Tag: Partnership

Singapore – Esports organisation RSG has partnered with gaming platform iGamie to raise the bar in engaging the gaming community and assisting esports teams.

This partnership aims to create new fan engagement opportunities to allow fans to interact with their favourite players and streamers. As part of the agreement, iGamie will also be supporting the premier Southeast Asian professional esports organisation’s roster of Mobile Legends Bang Bang professional players and streamers.

Moreover, the partnership with iGamie will pave the way for aspirants to interact and learn from RSG’s professional players and coaches, facilitating a platform for knowledge transfer and development of esports players from aspirants to professionals.

The grand finalist teams of iGamie Cup will stand a chance to play in a friendly exhibition match with players from RSG PH professional MPL team. RSG PH coaching staff, along with head coach Brian ‘Panda’ Lim will also provide advice and tips for the teams. In addition, RSG will scout and potentially pick up promising players from the amateur tournament to develop into professional players.

Vincent Yang, iGamie’s founder and CEO, said, “Our partnership with RSG represents a significant step towards bringing the esports community in the region closer together, and we look forward to building greater social interaction with partners and gamers alike.”

Meanwhile, Jayf Soh, RSG’s founder and CEO of RSG, shared that the partnership with iGamie is made possible through their shared vision of developing amateur players in Southeast Asia. 

“We are proud to be able to work together with such like-minded partners to continuously create opportunities for aspirants within the esports community through our partnership. We believe that this partnership is a crucial first step taken towards creating a more robust ecosystem in the region,” said Soh.

Manila, Philippines – Velo Labs, a blockchain infrastructure company have announce its partnership with iRemit, the Filipino-owned, non-bank remittance service provider, to provide individuals and businesses access to improved cross-border payments using blockchain technology and Velo Digital Credits.

Velo Labs and iRemit will both provide the technology and settlement network with the aim to ensure that these cross-border payments may be sent and received at a cheaper cost, faster, and with higher security than is now feasible through traditional financial institutions.

Notably, by connecting with the Velo network, iRemit can now work directly with its trusted partners to settle transactions relatively instantaneously, eliminating the need for middlemen. The efficiency brought about by combining Velo Labs’ blockchain payment infrastructure with iRemit’s robust domestic settlement network would allow iRemit’s users – including overseas Filipinos, migrant workers, and local businesses and people – to keep more of their hard-earned money.

Mike Kennedy, CEO of Velo Labs, said that their partnership with iRemit is a direct reflection of Velo Labs’ core mission: to build a global, decentralized, and interoperable settlement network that provides fast, reliable, secure cross-border payments.

Kennedy emphasised, “As they grow their global settlement network, they are excited to partner with institutions like iRemit, who share their vision of empowering those who rely so heavily on cross-border payments.”

Bangkok, Thailand – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Thai AirAsia have announced their readiness to jointly promote travel to Thailand in key ASEAN and South Asian markets by utilising the airline’s increasing regional flight network.

TAT and Thai AirAsia have recently conducted a joint news conference at the TAT Head Office in Bangkok to discuss their plans to work together to increase tourism numbers in Thailand.

According to TAT’s action plan for ASEAN, South Asia, and the South Pacific for the area, Thai AirAsia has established separate marketing tactics for each market, based on its potential.

The ‘Rediscover Thailand’ campaign in Singapore will promote Thai AirAsia’s Singapore-Don Mueang and Singapore-Phuket flights, which will begin 11-24 April 2022 and target Millennials and young couples for travel in May and July. The campaign is projected to result in 3,000 seat sales to Thailand.

In Malaysia, the emphasis will be on leisure group travel, with a ‘Health & Wellness in Amazing Thailand’ promotion offering special prices. Thai AirAsia’s flights to Thailand from Penang, Kuala Lumpur, and Johor Bahru will be marketed. The campaign intends to sell 1,500 seats to Thailand.

For Indonesia, TAT is currently waiting for confirmation of Thai AirAsia’s Jakarta-Don Mueang and Bali-Don Mueang flight schedules.

For Cambodia, Thai AirAsia will open routes from Phnom Penh and Siem Reap to Thailand for a three-month period of May-July 2022, and 1,000 seats are expected to be sold. The focus will be on the FIT group and Millennial family markets, who are mainly interested in health and wellness and medical tourism.

Thai AirAsia’s routes to Thailand from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang will be promoted to generate tourist traffic from Vietnam. In India, travel to Thailand will be promoted through various media channels and a joint TAT-Thai AirAsia blogger/influencer fam trip is planned, while the airline aims to introduce flights from Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, and Jaipur to increase market opportunities to Thailand from secondary urban areas in that country.

Tanes Petsuwan, deputy governor of  international marketing for Asia and South Pacific at TAT shared, “Tourism from foreign markets to Thailand in 2022 is ready to improve thanks to, among other things, the easing of entry requirements into the kingdom and the easing of travel restrictions in source markets.”

Petsuwan emphasised, “Another important factor is the flight and seat capacity, and with Thai AirAsia’s plans to rebuild easy and adequate flight accessibility to Thailand, this is a good opportunity to stimulate interest among foreign travellers.”

Santisuk Klongchaiya, chief executive officer at Thai AirAsia, commented, “Thai AirAsia is delighted to provide continued support in the return of foreign tourism to Thailand. 

“Beginning in April 2022, we are gradually opening international routes linking the kingdom with key ASEAN and South Asian markets; namely, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Maldives, and India, totalling 18 routes,” Klongchaiya adds.

TAT expects that the third quarter will be a good period for market-driven activities, which will benefit the Thai tourist industry in the second half of this year. According to TAT, in the best-case scenario, 10 million foreign tourists will visit Thailand in 2022, producing 625.8 billion Baht in tourism revenue. ASEAN area source markets are slated to begin traveling in April 2022.

Manila, Philippines – The Philippine-based tech investment firm, First Shoshin Solutions Inc. (FSSI), which was co-founded by the country’s ex-congresswoman Sally Ponce-Enrile in 2017, has partnered with female finance platform Bixie to empower Filipino women to become financially independent. 

FSSI delivers digital innovation in the country through its online consultation platform JojoCare and digital payment platform JoJoPay, while Bixie provides women with an AI-powered finance app that encourages savings and wealth generation through knowledge, network, and tools.

Under the partnership, Bixie will be leveraging FSSI’s APIs and other integrations such as blockchain and banking partners as well its Operators of Payment Systems (OPS) license with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). This collaboration with FSSI also provides Bixie with the ability to scale its offerings to become a central access point for its clients’ convenience.

Sally Ponce-Enrile, the co-chairperson of First Shoshin Holdings Corp. (FSHC), commented that they are thrilled to partner with Bixie and extend its mission of providing better finance management for Filipino women. 

“Bixie and FFSI share the vision of banking the unbanked majority. With our digital payment capabilities, we are humbled to scale Bixie’s comprehensive app and be a part of their movement to provide better ways for women to manage their money,” said Ponce-Enrile.

Singapore — Singapore-based global GameFi platform, Digital Entertainment Asset (DEA), has struck a partnership with the Japanese-affiliated Cambodian football club Angkor Tiger FC.

Angkor Tiger FC will participate in DEA’s play-to-earn ecosystem as a ‘gaming guild’ as part of this partnership. To that extent, the football club will purchase NFTs of digital assets and in-game items on DEA’s gaming platform ‘PlayMining’ by utilising the investment funds of the club’s sponsors. Within the DEA ecosystem, gaming guilds are organisations that invest in NFTs of the platform’s Play-to-Earn games and generate revenue from the games by playing them in an organized manner.

Naohito Yoshida, CEO of DEA, said, that the business models DEA is working on under ‘PlayMining,’ such as GameFi and Play to Earn, are not only a fusion of gaming and fintech but also aimed at solving sustainable social issues and helping people around the world to achieve their goals.

“We are committed to ensuring that the efforts of DEA and Angkor Tiger FC will contribute to creating jobs and improving people’s livelihood in Cambodia,” Yoshida said.

Akihiro Kato, Angkor Tiger FC’s owner, is optimistic that this partnership will help strengthen the Cambodian economy and the club simultaneously. He added that their aim is to be more than just a football club.

“In our hometown of Siem Reap, usually a vibrant tourist destination, many people have lost their jobs because of the Corona pandemic. As we were thinking about what we could do as a club besides soccer, we met Mr Yoshida and decided to start the Tiger Guild project because we saw the possibility of improving the livelihood of our supporters and the people of Siem Reap. I would like to team up with DEA to create a new form of club management for the next era,” Kato said.

Through this partnership with DEA, the Cambodian football club aims to help create new income streams in Cambodia by leveraging DEA’s diverse range of play-to-earn games. Additionally, the football club has also insisted that supporters who earn rewards by participating in the play-to-earn games deposit their winnings for club-related activities, which will accelerate the stimulation of Angkor Tiger FC’s economic zone.

Sydney, Australia – Sydney-based measurement-first agency Agnes Media has been appointed by the Australian payments platform, payo, to handle its digital marketing and performance media mandate.

The app allows its users to eat and drink at its partner restaurants, cafes, and bars, and pay the bill in four fortnightly instalments with zero interest by scanning a QR code. As part of the mandate, Agnes Media will be driving payo’s awareness and consideration amongst diners and venue owners.

The partnership comes after the recently launched payo checkout, a platform enabling customers to pay their bills in seconds without needing the payo app. By scanning a unique QR code at the table, bill wait times are removed whilst also allowing customers to split the bill easily.

Taf Chiwanza, payo’s co-founder and CEO, shared that their goal is to increase the range of venues for users to choose from, whilst attracting a growing base of engaged app users. 

“We are pleased to be working with Agnes Media during this significant growth phase of our business. They were the perfect agency fit with their strong focus on analytics and measurement, and relevant experience in the fintech space,” said Chiwanza.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Ward, Agnes Media’s CEO, commented that they are delighted to be appointed as the agency partner for payo, attracting both hospitality owners and customers to use this world-class app.

“We ensure media buys are tied to key business objectives, with tailored measurement methodologies to track what is driving success resulting in a more effective ROI. This is especially relevant for fast-growth brands such as payo with aggressive expansion goals,” said Ward.

Taiwan — Hivestack, a programmatic digital out of home (DOOH) ad tech company has announced a partnership with KanBan Culture, a privately owned programmatic DOOH media owner in Taiwan. Through this new collaboration, KanBan Culture’s DOOH inventory will be integrated into the Hivestack Supply Side Platform (SSP) allowing buyers to activate it programmatically in the Taiwanese market.

KanBan Culture offers premium DOOH inventory in retail, service and hospitality environments, targeting consumers at convenience stores, supermarkets, restaurant chains, sporting arenas and education facilities. Currently, KanBan Culture operates across 277 convenience stores and expects to expand further by the end of the year, with a sizable presence along the popular ‘food street’ in Taiwanese department stores and numerous outdoor LED billboards spread across major highway intersections in Taiwan.

Hivestack’s SSP will enable KanBan Culture to monetise their DOOH inventory at these locations to create a programmatic scale for advertisers both inside Taiwan and global brands looking to activate audiences inside the country, via outside-in buys.

Richie Chen, CEO and co-founder of KanBan Culture, commented, “In this nascent industry of programmatic DOOH, the entire industry should and must collaborate for a sustainable ecosystem. Kanban’s role is the facilitator and enabler and we are thrilled to partner with Hivestack, the leading programmatic DOOH ad tech company.”

Troy Yang, managing director of Hivestack North Asia, said that they are excited to be expanding their SSP partnership in Taiwan – a market that they believe has great potential.

“Partnering with KanBan Culture will further strengthen our premium inventory supply for programmatic DOOH, enabling our local and global demand partners the opportunity to reach the most relevant audience for their campaigns with high impact out-of-home advertising across Taiwan,” Yang said.

Australia – Sydney-based ethical wealth management company, Australian Ethical, has appointed purpose-led independent agency Paper Moose to be its new creative agency partner.

With this partnership, Australian Ethical will be the latest addition to Paper Moose’s growing clean and green client roster — joining eco financier Brighte, carbon-neutral telco felix, and the NSW Environmental Protection Agency. 

Paper Moose said it is awaiting B corp certification, hoping to soon join Australian Ethical as a recognised social and environmental high performer.

Kate Holdsworth, Paper Moose’s creative director, shared that it is an honour to work with a company that has paved the way for in-kind business practice, proving social, and environmental sustainability can offer strong returns. 

“With the rise of conscious consumerism and more people understanding the power of their investment choices, we’re excited to help Australian Ethical connect with new audiences and strategically increase their positive impact,” said Holdsworth. 

Meanwhile, Alex Pace, Australian Ethical’s head of brand and content, noted that they were immediately impressed with Paper Moose’s fresh, dynamic, and collaborative approach. 

“Our shared values and vision for the future as the market leader solidified the partnership and we look forward to launching our new brand platform,” said Pace.

The move follows Paper Moose’s repositioning to ‘The change makers’ and the announcement of their Buy One Give One initiative, designed to support innovators working to decarbonise the economy.

Singapore — Alida, the Total Experience Management (TXM) platform, has announced the technology-driven customer experience (CX) consulting company Blink CX has become a member of its Partner Network to deliver elevated CX solutions to organizations in the Philippines.

Blink CX specializes in assisting organizations to achieve a ‘customer-first’ agenda to drive desired financial and operational outcomes. Through tailored advisory services, data science, and access to global CX technology platforms, Blink CX is able to maximize the value of its customers’ CX investments during every stage of the life cycle. With the implementation of the Alida TXM platform and Blink CX’s consultancy, customers will be able to address CX pain points and gain truly actionable insights to ensure a strong growth momentum and long term business success.

Darwin Clark Jacquez, COO and vice president of sales of Blink CX, said, “Partnering with Alida will enable both companies to leverage each other’s strengths to deliver value to customers in the areas of Experience Management. There is great synergy between Blink CX capabilities and Alida value propositions that will help companies build loyalty from its customers.”

Steven Medeiros, SVP and general manager of Alida APAC, commented that they are thrilled to work with a partner who is dedicated to innovation and strongly embodies what it means to put the voice of their customer first.

“We look forward to creating a strong partnership with Blink CX that will not only deliver industry-leading CX solutions but also provide an end-to-end personalized experience that enables brands to achieve their desired growth results,” Medeiros said.

The Alida Partner Network enables growth for organizations of all sizes by providing the software, enablement and expert support needed to put customers’ truth into action. As an established player in building engaged and online communities for ongoing customer feedback, partners entrust Alida’s software to help them deliver powerful insights and a competitive advantage for their clients.

Commenting on the addition of Blink CX to the network, Gary Smith, SVP channel and partner alliances of Alida, shared, “We are happy to partner with Blink CX to offer organizations across APAC an exceptional solution to elevate their customers’ experiences.”

Sydney, Australia – Sydney-based digital agency Switch has partnered with digital experience management software Sitecore to launch a new composable digital experience initiative, aimed at helping companies align and accelerate their transformation agenda.

With this new initiative, Switch will now be providing companies with the opportunity to implement composable solution architecture and software in a planning framework, which is designed to drive ROI on business plans, target operating models, and effective data architecture.

Moreover, Switch will be offering the latest platform components from Sitecore, including customer data management, content management, e-commerce, and marketing automation.

As part of the initiative, Switch has also developed a free workshop for organisations seeking to implement SaaS initiatives, helping companies understand their required digital experience strategy. 

Andrew Davenport, Switch’s managing director, shared that the nature of a composable DXP means that components can be smaller and quicker to implement.

“It also means customers can focus on key issues and key technical choices across multiple vendors which allows an organisation to keep evolving to meet its customer expectations without wholesale re-investment across its tech stack. We see this composability as critical to continued customer transformation,” said Davenport.