Tag: Partnership

Australia – Australia-based integrated communications agency Icon Agency has been appointed by cloud-based software company Salesforce to manage its Australian communications for the global CRM leader in CRM.

The move will see Salesforce joining Icon’s expanding roster of global technology brands including ADP, Schneider Electric, and Luno. 

Salesforce said that it believes that business is the greatest platform for change and is committed to doing well and doing good, making the brand a seamless addition to Icon’s purpose-driven client base.

Joanne Painter, Icon Agency’s managing director, commented that they are thrilled to work with a value-led business, dedicated to trust, customer success, innovation, equality, and sustainability, and it’s a time of tremendous change and they need more innovators and change-makers to navigate significant headwinds.

“As a trusted digital adviser, Salesforce is perfectly placed to support the evolution of businesses to a more resilient, prosperous, and sustainable future. Salesforce is an ideal fit for Icon’s brand platform, ‘For people, with purpose’. We continue to cement our expertise in the tech sector to complement our existing strengths in healthcare, education and government Purpose is not just a lofty ideal. We’re committed to work that makes the world better, enabling us to rapidly expand whilst producing award-winning work. The results are clear: purposeful work works,” said Painter.

Just recently, Icon Agency appointed Simon Hobbs to step into its newly created role of executive director of digital. He will be leading Icon’s digital department with a focus on new business development and optimising the team’s processes and systems.

Philippines – Global merchant platform for SME, yufin, has partnered with Singapore-based insurance provider, Gigacover, to enable Filipino small businesses on the platform to access Gigacover health insurance products tailored to their needs at the touch of a button.

Under the partnership, the small businesses will also be able to access business protection and offer customised insurance products such as family and health insurance to their customers.

The platform said that the announcement comes as it has exceeded 15,000 merchant sign-ups since launching in Davao City, in the Philippines end of May 2022.

Shubhrendu Khoche, chief strategy and product officer at yufin, said, “Small businesses are the lifeblood of Southeast Asian economies and communities but many are underserved. Our partnership with Gigacover helps us bring insurance to last-mile merchants to give them peace of mind and to help them offer their customers much-needed access to insurance protection.”

Meanwhile, Chesca Figueroa, country manager and partnerships lead at Gigacover Philippines, noted, “With this partnership, we aim to further support yufin’s efforts in financial education, planning, and protection to their respective small merchants.”

Gerald Chua, head of merchant acquiring at yufin Philippines, commented, “We are delighted and humbled by the welcome yufin has received so far from our community merchant partners. We help small businesses manage their transactions through a suite of tools, products and services that help them grow and prosper.”

Liz Servañez, head of business development and partnerships at yufin, noted, “With partnerships such as our partnership with Gigacover, much-needed financial services products, like insurance protection can also be sacheted to make them accessible and affordable for the yufin merchant network and their customers.”

New Delhi, India – Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India, a manufacturer of air conditioning products under the ‘Hitachi’ brand, has appointed advertising agency BBH India to be its new creative strategy and advertising agency partner. 

As part of the remit with BBH India, Hitachi aims to create high-decibel brand awareness and strengthen its brand leadership amongst the ‘New Informed World’ consumer.

BBH India won the business as part of a contested multi-agency pitch and will manage full-service responsibilities for strategic creative design and advertising. Moreover, the agency will also now spearhead the development of both consumer-focused and business-driven marketing campaigns for Hitachi’s HVAC and refrigeration solutions.

Nilesh Shah, senior vice president of business planning and marketing at Hitachi, shared that they wanted a strategic creative partner to help them strengthen their positioning as an Aspirational Premium brand by bringing in a fresh perspective to their brand proposition. 

“We look forward to this creative partnership with BBH and further building on our track record of memorable, creative campaigns across the target audience,” said Shah.

Meanwhile, Dheeraj Sinha, CEO of Leo Burnett South Asia and chairman of BBH India, commented that as a team, they are very proud and humbled to be chosen as a creative partner of India’s most aspirational and premium air conditioning brand. 

“We have a big task in front of us, as the brand is known for its stunning consumer campaigns and has consistently rolled out great pieces of creative work over the years. We are excited to co-create the next chapter of the brand story and level up the brand salience,” said Sinha.

Pune, India – Global Music Junction, a digital entertainment platform under digital entertainment and technology company JetSynthesys, has signed an exclusive short video licensing deal with regional music player Amara Muzik to strengthen its position in the Odia market. 

Through the partnership, Global Music Junction will now become the exclusive short video distribution partner for Amara Muzik’s content and expand to markets such as Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Northeast, and Nepal territories. Additionally, Global Music Junction is poised to leverage its market leadership in Bhojpuri music to further the growth of Odia music in the country.

Rajan Navani, founder and CEO of JetSynthesys, said, “Global Music Junction was always aimed at taking music to places and we now plan to take Odia music to a larger audience. We are thrilled to associate with Amara Muzik as their exclusive short video distribution partner and accelerate not only Global Music Junction’s but also Odia music industry’s reach in the country.”

Meanwhile, Rajkumar Singh, CEO of Global Music Junction, shared that after making a strong presence in the Bhojpuri market these years, they now plan to tap the Odia audience, and they are happy that they made it possible by collaborating with Amara Muzik. 

“With their presence in the industry that is backed by their owned content and strong production presence, this is a logical next step of growth. We are excited to see the growth this development leads us to,” said Singh.

Naveen Bhandari, managing director at Amara Muzik, commented that they are thrilled to collaborate with JetSynthesys and Global Music Junction through this exclusive deal, as short videos play a vital role in the promotion of regional content. 

“With Amara Muzik’s deep roots in Odia, Bengali, Chattisgarhi and Gujarati markets, and GMJ’s presence therein, we believe this partnership will enable us to have a wider reach and hence tap a larger set of audience. It will not only help us with extensive reach but will also give the Odia music industry a national platform. We’re looking forward to taking this long-term partnership ahead,” said Bhandari.

Mumbai, India – The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and intellectual property (IP) boutique K&S Partners, have joined hands to release a whitepaper titled ‘Misleading Advertisements and Trademarks – A Registration Conundrum’, which identifies the practice and instances of brands making misleading claims and representations through the use of trademarks.

Brands and advertisers often cite trademark registrations as a defence, these words or phrases mislead consumers. With this paper, ASCI and K&S Partners argue that such a defence is not valid, as making misleading representations violates the ASCI code, the Consumer Protection Act, and the Trade Marks Act itself. 

Moreover, the paper calls for greater scrutiny and restraint in permitting descriptive trademarks to brands, and to ensure that such trademarks are not a false representation of the product.

“At ASCI we see cases where the advertiser uses a trademark registration to defend their direct or implied claims, asserting that a trademark registration means that the claim is good in law. This is not true, and we would ask brands to be cautious in using untrue, exaggerated or misleading phrases to describe their products, whether trademarks or not,” said Manisha Kapoor, CEO and secretary general at ASCI.

Meanwhile, Prashant Gupta, partner at K&S Partners, shared that the issue concerning false, unsubstantiated, and dishonest advertisements, under the guise of descriptive or laudatory trademarks, is grave. 

“Protecting consumers from deception is one of the principal tenets of the ASCI Code, the Trade Marks Act, and the Consumer Protection Act. The Trademark Office needs to raise the threshold for descriptive or laudatory trademarks, failing which, protecting consumers’ rights from fraudulent marks and making informed choices would be severely compromised,” said Gupta.

Manila, Philippines – National media conglomerate ABS-CBN has signed a deal with US-based global media conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery to bring ABS-CBN’s lifestyle programs to a much wider audience in Asia.

Three of the highlighted programs include ‘Beached’. a travel show hosted by Marc Nelson and Maggie Wilson–which will air on Discovery Asia, as well as ‘The Crawl’ by Piolo Pascual and ‘Foodprints’ by Sandy Daza, which will air on the Asian Food Network.

Aside from linear broadcast, the three shows will also be available on the streaming platform Discovery+ on iOS and Android devices.

Locally, these programs can be watched on the Metro Channel, Cignal, and GSAT.

The international partnership just comes months after ABS-CBN terminated its previously-agreed partnership with local media network TV5, over concerns of local regulations and scrutiny brought by the suspension of its media franchise on free television.

Despite that, ABS-CBN has been expanding locally and internationally, most recently with its opening of a Los Angeles office, as well as partnering with fellow media giant GMA Network and Hong Kong-based telco SmarTone.

Singapore – Digital travel agency Booking.com has announced a long-term strategic partnership with Klook, a travel and leisure e-commerce platform, to enable travellers to access Klook attractions directly on Booking.com.

The new global partnership will connect travellers on the go with seamless access to an even greater range of attractions and things to do, all instantly bookable on Booking.com. 

Booking.com said that Klook is the latest attractions partner to integrate with the platform. Klook experiences are now live in over 175 cities, across over 30 markets on Booking.com, and the majority of these are available in Asia and Oceania.

Matthias Schmid, SVP for the trips division at Booking.com, shared that this year was an important year for travel, as borders are opening up, restrictions are easing, and travellers are once again travelling – and showing more enthusiasm and vigour than ever before.

“What a time to be partnering with Klook, a well-known, highly respected household name for travel and experiences, particularly in the Asia Pacific, where this new partnership will significantly increase our coverage and offering within the region. We’re very excited about this collaboration and all the new attractions and experiences we can now provide,” said Schmid.

Meanwhile, Wilfred Fan, chief commercial officer at Klook, commented that they are delighted to partner with Booking.com, connecting their user base to the amazing and unique experiences that the Asia Pacific region has to offer. 

“Cross-border travel in the Asia Pacific is just taking off, and this partnership will enable our merchants to reach an even larger customer demographic globally and accelerate travel recovery in the region,” said Fan.

Sydney, Australia – Data, creative and performance marketing agency Jaywing has been appointed by sports footwear and apparel brand New Balance to drive customer growth across Australia and New Zealand. 

As part of the mandate, Jaywing will be managing New Balance’s paid search, social, analytics and email, as well as provide creative support for the brand’s extensive range of sneakers and sports clothing.

New Balance said that Jaywing was selected for its audience and creative first approach to paid media and the better use of data to provide more strategic insights across digital channels. 

“With ambitious growth goals, we wanted a digital marketing partner that has a strong strategic focus backed with a deep understanding of audience and data. Jaywing presented us with clear opportunities on how to achieve our targets and we are closely culturally aligned. We look forward to working with them to drive our e-commerce plans,” said Jonathan Clark, international retail director of New Balance. 

Meanwhile, Raimundo Campbell, commercial director of Jaywing and Frank Digital, commented, “We are delighted to welcome New Balance to Jaywing’s portfolio of leading global e-commerce brands. It’s a recognition of the depth of talent and breadth of expertise we have in the agency that we continue to attract major Australian and international brands to Jaywing, and we’re looking forward to delivering on New Balance’s ambitious performance media plans.”

The recent client win follows the integration of Jaywing and user experience agency Frank Digital earlier this year with a unified leadership structure under CEO Tom Geekie and head of digital strategy Ed Raine.

Mumbai, India – India-based delivery app Uncle Delivery has appointed Madison Media Alpha, a unit of Madison World, as their official media agency of record (AOR). 

As part of the remit, Madison Media Alpha will strategise and manage all forms of media for Uncle Delivery, including outdoor, digital, and traditional media.

Uncle Delivery entered the market in 2021 as a way of empowering Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). With a mobile and web app, a network of trusted drivers, and a fleet of couriers just a click away, Uncle Delivery aims to become the fastest on-demand delivery service in India. 

“As a start-up in a highly competitive on-demand delivery domain, we were looking forward to having an agency as a partner who not only help us in execution of different campaigns but also advise us to utilise our resources effectively and efficiently. I think Madison has got that perfect understanding of local dimensions and that is helping us a lot,” said Sourabh Chatterjee, founder and executive director of Uncle Delivery.

Meanwhile, Vishal Chinchankar, CEO of Madison Digital and Madison Media Alpha, said, “It is fascinating to me that Uncle Delivery strives to deliver fast, reliably, while prioritising the safety of its partners in this competitive market. I’m thrilled to have Uncle Delivery on board and look forward to working with them to deliver innovative and meaningful projects.”

India – Carat, the media agency from dentsu India, has bagged the media mandate for TimesPro, a higher edtech initiative of the Times of India Group. This account will be serviced from the agency’s Mumbai office.

TimesPro offers a variety of created and curated learning programmes across a range of categories, industries, and age groups. They include employment-oriented early career programmes across BFSI, e-commerce, and technology sectors; executive education for working professionals in collaboration with premier educational institutions like IIMs and IITs; and organisational learning and development interventions at the corporate level. 

As part of the mandate, Carat will be handling the omnichannel media services for TimesPro.

Anita Kotwani, CEO of Carat India, commented, “We are pleased to win the media business for TimePro. Carat is committed to creating meaningful end-to-end media solutions through data-driven marketing, and to further accelerate the brand’s growth journey. As a team, we are excited to get this opportunity to work with a brand that is aiding every professional’s career aspiration!” 

Meanwhile, Gaurav Barjatya, head of brand marketing and communications at TimesPro, said, “We are delighted to be working with Carat India. It’s an agency that’s responsive and nimble to the business demands of today, which span a variety of traditional and new-age media. We look forward to collaborating with them as we grow and take our H.EdTech offering to millions of learners nationwide.”

In June 2022, Carat India also won the media mandate for Croma, an Indian retail chain of consumer electronics and durables from the house of Infiniti Retail. Through the mandate, the agency will oversee the brand’s media planning and buying rights.