Tag: Marketing

Singapore – The Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth (MCCY) is promoting harmony amidst diversity in its latest film series with advertising agency DDB Group Singapore.

As Singapore celebrates its 60th year of independence, MCCY’s campaign showcases the values uniting Singaporeans. It highlights multiculturalism and invites Singaporeans to maintain mutual understanding.

The three-part series captures conversations between Singaporeans, highlighting the country’s diversity. It shows how a Chinese and batik artist combine their skills to create art while two cooks blend Indian and Chinese cuisines to make a new dish.

The campaign emphasises how multiculturalism is an asset that needs to be preserved for future generations. It was launched on YouTube, complemented by assets on social media, broadcast TV, and radio.

Singapore is home to multiple races and religions, regarded as one of the most diverse populations in Asia. It is comprised of Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian, and Peranakan communities.

Jeff Cheong, CEO of DDB Group Singapore, said, “Throughout time, food, art, and music have served as powerful bridges, uniting diverse communities through a shared passion. As we celebrate our nation’s 60th anniversary, it is vital to cherish these intrinsic values that propel us forward as one. The campaign taps into these shared emotions to demonstrate we have so much more in common than we think and everything to gain from working and playing together.”

Singapore – Digital-first telco MyRepublic, has launched gamification mechanics for its broadband and mobile subscribers’ customer experience journey. The ‘Pocket Rocket Adventures’ game is available on MyRepublic’s mobile app.

The gamification strategy is part of MyRepublic’s efforts to boost engagement, loyalty, and long-term customer value. It leverages innovative and non-traditional channels to build a more interactive relationship with customers.

Through the game, subscribers can get rewards from playtime and gain prizes from completing challenges and participating in events within the game. Subscribers can earn points, digital rewards, and exclusive merchandise. The game also has a tiered reward mechanism based on tenure and engagement.

‘Pocket Rocket Adventures’ also serves as a loyalty program for MyRepublic, providing the company with a view of customer behaviour and preferences.

The initiative is part of the company’s strategy to stand out against competitors. It also builds on MyRepublic’s ‘Geeks Use Us’ campaign, tapping into the gaming community.

Terry Williams, vice president, consumer at MyRepublic, said, “Pocket Rocket Adventures is more than just a game—it’s a strategic extension of how we view customer experience in the digital age. As a digital-native telco, we are constantly exploring new ways to engage our customers. This is an industry-first initiative in Singapore’s telecom sector, where gamification is embedded into our core customer engagement model.”

“Gamification is no longer just a trend in consumer apps—it’s now a business tool. We believe telcos need to evolve beyond transactional models and create participatory experiences that are emotionally engaging and memorable. This program is the start of a longer-term transformation in how we design and deliver customer value,” Williams added.

Singapore – Samsung Electronics Singapore has named Lynn Chong its new head of marketing. She will spearhead the company’s marketing and communication efforts in Singapore, amplifying its mobile and consumer electronics divisions.

In her new role, Chong will be responsible for Samsung’s integrated marketing communications, media, social, digital, communications, and brand partnerships.

Before the appointment, Chong was head of brand marketing for Samsung Electronics Singapore’s mobile experience division for four years. During her stint, she led the marketing efforts for Samsung’s Galaxy portfolio.

Chong has spearheaded initiatives to establish the market presence of the brand’s foldables and AI offerings. She has worked on campaigns such as Samsung’s ‘AI Do’ with Singtel.

With over 20 years of experience in marketing and communication, she has held leadership roles at NTUC FairPrice, OCBC, JWT, and Ogilvy.

“We are excited to have Lynn step into an expanded role to lead integrated marketing efforts in Singapore. As an established marketer and team lead, she has led several transformative campaigns to bring to life our innovative mobile offerings. Her new appointment serves as evidence of our commitment to both the professional growth of our talent and the strategic imperative to cultivate enhanced consumer relationships within the Singaporean market,” Jeffrey Hahn, president at Samsung Electronics Singapore, commented.

“I am deeply honoured to have the opportunity to take on an expanded role within the team. Consumers in Singapore know exactly what they are looking out for when they interact with a brand, and it is important that we remain relevant to our consumers in a fast-evolving marketplace. We are eager to engage our consumers meaningfully through innovative and impactful campaigns,” Chong said.

Singapore – Target Media Singapore, a digital media solutions provider, has announced the departure of chief commercial officer Henry Goh from his role. Goh exits the company as he seeks new chapters in his professional and personal life.

Goh held the role for almost six years, where he became a significant part of Target Media’s leadership team and commercial growth. Throughout his stint, he strengthened the company’s relationships with its partners and clients.

“I am privileged to have the opportunity to roll out and helm two distinctly new media in the form of the Digital Display Panel (DDP) and Bus Shelter Advertising platform over the course of my time in the Singapore media industry. It has been a remarkable journey. It has been a remarkable journey to be part of the Target Media story,” Goh said.

“I’m grateful to have worked alongside such passionate and dedicated teammates, and to have partnered with so many forward-thinking clients and agencies. I leave with a full heart, immense pride in what we’ve built, and excitement for what’s ahead for myself and for the company,” Goh added.

Target Media operates under Focus Media Group company, a subsidiary of Focus Media China and SPH Media. The company specialises in out-of-home advertising.

Last year, Target Media appointed Daniel Ng as its chief revenue officer.

Ng commented, “Henry’s departure marks a meaningful milestone for all of us at Target Media. His contributions go beyond numbers. He’s helped shape the culture, values, and people-first spirit of our commercial team. We are deeply grateful for his leadership and friendship, and we wish him all the success and happiness in his next chapter.”

Sharmin Du, CEO of Target Media SG, said, “From the earliest days of Target Media, Henry has been more than just a leader, he’s been a cornerstone of everything we’ve built. As one of our first executives, Henry helped shape not only the direction of our business, but also the spirit of our team.”

“His vision, grit, an unwavering commitment carried us through the ups, the downs, and the countless moments in between. As Henry moves on to explore new paths, we want to say thank you, not only for the work, but for being part of this chapter with us. Henry, you’ll always be part of the Target Media story. With appreciation and respect,” Du added.

London, United Kingdom – WPP today announced the acquisition of InfoSum, the world’s leading data collaboration platform. InfoSum will join GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, to power the creation of a new generation of AI-enhanced marketing solutions for clients, delivered through the industry’s most powerful and secure data infrastructure. 

The acquisition is a major strategic step forward for WPP’s AI-driven data offer, giving WPP and its clients immediate access to the industry’s largest cross-platform source of privacy-safe, actionable data for marketing intelligence, audience targeting, and AI model training. 

InfoSum’s patented cross-cloud data collaboration technology radically transforms the way companies generate audience intelligence by making it possible to connect data sources across the marketing ecosystem without moving or exposing data. By integrating InfoSum’s capabilities with WPP Open – WPP’s intelligent marketing operating system – WPP clients can safely unlock the full potential of their customer data, enriched through advanced AI. 

Now, using federated learning techniques, WPP clients will be able to generate new marketing intelligence based on their first-party data and the universe of data signals available to them through the InfoSum network, WPP’s data assets, and GroupM’s media intelligence. Clients can rapidly build, train, and deploy custom AI models that utilise these diverse datasets, generating insights and audiences instantly, optimising campaigns across the entire marketing ecosystem, and delivering measurable improvements in campaign performance within hours rather than weeks. 

Moreover, the acquisition accelerates WPP’s creation of ‘Intelligence Beyond Identity’ for clients, enabling marketers to use 100% of their business intelligence and leapfrog traditional identity-based solutions that depend on decades-old, deteriorating databases weakened by cookie deprecation, platform fragmentation, and splintering audience match rates. 

Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said, “At WPP, we have been building the technology and data infrastructure that will give our clients a unique competitive advantage in the AI era. Bringing InfoSum into WPP is a major step forward for our data capabilities and the results we can deliver for our clients. It allows clients to stay in complete control of their first-party data, while also giving them access to vastly greater quantities of high-quality, privacy-compliant data and pioneering technology that is not available anywhere else in the market today.” 

Meanwhile, Brian Lesser, CEO of GroupM, commented, “Directly integrating InfoSum’s global data network and technology infrastructure will allow our clients to create even more value from their first-party data and enable us to train client AI models against the most data, from the most places, at unprecedented scale and speed. Our approach recognises the importance of identity data to today’s marketing strategies while allowing us to take advantage of the limitless opportunities for growth we can create by moving beyond them. As more and more clients leverage our AI-first solutions, every client model, every audience, and every campaign will benefit from network effects that will exponentially increase their intelligence and competitive advantage.”

InfoSum’s extensive global data network represents hundreds of billions of data signals across multiple dimensions of data from media platforms including Channel 4, DIRECTV, ITV, Netflix, News Corp, and Samsung Ads, as well as major retailers around the world and identity and data partners including Experian, TransUnion, Circana, Dynata, and NCSolutions.

Lauren Wetzel, CEO of InfoSum, added, “InfoSum’s mission has always been to reimagine how data powers marketing in a secure, privacy-first, and, most importantly, impactful way for advertisers and consumers. WPP and GroupM are the perfect partners to help us accelerate our impact on a truly global scale. We couldn’t be more excited to join forces with the team at GroupM as privacy and security become non-negotiables, and AI allows us to redefine what’s possible for advertisers and our network of media and data partners.” 

InfoSum’s technology enables WPP clients to swiftly deploy secure data environments optimised for federated learning, allowing marketers to rapidly scale their custom AI models and onboard their data faster and more easily than ever before. InfoSum’s infrastructure will remain interoperable with existing platforms and partners to ensure current and future customers can continue driving growth through secure data collaboration.

Singapore – The non-profit organisation Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) has launched an animated series to boost awareness of maritime. The series aims to engage young audiences and spark interest in the industry.

SMF recently released the first episode of  ‘Boaty’s Adventures in Maritime City.’ The nine-minute episode features SMF’s mascot, 10-year-old ‘Boaty’ as he explores ports and ships.

The short film offers a glimpse of port and tech operations in maritime, using colourful animation for young audiences.

Besides the film, SMF also has activities and learning resources for young people on its website.

The move is part of SMF’s effort to build its talent pipeline, aiming to spark curiosity among viewers at an early age.

SMF is set to release three more episodes of the series in the following months.

Philippines – Food and beverage company PepsiCo has promoted Ray Philip Pine, chief marketing officer for Philippine beverages, to global marketing director of its hydration portfolio.

Pine led the company’s marketing team in the Philippines for over two years prior to the appointment. In his role, he led the growth strategy of PepsiCo’s brands, including Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Gatorade, and Sting.

Before joining PepsiCo, Pine worked with consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble for six years, serving as its regional brand director in Asia-Pacific for its fabric care brands for three years. Prior to that, he served as the company’s country category leader and senior brand manager.

Pine also held the consumer marketing manager role for Nestlé Philippines’ affordable dairy Bear Brand.

PepsiCo recently unveiled its new brand platform, highlighting the authentic reactions of its consumers in its ‘Taste Face’ visual cue.

Philippines – Ellerton & Co. Public Relations agency has opened its regional office in the Philippines. The move aims to advance the agency’s aim to deliver impactful communication strategies in a fast-growing market.

As part of the expansion, the agency has also announced key senior hires in the country. Ellerton & Co. has appointed Gab Abeleda as regional director and Ariana Ubina as regional senior account manager.

Abeleda and Ubina are set to support the agency’s global clients with their efforts to expand in the Philippines. Ellerton & Co. assists its clients grow their presence not only in Metro Manila but in Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro.

Abeleda has over ten years of experience in strategic communications. Before the appointment, he served as vice president at FleishmanHillard Philippines. During his stint, he worked with brands such as Canva, Abbott, Unilever, and Lazada.

Meanwhile, Ubina brings eight years of experience in public relations within the industries of banking, insurance, and cybersecurity. She has worked with tech companies like LinkedIn, SES, Palo Alto Networks, BPI, and Unilever. 

Besides helping global companies expand in the Philippines, it also positions itself as a partner for Filipino companies seeking to expand in other Southeast Asian markets.

Ellerton & Co. operates in the greater Southeast Asia market. Headquartered in Singapore, it also holds offices in Vietnam and Indonesia. The agency also has consultants in Thailand, India, and Hong Kong while collaborating with partners in China, the U.S., ANZ, and Europe.

Abeleda commented, “It’s an exciting time to join Ellerton & Co., and I’m thrilled to work alongside such a diverse and talented regional team. I look forward to leveraging our deep market insights to help brands in the Philippines and across Greater Southeast Asia achieve their business objectives through impactful communication strategies and build lasting connections with their audiences.”

“We are glad to welcome Gab and Ariana as we expand our presence in the Philippines, a dynamic market that is central to Southeast Asia’s economic growth. With their leadership, we are well-positioned to deliver impactful storytelling and strategic counsel not only in Metro Manila but also in emerging innovation hubs such as Cebu, Davao City, and Cagayan de Oro,” Oliver Ellerton, director at Ellerton & Co., said.

“Their deep expertise in strategic communications and track record of success in multi-channel engagement make them invaluable assets to our growing regional team,” Ellerton added.

Prayaank Gupta, executive director at Ellerton & Co., said, “Despite the challenges faced by the PR industry the past year, we’ve achieved a number of client wins and expanded our partnerships with existing clients, who continue to trust us with larger remits in terms of markets and services. By attracting top talent, we are well-positioned to deliver even more impactful results for our client partners.”

She added, “The Philippines presents an exciting market with tremendous potential, and we are delighted to attract and bring in some of the best local talent. Our goal is to double our local revenue and grow our regional team to 10 consultants by 2026.”

Singapore – Travel platform Klook is riding the April Fools’ tide with its ‘announcement’ of unconventional experiences. 

Through an Instagram post, Klook shows its humorous side, sharing quirky and fun activities like placing the most coveted bench in Tokyo up for rent this Sakura season. It even included a snail trail expedition, where individuals can hunt and create their own mucin masks.

Airport transfers are also included in the lineup, but with a ‘hunky’ guy doing the work. The post also invited people to sculpt themselves in wax at a museum in London and design their couture buttons in Paris.

In its campaign for Klook Protect last year, the company also used humour to promote travel security with The Secret Little Agency.

Recently, Klook announced a US$100m in funding led by growth investment firm Vitruvian Partners as it broadens its reach in the Asia-Pacific.

Singapore – 1664, a Carlsberg Singapore premium beer, has teamed up with urban fashion brand CLOT for a new fashion line. The collaboration line draws inspiration from French and Eastern styles.

1664 and CLOT’s new fashion collection will be available in a limited-time pop-up at Plaza Singapura. It will be open from April 17 to 27, 2025.

The ‘1664 x CLOT Textile Co.’ pop-up is designed to look like a traditional fabric shop, a tribute to Singapore’s textile heritage. Limited-edition caps, tote bags, ceramic tumblers, and t-shirts will be available in the store.

Behind the store is a bar where guests can pour their own beers and create digital avatars. Pop-up visitors can collect a 1664 pouch, fabric coaster and $50-worth Bounceback cards.

Additionally, customers can enter a raffle for flight tickets to Paris, where the 1664 beer was first crafted. Customers can join by submitting receipts of their 1664 purchases.

“1664 has always drawn inspiration from fashion, art, and design, so we’re thrilled to partner with CLOT, a brand that has always been at the forefront of creativity, blending elements of Eastern culture with urban fashion. More than just a collaboration, we’ll also be celebrating the partnership with an event here in Singapore. This pop-up showcases what happens when two brands with a shared passion for flair and style come together,” Fang Qing Yao, marketing director at Carlsberg Singapore, said. 

“This collaboration reflects our vision of redefining the modern lifestyle a premium beer brand can represent,” Yao added.