Tag: Partnership

Sydney, Australia – The global restaurant booking platform, Dish Cult, has appointed digital marketing agency Tug, to optimize search across its key markets including Australia, New Zealand, UK, and Ireland.

Dish Cult, which is powered by global reservation and table management solution ResDiary, is a content-led booking platform that includes stories, guides, and news on where diners should go for dining, as well as providing real-time restaurant availability.

The appointment will see Tug leading the SEO for Dish Cult, and providing technical optimization and guidance along with best practice guidelines for implementation across the globe.

Moreover, the agency will be managing the Dish Cult business from its Sydney office, leading on-page optimization, UX enhancements, and the global content strategy to drive bookings and increase Dish Cult’s share of voice globally.

Mitchell Nunis, Dish Cult’s head of brand and growth for ANZ, believes that Tug’s expertise in search will play an important part in growing the share of search and digital-physical availability, which is an important step in becoming the go-to-dining companion for remarkable restaurant recommendations. 

“The team from Tug Sydney clearly demonstrated their strategic capabilities and experience of working on businesses that are active across multiple territories. We look forward to working with them closely in the coming months,” said Nunis.

Meanwhile, Charlie Bacon, the client service director at Tug Sydney, commented, “Dish Cult is an exciting global player in the fast-growing digital hospitality space and we are delighted they have selected Tug to help power their search optimization and user experience across Australasia and wider.”

In August this year, Tug also announced its extended remit with the global legal software provider based in Australia, LEAP. The agency will now be managing LEAP’s display, social, PPC, SEO, and specialist legal media, as well as software directories, and data and analytics.

India – India’s beauty brand SUGAR Cosmetics has appointed Carat, the media agency by dentsu India, to be its new media partner.

SUGAR Cosmetics is crafted across Germany, Italy, India, USA, and Korea. The brand ships its products in lips, eyes, face, and nails, as well as skin categories across the world, scaling its physical presence with over 10,000 retail outlets as of 2020 across more than 130 cities.

As per the mandate, Carat will be overseeing SUGAR Cosmetics’ media strategy, planning, and buying.

Vineeta Singh, the CEO and co-founder of SUGAR Cosmetics, said that Carat’s strategic thinking, experience, and efficiencies stood out, and partnering with them on their media strategy is reassuring, given their data-driven approach in meeting the brand goals.

“The beauty industry is ever-changing and we at SUGAR Cosmetics always like to stay ahead of the curve. As a brand leader, it is my topmost priority to ensure that we keep evolving our strategies to meet consumer requirements. I hope our new association with Carat will help us in this journey of keeping up with consumer trends and stay relevant in the industry,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, Anita Kotwani, Carat India’s CEO, commented that they are pleased to win the media business for SUGAR Cosmetics, and they are 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 loved by the women of today,” said Kotwani.

Mumbai, India – India-based higher edtech company, upGrad, has launched its biggest campaign to date, with the aim to drive the brand’s mission of driving meaningful career outcomes for its learners.

The campaign, which was conceptualized in partnership with creative agency The Womb, is inspired by numerous emails and messages the brand has received from its alumni who have successfully received double promotions, higher pay grades, and job placements at over 1000 companies and MNCs across the globe on pursuing their online courses. 

Moreover, it dramatizes a similar career journey which will re-ignite viewers’ ambition of achieving meaningful professional growth.

Titled ‘Fast Forward Your Career With upGrad’, the campaign features the story of Sohini, who went from a batchmate to a boss, shocking a few of her batchmates who had also been placed in the same company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGH6jcHJo10

The campaign further continues and is built subsequently through more film versions.

Arjun Mohan, upGrad’s CEO for India, noted that the campaign aims to bring out this differentiated positioning of the brand in the higher edtech industry. 

“While our past campaigns have helped us create significant awareness and establish upGrad as an online higher education leader, we now wish to push the envelope further and build preference for the brand, especially among a large set of ambitious working professionals who are looking for meaningful career growth, faster,” said Mohan.

Meanwhile, Navin Talreja, the co-founder of The Womb, commented, “This campaign seeks to shake these working professionals out of their career inertia and position upGrad as a viable option that facilitates strong career outcomes in a contemporary, relatable, and engaging manner.”

Vinil Mathew, the director of the film, shared, “The films have a relatable, slice of life quality with an interesting blend of tongue-in-cheek humor and the fuzzy warmth of friendship. It was an absolute joyride to collaborate with the super creative team at The Womb and a progressive client like upGrad.”

upGrad has also partnered with a host of content creators and influencers who will be joining its war cry of fast-forwarding careers. The ad films will also run across media channels in several Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Bengali, as well as Kannada, and English to connect with the regional audience.

Australia – The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has partnered with independent creative agency Paper Moose, to launch their new 360 video tour of its innovative Sydney CBD campus, aimed at attracting both international and Australian students.

UTS said that the campus has recently been transformed through over AU$1b City Campus Master Plan, which has delivered new landmark buildings, refurbished facilities, and created sustainable, state-of-the-art learning, teaching, and research space.

The platform was specifically designed to appeal to prospective students from anywhere looking to study at any level. 

In addition, the creative and non-binary tour guide avatar was specifically tailored to have the broadest cultural appeal and personify the UTS brand through their young and dynamic look-and-feel.

Christina Miebach, the international marketing manager at UTS, said that their purpose-built facilities, future-focused approach to learning, and inspiring community of students and staff is what attracts lifelong learners to UTS. 

“We hope that this 360 experience showcases our unique value proposition and helps build connections in an increasingly digital and ever-changing world,” said Miebach.

Meanwhile, Nick Hunter, Paper Moose’s executive creative director, commented, “We love playing in the VR/360 video space and we always get goosebumps when a job like this comes our way. The key here was to create the best UX experience possible to deliver a refreshingly simple tour experience that any user could immerse themselves in.”

The tour is guided by the jade-haired and 3D-rendered Alex. It offers a slightly gamified experience through a choose-your-own-adventure narrative tailored to the user’s academic interests. Users will be in a completely 360-degree environment, encompassing 17 scenes and nine faculties and schools, with interactive hotspots and free-roam mode included throughout.

Behind the scenes, the platform itself is largely custom-coded to deliver superior performance, seamless streaming, and smooth scene transitions with minimal loading screens — even on slower connections anywhere in the world.

Sydney, Australia – Local entertainment service Fetch TV has renewed its existing partnership with global content company BBC Studios, which spans seven channels of BBC Studio available on Fetch, following the availability of BBC Kids on the platform last March this year.

The seven channels are namely BBC First, BBC World News, UKTV, BBC Earth and CBeebies, along with Virtual Playlist Channels BBC Brit and BBC Kids which are only available on Fetch.

Fetch subscribers can view the BBC linear channels on their TV or on the Fetch Mobi app, with a ‘start over’ option available for the majority of programs which enables viewers to join the channel at any point and watch from the start.

“We are delighted to continue our decade-long relationship with BBC Studios, which thrives on innovation and creativity to deliver the best of British content to our customers,” said Sam Hall, chief content and commercial officer at Fetch TV.

Meanwhile, Fiona Lang, general manager at BBC Studios ANZ, commented, “Our partnership with Fetch showcases the breadth and depth of the BBC’s content across world-class drama, documentaries, entertainment, children’s programming, and news.”

She added, “We’re excited to renew our agreement with Fetch to bring their audiences this comprehensive offering via their unique mix of linear and virtual playlist channels.”

The BBC channels are all available in the 46 channel Fetch Ultimate Pack for AU$20 per month, and also in the AU$6 per month Fetch Channel Packs.

Mumbai, India – Intellimation.ai, the enterprise AI company in India that uses its proprietary natural language processing and machine learning methods in the BFSI sector, has appointed strategy consultancy Pitchfork Partners to drive its strategic communication duties.

Intellimation.ai focuses on the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector, and has large investment banks, asset management companies, and insurance brokers as its clients. Its flagship product, Vector, is an enterprise AI software and acts as an intelligent connective tissue to contextually interpret and transform non-uniform or non-standard information, and automate related downstream processes through a web of self-learning workflows to deliver end-to-end STP. 

As part of the partnership, Pitchfork Partners will be supporting Intellimation.ai’s business growth and will be boosting its brand narrative.

Har Pulak Bahadur, the CEO of Intellimation.ai, believes that AI products will fundamentally alter the way in which businesses are set up and conducted, and this trend will continue, especially due to the increasing adoption of AI as an operational backbone. 

“We are in the early stages of a fourth industrial revolution! At this stage, brand communication is critical, and I am positive that Pitchfork Partners’ expertise will play a key role in our success,” said Bahadur.

Jaideep Shergill, Pitchfork Partners’ co-founder, commented, “We are honored to assist Intellimation.ai in transforming the operations landscape of financial institutions. It’s a privilege to be part of its journey in India.”

In August this year, Pitchfork Partners was also appointed by Rupeek, the asset-backed digital lending platform in India, to be its new public relations and digital consultancy partner, and was tasked to drive the brand’s business growth.

Singapore – To commemorate World Suicide Prevention Day, which is celebrated on 10 September, creative agency TBWA\Singapore has partnered with Samaritans of Singapore (SOS), the non-profit suicide prevention center, to launch a new product that breaks the silence around mental health. 

Called ‘The Honest Cookie’, each cookie is baked with a different question inside to help initiate conversations around peoples’ feelings and how they are coping during difficult times, allowing people to come together and share what’s truly on their minds.

Through ‘The Honest Cookie’, SOS hopes to reach out to the more vulnerable groups such as the elderly, to help them re-connect with their loved ones and those who can support them in times of need.

The outreach campaign also includes a series of social media content and on-ground engagements that will run in September 2021.

Amid the pandemic, stressors such as drastic changes in lifestyle routines, social withdrawal, and financial worries, have created a sense of hopelessness. But many people find it difficult to have honest conversations and be open about their true feelings, keeping their worries and emotions to themselves, and stopping them from getting the help they need. According to SOS, in 2020, Singapore has reported 452 people who had died by suicide, with an increase in number observed across all age groups. 

“We often do not realize how a simple act of concern can create a huge impact and potentially change someone’s life. We can start by showing our loved ones that we care by initiating a conversation and providing a listening ear,” said Gasper Tan, SOS’ chief executive officer.

Asheen Naidu, TBWA\Singapore’s global creative director, shared that they wanted to create a tool that guides people to have conversations about their mental health in a natural way and begin normalizing this important behavior.

“With mealtimes being the most common time for people to get together, we decided to develop a light snack that initiates heavy conversations – helping us shift from a culture of silence to one of openness and empathy,” said Naidu.

‘The Honest Cookie’ will be distributed across various community centers, social service centers, and corporate organizations, while customers can receive a free cookie when they make a purchase via foodpanda across all LiHO outlets. 

For those who receive ‘The Honest Cookie’, they are also encouraged to share their experience of breaking the cookie with their loved ones via social media, to help create awareness of the #HonestCookieSG campaign. 

They can simply post a public photo or video on their Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube account, sharing their experience of breaking open ‘The Honest Cookie’ and having an open conversation with someone else, as well as a simple description in the caption. They can also include the hashtag #HonestCookieSG and tag three friends.

Moreover, people can donate an honest cookie for just S$2 via giving.sg to fund an honest conversation.

India – Health and fitness e-commerce platform HealthKart has announced the appointment of Dentsu Webchutney, the digital creative agency from the house of dentsu India, to lead the digital and social media duties for its brands, HK Vitals and bGreen.

HealthKart is an online marketplace for health products. Its brand HK Vitals deems to be one of the fastest-growing brands in the nutrition and supplements business, while bGreen is a plant-based nutrition brand with products in both the performance nutrition category and active wellness nutrition category.

The appointment of Dentsu Webchutney comes after its one-project deal with HealthKart.

Kaustuv Paliwal, HK Vitals/HealthKart’s assistant vice president for brands, commented, “We are absolutely thrilled to be joining forces with Dentsu Webchutney. Partnering with them to lead our charter on digital marks the beginning of a journey that is filled with intent and backed by action.”

Dentsu Webchutney’s CEO, Gautam Reghunath, believes that HealthKart is a pioneer in the Indian nutrition and wellness space and one that is vertically integrated into a fragmented category, and it is a brand that’s constantly innovated through product excellence and delivering on consumer needs. 

“There is so much evolution happening in the vitals and nutrition space and we are lucky to be partnering with HealthKart who is at the front of it all,” said Reghunath.

In August this year, Dentsu Webchutney was also appointed to handle the digital and social media mandate of digital insurance policy provider ACKO General Insurance in India.

Australia – APAC digital transformation and supply chain consultancy, TMX, has appointed the independent creative agency Now We Collide, to manage its brand strategy, as the firm expands rapidly across the region.

TMX offers end-to-end digital and supply chain solutions, and works with major consumer brands including UNIQLO, Australia Post, BMW, L’Oreal, and Kmart, as well as Asahi, and Coles.

Through the partnership, Now We Collide has developed a universal visual identity campaign that translates across multiple languages and markets to support TMX’s growth, encompassing digital and social media strategy, as well as a full suite of creative for both organic and paid media.

The new integrated brand campaign is driven by high-end 3D animation and its aesthetic has been made dynamic, fast-paced, visually informative, and warm to echo TMX’s brand purpose – ‘Invent Tomorrow’.

Travis Erridge, TMX’s CEO, said that the new brand strategy firmly establishes the company’s credentials.

“Navigating through the nuances of each APAC market is no small feat however Now We Collide were experts in providing consistency of message. We’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with Now We Collide as we continue our growth across key markets,” said Erridge. 

Now We Collide’s managing partner and CEO, Keir Maher, said that it is a privilege to support a successful Aussie business that’s making such big waves on the international stage. 

“The visual identity, language, and style guide of the campaign is very unique in the category and goes to the heart of TMX as an innovator. We’re proud of this campaign that translates TMX’s unique story onto a global platform and best of all, we’re already seeing the strategy provide positive business outcomes for the team at TMX,” said Maher.

Singapore – Just recently, a new partnership has been launched that involves the Singapore academe with the aim to serve the communications industry through the nurturing of future and next-generation communications professionals. 

The partnership is between integrated communications agency APRW and Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (NTU WKWSCI) who launched the APRW-NTU WKWSCI Student Development Fund. The fund aims to help students fund their final-year projects at the school and in addition, to recognize and celebrate the best projects with the APRW Excellence Award.

The program is part of APRW’s 25th-year anniversary celebration. Through the fund, APRW hopes to empower and enable students of NTU WKWSCI to be one step closer to achieving their dreams as communications professionals. 

APRW plans to raise S$160,000 for the APRW-NTU WKWSCI Student Development Fund, and will be galvanizing its community including clients and partners to contribute to the fund.

To mark the launch of the fund, APRW and NTU WKWSCI jointly held a panel discussion titled ‘Towards Effective Public Messaging Strategies: Implications for Post Pandemic Communication’. The panel highlighted key considerations for the communication of public health issues and research findings on the critical role of mainstream news media as public education tools to correct misinformation during public health crises.

Guest-of-Honour and the Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information & Ministry of National Development, Kiat How Tan, was also present in the signing ceremony which was held at NTU campus on 8 September 2021.

Pei Lin Cho, APRW’s managing director, believes that the success of a company lies not just in the growth, but how they have a greater role as a homegrown company to leave a lasting legacy for the next generation. 

“Together with the support of our clients, business partners, and media friends, we want to contribute our part towards creating a shared future through this partnership with NTU WKWSCI,” said Cho.

May Lwin, the chair of Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, shared that as part of its curriculum, NTU WKWSCI’s Final-Year Project (FYP) aims to provide students with opportunities to apply the knowledge and abilities they have acquired at WKWSCI to real-time societal issues. 

“Our final year projects in various tracks like strategic campaigns, journalism, film, and research have produced output that contributed to improving society on numerous fronts. This is therefore opportune that APRW’s collaboration with WKWSCI will enable our final-year projects to progress even further,” said Lwin.

APRW has also commissioned one of its clients, local e-coffee company Hook Coffee, to create a signature blend called Brew Your Mind to support the fundraising efforts. About 50% of all proceeds from the sale of this coffee will go towards the APRW-NTU WKWSCI Student Development Fund.