of Talkwalker for JAPAC, commented, “As featured in Talkwalker’s latest Social Media Trends 2023 report, the next year will be a critical time for the metaverse. The possibilities for brands are endless, with numerous opportunities to experiment and innovate in the space.” 

He added, “To succeed, brands will need to fortify their tech stack and have a robust system in place to understand the aspirations of consumer communities and how they are engaging in the metaverse. With consumer intelligence, marketers will be able to create authentic and relevant experiences that resonate with their target communities in the virtual reality.” 

Do not miss this very important discussion on one of the pillars of Web 3.0. Gear up for the future developments within the metaverse, and equip yourself with future-proof marketing strategies for 2023. 

Register HERE to secure your spot at the webinar. 

The recent brand ambassador announcement by Shopee Philippines has caused a wide range of reactions amongst Filipinos online, with the majority turning against Shopee for tapping local celebrity Toni Gonzaga who is known for her controversial support of now-president Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. 

As of this writing, Shopee has defended its decision, stating that Gonzaga was chosen for her ‘mass appeal’, and not for her ‘political views’.

Despite this, clamour and discussion regarding Shopee Philippines’ announcement remained. In light of this, MARKETECH APAC has tapped social media monitoring Digimind to learn more about how the negative flak unfolded–as told by social media data.

Are Social Mentions Equal to ‘Boycott’ Sentiment?

Digimind noted in its data that social media mentions of Shopee spiked following the brand ambassador announcement, peaking at 286,495 on September 29. Said day was the time Shopee Philippines uploaded a teaser video of Gonzaga as the new brand ambassador.

However, despite the large volume of tweets mentioning Shopee, social media mentions, specifically those suggesting the boycott, only took 0.4% of all social media mentions. Despite the small percentage, this still amounts to a fairly sizeable volume of4,000 netizens expressing their opinion to boycott Shopee.

According to Olivier Girard, head of Digimind for APAC, influencers will always be on the verge of receiving scrutiny, especially when being associated with a partisan group or cause. 

“While consumers are familiar with the concept of influencers or celebrities endorsing brands, brands now need to have a more stringent process in place when assessing each influencer’s fit for their brand or campaign. Any brand, large or small, runs the risk of facing some level of social scrutiny or backlash when announcing a public figure with uncertainty over the public might receive them,” he said.

Was There a Spillover to Rival Platform Lazada?

 Following the negative flak to Shopee, numerous citizens have shown interest in moving to rival e-commerce platform Lazada, which is also one of the most popular e-commerce platforms in the country.

However, Digimind notes that the social media conversations around Shopee still eclipse those about Lazada, showing that resentment towards the former is much stronger than renewed support for the latter. Over the course of September 26 to October 3, Shopee registered around ~2M social media mentions while Lazada only managed to get around ~145k social media mentions. In addition, Shopee’s mentions reached around ~11m users while Lazada reached around ~5.2m.

“Where brand reputation is concerned, it is therefore critical that brands evaluate potential ambassadors closely in the domain of social media,” Girard said, related to how brands should pick their next brand ambassador.

Who and Where the Discussion is Coming From

Digimind noted a great number of discussions related to Shopee come from sellers themselves and users that are greatly concerned about the welfare of the sellers.

A handful of small businesses and online shops have decided to create a business account, with some saying that they would not support a platform that ‘enables [political lies]’, as well as ‘unjust termination of employees’. Netizens have pointed out the irony from Shopee Philippines’ side in retrenching employees in order to ‘optimise’ operations and then contracting a new brand ambassador afterwards. 

Girard said that it’s important for brands to obtain consumer sentiments to help them prepare communication contingencies ahead of time, as in the case of Shopee. 

“[This] can help brands identify influencer profiles that match their target community and sieve any negative sentiment your marketing and social teams might otherwise miss out on in the macro analysis,” Girard explained.

In the end, the brand ambassador announcement for Shopee Philippines went on as usual, albeit social engagement against them has diminished over time. Time will only tell how these media social sentiments truly play out in the longer run.

The Philippines – MARKETECH APAC, a marketing-centric media company has reformatted last year’s Empowered Women Series into Empowered Women 2023: Marketing Conference & Awards.

Last year, MARKETECH APAC selected 13 women leaders across the Asia Pacific to discover their leadership journey, experiences, and insights into anything about marketing. The content was produced in the form of videos, podcasts, and articles. Some women marketing leaders that graced the inaugural series were Manisha Seewal, CMO of Gumtree Australia; Vasuta Agarwal, SVP & managing director of InMobi APAC; Angeli Beltran, director of interactive commerce ASEAN & global care centre of excellence at Reckitt; Raushida Vasaiwala, general manager for APAC at Celtra; and Eileen Ooi, CEO of Omnicom Media Group Malaysia.

The conference component

This year, MARKETECH APAC introduces a unique platform to recognize women’s empowerment in the industry in a one-day virtual event on May 31, 2023. The virtual event starts with a half-day conference featuring renowned women industry leaders in the Asia Pacific to talk about the trends and insights in marketing

Approximately, 10 top-notched women speakers will be invited to speak. While the conference features women marketing leaders, the event is open to all audiences. 

The awards segment

The second half of the day will be an awards ceremony. There are 5 categories: (1) Empowered Women in Marketing, (2) Empowered Women in Agency, (3) Empowered Women in Tech, (4) Empowered Women in Platforms, and (5) Empowered Women in SME

There would be at least 20 winners for each category. MARKETECH APAC will write a dedicated article for each winner to further celebrate their success.

All nominees will receive a complimentary pass to join the virtual event

Speaking about the launch, Joven Barceñas, founder & CEO of MARKETECH APAC, said, “We have received great feedback and reviews about our last Empowered Women Series. We are greatly encouraged to innovate and to reformat the programme to further highlight the achievements of women in the marketing industry.”

Barceñas added, “The conference component of the event allows us to gather the select women marketing leaders to share their insights and experiences not just to empower women marketers but everyone in the industry.”

“The award winners are selected by an esteemed women panel of judges in the industry. This process offers a genuine result for the winners. Not to mention that we have a head of the jury for each category which further validates the authenticity of the awards.”

Meanwhile, Shaina Teope, regional editor of MARKETECH APAC, also commented, “Diversity in leadership is an ongoing challenge for all industries and this includes the marketing world. Some of the most successful brands and creative outfits are helmed by women and we want to be at the forefront of honouring these amazing leaders. While we introduced a very successful pilot series last year, we wanted to come out with a stronger initiative. We’re proud of ‘Empowered Women 2023’ which now boasts a bigger platform to give female marketing leaders the recognition they deserve.”

Here are the key dates:

Entry Submission – until March 31, 2023

Judging Period – April 1 – 15, 2023

Virtual Awarding Ceremony – May 31, 2023

The nomination fee is US$249 (early-bird rate), applicable until February 28, 2023. After which, the standard fee of US$349 applies.

Head over to the official event site for the complete details. Interested parties can contact MARKETECH APAC’s team about the nomination process and sponsorship opportunities at [email protected].

Singapore – Influencer marketing has now reached its maturity, but as we all know, the creator economy is very fluid, and even the tiniest disruption can create ripples to give birth to entirely new innovations in this area. For those that have influencer marketing as a key part of their marketing arsenal, this reality can be intimidating. 

As the digital media for the marketing and advertising industry in APAC, MARKETECH APAC has partnered with influencer marketing platform, Vamp, to lead this very important conversation for brands and marketers. To loosely refer to ‘creator economy’, in itself, hasn’t shaken its novelty off among us; when before, influencer marketing is looked to as a vain strategy or an afterthought, it has now swelled its importance and presence to have its very own ecosystem with players and stakeholders that aim to keep the brand-content creator interactivity alive and flourishing.

The webinar, What’s NEXT 2023: Influencer Marketing in APAC, will be focusing on what more can we expect from influencer marketing in the future – in 2023 and beyond. Aaron Brooks, the co-founder and president of Vamp, will be giving a keynote presentation on how brands can best leverage their position in the new creator economy in 2023. Brooks will be sharing valuable insights on what brands can do to successfully navigate current macroeconomic trends and what marketers can learn from other brands that have successfully used creator content to unify their digital and offline presence. 

Meanwhile, a panel discussion will be touching on the developing and newly-emerging trends in influencer marketing today. Together with Brooks, Jonathan Gerard, the head of production of VaynerMedia APAC, Ruben Ahmed, director of Marketing for HP Australia & New Zealand, and Isabel Falco, chief digital & marketing officer of L’Oréal Philippines will be gracing the virtual discussion to talk about how influencer marketing is evolving to change the imperative for content creation and strategy. Furthermore, the marketing leaders will be sharing their expert views on how influencer marketing is now being leveraged to achieve objectives that go beyond branding. 

What’s NEXT 2023: Influencer Marketing in APAC webinar will be held this 8 November 2022 from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm SGT. It will be conducted as part of MARKETECH APAC’s multi-platform insights-sharing festival, What’s NEXT 2023.

“As influencer marketing continues to mature as a performance channel, what brands want and expect from creators and vice versa will naturally evolve over time,” commented Aaron Brooks, president and co-founder of Vamp. 

He added, “For the relationship to be effective, it needs to work like a partnership, starting with building an understanding of the motivations of each side, and acknowledging the expertise each party brings to the table”

“Our role as a platform provider is to help facilitate this dialogue between creators and brands, to collectively drive the best outcomes. I look forward to sharing some of our learnings during the webinar,” said Brooks.  

Shaina Teope, MARKETECH APAC’s regional editor, commented, “Influencers, and the whole influencer marketing phenomenon for that matter, has been regarded only as secondary, for so long, to the budget-heavy and big-celebrity initiatives by brands. Its significance is changing now, and comes with this is the evolution and growth of how we must realise our strategies in launching and developing influence marketing campaigns today. Let this industry discussion help you step up and sustain your influencer game for 2023 and beyond.”

The said webinar kicks off its parent industry multi-platform series, What’s NEXT 2023. Through its four main content platforms – webinar, conference, interview, and article – we will be gathering the best in the industry to help the marketing community gear up and be ready for the upcoming year’s challenges, opportunities, and trends in marketing.

To join the webinar, What’s NEXT 2023: Influencer Marketing in APAC, register HERE to secure your spot. 

Singapore – Events, following the height of the pandemic, are now putting a premium on the hybrid setup. Brands and marketers alike are utilising both the genuine tangibility of physical events and the widespread accessibility of digital events. For marketers, using a hybrid event model allows them to hit ‘two birds with one stone’ in terms of reaching out to their target audiences. 

There is a greater need for both brands and marketers to be equipped with the latest strategies and methodologies to effectively use their hybrid events for the success of their brand marketing.

With these in mind, MARKETECH APAC, the digital media for the marketing and advertising industry in APAC, and in partnership with Hubilo, is taking the lead to explore what makes events a commercial success: event-led communities and 365 communities. Happening on November 3, 2022, 2 PM (Singapore Time), the webinar ‘What’s NEXT 2023: Events in Asia Pacific’ aims to equip event planners and marketers with the latest trends and insights on how organisations can build engaging and sustainable events.

Through this event, MARKETECH APAC has gathered industry leaders to deep dive into the ecosystem of successful event planning for brands. Joining the discussion are Amit Wadhwa, chief executive officer at Dentsu Creative India; Milca Javier, head of marketing at Generali Philippines; Sophie Ahmed, senior vice president for market strategy at Hubilo; and Razlan Manjaji, director of global events at South China Morning Post.

The panellists will be sharing their views and insights on how brands and marketers create event-led communities, and test membership models, with engaging content. In addition, they will discuss what 365 communities are and how to build them to personalise events.

“Events have been the hardest hit when the pandemic struck, and just because things are now going back to normal, we can’t expect the event marketing landscape to be just the same when it was in its ideal shape. This industry event with Hubilo is so important because we’re not only going to revisit brands’ current event strategies, but we’re now revamping our playbooks to be future-ready as we unravel the impact of the collision of physical and virtual engagements,” commented Shaina Teope, MARKETECH APAC’s regional editor. 

Meanwhile, Sophie Ahmed, SVP for market strategy at Hubilo, commented, “With the digitization of events, marketers now have access to new ways to build their brand, to generate leads, to funnel these leads, to get closer to their prospects and customers and to gain deeper insight into the behaviours of their market. Events now, more than ever, can be used to drive pipelines, achieve greater insight and analytics and ultimately create more value for the customer. I’m really excited for this session where we will be covering all of this and more.”

The webinar, ‘What’s NEXT 2023: Events in Asia Pacific’, will be held on November 3, 2022, 2:00 pm SGT. Secure your spot at the webinar HERE.

Singapore – Oftentimes, we honour the collective genius of marketing and creative agencies against the backdrop of a groundbreaking brand campaign, but this time, we want to dive deeper.

The creative collaboration and process that these creative outfits immerse in is no minute feat, and we want to put the spotlight on the driving force that pushes for their success – the leaders.

There’s leadership and then there’s ‘unique’ leadership; and by this, we mean the agency chiefs that choose to let their ingenuity and out-of-the-box thinking influence the way they lead and empower their teams. 

Called ‘Agency Leadership Decoded’, the series will be inviting the top management of leading creative agencies in APAC to share with us how they are innovating their strategies to keep the morale and engagement of their teams in tip-top shape. 

Through each story, we aim to let leaders reveal their distinct leadership philosophies and share how they are letting their passion and prowess in the creative shapeshift into one-of-a-kind corporate initiatives. 

Learn the interesting insights of the following leaders:

Jiravara shares about how she is helping build within teams the ‘Immunity for change’.

Jacqui lets us in on how they are creating meaningful experiences within the agency that enables them to cast meaningful difference for brands.

Virat talks about the challenge of leaders in creating an environment that is resistance-proof to growth.

Madina discusses how strategic and insight-driven huddles can make a difference in teams’ empowerment.

Thomas shares how the agency is creating success from within in order for the team to live out its mission of ‘creating connected brands.’

The Philippines – MARKETECH APAC‘s What’s NEXT returns this year with a stronger push to bring the industry together through a variety of knowledge-sharing activities. MARKETECH APAC will continue to feature thought-leadership articles written by renowned marketing leaders to cover various marketing areas, as it did last year.

With MARKETECH APAC‘s ongoing push to create relevant video content, we will gather the best in the industry this year and sit down with them to discuss how marketers can prepare for the upcoming year of marketing opportunities and challenges.

On November 3, 2022, What’s NEXT 2023 will kick off with a regional webinar, What’s NEXT: Events in Asia Pacific, in collaboration with event tech platform, Hubilo. On November 8, in partnership with influencer marketing platform Vamp, another regional webinar, What’s Next: Influencer Marketing in APAC, will be held.

True to its mission of creating a well-connected marketing community in Asia Pacific, What’s NEXT 2023 concludes with a two-day hybrid conference, What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Asia Pacific, on February 21-22, with at least 120 physical attendees in Manila and 1,500 virtual attendees from various markets in Asia Pacific.

The conference will spark offline and online discussions about digital, e-commerce, customer engagement, CX, esports, research, B2B, metaverse, and other relevant topics that will help marketers future-proof marketing strategies.

MARKETECH APAC’s What’s NEXT 2023 will be a go-to platform for checking out the marketing industry’s new trends, opportunities, and challenges to be explored in the region through this holistic approach.

Keep an eye on our website and social media pages for updates on the hybrid conference.

Please contact Joven Barceñas at [email protected] if you are interested in becoming a partner.