Tag: Partnership

Singapore – Global creative transformation company WPP has partnered with Epic Games, the interactive entertainment company and Fortnite and Unreal Engine developer, to help agencies within WPP deliver a new era of digital experiences for brands in the metaverse. 

The partnership will include a new training program to upskill WPP creatives and technologists, consisting of three separate tracks for executives, creative practitioners, and media experts and strategists. It will see WPP teams working closely with experts at Epic Games to learn how to build next-generation interactive experiences leveraging Unreal Engine, an advanced real-time 3D creation tool used across a range of industries including games, film, architecture, fashion, and automotive, as well as music and live events. 

Moreover, WPP teams will be able to take advantage of training and tools to create new experiences in Fortnite, where creators can build imaginative worlds for brands inside of one of the most globally popular online games. 

WPP will also work with SuperAwesome, an Epic Games company, to deepen its understanding of online safety and privacy to help its campaigns engage younger audiences safely.

Nilufar Fowler, WPP’s executive vice president of strategic partnerships, commented, “We think of WPP as the creative transformation company, one that embraces new environments like the metaverse and sees the potential for clients. Epic’s technology is world-class, and we are delighted to partner with it to raise the bar for social experiences in virtual worlds on behalf of our clients.”

Meanwhile, Matthew Henick, Epic Games’ vice president of metaverse development, shared that the collaboration between Epic, WPP, its clients, and the creator community will accelerate the building of diverse social entertainment experiences that players across the world will love. 

“This partnership with WPP bolsters our mission to educate more trailblazing brands and creators on how Epic’s tools across Fortnite, Unreal Engine, and 3D marketplaces like ArtStation and Sketchfab can be used to bring their metaverse visions to life,” said Henick.

WPP said that this partnership follows its recent announcement of The Metaverse Foundry, a new global metaverse offering through Hogarth, its specialist creative content production company.

Manila, Philippines – The Philippine-based telco giant Smart has partnered anew with event and tournament organiser Eplayment Entertainment for the fifth season of Liga Adarna, the country’s all-female esports league.

The event has already kicked off last 19 April and will be running until 30 June 2022, with the theme ‘Ikaw Ang Bida’, which in English translates to ‘You are the star’. It will be showcasing once again the skills and strategic gameplays of the country’s top female esports players in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), and for the first time this season, Liga Adarna has also added PlayerUnknown’s Battleground (PUBG) in its tournament.

Avid gamers and enthusiasts can watch the games live on the Facebook pages of Liga Adarna, Smart, and SMART Sports.

“The latest season of Liga Adarna is in line with Smart’s long-standing support for the Philippine esports to cultivate the passion, skill, and talent of Filipina gamers,” the telco said.

In March 2022, Smart has also celebrated the launch of its Smart GIGA Arena, an online arcade and esports tournament platform, by hosting an exhibition match last 9 March 2022, which features some of the best Filipino esports players and content creators of MLBB.

Singapore – Consumer bank DBS has expanded its partnership with global small business platform Xero to simplify the loan application process and increase access to working capital for SMEs in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The expanded partnership will see both companies availing Xero customers of the option to share their transactional records from Xero’s platform with DBS, and by doing so, customers will be able to present a more holistic picture of their cash flow which in turn enables the bank to offer SMEs hyper-personalised credit terms and working capital limits tailored to their needs.

DBS and Xero began their partnership in 2017 with a bank feed integration to give SMEs greater visibility and control over their finances with automatic bank updates. Xero is also a key partner of the bank’s DBS Start Digital Package, which is designed to help SMEs kickstart their digital transformation journey.

Joyce Tee, DBS’ group head of SME banking, noted that their regular engagement with SMEs has consistently shown that cash flow needs continue to be top of mind for their clients, even as business owners seek new growth opportunities.

“We will continue to integrate our touchpoints seamlessly into the customer journey, so as to offer our SMEs more intelligent and intuitive lending solutions. DBS has been sharpening our digital lending capabilities by leveraging ecosystem partnerships and advanced data analytics to roll out solutions that are hyper-personalised to each business’ needs. DBS is pleased to take our long-standing partnership with Xero to the next level as we double down on our commitment to helping SMEs accelerate their growth,” said Tee.

Meanwhile, Joseph Lyons, Xero’s managing director for Australia and Asia, shared that digital tools and solutions have been a significant driver in empowering SMEs to become more resilient and competitive, but working capital is the lifeblood of small businesses everywhere.

“With DBS – our first banking partner in Singapore to offer API integrated bank feeds – we are excited to extend new offerings to our shared customers through SME financing. We look forward to continuing our work to further support SMEs with their financing needs, particularly in ensuring small businesses have the support they need to thrive,” said Lyons.

Singapore – Global partnership management platform, impact.com, has announced new several client wins in the Southeast Asia region for the first quarter of 2022. The additional renowned brands include Crocs.com, Eqonex, and Yolofoods.

Antoine Gross, impact.com’s general manager for SEA, commented that they are delighted that the strong demand for affiliate and influencer marketing in SEA has enabled them to quickly scale up their operations.

“The online advertising landscape keeps evolving rapidly and is becoming increasingly challenging for brands to grow. Moving towards a cookie-less world, where mistrust among consumers towards traditional advertising is rising, it’s our mission to provide alternative ways for advertisers to grow beyond the duopoly of Facebook and Google and reach new customers and drive revenue for their businesses through partnerships,” said Gross.

Scaling up the team within SEA, impact.com has also appointed key hires, including Nicole Quah, the new head of influencer partnerships for SEA, and Cris Tan, the new partner development manager.

Jakarta, Indonesia – ​Indonesia-based telco Telkom has partnered with tech giant Microsoft to accelerate Indonesia’s digitalisation and strengthen intelligent infrastructure. This partnership is a continuation of the memorandum of understanding signed by Telkom and Microsoft in August 2021.

The partnership aims to support Telkom’s vision as the digital telecommunications company of choice in order to advance society and empower the country’s digital economy, as well as support Microsoft’s Empower Indonesia initiative. It will also explore new opportunities in the market, and empower organisations in various industry segments by leveraging the telco’s infrastructure.

Moreover, the partnership will see Telkom accelerating the level of enterprise adoption of cloud-based services and a secure cloud environment, as well as increasing competence through training and Microsoft certification. This will help TelkomGroup to increase employee productivity, simplify the collaboration process, automate work processes, increase customer engagement, and create innovation, as well as increase the efficiency of operational activities safely.

In terms of intelligent infrastructure, Telkom and Microsoft will also collaborate in developing national intelligent infrastructure. The cooperation being explored, for example, includes the use of Telkom’s Hyperscale Data Center infrastructure assets to support the country’s digital transformation journey and several operational activities for Microsoft’s upcoming data centre region in Indonesia as announced in 2021.

Ririek Adriansyah, Telkom’s president director, shared that the initiative to establish strategic partnerships with a number of global tech companies is expected to have a positive impact on Telkom’s business development, especially in the digital platform and digital services domain.

“We really welcome this collaboration with Microsoft in the hope that it will not only bring benefits to both parties, but more importantly, it can provide the greatest benefit to the digitisation of Indonesia,” said Adriansyah.

Meanwhile, Dharma Simorangkir, Microsoft’s president director for Indonesia, said, “Technology is the cornerstone of industrial digital transformation. Through strengthening collaboration with Telkom, we hope to be able to further assist Indonesia in every stage of the national digital transformation, and build personalised services that bring us closer to Digital Indonesia.”

Australia – Global public relations agency Red Havas has been appointed by Australia’s mobile ordering and payment platform, me&u, to handle its global communications program including consumer, trade, and brand building.

The remit will see Red Havas managing the platform’s PR services and media relations across B2B and B2C in Australia, the UK, and the USA. Red Havas will be driving brand fame, asserting me&u as the global leader of at-table ordering innovation, and showcasing the brand’s ongoing commitment as an ally to the hospitality industry.

Katrina Barry, me&u’s CEO, noted that Red Havas is an impressive team, an agency with a global footprint and experience in both the corporate and consumer comms space.

“Their first response hit the mark and there were real synergies with their strategic and creative thinking and me&u’s vision – so much so that we awarded them the business and moved straight into execution. We look forward to working with Red Havas to shake up the hospitality industry in a meaningful way,” said Barry.

Meanwhile, Alex Bryant, Red Havas’ executive director, shared that me&u is a game-changer for the hospitality industry, born out of a need to bring much-needed disruption to the sector.

“The brand is building a better future for hospitality to inspire extraordinary memories and we are excited to tell that story in a meaningful way, cementing me&u as the category leader and hospitality innovator,” said Bryant.

In April 2022, Red Havas has expanded its presence in the strategic corporate communications space following the launch of a dedicated corporate affairs practice. With this, the company has named the 20-year industry veteran Matt Thomas as the new executive director of corporate affairs.

Manila, Philippines – Conversational AI platform Haptik has partnered with MDI NOVARE, the Philippine-based information, and communications technology solutions provider, aimed at facilitating the widespread use and value of AI chatbots for businesses in the Philippines.

The partnership will benefit Haptik by having a strong local partner to improve and solve customer experience (CX) challenges in the Philippines market. Through this, Haptik and MDI NOVARE will jointly transform customer experience across sales, customer support, and co-marketing, as well as sales enablement, and training with AI-powered virtual assistants.

With MDI NOVARE’s vast regional presence and industry experience in the Philippines, the partnership will also strive to help businesses automate customer support, boost lead generation, generate revenue, and at the same time deliver uninterrupted and delightful CX across every channel using Haptik’s cutting-edge AI/ML NLP technology.

Anila Rao, Haptik’s vice president and business head for APAC, shared that with the launch of their conversational partner program a few quarters back, their focus in APAC countries has been mainly to look for strategic partners who can add value and help elevate customer experiences for their clients through Haptik’s AI chatbots and enterprise CX platform.

“Thanks to MDI NOVARE’s presence, scale, and strong reputation of over 30 years in the Philippines region, it did not take us long to decide, collaborate and jolt this strategic agreement together. With Haptik’s industry-leading virtual assistants and chatbots built using the best NLP architecture, we feel it’s a great win not only for MDI NOVARE and Haptik but also for businesses in the Philippines,” said Rao.

Meanwhile, Allan So, MDI NOVARE’s chief commercial officer, commented, “We are happy to team up with Haptik to bring AI solutions to more businesses in the Philippines. Growing our footprint in AI with best-in-class partners like Haptik is part of our mission to be the National Champion in Technology as we bring the power of AI chatbots to deliver next-level Customer Experience.”

Montreal, Canada – Hivestack, a programmatic digital out of home (DOOH) ad tech company has announced a strategic global collaboration with Xandr, a data-enabled technology platform powering a global marketplace for premium advertising. 

Through the partnership, the Hivestack Supply Side Platform (SSP) will be integrated with Invest DSP, the company’s demand-side platform, allowing Xandr‘s advertisers to access Hivestack’s premium global DOOH inventory via RTB transactions via Open Exchange and Private Marketplace (PMP) deals.

Bruno Guerrero, COO of Hivestack, said that as the future of DOOH advertising continues to be redefined, their omnichannel DSP business partners are increasingly important to their mission.

“We are thrilled to announce this crucial global alliance with Xandr and look forward to collectively driving the DOOH industry further in terms of technology and innovation,” Guerrero said.

Dylan McBride, head of global partnerships at Xandr, commented “The growth we have seen for the DOOH channel is evidence of the exciting opportunity advertisers today have to leverage data, measurement and precision in their OOH advertising strategies. We are excited to announce our collaboration with Hivestack who have proven to be at the forefront of this innovation.”

The collaboration is said to launch immediately across key global markets.   

New Delhi, India – Delhi-based boutique social and creative agency, Mixed Route Juice, has been appointed by casual dining restaurant franchise company Stellar Concepts to handle the creative and digital media mandate of its brands – Chili’s and Paul India.

Through this remit, Mixed Route juice will be driving both brands by providing strategic content design, manifesting creative ideas, and strengthening their digital storytelling, along with its media duties like media planning, social media, and creative development. Furthermore, the agency will be responsible for enhancing the brands’ existence and strengthening their digital presence.

Amrita Sharma, Mixed Route Juice’s co-founder and creative head, commented that they are extremely happy to collaborate with one of the leading F&B powerhouses of the country and aim towards providing customised and effective campaigns across multiple cohorts and segments. 

“Chili’s Grill & Bar and PAUL both have a devout customer following and invite a lot of fanfare amongst their regulars. Both these brands have inherently distinct brand personalities and we will for sure do justice to the overall image with our campaigns,” said Sharma.

Meanwhile, Payal Singh, Stellar Concepts India’s head of marketing, said, “We look forward to a successful partnership with MRJ to further communicate our amazing story, distinct product. We believe that this partnership will add value to our brands and fuel our growth in India by helping us to penetrate deeper into the consumer market and take this association to the next level.”

In February 2022, Mixed Route Juice has launched its new vertical, MRJ Shorts, which will cater to its zippy viewers through its short format munchable content pieces.

Hong Kong – Banking institution Standard Chartered in Hong Kong has partnered with The Sandbox, a decentralised gaming virtual world, to create innovative experiences for its clients and community.

Standard Chartered Hong Kong deems to be the first bank to acquire virtual land at The Sandbox metaverse’s Mega City district, a culture hub based on or inspired by the country’s talents. Led by SC Ventures, an innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm under Standard Chartered Group, Standard Chartered Hong Kong will be actively engaging its clients, partners, staff, and the tech community, to explore co-creation opportunities in this new and exciting space, with the goal of experimenting and building new experiences for clients, as well as bringing the local sports and art communities into the metaverse.

Mary Huen, Standard Chartered’s chief executive for Hong Kong, noted that their involvement in the metaverse allows them to reimagine their relationship with existing and potential clients on this new platform and their approach to enhancing client journeys. 

“Having acquired virtual land in Mega City, a natural choice for the Bank given its distinctive Hong Kong theme perfectly fits with our promise of strengthening our continued presence in Hong Kong, whether physical or virtual,” said Huen.

Meanwhile, Alex Manson, Standard Chartered’s head of SC Ventures, said that for the past few years, they have been building business models in crypto and digital assets, and see the rise of the metaverse as a critical milestone in the Web 3.0 evolution. 

“We are excited for this opportunity to explore and innovate in partnership with The Sandbox, but also with our clients and partners who will play a crucial role in how this space develops,” added Manson.

The bank said that its SC Ventures has been investing in disruptive financial technology and exploring alternative business models, and the innovation arm will continue to drive Standard Chartered Hong Kong’s entrance into the metaverse and exploration of future Web 3.0 opportunities.