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Platforms Featured Global

Facebook integrates anew with Messenger app after nine years

Global – Social media giant Facebook has announced that its Messenger feature will now be reunited with the main social media application after nine years of being a standalone messaging app.

It can be noted that in 2014, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the messaging feature will be separated from Facebook, requiring users to separately download the messaging application for a ‘better experience’.

In a blog post, Facebook Head Tom Alison said that they are testing the ability of the users to access Messenger inbox within the Facebook application, and this will be expanded soon.

“Over the coming year, we’ll build more ways to integrate messaging features in Facebook. Ultimately, we want it to be easy and convenient for people to connect and share, whether in the Messenger app or directly within Facebook,” Alison added.

Alison also reassures that Facebook is not dead nor dying, whilst implying that it remains to have 2 billion daily active users.

Aside from the reintegration, Facebook has also announced that it will also invest in artificial intelligence for better delivery of content, whilst supporting the creators to get a wider audience and monetisation opportunities.

Earlier this year, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta has announced new features for both platforms which are a broadcast channel for Instagram and Meta Verified, a paid verification service for both platforms.

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Platforms Featured Southeast Asia

BBC Indonesia pulls the plug on radio broadcast to focus on digital

Jakarta, Indonesia – The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Indonesia has announced that it has ceased its analogue radio operations in Indonesia on December 30, 2022, in favour of transitioning to digital broadcasting.

This marks the end of BBC Indonesia’s 73-year air streak, since it was first launched in 1949.

According to BBC News Indonesia editor Jerome Wirawan, this was done to save the broadcasting company around GPB 28.5m in expenses. This also follows ceasing radio operations of BBC Arabic, BBC Persian and BBC Chinese.

This was not the first time a government-funded broadcasting company has pulled the plug of its local radio operations. In 2012, The Netherlands’ Radio Netherlands ceased operations globally. Meanwhile, Germany’s Deutsche Welle pulled the plug on its Indonesian radio operations, alongside Bengali, Urdu, Dari/Pashtu, in 2011.

Despite radio operations ceasing, BBC Indonesia’s broadcasts will continue to air on digital platforms, including their local website, as well as listening on streaming platforms.

The BBC is the government-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. Its Asia-Pacific presence includes Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China, India, Australia, and Taiwan.

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Marketing Featured Southeast Asia

Gushcloud tapped by Korean online fashion platform MUSINSA as digital partner in SEA

Singapore – Global creator and entertainment company Gushcloud has been appointed by MUSINSA, a Korean online fashion platform, as its digital partner in Southeast Asia. Through the appointment, Gushcloud will provide marketing services–including influencer marketing services–to MUSINSA as it accelerates its growth in the region.

With deep insight and a strong network in Southeast Asia, Gushcloud has been partnering with MUSINSA to deliver the most localised content aligning with their core branding messages.

The move rides the wave of global interest in Korean culture, particularly in K-dramas, K-Pop, Korean food, beauty, and fashion. In Southeast Asia, Korean dramas are the largest consumed online video content category, as well as K-Pop-related online videos.

MUSINSA’s ‘Global Store’ presents current Korean fashion trends, including Seoul fashion from casual, street style, and contemporary to luxury, sports, and beauty.

In May this year, Gushcloud launched a new live commerce unit called GC LIVE which operates premium live commerce shows distributing global brands into SEA.

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Marketing Featured ANZ

SnapLogic announces partnership with meetmagic

Australia – Intelligent integration and enterprise automation SnapLogic in Asia-Pacific has announced a partnership with online Australian business and philanthropic platform meetmagic, a partnership six months in the making.

Through its investment in this partnership, SnapLogic is helping to create ‘magical moments’ for the children who need it most. Its impact, so far, has been felt across four distinct meetmagic charitable organisation partnerships.

Some of its impact to charities include Camp Quality, where SnapLogic enabled the delivery of laughter and essential distraction via a one-to-one, tailored puppet digital playdate; Cure Kids (New Zealand) where SnapLogic meetings supported essential research into childhood diseases; Miracle Babies Foundation where 10 families navigating their NICU journey have been helped thanks to SnapLogic’s contribution; and Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia where SnapLogic meetings turned into 126 smiles delivered via a Starlight Express Room experience to seriously ill children in hospital.

Carl Gough, founder at meetmagic, said, “As far as partnerships go, this one has been a breath of fresh air. We are excited to have SnapLogic as a meetmagic pioneer member, representing an alignment of values in action.”

He added, “The SnapLogic Intelligent Integration Platform is fundamental when accelerating digital transformation. Now, not only are they solving difficult integration challenges, but they have also committed to making an impact in the world through our connections. Their support means the world to me and the team.”

Meanwhile, SnapLogic’s new team member Uma Dubey, APAC head of channel/alliance, played an integral role in getting the partnership sealed. For Dubey, it was important to connect with the community and make a difference while growing SnapLogic’s presence in the APAC region. To that, meetmagic presented as the perfect opportunity.

“With SnapLogic’s strategic decision to expand in APAC with ANZ as a base, it was crucial to build a partner strategy to help us meet our growth aspirations. We were looking at the right mix of partners to be able to do that. When we first came across Carl and the meetmagic team and their offering, the whole idea was very appealing from not only an efficacy perspective but also the philanthropic nature of it. At SnapLogic, we are suckers for good human values, and we were sold right away. We started working with Carl and Rebecca to make it official,” Dubey explained.

Dubey added, “Typically, a tech company leans towards its tech and SI partnerships, but this is going to be arguably one of our most important partnerships for the quality it promises to deliver. Considering our tenure in the ANZ market, the potential it offers us is hard to replicate across any other platform.”

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Platforms Featured Southeast Asia

Shopee PH launches community platform to combat online scams

Manila, Philippines – E-commerce platform Shopee in the Philippines has recently launched Shopee Cares PH, an online community platform where Shopee provides customer education and support to combat the rising number of online scams.

The goal of the platform is to empower consumers with proper know-hows and tips on how they can protect themselves from phishing scams, money and gift card scams, and third party seller scams.

With Shopee Cares PH, users are also encouraged to seek help for any product inquiry or concern, and inspire other users through their memorable Shopee finds and experiences. Sale tips and tricks are also provided to ensure online shopping is made enjoyable with exclusive deals and promos. 

Martin Yu, director at Shopee Philippines, said, “Shopee has always been committed to ensuring that every Filipino’s online shopping experience is safe and reliable, and Shopee Cares is a testament to that. Through this platform, we aim to equip them with knowledge on how to shop safely and combat these online scams together so that they can continuously enjoy shopping online.”

He added, “As more Filipinos rely on e-commerce, we continuously ensure that measures are in place to make their experience with Shopee more secure. What we want is for our shoppers to continue enjoying the benefits of online shopping, as this has become an essential part of their daily lives.”

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Platforms Featured APAC

TotallyAwesome unveils largest brand-safe gaming platform in APAC

Singapore – Kid-centric digital advertising platform TotallyAwesome has recently launched its largest brand-safe gaming platform ‘TotallyPlay’ in Asia-Pacific, allowing brands and advertisers to connect with gamers in Singapore and in the region aged under 18.

Through the platform, it bridges the gap between greater content utility for brands and the experience of play with gamers through managed and programmatic offerings within specific youth audience segments. 

TotallyPlay’s mission is to provide an unbiased and science-backed approach, with a focus on human interpretation, best-in-class exclusive media partnerships, and brand safety. Whether it’s a hand-selected in-game marketing deployment, rewarded video in a mobile game, pre-rolls on around popular gaming YouTubers, a custom integration within a virtual world, or an in-stream placement during a gaming tournament, the platform enables marketers to meaningfully connect with the industry.

TotallyPlay’s gaming platform is able to deliver the largest and best-in-class media supply across APAC without the need for third-party online data, giving marketers a platform to navigate industry sea changes such as Google’s plans to disable third-party cookies next year.

This supply includes safer advertising formats in-game, whether that’s in the form of an in-game banner and rewarded video formats, exclusive branded character skins, or even an official partnership with a brand or developer. Then, it’s about partnerships and collaborations with creators, influencers and other media around the game. And lastly, thinking beyond the game, it’s the partnerships and curated experiences with partners like official esports tournaments, athletes, or in forms of brand experiences built in other virtual environments.

Will Anstee, CEO of TotallyAwesome commented on the launch, “TotallyPlay is about providing the advertising backdrop for positive gameplay to thrive, collaborating with interested brands, and backed by media metrics to prove or disprove each channel’s effectiveness for their campaigns. In short, we’re the only agnostic player in the game, forgive the pun.” 

He added, “Beyond creating highly curated age-appropriate, brand-safe environments, we’re fully invested in the mission to support a safer online future for under-18s and are fascinated by the future of gaming and the possibilities for safe and responsible gameplay to flourish. As we know the region’s biggest brands feel the same, our role is to connect them with this multi-hundred billion-dollar industry with meaning and utility at scale, with the best ROI their media dollars can buy. It’s now a no-brainer.”

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Platforms Featured Southeast Asia

P&G, Shopee launch exclusive virtual home shopping experience

Singapore – Regional e-commerce platform Shopee and multinational consumer goods company Procter and Gamble (P&G) have recently launched an exclusive virtual home shopping experience, as part of P&G’s ‘Regional Super Brand Day’ on Shopee.

Said virtual home shopping experience aims to include campaign-exclusive deals, on-site visibility, and traffic drivers such as influencer engagement and media. It will also include multi-format touch points including videos, gamification, and localised content in a bid to make online home shopping convenient and engaging for all.

The new virtual home shopping experience is a one-stop shop for household essentials produced by P&G brands such as Olay, Downey, Gillette, where users can browse through items categorised according to rooms. The immersive shopping experience aims to provide consumers with an interactive and elevated online shopping journey that changes the way they discover and browse products, beyond traditional product pages. 

This feature is being rolled out progressively across six countries in the Southeast Asia region. Starting with Malaysia and Vietnam on 10 July, it is being progressively rolled out in July and August across Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Elements of the microsite will be localised to each country with the aim of better resonating with consumers through familiar imagery.

Pavan Challa, director of regional brand partnerships at Shopee said, “We are happy to deepen our long-running partnership with P&G to elevate the digital home shopping experience. This new feature will help consumers immerse themselves into the journey of browsing and discovering new brands and items very much like visiting a showroom.” 

He added, “Deeper engagement with brands will also help to facilitate greater customer loyalty, which is a win-win for our users. As we continue to grow the household and personal care categories on Shopee Mall, we look forward to working closely with brands such as P&G to innovate experiences.”

Meanwhile, Shankar Viswanathan, head of e-commerce for Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa at Procter & Gamble, commented, “With the COVID-19 pandemic causing a surge in e-commerce over the past few years, staying ahead with digital innovation is more important than ever. In partnership with Shopee, the virtual home experience has been carefully curated with consumers in mind.” 

He added, “By leveraging the power of technology and gamification, we aim to provide consumers with the best possible virtual home shopping experience in the new normal. In line with P&G’s belief in constructive disruption, we are certain that this will drive growth and value, shaping the future of e-commerce.”

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Platforms Featured East Asia

Innity HK unveils new self-serve advertising platform, ‘Innity Premium AdHub’

Hong Kong – Innity Hong Kong, a digital advertising solutions company, has announced it has launched Innity Premium AdHub, a new self-serve advertising platform that allows brands and SME advertisers to run campaigns more openly on their own terms. The new self-serve advertising platform enables businesses of all sizes to tap into Innity’s network of more than 250 quality publishers and reach over 12 million active devices in Hong Kong with precise targeting.

With Innity Premium Ad Hub, advertisers can set campaign budgets, monitor results, and adjust content in real-time, all from an easy-to-use online platform. The platform is backed by rich 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party audience data, enabling the delivery of branding and performance campaigns in a brand-safe and transparent environment. 

The self-serve platform also lets advertisers build and design their own ads directly on the platform with minimal effort. Advertisers are also able to run Innity’s high-impact mobile ad formats like Mobile Spin, Mobile Cards, and more that aim to deliver the highest viewability and engaging ad experiences.

Andrew Lim, managing partner, Innity Hong Kong, shared, “We’re excited to enable advertisers to easily and quickly create and upload their own campaigns that they can push live to 12 million active devices in Hong Kong in a fast and effective way. Our mission with the Innity Premium AdHub is to create a high-quality premium marketplace to offer a transparent, brand-safe, and high-viewability advertising platform, and we are very happy to be on track to deliver this to all our advertisers.” 

Innity is currently powering the self-serve technology for two premium publisher co-operatives in the region – The Online Premium Publishers Association (OPPA) in Thailand, and Malaysian Premium Publishers Marketplace (MPPM) in Malaysia and continues to encourage the adoption and education of self-serve automation in the region’s digital media industry.

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Platforms Featured Global

Fiverr launches new platform ‘Togetherr’ to connect creative teams to global brands

Singapore – Online freelance marketplace Fiverr has announced the launch of its new platform ‘Togetherr™’, where creative teams can be connected to leading global brands and agency clients for creative works.

The new platform uses the proprietary technology ‘Creative Genome’ to construct teams from an exclusive group of creative talent. These teams will be curated and matched to support brands and agencies on specific projects and campaigns.

‘Togetherr’ builds on Fiverr’s mission of revolutionising how the world works together. This new platform puts talent and creativity at its core and uses technology powered by an AI engine to help leading brands engage with and manage teams of top-tier independent creatives to meet their project goals.

Amir Guy, general manager at Togetherr, said. “The agency-of-record (AOR) model, based on hefty retainers, bloated head-counts, overheads, and complex processes, is not meeting today’s client needs. Clients need a lot more for less, and faster. Trying to meet these needs without changing our industry’s complex system resulted in broken spirits, lack of bravery, lack of excitement, and short-termism.”

He added, “We lost our creative icons, our magicians, our storytellers. Creatives were driven out of our industry, and clients are now looking for them elsewhere. The last two years taught our clients that they can find creativity elsewhere, and produce campaigns better and faster.”

Brands will no longer be bound by bureaucracy, agencies-of-record, and long request for proposal (RFP) processes to bring campaigns to life. With Togetherr, the platform obtains the brief from the client, and the powerful AI engine will build a team specifically curated for that particular project. They get access to world class talent – to enhance the capabilities of their in-house creative teams – a space we see a lot of brands building out – or to build an entire freelance creative team to deliver new ideas or test new approaches.

Meanwhile, Micha Kaufman, CEO of Fiverr, commented “Togetherr is a platform that aims to enable and accelerate new ways of working in the creative industry. When you allow yourself to look beyond the old system and challenge the way things have been done forever, you realise that talent can be found everywhere, on a global scale.” 

He added, “You also find that diversity, which is so essential for creativity, becomes truly possible when you go beyond old constructs. Leading brands today often build their own creative capabilities in-house, and they need easy ways to augment them with outside independent talent and micro agencies on a project-by-project basis.”

Lastly, Greg Hahn, co-founder and COO of Mischief and advisor at Togetherr. “I’ve worked with big agencies and small agencies and founded a boutique small agency that does things differently. There’s no right or wrong way to unlock creativity, however, by putting talent and ideas over profits, you remove the pressure and make way for beautiful, bold, and diverse ideas. This is what Togetherr is all about – using technology to unlock people’s creativity and putting talent first. I am thrilled to have been a part of building this incredible platform and am excited to tap its potential myself.”

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Platforms Featured Southeast Asia

TikTok celebrates Pride Month via Sama-sama tayo #PrideTogetherPH creator livestream event

Manila, Philippines — TikTok, a leading destination for short-form mobile video, celebrates this year’s Pride Month by promoting inclusivity. The platform aims to champion individual expression while also spotlighting the strength of the LGBTQIA+ community.

To officially kick off the month of June, TikTok launched this year’s pride month campaign with the official hashtag, #PrideTogetherPH.

TikTok continues to serve as a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community where users can engage and build relationships with key figures and advocacy organisations. For interested users, they can join in on the discussion and catch the Sama-sama tayo #PrideTogetherPH live stream on June 15, 17, 22, and 24.

The live broadcast will compose numerous prominent LGBTQIA+ creators including Show Suzuki, Roanne and Tina, Rica Salomon, and Miko Esjay together with various music artists like Paul Pablo, SILVY, and Anne Marie.

In addition to the jam-packed events, anticipate a well-rounded discourse with a specially curated digital content series named #QueerTalk with OxfamPH and #ATBPride with LoveYourselfPH. Both are video series expounding more about LGBTQIA+, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression Equality Bill, and different gender identities in the LGBTQIA+ community.