Tag: New capabilities

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Digital-first agency Lion & Lion has announced the next stage of its transformation after a successful turnaround delivering outstanding financial results for the last three years. This new growth strategy will be pursued by strengthening core capabilities, and delivering impact through the integration of data and creativity.

There are two specific areas of strategic significance in relation to Lion & Lion’s growth plan – ‘Better’ by adding on even more specialised data capabilities, an in-house content production studio and by investing in growing our regional hub in Singapore; and ‘Bigger’, relates to the reach of Lion & Lion’s product as the agency over time, develops more specific ways to apply what they do today within e-commerce and B2B. This refers to both product innovation and dedicated teams.

In addition to its new data and analytics team, Lion & Lion will also launch an in-house content production studio in Kuala Lumpur to expand its integrated creative offerings, optimising growth opportunities with brands who require full creative to digital-film content production services.

Fredrik Gumpel, CEO of Lion & Lion, shared that over the last three years, they have been consistently growing their business and capabilities, and seeing how their current product and regional delivery model are resonating with clients has given them great confidence to invest even more in the same direction. 

“With our dedicated focus on the Southeast Asia region and increasing demand for our integrated solutions, we believe we can generate strong returns from these investments – both in terms of building a competitive product for the future and creating solid financial results. With offset in our successful transformation and the underlying economic growth in Southeast Asia, our investment plan is centred around doing more of what we do today – just better and bigger,” said Gumpel.

Meanwhile, Krishna Kumar, group director of strategy and media, noted, “Our value proposition of making [an] impact will be underpinned by data-driven approaches, be it inputs that make all our functional deliveries better or outcomes that are clear and measurable. With impending changes in the data world that will impact a lot of our audience and media data, our approach will be geared to meet these challenges and help our clients.” 

Cheelip Ong, regional chief creative officer at Lion & Lion, said, “With a new dedicated film and content production team with directing, motion graphics, editing and music creation capabilities; to complement our strengths in creative, social and digital experience solutions, we can facilitate brands’ demands for digital film content that engages. Our new T-shaped talent hires across all operating markets will also help us to blitz scale growth to win in our region, while creating exponential impact for our clients’ businesses.”

As Singapore has become a hub for multinational businesses, with many of Lion & Lion’s clients having a regional scope there, the agency will also be leveraging that momentum in 2023. A dedicated investment will go towards growing the agency’s team in Singapore to drive more local business and unlock long-term regional growth.

Singapore – Digital commerce enabler in SEA, CREA, has announced a new and enhanced offering that will enable it to efficiently import international brands to Southeast Asia, acting as their gateway to the market.

The extended offering means that CREA now offers brands the full spectrum of support regarding importation, licensing, product strategy, and distribution across online, social, and offline commerce channels. With this, brands will be able to rapidly accelerate their entrance to the Southeast Asian market, which is estimated to be made up of 350 million online shoppers, according to an annual study conducted by Bain & Company and commissioned by Facebook.

In addition to this end-to-end support, brands can now leverage CREA’s community of digital content creators to amplify their reach and drive mass awareness and engagement amongst consumer audiences through social channels such as TikTok and Instagram. Brands will also be able to access its in-house marketing, branding, and data-driven insight capabilities to further drive sales and reach new audiences, with the aim of establishing themselves as household brands in the region. CREA will also be offering brands access to its technology-driven logistics network, further streamlining their entrance to the market.

Aimone Ripa di Meana, founder and co-chief executive officer of CREA, shared that this transformation of their business was a natural progression for their company, and they are proud to see how much they have grown in such a short space of time. 

“We started working with brands in Southeast Asia that were looking to ramp up their digital presence, and now with our expanded capabilities, we can support international brands on their journey to enter the market. We look forward to bringing more global brands to the region and driving their success,” he said. 

CREA said that the new offering launches with it having already secured exclusive rights to distribute and manage some of the hottest new-generation brands from the United States, including skincare and beauty brands Mario Badescu, ILIA, and Malin+Goetz. More brand partners will be announced in due course.