Tag: Partnership

Thailand – Asia’s esports organisation Ampverse has partnered with gaming brand Razer, aimed at enabling its Thai Arena of Valor team, Bacon Time, to continue its growth under the Team Razer Banner – an assembly of world-class esports teams and athletes that empowers the best players in the world and giving them the edge in competition. 

As part of the partnership, Team Razer will be equipping Bacon Time’s pro players and brand ambassadors with the gaming products in order to boost their overall gaming and streaming experience. It will also allow Team Razer to access Bacon Time’s pool of pro players, brand ambassadors, and content creators, and an always-on branding presence throughout the team’s official social channels. 

Moreover, the two organisations will work on the co-creation and co-branding of Bacon Time-branded Razer products including the launch of gaming chairs, mousepads, earbuds, mobile cases, and keyboards, amongst others. 

Ferdinand Gutierrez, Ampverse’s CEO, commented that they are thrilled to partner with Team Razer, a global brand not only known for its distinct product quality, but also one which resonates with the gaming and esports community.

“What I’m most excited about is being able to use our creativity and co-create products that will elevate and bring the best out of both brands, connecting real-life consumers with highly relevant products to suit their lifestyle,” said Gutierrez.

Meanwhile, Flo Gutierrez, Razer’s director of global esports, shared that Bacon Time has impressed them with not just their skills in-game, but also their rapport with their fans and the overall gaming community. 

“With an increased focus placed on Razer’s mobile esports in the region, this partnership with Bacon Time comes at an opportune time as we deepen our connection with our Thai community,” he said.

Philippines — Union Bank of the Philippines, whose digital banking division services micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and major e-commerce platform Lazada, have collaborated to enable online sellers to have more options when it comes to bringing their products closer to customers.

With the memorandum of agreement signed last 10 March 2022, UnionBank, through its digital MSME online platform UnionBank GlobalLinker (UBGL), will be creating a special site for all Lazada sellers, while the latter will be doing the same for UBGL sellers. All existing Lazada sellers prior to the partnership will be automatically included.

According to UBGL and Lazada, the joint initiative aims to encourage more sign-ups in both of their respective marketplaces. It will help entrepreneurs expand their online presence much easier, as enlisting with either platform automatically opens up another virtual storefront for them, resulting in more opportunities in doing business with customers.

Signing up offers numerous benefits to sellers. First, they will have access to a dedicated Lazada Onboarding Team. This crew can provide guidance on a number of ideas ranging from selling to strategies; help those who have questions or concerns, and notify sellers about the latest initiatives within the Lazada platform.

In addition, sellers can utilize the following campaign features for free: Members Exclusive Campaign in the home page banner, landing page, and Lazada live, New Seller Campaign Access, and Mega Campaign Access. The first 150 signups will also enjoy service marketplace packages amounting to more than PHP1m in support. These include product photography, product upload, and store builder design, among others.

Lazada will likewise be promoting the UnionBank GlobalLinker platform to its own Lazada Seller Community, so that they too, can reap the benefits of the UBGL Platform.

Jaypee Soliman, vice president and head of SME and Micropreneurs Segment for UnionBank, said that right now, we are, without a doubt, in the golden age of e-commerce in the country.

“We want more enterprising Filipinos to thrive in this period of exponential growth for online shopping, which is why our enhanced partnership with Lazada is very timely. This is all part of our efforts to support the country’s MSME sector, bolster our “Tech-Up Pilipinas” advocacy, and promote inclusive prosperity for Filipinos,” Soliman said.

Carlos Barrera, chief operating officer of Lazada Philippines, commented, “With more MSMEs going online, the partnership with UnionBank is definitely a great step forward in enabling Filipino businesses to grow and scale their e-commerce presence. As we go into our 10th year of empowering MSMEs to go digital, we share an equal mission with UnionBank to continue to uplift Filipino entrepreneurs and further fuel the local digital economy.”

Lazada has been a consistent partner of UnionBank in backing the country’s MSME sector and making online shopping easier for customers since 2020. During the peak of the health crisis, the two companies provided an emergency credit lifeline to Lazada sellers who were heavily affected by the pandemic. In August of the same year, they launched the UnionBank Lazada Credit Card, providing numerous perks to Lazada shoppers.

Bangladesh – Bangladesh-based private commercial bank BRAC Bank has partnered with Singapore’s consumer bank DBS, aimed at allowing Bangladeshi migrants working in Singapore to easily transfer their hard-earned income to their families back home, with minimal fees and in real-time using DBS Remit, a remittance service integrated within the digital banking platform, DBS digibank. 

The new partnership will enable DBS and POSB customers in Singapore to remit funds to any of BRAC Bank’s 187 branches and more than 700 agent banking outlets across Bangladesh. Furthermore, customers can credit their remittances via DBS Remit to any bank account in Bangladesh. By the end of 2022, customers will also be able to use DBS Remit to transfer funds to Bangladesh’s mobile wallet bKash, a subsidiary of BRAC Bank.

For remittances to Bangladesh, DBS Remit has no service fee charges, provides guaranteed exchange rates, as well as real-time automated deposits to any bank account there. BRAC Bank’s extensive network also allows recipients in Bangladesh to easily collect funds in cash if they prefer. For remittances deposited to a BRAC Bank account, BRAC Bank customers can use the bank’s app, Astha, to pay for utilities, insurance and loan installations, credit card and phone bills, as well as transfer funds to any bank account or mobile wallet in Bangladesh. They can also withdraw their cash at any ATM around the nation.

Rhidoi Krishnakumar, the regional head of DBS Remit, commented that they are very pleased to partner with BRAC Bank, one of the most innovative financial institutions in Bangladesh, to enhance their DBS Remit capabilities and provide more accessible, affordable and secure remittances for their customers. 

“We also look forward to enabling remittances to bKash wallet by the end of this year so customers can remit to even more touchpoints across Bangladesh,” said Krishnakumar.

Meanwhile, Selim R.F. Hussain, BRAC Bank’s managing director and CEO, shared that inward foreign remittance is one of the backbones of the economy, and they are always working hard to facilitate its continuous growth. 

“We joined hands with DBS Bank, the leading digital bank in the world because they, like us, offer their customers the best service experience, backed by the most advanced technologies,” said Hussain.

Philippines — Telecommunications company PLDT’s wireless division Smart communication is partnering with SM to bring back SM Cyberzone Game Fest this year, a gaming event that features esports tournaments, a meet-and-greet with influencers, new product displays, sales and many more.

Precy P. Katigbak, FVP and head of national key accounts at PLDT and Smart, commented that they are excited to support Filipino esports athletes and gaming enthusiasts from all walks of life, by providing the best experience and the fastest LTE and 5G mobile network to power their game.

“With our massive network rollout and through our partnership with SM Cyberzone, we hope to empower our digital-savvy customers as they pursue their passions in mobile gaming and technology,” Katigbak said.

Mark Ramilo, group marketing manager of Cyberzone, said, “Throughout the years, we have been supporting the gaming community here in the country. Through SM Cyberzone’s Game Fest, we provide them with a venue to celebrate their passion for gaming. We want to help them further elevate their game through the latest tech-assured products that we have in Cyberzone.”

Smart also introduced GIGA Arena at the event. GIGA Arena is the country’s first all-in-one platform that aims to bring the total esports experience to the fingertips of subscribers. Open to all Smart and TNT customers, GIGA Arena lets users match up with fellow players to compete in daily, weekly, and monthly tournaments on gigarena.smart for prestige and cash prizes.

Aside from enabling users to compete in live tournaments, the all-in-one platform also comes with innovative features that allow mobile gamers to set up tournaments, stream live competitions, play arcade games, purchase e-load, and conveniently link their e-wallet to secure their tournament winnings via GigaPay with PayMaya, among others.

In partnership with Smart, SM Cyberzone Game Fest also recently held its first all-women Mobile Legends tournament. Smart and SM Cyberzone are also set to enable other community tournaments all throughout the three-month campaign.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – Consumer research and analytics company Milieu Insight has announced a strategic partnership with dentsu International to improve the agency’s Consumer Connection System (CCS), the agency’s end-to-end communications planning platform, in their Vietnamese market.

Using Milieu Portraits that will fuel higher quality and up-to-date data, the partnership will enable dentsu to use advanced research and analytics tools to help its clients undertake fast turnaround studies and craft effective business and communication strategies. In addition, Milieu’s consumer profiling tool, when integrated into the CCS, will complement and help unlock more use cases ranging from campaign measurements to optimising the activation of digital ads. 

Another service that will be utilised will be Milieu Activate, an automated brand tracking solution and programmatic activation, which leverages millions of data points to serve ads to the right mobile audiences, enabling Dentsu to help their clients drive stronger metrics in terms of click-through rates and conversions. It uses programmatic lookalike modelling to identify target audience with access to mobile device IDs.

Gerald Ang, CEO at Milieu Insight said that their strategic partnership with Dentsu is an important step towards providing the industry with a highly differentiated and data-driven audience targeting solution that will lead to better and more effective campaigns.

“The real-time dynamic nature of Milieu Insight’s consumer engagement platform and the wide range of data that it holds will empower dentsu to help brands gain a competitive edge and build stronger relationships with their customers,” Ang said.

Meanwhile, JP Salustiano, chief strategy officer at dentsu Services Vietnam, commented, “We’re able to offer our clients a higher level of insight and accuracy because of the quality and depth of data Milieu Insight’s Canvas provide, at the speed with which it can be augmented. We are already able to build planning segments for our clients that were not possible before, which gives us greater ability to drive return on marketing investment.”

Lastly, Navin Dhanpal, CEO at Carat, commented, “Through our partnership with Milieu Insight, CCS in its new digital avatar is going to fundamentally shift the media research industry and give our brands the latest insight into not just ‘what’ media their target consumer is consuming and ‘when’ – but more importantly, ‘how’ they are consuming that media and ‘why’.”

London, United Kingdom — Reddit, the social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website, has entered into a long-term consultative partnership with global marketing communications company, WPP. The partnership, a first of its kind for Reddit, and led by its global agency development team, will strengthen Reddit’s on and off-platform commerce offering by closely aligning with WPP’s industry-leading commerce roadmap.

The partnership will tap into the commerce and technology expertise across WPP and its media agencies within GroupM through quarterly advisory meetings. Teams will consult on Reddit’s commerce strategy, ensuring it incorporates the latest insights and intelligence from across the WPP network. WPP will receive a first look at Reddit’s commerce solutions with early access to alpha and beta tests so both companies can collaborate on joint products to take to shared clients. The joint collaboration will also include a joint research piece, to test the effectiveness of future commerce products on Reddit, along with a training program through Reddit Ads Formula, which soft-launched last year.

Reddit builds on its existing partnership with WPP media arm, GroupM, which was one of the very first to meet with Reddit’s ads product team when it was first introduced, this partnership will widen the aperture of Reddit’s relationship with WPP and help inform Reddit’s long term commerce strategy, firmly cementing its role in the wider commerce mix.

Harold Klaje, global EVP and president of advertising for Reddit, commented, “Online communities are not new but they have emerged throughout the pandemic as an integral part of the commerce mix thanks to the highly influential role they play in the consumer path to purchase. I am excited to further strengthen our relationship with WPP and its suite of clients as we continue to collaborate and build together, tapping into the holding company’s impressive expertise and working towards mutually beneficial outcomes for our advertising partners.”

Meanwhile, Amanda Grant, vice president, managing partner, and global head of social for GroupM, said that being a part of the Reddit product council in the past year has given them a seat at the table in terms of early product design, leading to better-aligned product development and advertiser interest.

“The partnership brings key stakeholders in early enough to steer concepts rather than confirm a formed hypothesis. GroupM and WPP are approaching commerce evolution much more methodically with our partners, as our performance expertise helps to connect user behaviours, to platform utility, and finally advertiser need. We are looking forward to richer contributions and partnership with Reddit,” Grant said.

Many WPP client brands are already working with Reddit to drive commerce solutions through Reddit’s highly engaged user base and 100,000+ communities. WPP was also an instrumental part of Reddit’s Product Council, which launched last year as a first-look and feedback session for key partners regarding Reddit’s evolving ads product roadmap. This new partnership will see Reddit and WPP continue to partner on client campaigns with a particular focus on lower-funnel education, strategy, and tactics to drive the strongest purchase outcomes.

The partnership comes as Reddit continues to grow its Global Agency Development team, which has recently appointed London-based Susanne Schmid who joins from Facebook where she was regional agency lead and will serve as Reddit’s global agency lead for WPP. Additionally, former VP, global head of partnerships at Verizon Media, John Baylon has also joined the team as the regional agency lead for Europe, the Middle East, and Asia (EMEA), and will be responsible for servicing all holding companies across EMEA in a newly-developed role.

London, United Kingdom — Financial institution HSBC has announced its partnership with The Sandbox as it acquires a plot of LAND, a virtual real estate in The Sandbox metaverse, where it plans to engage and connect with virtual communities through gaming and esports in the future.

Suresh Balaji, chief marketing officer of HSBC Asia Pacific, said that the metaverse is how people will experience Web3, the next generation of the Internet — using immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality and extended reality.

“At HSBC, we see great potential to create new experiences through emerging platforms, opening up a world of opportunity for our current and future customers and for the communities we serve. Through our partnership with The Sandbox, we are making our foray into the metaverse, allowing us to create innovative brand experiences for new and existing customers. We’re excited to be working with our sports partners, brand ambassadors, and Animoca Brands to co-create experiences that are educational, inclusive and accessible,” Balaji said.

Sebastien Borget, COO and co-founder of The Sandbox, commented, “We’re pleased to see large, trusted institutions such as HSBC join The Sandbox open metaverse and embrace the culture of Web3, connecting with users through entertainment, gaming and user-generated content. We believe this is the beginning of broader adoption of Web3 and the metaverse by institutions driving brand experiences and engagement within this new ecosystem.”

HSBC joins over 200 existing partnerships including Havas Group, Warner Music Group, Gucci, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, and Atari, all following The Sandbox’s vision of empowering players to create their own experiences using both original and well-known characters and worlds.

The agreement opens the door for other global institutions to continue innovating in Web3 as consumer adoption demands more robust experiences in the metaverse through decentralized and gamified offerings.

Vietnam – Life insurance company AIA in Vietnam has extended its exclusive partnership with Vietnam’s private bank VPBank, changing the originally planned 15 years partnership to 19 years for the distribution of insurance through banks.

VPBank said that it has developed a strong cooperative relationship with AIA Vietnam since 2017, and the extension of their partnership is not only a good sign for them but also good news for customers. 

Through the extended partnership, both companies will continue to help customers access and experience top quality life insurance products and services, along with the preferential benefits of many comprehensive health care plans. In addition, products will be more innovative and many connecting activities in terms of mental, physical, and financial health will also be deployed in accordance with each customer group of the bank.

Wayne Besant, AIA Vietnam’s general director, said, “The extension of the exclusive partnership between VPBank and AIA Vietnam will allow AIA to continue to strengthen its long-term and relevant financial protection solutions. With the healthcare needs of many families in Vietnam, helping them live healthier, longer, and happier lives.”

Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Vinh, VPBank’s general director, commented, “In addition to improving the quality of services for customers, we are delighted by the extension of this partnership to bring to the market new products, and more innovative services, providing more financial solutions to customers for their future lives.”

Hong Kong — Choco Up, the Hong Kong-based financing and growth platform, has announced its partnership with fintech company Airwallex to support the future growth of cross-border e-commerce. By combining Airwallex’s proprietary global payments infrastructure with Choco Up’s flexible recurring funding solutions, the collaboration enables a comprehensive and integrated finance solution for e-commerce companies across Asia.

Leveraged by Airwallex, Choco Up is able to offer a one of its kind, turnkey solution covering cross-border payments, collections, and growth funding, and addresses the needs that will enable e-commerce firms of all sizes to grow beyond geographical boundaries without financial constraints.

Kai Wu, CEO of Airwallex Greater China, commented that they are pleased to have been chosen as Choco Up’s partner as they continue to support the growth of e-commerce companies across the region.

“Businesses today require easy-to-use, accessible, safe and cost-efficient payment options and our global financial infrastructure can enable that for businesses like Choco Up. Our scale API solution offers a centralized way to manage cross-border payment complexities, so businesses can easily transact internationally. We look forward to continuing our partnership in APAC and beyond, empowering businesses of all sizes to operate anywhere, anytime,” Wu said. 

Choco Up provides e-commerce companies with flexible funding ranging from US$10,000 to US$10m to accelerate their growth. Choco Up’s proprietary fintech platform allows for a seamless, automated funding process. By connecting the companies’ sales and marketing accounts to their data integration platform, Choco Up can efficiently conduct artificial intelligence-driven risk assessments on applicant companies within hours. The information gathered enables e-commerce companies to see all their business performance data in one place, helping them identify pain points, optimize their businesses, and stay on top of the competition.

Brian Tsang, co-founder and COO of Choco Up, said that the pandemic has propelled even faster growth of e-commerce companies over the past couple of years, many of whom are in search of new funding and payments options to enable more sustained long-term growth regionally/internationally.

“Partnering with Airwallex allows us to build a comprehensive hassle-free payment and funding infrastructure in Asia to empower these businesses to scale across borders without complications and co-create a better future for cross-border e-commerce in Asia,” Tsang said.

Bringing together Airwallex’s global payment technology with Choco Up’s funding platform and analytics tools, this solution will serve as a one-stop-shop for e-commerce companies looking to expand internationally. Airwallex’s global payment software lets e-commerce businesses make cross-border payments in more than 130 currencies at significantly lower costs because of their market-leading foreign exchange rates. In addition, Airwallex Borderless Cards will enable e-commerce merchants to make digital payments across borders that are more secure, transparent, and efficient.

Last January, Airwallex launched its fintech platform in Singapore.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Advertising company Taboola has announced an exclusive partnership with KapanLagi Youniverse, one of the largest publishing conglomerates in Indonesia. 

Through this two-year partnership, the publisher will implement several Taboola products, including Taboola Video, Taboola Newsroom and its integrated Feed with a mid-article unit, which provides readers with personalised content and targeted ads to increase engagement and revenue opportunities.

The integrated Taboola News feed will enable users to access content recommendations, designed to boost engagement and drive digital growth.

The publisher has more than 110 million monthly unique visitors and 50,000 articles produced each month.

Adam Singolda, CEO and founder at Taboola, said, “We’re excited to partner with KLY, a key destination for news and entertainment in the Indonesian market. KLY is really looking to drive growth opportunities by creating content that resonates more soundly with its audience. I’m confident that integrating Taboola technology will help KLY thrive, particularly as the demand for up-to-the-minute, engaging news content continues to grow.”

Meanwhile, Danny Purnomo, deputy CEO at KLY, commented, “We’re looking forward to working with Taboola to engage more actively with our audience. With millions of people turning to our site for updates, we want to ensure our readers are getting the best experience, every time, with a focus on content that is relevant to them. Taboola’s ability to enhance content discovery, coupled with its data-driven approach, will be critical to our strategic growth plans.”

The KLY partnership follows Taboola’s recent announcements of partnerships with NBA Philippines and the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s leading English-language news media.