Tag: Marketing

Australia – Storyblok, a content management system (CMS) category leader, has announced its recent affiliation with Bynder, a global digital asset management company, today, November 16.

Said partnership aimed at addressing several pain points marketers face on a daily basis to ensure brand consistency across a number of channels. It also intends to enhance market time and ease of distribution of assets from their DAM platform, directly in the CMS.

In relation, Storyblok conducted a global survey of 500 marketers, which revealed that an increased amount of assets and channels they are supporting leads to time-consuming asset management tasks and content mistakes.

Specifically, the findings showed that an average of 55% managed more than 1,000 digital assets in their asset manager. Only 8% support just one channel with their assets, 37% support 5–10 channels, and 18% support more than 10 channels.

In terms of asset management, 37% also spend 5–10 hours each month, and 27% spend more than 10 hours.

Meanwhile, managing access rights is the biggest pain point of asset management (24%), followed by finding and organising files (19%). 48% made a mistake in their asset manager that caused content problems (broken links, wrong versions of files, etc.).

With the increased demand for new content, 64% use AI to help create digital content very regularly or regularly, and only 11% never use it. 53% connect their asset manager to other marketing platforms, with 41% connecting it to 5–10 of them. 

Brad Kofoed, SVP of global alliances at Bynder, said, “Storyblok’s survey highlights the challenges that organisations are facing in managing the growing volume, variety, and speed of content that needs to be created and distributed to support digital commerce. Increasingly, content is seen as a strategic business asset that enables organisations to deliver exceptional content experiences across complex omnichannel buyer journeys.

“Our partnership with Storyblok is a key integration that will aim to help teams with exactly that – providing content consistency, ease of distribution, and faster speed to market by making on-brand content directly available in the CMS,” he added.

Meanwhile, Barry D’Arcy, VP of Partners at Storyblok, also shared his thoughts about this, saying, “Assets serve as the fundamental building blocks for crafting digital experiences. Our collaboration with Bynder seamlessly integrates their top-tier enterprise digital asset management solution with Storyblok, enabling businesses to effortlessly leverage their entire asset library and restore order within the realm of content chaos.”

Through this integration, it has allowed seamless reuse of Bynder managed assets, has been released on the Bynder marketplace, and is also available to install through Storyblok. In addition, the teams will also be able to solve the complications of omnichannel asset management and content governance.

Japan – Global creative and media agency VaynerMedia has recently announced its appointment of Kota Murakami as its new country manager for Japan.

In his new role, Murakami will be responsible for shaping the footprint and business expansion for VaynerMedia in the Japanese market, with a focus on growing the agency’s portfolio and ensuring the delivery of business solutions that build clients’ brands while fuelling maximum business impact and cost advantage.

Kota’s expertise lies in seamlessly integrating global innovation with local market insights, holding a proven track record of propelling business growth in the realm of advertising and digital media. Recognised as a trusted advisor to leading brands worldwide, Kota is also adept at steering clients and organisations to challenge industry norms while driving impactful changes.

Prior to joining VaynerMedia, Murakami was with Essencemediacom for over seven years, with his most previous role being the managing director for Japan, wherein he co-led the agency and played a pivotal role in winning key pitches for clients such as Uber and Tiffany & Co. during his tenure. 

He also holds a remarkable track record of successful engagements including leading the Google account at Essence Japan, serving as Global Account Director at Tag in New York, and partnering with renowned brands like Uniqlo, Bayer, and DIAGEO.

Speaking on his own appointment, Murakami said, “I’m really excited about joining the team during this period of growth. VaynerMedia is truly a one-of-a-kind agency; our talented people, empathetic culture and independent mindset allow us to continue our relentless pursuit of consumer attention. This allows us to help marketers deliver unwavering relevance through our modern approach to creative, media, and analytics, or all of the above as a full-service solution.”

“I just know that this will be a game changer for brands in Japan to evolve their marketing, and succeed in the social-first era and beyond. I am looking forward to solidifying VaynerMedia as a key partner for businesses in Japan, enabling them to achieve relevance with consumers, and to meet their business goals for both the present and the future,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Tim Lindley, managing director at VaynerMedia Asia Pacific, commented, “Kota is a fantastic business leader. His unique accomplishments, ambition, and empathetic leadership style excited me from the first moment we met. He possesses amazing insight into the Japanese market, a sharp, global perspective, and a holistic marketing approach that will take us from strength to strength as we continue to bring media, creative, and analytics back together to drive real business impact for our clients.“

“He has an incredible passion for innovation, a track record for nurturing world-class talent, and an unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional results. He’ll definitely be a catalyst for our growth in Japan and an exceptional business partner for our growing clientele there. I’m looking forward to building with him, and learning from him, as we continue to grow in Japan and across the Asia Pacific region,” he concluded. 

Murakami will be assuming his role effective immediately and will be reporting to Lindley.

Singapore – Grab and Heckler Singapore has recently launched their latest sustainability campaign via BLKJ Havas, which brings a trio of finger characters to life and showcases how a mere tap of the digits can empower eco-friendly choices. 

Aimed at raising awareness among consumers about the significant impact their choices can make, Grab’s ‘Wonder Fingers’ campaign with Heckler Singapore showed that scrolling through our phones could be used for better things like tapping for good.

For this campaign, Heckler got to work using Maya and Cinema4D on three short animated films and assets for a personalised digital report, termed the Grab Personal Impact Story, to showcase the positive outcomes of using Grab.

For the environment, Heckler chose to build backgrounds in 3D that looked like they were made of paper. This aesthetic gave the films a playful base to set the action in, along with some intriguing textures. By modelling and rigging photorealistic human fingers to represent different ethnicities and backgrounds, Heckler also gave them human-like characteristics, including playful eyes that used expressions to communicate the impact the fingers were having.

Cody Amos, creative director at Heckler Singapore, admitted that dressing the fingers up was a challenge as the animation team had to re-imagine them as a full human body in order to know where the cut of a tank top would end or where the hem of a skirt would begin.

“The finger characters themselves were modelled in Maya to look realistic, but with googly eyes and stuck on mouths that we animated to bring their emotions to life. All this detail made it feel halfway between a fun animated film and a puppet show,” Amos said. 

“Because the characters are fingers, we wanted to build the world around them in a way that felt like a miniature set that finger puppets could live in. To give it realism, and add some humour, we made it all look like it was made of paper and cardboard, and even put in flying elements on popsicle sticks, held together with sticky tape,” he added. 

Notably, these simple taps on screens using Grab have contributed to diverting over 8,100 tonnes of waste from landfills and the planting of 200,000 trees, bolstering forest conservation efforts across Southeast Asia.

Australia – Kantar has announced the launch of its new proprietary attention framework. Marrying Kantar’s decades of creative evaluation expertise with the latest technology, the approach uses facial coding to uncover how well advertising content captures the attention of viewers on a second-by-second basis, an essential tool in marketers’ arsenal.

Part of the expansion of Kantar’s creative testing portfolio, the new attention framework gives advertisers a summary of an ad’s ability to capture viewers’ attention, gain a comparison to norms, and access a second-by-second trace to diagnose where attention is retained and lost.

The norms and benchmarks for this new framework are built using Kantar’s expertise in measuring attention and database of 50,000 attention ad tests. The attention framework uncovers whether people pay attention to ads in different media contexts and what creative strengths drive attention, giving advertisers the insights that they need to optimise their ad to improve its ability to engage viewers. 

Said framework is available in LINK+, Kantar’s automated, self-serve or serviced solution for testing and evaluating creative; and Context Lab, Kantar’s digital media optimisation solution.

As part of the newly-launched framework, Kantar is deploying significantly improved attention measurement. The upgraded facial coding technology now includes gaze monitoring components making it more accurate. Advertisers receive measures of both active and passive attention, giving them richer and deeper understanding of how their ads will perform in context. 

Ted Prince, global chief product officer at Kantar, said, “The race for attention is one of the defining challenges of our time for modern marketers. How to capture the attention of viewers amid the myriad of distractions is something that keeps many awake at night. At Kantar, we are using the latest technology in combination with our decades of expertise to tackle these thorny questions.”

He added, “With digital ad spend continuing to rise, it is key that marketers understand how their creative will perform in digital channels. The era of repurposing a TV ad and hoping for the best is over.”

Meanwhile, Sharon Hilton, head of media at Kantar Australia, commented, Attention is a big topic of conversation in Australia as local marketers continue to grapple with ensuring that campaigns cut through.”

She added, “Our 2023 Australian Media Reactions study found that the attention economy was in the top three list of priorities for marketers in 2024 with 41% stating it was a key priority. Almost half of marketers say that attention is an important industry debate (47%) and nearly three in five said that channels where consumers pay more attention was the key factor influencing how to allocate media budget (58%).”

Lastly, Irene Joshy, head of creative at Kantar Australia, stated, “The content maze that we live in has amplified the problem of ‘selective’ attention. Selective attention impacts creative effectiveness adversely. To help marketers navigate this, the development of this new attention metric built into in-context digital testing is revolutionising the way that we measure the relationship between playback, attention and engagement to drive stronger digital ROMI.”

Singapore – Global brand suitability and contextual advertising platform Channel Factory has strengthened their APAC operations, recently appointing Kevin Rooney to managing director for Southeast Asia and India, and Kriti Jetley to head of sales SEA.

In their new roles, Rooney will be assuming overall responsibility for SEA and India and collaborate with other APAC leaders, whilst Jetley will be instrumental in driving Channel Factory’s sales efforts and building on key client relationships in the SEA region. 

With an impressive career spanning over 20 years, Rooney brings extensive expertise in sales, leadership and marketing, having over 19 years across WPP agencies with his former role being APAC CEO for mSix and Partners. His notable achievements include winning Campaign’s New Business Team of the Year and setting two ‘R3 new business leagues’ records.

On the other hand, Jetley brings with her 14 years of experience in the dynamic digital landscape of the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently Head of Product Marketing at TikTok SEA, she has also held senior sales roles at Criteo and Outbrain, bringing with her an extensive knowledge of the digital ecosystem. 

Speaking on his appointment, Rooney said, “I am honoured to join Channel Factory as Managing Director for Southeast Asia and India, and I look forward to driving the company’s growth in these vibrant markets. Channel Factory’s commitment to transforming the media landscape through brand suitability and advanced technology aligns perfectly with my passion for innovation and business development.”

Speaking on her appointment as well, Jetley also mentioned, “I am proud to now be a part of Channel Factory, a company that is at the forefront of revolutionising brand suitability by aligning content seamlessly with advertisers’ needs.”

“In the era of burgeoning User-Generated Content, reaching in-target audiences at scale has become a challenge for brands and the demand for effective brand suitability solutions has never been more critical. I am thrilled to extend my expertise across the digital landscape and contribute to Channel Factory’s mission in this regard,” she added. 

Meanwhile, Alex Littlejohn, managing director of APAC at Channel Factory, commented, “We are delighted to welcome Kevin and Kriti to the Channel Factory team. Their wealth of media and industry experience will contribute significantly to our growth in the APAC region, and we look forward to achieving great success with this robust team.”

Sydney, Australia – With the impact of the cost-of-living crisis creeping up into the lives of Australians amidst sustainability issues, market research firm Kantar states that brands must show initiative and leadership to inspire behavioural change. In Kantar’s report titled the Kantar Sustainability Sector Index 2023, the firm explores the issues that Australians face, as well as their opinions around it. 

Data from the report mainly suggests that 7 out of 10 Australians cite cost as being prohibitive to actioning real sustainable behaviour change, saying that things better for the society and the environment are more expensive.

Moreover, the study also explored the sustainability issues that Australians are most concerned with, citing mental health, poverty, and climate change as the most prominent issues that they want to see addressed.

To be specific, the cost-of-living crisis is biting hard on Australia’s mental health, which is the sustainability issue that Australians want addressed for the second year in a row. Additionally, 76% of respondents want to live a sustainable lifestyle but only 22% are doing so because they struggle to translate their values into action due to this crisis.

With this in mind however, 6 in10 Australians say that it is hard to tell which products are good or bad ethically or for the environment and over one-third don’t know where to find sustainable or ethical products. Plus, more than half of them want clear certification explaining the environmental or ethical benefits that would influence their purchase.

Notably, climate change also continues to rank highly as both an issue of concern and one that people want addressed as 60% of Australians say they expect to personally feel climate change effects in their lifetime and want real action. They believe it is a responsibility of companies and brands to help solve or tackle climate change and environmental issues, with only 27% thinking that those companies and brands are already taking those actions.

Talking about these findings, Carolyn Reid, head of qualitative at Kantar Australia, said, “A new consumption culture is emerging, and brands must think or rethink how they create value and innovate. Successful brands make people feel empowered to make truly better choices. Brands can enable behaviour change by using the Sustainability Sector Index to identify levers that will prevent or enable change to both design and execute for success.”

“It is imperative to prioritise both the social and environmental issues impacting your brands, products or services – and the lives of the people you seek to meaningfully connect with. It ensures the insights, territories or innovations that you address are ownable and distinctive to your brand, while understanding your brand’s sustainability table stakes. Further, it provides actionable guidelines on how to express your ambitions and actions in the most authentic, impactful, and differentiated way,” she added. 

Meanwhile, Madeleine Andrews and Mathilde Pernot, sustainability leads at Kantar Australia, also commented, “Sustainability isn’t an option for brands anymore but delivers a business imperative and a commercial opportunity. Getting this right is crucial. However, many people feel let down when it comes to sustainability. Acting with bravery and boldness to lead the way in sustainability is a critical imperative for any sector.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Travel platform airasia MOVE teams up with pan-regional OTT video streaming service Viu to enhance its brand visibility and engagement through the latest Viu Original series, ‘From Saga with Love’. 

With the title being ranked first in Viu Malaysia, airasia MOVE and AirAsia X will be featured prominently in the new rom-com series, which will be made available to over 65.5 million local and international monthly active users in 16 different markets.

‘From Saga With Love’ follows Karma, a budding social media influencer who bluffs her way into becoming an interpreter for A-list actress Bianca Rozario during her trip to Saga, Japan. Juggling her deception and a secret task from Bianca’s mother, Karma, along with videographer Bob and mysterious Sham, navigates a humorous whirlwind of problems, solutions, and romantic complications.

The partnership is part of airasia MOVE’s latest efforts to enhance its brand visibility and engagement as a travel superapp. Other initiatives include its community platform airasia Chat, digital radio station RedRadio, gaming hub RedGames, and Vtuber platform Project Kavvaii.

This initiative also follows the rebranding of airasia Digital to MOVE Digital, which the featured superapp also adopts, being seen and depicted as airasia MOVE within its appearances in the show.

New Zealand – Digital content company VideoTaxi (VT) announces the appointment of two new senior roles in the form of Jared Grib as group national sales manager and Calum Davies as marketing and customer experience manager. 

These appointments follow VideoTaxi’s recent client wins, as well as its Wellington office launch last month, advancing VT’s national expansion plans and business model development.

In his new role, Grib will be supporting new business growth across VT and independent communications agency Artemis Communications, bringing his extensive experience in digital strategy and business development from his time as the previous head of growth at Firefly Digital. 

On the other hand, Davies will be further enhancing customer relationships in his new role, with his experience at VT as a content producer and in digital marketing, giving him a unique insight into VT’s evolving customer needs.

Going forward, these appointments prove substantial as VT has recently been engaged by brands and companies such as New Zealand grocery company Foodstuffs North Island, Tui Tuia Learning Circle, iconic Kiwi restaurant chain Cobb & Co, early childhood education provider Best Start, New Zealand’s largest parking provider Wilson Parking and international gym franchise Anytime Fitness, amongst others.

Speaking on these developments, Isobel Kerr-Newell, group CEO of VideoTaxi and Artemis Communications, said, “Visual content is at the heart of modern communications and it is an honour to be trusted as the production partner for more of Aotearoa’s best-known brands. We are also delighted to announce the appointment of Jared Grib and the promotion of Calum Davies.”

“Both are truly multi-talented digital content operators, deeply connected to and passionate about this rapidly evolving space. I know they will bring incredible value to clients and our business as we continue to evolve our offering and footprint,” she added.

Singapore – With the success of the campaign’s first phase, Grab’s regional advertising platform GrabAds, alongside their collaboration with Japanese digital marketing solution provider Media Bank has recently announced the second phase of their tourism campaign for Japan Tourism Agency (JTA). 

For this phase of the campaign, they plan to engage Grab users across both offline and online touchpoints, from in-app ads to fleet car wraps and hangers.

It will be called ‘Discover the Incredible Gems of Japan,’ which highlights the country’s best-hidden secrets such as the picturesque landscapes of Awaji Island, Nagasaki, Hokkaido, and Aso in Kumamoto. 

Part of this project includes an in-app branded challenge, where a lucky winner can have the chance to receive a ticket to one of these incredible destinations. 

Previously, the two had already started the campaign earlier this year by featuring another side of Japan beyond its traditional tourist hotspot which includes scenic hiking trails and historical samurai districts. 

The said the project garnered a strong user engagement across four SEA markets with rates surpassing GrabAds’ regional marketing benchmarks. 

Talking about the success of the project, Patrick Ngan, director at Media Bank Inc. said, “We are delighted to see that the first phase of our campaign, designed for JTA, has resonated positively with travellers in Southeast Asia.”

“The campaign that leveraged GrabAds’ full-funnel ecosystem and hyperlocal insights has been effective in reaching high-value and ready-to-travel individuals across Southeast Asia. We are excited to further deepen our collaboration with GrabAds as we launch the next phase of the campaign that creates awareness of Japan’s secret gems,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dave Yang, regional head of sales and GTM at GrabAds shared, “We are humbled to receive the recognition and support from JTA and MediaBank to continue with the second phase of our partnership. The success of our campaign with JTA reflects the strength of GrabAds’ ecosystem, powered by Grab’s hyperlocal insights and offline-to-online retail media capabilities. The positive results demonstrate the promise of GrabAds as an advertising solution for travel and hospitality brands looking to tap into the Southeast Asia market when it comes to leisure travel.”

“Insights from our 2023 Southeast Asia Travel Insights report tell us that Grab’s high-value audiences remain eager to travel, including to Japan. It’s not too late for brands in the travel category to capitalise on the opportunity with GrabAds,” he ended. 

Following its success, GrabAds and MediaBank are determined to establish a significant stride in the same four markets: Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Singapore – VCCP Singapore has announced that Ismail Jooma has been appointed as its new head of planning for APAC. 

Jooma has a diversified career journey through several network agencies, bringing a knowledge and perspective on Asian culture and trends. His history includes positions at Ogilvy and TBWA, and he was most recently the head of strategy at VMLY&R Singapore. Prior to this, Ismail was the chief strategy officer at South Africa’s independent agency Brave Group. 

His professional experience includes technology (Apple, MTN), automotive (Hyundai), FMCG (Coca-Cola and Colgate), broadcast (DStv Africa, SuperSport), banking (HSBC, Standard Chartered), fast-food restaurants (KFC, Nando’s), and fashion retail (Nike, Edgars).

Speaking about the appointment, Katya Obolensky, managing director of VCCP Singapore, said, “We could not be more delighted to have Ismail join our leadership team as we continue to strengthen our VCCP offering in Singapore. His wealth of experience, sharp intellect and dynamic approach to problem solving will augment our ability to challenge the categories our clients operate in.”

Meanwhile, Jooma commented, “I’m incredibly excited to be joining an agency with a rich planning culture, one that truly places strategy at the heart of everything it does. Katya and the team are building something special here and I’m keen to bring VCCP’s challenger spirit to more ground-breaking work for our clients across the region.”