Tag: Partnership

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Taco Bell, international Mexican-inspired quick-service restaurant brand under Yum Brands Incorporated, has selected GrowthOps Asia, a growth services partner, as its marketing partner in Malaysia. GrowthOps is tasked to build Taco Bell’s brand voice on social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, and to underscore the #ISeeATaco global campaign’s relevance to Malaysians.

GrowthOps has established itself as a valuable end-to-end digital marketing growth partner for customers across various industries namely banking, retail, telco, and manufacturing, among others. The company holds extensive expertise in tech consultancy services to support businesses capitalize on avenues for innovation.

Harris Beh, franchise operator at Taco Bell Malaysia, commented, “GrowthOps exhibited a strong degree of digital creativity and performance media experience that matched our ambition for the future of the brand. Today, an integrated communications approach to building a brand is a critical component for business success; it is as important for Taco Bell to grow its digital reputation as it is to offer a superior food experience to our customers.”

Meanwhile, Chris Greenough, general manager of GrowthOps Malaysia, said, “We are absolutely delighted that Taco Bell has entrusted us with building their online visibility and engagement in Malaysia. They are an iconic brand that has much potential to grow in this market.”

Last November, GrowthOps joined the partner network of total experience management company, Alida, to deliver an elevated customer experience to organizations in APAC.

Maldives – Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), the national tourism office responsible for carrying out promotional activities for the Maldives, has partnered with British mass media firm News UK, to launch a new campaign that aims to drive brand awareness for the country as a holiday destination.

News UK distributes news of all beats via newspapers, websites, and radio broadcasting. It is the current publishers of The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Sun newspapers. The partnership seeks to promote Maldives as a safe haven, prepared to welcome tourists from all over the world. It will focus on promoting the resorts, hotels, guesthouses, and liveaboards, as well as the unique experiences available in the country, and the geography of the scattered islands which provide the ultimate natural social distance for tourists.

Through the partnership, News UK will be releasing articles with the latest information on the Maldives and the most up-to-date travel guidelines across its different news distribution platforms, which would reach the travel trade and potential travellers from the United Kingdom.

According to MMPRC, a total of 1,312,706 tourists arrived in the Maldives in 2021, and the top five markets during this period were India, Russia, Germany, and the UK, as well as the USA. During this period, a total of 62,188 arrived from the UK to the Maldives, about 4.7% of the total arrivals.

“MMPRC has conducted several marketing activities in the UK market during last year. This includes webinars, joint marketing campaigns, media interviews, familiarisation trips, roadshows, and participation in major travel trade fairs and exhibitions. Ongoing activities for this market include joint marketing campaign with British Airways and digital campaigns with tour operators and travel agents,” said MMPRC.

The campaign will be conducted for one month, starting January to February.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Tokocrypto, a local-based crypto asset digital exchange, has announced that it will be joining with BRI Ventures, an Indonesian venture capital firm backed by government bank Bank BRI. The collaboration, known as the ‘Tokocrypto Sembrani Blockchain Accelerator (TSBA)’, is set to help emerging blockchain projects and startups scale up with the support of technology, community networks, and also allow them gain access to funding opportunities.

Participants and startups will be provided with the necessary tools on fundraising, team culture, blockchain development, listing advisory and tokenomics to develop the skills required to make a mark within the blockchain industry. 

The program seeks to onboard 8-10 emerging Indonesian blockchain startups into the first cohort. Registration closes on 10 February, and the program will kick off on the 21st of February.

Pang Xue Kai, chief executive officer at Tokocrypto, said, “Southeast Asian enterprises today are leveraging the power of blockchain technology and are looking for ways to disrupt industries. We are launching this partnership with the goal to put Indonesia in the centre of the blockchain map and give the Indonesian blockchain communities the opportunity to grow with the catalyst of collaboration.”

Tokocrypto Sembrani Blockchain Accelerator will incubate projects and elevate them across 4 primary pillars: branding and marketing, investment strategies, investment landscape tactics and access to fundraising opportunities. The central nexus of TSBA which connects the 4 pillars of the accelerator program is the networking and mentoring support of mentors from the local blockchain scene such as Nicko Widjaja, chief executive officer at BRI Ventures); Pang Xue Kai, CEO at Tokocrypto; Teguh Kurniawan Harmanda, COO at Tokocrypto; Lai Chung Ying, CSO at Tokocrypto) and Nanda Ivens, CMO at Tokocrypto; as well as mentors from the global blockchain scene.

Hong Kong – ViLab Limited, a Hong Kong-based metaverse service provider, has formed an exclusive partnership with Actoplus Holding to develop virtual idols and other metaverse technology, with the goal of capturing opportunities from the transformation of digital brand marketing in Mainland China.

According to consultancy iiMedia research, the size of the virtual idol market in China has reached US$540m in 2020, a 70% jump from a year earlier and was expected to reach US$17b in 2021.

Since the founding of ViLab, the company and its partners have been developing and upgrading virtual human and background technologies such as face-shifting, lip synchronization, and voice cloning.

Through the new collaboration, ViLab and Actoplus will be working together on the creation and maintenance of virtual idols. These characters can be deployed for an array of commercial functions, such as brand endorsement, live-streaming broadcasts, and both online and offline marketing campaigns.

Ric Wu, ViLab’s chairman and founder, commented that they are delighted about this collaboration as virtual idols have been a dominant feature in their metaverse vision since the company’s founding. 

“Access to the world’s biggest consumer market where digital marketing is seen as one of the next frontiers will give us the perfect platform to test and launch many of our ideas and technology,” said Wu.

Meanwhile, Vincent Lau, Actoplus’ chairman, shared that the collaboration with ViLab will make use of Actoplus’s expertise in digital marketing and e-commerce to jointly develop business in Mainland China. 

“At the same time, Actoplus will connect ViLab with existing and potential partners in the metaverse space, to further explore the range of possibilities presented by the new digital era and reinvent business models for the future,” said Lau.

Bangalore, India – HiveMinds Innovative Market Solutions, the full-service digital marketing and consultancy firm by Madison World, has recently bagged the digital mandate of insurance firm Max Life Insurance to manage its paid marketing portfolio. 

Max Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between Indian multi-business corporation Max Group’s Max Financial Services and Axis Bank. As part of the mandate, HiveMinds will be responsible for carrying out digital marketing activities across all publishers and platforms for Max Life Insurance including Google, Facebook, and Taboola, as well as Outbrain, amongst others. This will in turn enable new customer acquisition for the insurance firm. The account will be serviced by HiveMinds’ newly opened north branch.

Aditya Satpute, Max Life Insurance’s corporate vice president of e-commerce and digital marketing, shared that today’s consumers are evolved and very digital-savvy, so the success of insurance companies is increasingly dependent upon their ability to innovate and engage with customers on digital platforms. 

“We are pleased to partner with HiveMinds in the next phase of our digital growth, where they will manage the entire paid marketing portfolio for the e-commerce business,” said Satpute.

Meanwhile, Jyothirmayee JT, HiveMinds’ founder and CEO, commented, “We are proud of winning this highly contested mandate. There is a massive transformation happening in the Insurance sector powered by digital expansion. Bringing the right digital integrations and innovation will be key to our success.”

Deepti Bhadauria, HiveMinds’ chief strategy officer, said, “Max Life Insurance is one of those companies that have the vision, the clarity of thought, and the right team to ride the digital wave in the country. We are confident that together we’ll create new benchmarks in digital marketing.”

Most recently, HiveMinds has appointed Saurabh Tyagi, former vice president of Madison World’s media agency Madison Media, to be its new chief client officer, where he will be leading the agency’s enterprise clients.

Singapore – Interpublic Group (IPG) has announced that its bespoke solution, Team Dynamic, has been named the regional production and operations partner for luxury vehicle company BMW Group.

Team Dynamic integrates production and operations resources on a responsive, data-driven technology platform. It incorporates both onshore and offshore production solutions, delivering quality outputs in a streamlined, efficient way. 

The new partnership consolidates remit across 11 markets with IPG, following Team Dynamic’s appointment as a production partner in Japan and India in early 2021. The new markets include Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand, as well as the Middle East, and South Africa. 

Through the new partnership, Team Dynamic will be handling content production for both BMW and MINI’s media requirements, including digital and offline production, website management and maintenance, marketing campaign services, and after-sales and financial services marketing support.

Mish Fletcher, IPG’s chief growth officer for APAC, commented that they are thrilled to extend their partnership with the BMW Group in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and South Africa through their proven Team Dynamic production model. 

“Our connected technology solution allows for real-time optimization, consistency, and flexibility while ensuring unbeatable content production quality at speed and scale,” said Fletcher.

Singapore – ZALORA, Asian e-commerce fashion brand, announced its partnership with Google to launch Google Ads with ZALORA, a marketing solution that provides brands with a simpler way to drive online sales and performance.

Google Ads with ZALORA will help in the brand growth of businesses by providing sophisticated campaign support connecting them with customers while delivering tools that measure and optimize marketing campaigns.

Tejas Kirodiwal, head of growth at ZALORA, commented on the collaboration, saying that this partnership with Google aligns with ZALORA’s commitment to driving the growth of Asia’s e-commerce industry as it aims to boost brand promotion and success in a competitive online retail landscape.

“As e-commerce becomes increasingly important, Google Ads with ZALORA will work in conjunction with our in-depth industry expertise and other platform service offerings, such as retail intelligence and analytics solution TRENDER, a Data by GFG product, to run targeted and data-driven campaigns that meet business objectives,” Kirodiwal said.

The partnership comes after a string of successful pilot tests conducted during the second half of 2021. 

According to ZALORA, global fashion brand H&M ran shopping campaigns over a 7-week period within Malaysia and showed that Google Ads with ZALORA was effective in driving greater discoverability and traffic for H&M products on ZALORA’s e-commerce site, resulting in a strong return on advertising spend of 6.1x.

Jerome Hamlin, head of industry E-Commerce at Google, commented on the partnership, saying, “This extends on the ongoing efforts between Google and ZALORA to drive digitalisation in businesses. Southeast Asia is entering its ‘digital decade’ with the internet playing an integral part in people’s everyday lives. We’re excited to launch Google Ads with ZALORA to help accelerate e-commerce growth across the region and support brands to tap into the growing pool of digital shoppers.”

This January, ZALORA Malaysia announced their collaboration with conversational AI company Bray Leino Splash to enhance the customer experience of their Community Influencer Program.

Australia – In-game advertising platform Anzu has partnered with global gametech company Livewire to help APAC advertisers reach Roblox players through blended in-game ad placements.

Roblox is a global metaverse where players gather to create, share, and play together in immersive worlds. Currently, the platform has over 40 million games covering every genre imaginable.

The partnership will allow advertisers to run non-disruptive ads within many of Roblox’s most popular titles, namely All Star Tower Defense, Speed Run 4, Wacky Wizards, and Weight Lifting Simulator. Advertisers working with Anzu also benefit from guaranteed viewable impressions, brand safety, detailed campaign reporting, and brand lift measurement. 

According to Top Down Games, the studio behind Roblox hit ‘All Star Tower Defense’ which is one of Roblox’s most-played titles, Anzu’s solution allows brands to become part of the game, with their ads appearing on in-game objects that naturally feel part of the gameplay. At the same time, they can reach millions of players within an environment where they are fully engaged and feel comfortable.

Indy Khabra and Brad Manuel, Livewire’s co-founders, commented that they are thrilled to partner with Anzu and extremely excited to bring the Roblox platform exclusively to marketers and agencies in APAC. 

“Livewire’s vision to be the leading gaming marketing and gametech company takes another leap forward with the immersive virtual world of Roblox. The platform is also fully GDPR and COPPA compliant highlighting their dedication to kidsafe gaming,” said Khabra and Manuel. 

Itamar Benedy, Anzu’s co-founder and CEO, noted that some of the world’s biggest brands are using Roblox’s popularity and global reach to access previously hard-to-reach audiences, who are increasingly spending more time on the platform. 

“Thanks to our exclusive partnership with Livewire, advertisers in APAC can now reach an engaged and diverse audience through our non-disruptive in-game ads that add to the gameplay, making experiences more realistic,” said Benedy.

Toronto, Canada – Customer experience (CX) management and customer insights platform, Alida, has partnered with Blackhawk Network’s digital rewards provider Rybbon, with the aim to enhance its TXM platform to provide clients with the ability to grow engagement through incorporating incentives as part of their Voice of Customer (VoC) and Voice of Employee (VoE) programs.

With the integration of Rybbon’s PointsJoy solution, Alida will be streamlining points-to-rewards programs by allowing clients to preset the number of points to award for a completed survey. This solution includes Rybbon’s AutoRewards feature which enables organizations to set a predetermined points threshold. When respondents meet or exceed this threshold, a reward email will be automatically sent to the respondent, enabling them to redeem their points for a desired digital reward from a curated reward catalogue.

Jignesh Shah, Blackhawk’s head of global integrated incentives, believes that continued survey respondent participation is a necessity to truly understand the voice of the customer.

“By combining their powerful rewards program with Alida’s leading customer experience management platform, Alida clients will be able to boost engagement and retention rates by providing respondents with points that can be accumulated and redeemed for digital rewards,” said Shah.

Meanwhile, Riaz Raihan, Alida’s president of products and engineering, shared that their priority is to help clients improve experiences for their customers and employees, driving loyalty and retention.

“With the new Rybbon integration, rewarding customers for continuous engagement with your organization is now easier than ever. With a myriad of global incentive options, companies can now offer their customers and employees incentive choices that matter most to them,” said Raihan.

To learn more about boosting customer experience engagement in 2022, businesses may register for Rybbon’s upcoming webinar on its website.

In November 2021, Alida has also partnered with growth company GrowthOps, to deliver elevated CX and insights to organizations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia.

Mumbai, India — Organic Tattva has awarded its full-funnel digital and performance mandate duties to FoxyMoron, the performance agency and full-service creative under media company Zoo Media Network following a multi-agency pitch. 

The agency’s duties include handling the brands’ strategic content and design across all social media platforms and performance marketing. The responsibility is given to FoxyMoron’s Gurgaon office.

India-based Organic Tattva offers a portfolio that includes certified organic food options, non-use of chemicals and pesticides, while also ensuring sustainable farming practices. 

Prachi Bali, national head partnerships and business head of FoxyMoron for North, shared her thoughts on the new responsibility for the agency.

“The organic food and beverages category, while increasing in demand, has been riddled with unclear messaging and perception challenges. With Organic Tattva, we aim to create communication that will truly build brand trust and also a community of people who enjoy consuming organic food,’’ Bali said.

Meanwhile, Kriti Mehrotra, marketing director at Organic Tattva, commented on the partnership, saying that the company is excited to collaborate with FoxyMoron for its digital marketing and media mandate. 

“Organic Tattva and FoxyMoron will work on delivering influential campaigns and raising awareness about the organic farm to fork process and our company’s commitment to integrity, authenticity, and quality,” Mehrotra said.

This January, FoxyMoron also won the full-funnel performance digital duties of Henkel Beauty Care’s Beauty Brand Schwarzkopf Professional.