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Platforms Featured Southeast Asia

Bumble unveils new features to ‘make dating kinder, more fun’ for Singaporeans

Singapore – Bumble, the women-first dating app, has launched a suite of new product features in Singapore designed to make dating ‘kinder and more fun’ for Singaporean singles in 2023.

The first new Bumble feature, Speed Dating, brings retro speed dating events to the online dating experience, allowing members to go in ‘blind’ and prioritise personality over physical attraction. This feature requires people to start conversations without seeing any pictures of the other person, with profile photos hidden for the first three minutes of messaging. 

The experience is available in Bumble’s Date Mode and people on Bumble can RSVP directly within the app each week. Speed Dating pairings are based on location, age and gender preferences.

“Bumble’s new Speed Dating experience in the app brings the fun back to dating in 2023! This feature creates intrigue and anticipation in a low-pressure environment, and allows the Bumble community to build connections based on personality and shared interests, which are much truer indicators of compatibility than looks,” said Lucille McCart, Bumble’s APAC communications director.

Bumble’s new features also include Compliments, which gives Bumble members the opportunity to be even more intentional about starting the conversation in a positive way. Compliments is a message before match feature that allows members to stand out by sending a note before connecting. 

To this, McCart commented, “At Bumble we believe in the power of positivity and kindness, and that when a compliment is the foundation of a conversation, you are setting the stage for the connection to begin in the best possible way. Sending a compliment on Bumble can be as simple as sending a kind message when you come across someone’s profile whom you share a common interest with, such as music taste or favourite movie.”

The final feature in the newly announced product bundle is Recommend to a Friend, which allows the Bumble community to play cupid and help find their friends new connections. If you come across a profile on Bumble that’s not right for you but might be for someone you know, you can now directly share a link to their Bumble profile.

“We all know that feeling when you come across a profile that ticks all the boxes of your bestie. Now you can help your friends find dates by sharing the profile of their perfect match with them,” said McCart.

Bumble has also recently released its ‘Breaking Barriers: Getting Real About Dating During CNY With Mum’ campaign which features a heart-to-heart conversation between mother and daughter, tackling their thoughts on dating.

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Marketing Featured ANZ

Business growth consultancy 24HR Business Plan launches marketing offering for SMEs, small teams

Sydney, Australia – Business growth consultancy 24HR Business Plan has launched its new product offering, called the 24HR Marketing Plan, to further drive client growth opportunities primarily for small to medium size business enterprises or larger companies with small marketing teams.

The new 24HRMP builds on the successful principles of the 24HR Business Plan and will help organisations bridge the gap between business and marketing strategies. The program will let businesses have access to experts with high-level CMO credentials and a raft of international and local marketing experience. 

Over a total of 24 hours, the program combines several collaborative workshops and strategic development focused on marketing’s core 4Ps to deliver a winning marketing strategy and execution plan.

Jarther Taylor will lead 24HR Marketing Plan and will be joined by renowned global marketing leaders David Rebetzke and Bronwyn Powell for the Senior Advisory team. The three bring a combined experience of more than 60 years leading long-term marketing growth strategies across local and global brands to the program. 

According to Andrew Baxter, founder and senior advisor at 24HR Business Plan, the new offering will enable companies to access highly experienced CMOs to lead their marketing planning process. He also added that the offering will equip companies with the ability to find market opportunities for their businesses and create a marketing strategy and actionable plan for growth and sales success.

“24HRMP is a working model based on the successes of 24HR Business Plan and works in partnership with clients to deliver brand and marketing-led growth strategies and most importantly a clear route to implement the plan,” said Baxter.

Meanwhile, Taylor shared his excitement over the launch. “I am excited to bring the proposition to market and have the opportunity to create something terrific and grow with it. And the best part of this opportunity is we bring the incredible skills and capabilities of our Senior Advisory team and make them accessible to our clients,” he said.

Linda Apostolidis, managing director at NewyTechPeople, also commented, “We have grown incredibly quickly over 2 years and our brand has grown organically. Everything was in our head and we executed on the fly. Having external advice to help build an overarching marketing strategy and roadmap, that we can execute on, works well for the size of our business.” 

Baxter concluded, “Collectively, the team’s deep local and global knowledge and hands-on marketing experience, has created a dream team to take this product to market. I can’t wait to watch the team bring 24HR Marketing Plan to life, and influence the way clients create marketing plans to drive business growth.”

24HR Business Plan is a consulting firm based in Sydney, Australia, which is focused on organisational development and insight-led management.

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Platforms Featured South Asia

OMG India launches Auto ROI Vault to optimise investment planning

Mumbai, India – Media network Omnicom Media Group (OMG) in India has announced the launch of its market-leading repository OMNI Auto ROI Vault, targeted at making media spending’s impact on revenue a focus.

The launch also aims to empower OMG’s clients to reach their desired revenue objective by allocating budget across various channels, benchmarking categories to measure performance, and predicting models for future sales and revenue.

The Auto ROI Vault allows OMG’s automobile clients to precisely curate investment planning and channel plans for both short-term and long-term payoffs. Moreover, teams can also calibrate and optimise their investment plans across OMG’s agencies OMD and PHD.

“OMG’s data-led approach delivers on our ambitions of exceeding the needs of our clients, being their most trusted partner on their journey of transformation and being able to uncover business-led insights with a tangible impact on revenue growth,” said Kartik Sharma, group CEO of OMG India.

He also added that the repository is primed to help brands see the effectiveness of media planning as a long-term investment instead of approaching it as another cost incurred.

“With it in our arsenal, we are uniquely positioned to focus on revenue-driven outcomes for our clients and further deliver on our promise of our transparent and client-centric approach to brand building,” Sharma concluded.

OMNI is Omnicom Group’s people-based precision marketing and insights platform, designed to identify and define personalised consumer experiences at scale across creative, media, CRM, and other Omnicom practice areas.

OMG India has also previously launched the second edition of its Digital Bootcamp in collaboration with executive upskilling platform ELEVES, aimed at stimulating growth in the ever-changing industry.

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Platforms Featured Global

airasia to offer flight subscription ‘SUPER+’ to travellers outside Asia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – airasia Super App’s SUPER+,  its flight subscription offering, is now made available for purchase worldwide, enabling its subscribers to fly further and enjoy more perks across the whole airasia ecosystem.

SUPER+ will be offering two options for subscribers with different destination preferences: the SUPER+ Lite which covers all ASEAN countries, and the SUPER+ Premium which covers all countries operated by airasia including destinations in Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, Maldives, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia. 

Both subscription plans include unlimited 10% off for airasia rides and an unlimited 5% discount on all hotels on the airasia Super App.

“For the first time, we are opening up the new SUPER+ for everyone across the globe to buy, even those in the US, Europe and all other regions. For travellers from the West, this SUPER+ product is the best flight and lifestyle subscription for them to fully maximise and obtain the best value to rediscover the beauty of Asia,” said Amanda Woo, CEO of airasia Super App.

She also shared that the initial launch last March gained more than 100,000 subscribers across Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines with over half a million flights already redeemed.

“We are excited to be the only super app platform in the market to bring a product such as SUPER+ to the world and for more to enjoy the airasia way of life with this subscription,” she added.

Meanwhile, Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, also commented, “The SUPER+ subscription captures the beauty of our airasia Super App platform ecosystem, which brings together all of our airlines and travel products and services like hotels, along with our e-commerce offerings such as airasia ride, which is also included as a SUPER+ benefit.”

The airasia Super App has also previously launched the in-app e-wallet feature ‘airasia pocket’, which enables users to reload and make payments for all products and services the app offers.

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Marketing Featured ANZ

Domino’s makes an ‘apology’ video in humorous new campaign, teases new savings innovation launch

Sydney, Australia – In collaboration with creative agency It’s Friday, popular pizza brand Domino’s in Australia released a nationwide campaign, featuring its Group CEO and Managing Director Don Meij making an apology for bombarding people with deals.

Of course, presented only as a humorous hit, the campaign tackles the dilemma of Domino’s ‘hard-to-keep-track-of’ deals across Australia and New Zealand. With the creative narrative in place, Domino’s Australia announces the launch of a new money-saving technology innovation which is set to be released on December 12 this year. 

The tech is expected to help resolve the experience for customers and make it easier to save, store, and redeem all of Domino’s deals in the future.

Adam Ballesty, CMO of Domino’s ANZ, said they are ‘obsessed’ with listening to their customers, which pushes them to transform the deal redemption experience. 

Vince Lagana, chief creative officer of It’s Friday, also said, “The teaser’s a fun way to remind people that Domino’s are unbeatable when it comes to offering great value by recognising that it’s near impossible to keep track of all their deals. But they’re going to keep coming, so we’re making sure people know they’ll soon be able to get those deals, without the ordeal.”

Meanwhile, Pete Bosilkovski, CEO of It’s Friday, added, “It’s refreshing to work with a company that isn’t afraid to be authentic and lead by example. Having the ‘big cheese’ apologise nationally about the sheer number of deals is massive. Says a lot about this company.”

Domino’s Australia has also previously released a 3-minute film titled ‘Hot & Fresh’, which launched across TV, YouTube, digital, and social platforms in the ANZ region.

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Platforms Featured Southeast Asia

aCommerce launches new connector to link Shopify stores to order management platform

Bangkok, Thailand – E-commerce enabler aCommerce announced the release of its new connector that will help data streams from Shopify to the former’s proprietary omnichannel order management platform EcommerceIQ.

The connector is aimed at helping e-commerce managers keep track of their multiple sales channels switching between marketplaces, social commerce, and direct-to-consumer dashboards to monitor their online business. 

It is also expected to enable a smooth flow of products, inventory, sales orders, returns, delivery updates, and all related data between EcommerceIQ and Shopify.

The connector is secured by EcommerceIQ’s proprietary tokenized module and will automatically consume and synchronise order information, inventory, and pricing control through a unified panel.

Upon its release, aCommerce’s existing partners will have the opportunity to be among the first to opt in and sample its capabilities with full EIQ integration. The connector will then be brought to the broader market in the next few months following the pilot.

“We are thrilled about the upcoming release of what this new connector can bring to our clients and the wider market,” said Roberto Kauffmann, aCommerce’s group chief product officer.

He added, “For our brand clients, this Shopify and EcommerceIQ turnkey integration-as-a-service allows us to simply add and operate Shopify stores as an additional channel. Likewise, brands wishing to launch a store or existing Shopify merchants, can now easily scale up their business by tapping into our fulfillment and other EcommerceIQ services almost instantly. It also provides clients with centralized multichannel monitoring and insights that are vital for professional ecommerce.”

Paul Srivorakul, aCommerce group chief executive officer, also commented, “Direct-to-consumer is a crucial piece of the puzzle. With the new public integration, our clients will have a 360 view of their operations, where they can manage and optimize their ecommerce business. This is an opportunity for brands and merchants to leverage their existing marketplace presence and create an efficient multi-channel strategy.”

aCommerce was previously tapped by Shopify Plus to be its first partner in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

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Platforms Featured Southeast Asia

Customer engagement MoEngage unveils four new solutions including personalisation suite

The Philippines –  Customer engagement platform MoEngage announced today the launch of four new solutions targeted at brands in the SEA region.  ‘MoEngage Inform’, ‘Web Personalisation’, ‘Google Ads Integration’, and ‘App Marketplace’ are now added to the platform’s product line-up. 

The MoEngage Inform aims to make brands’ transactional alert management seamless so they can focus more on delivering cohesive and time-sensitive messages to their consumers. Meanwhile, the personalisation suite is expected to help brands personalise their website with a visual, drag-and-drop builder, without a line of code by tapping into AI automation and actionable insights.

Moreover, the Google Ads Network Integration aims to enable marketers to acquire customers and re-engage existing customers on the world’s largest ad network, based on behaviour. This will also help brands reach out to selected cohorts and match their interests across Google Search, Google Shopping, Gmail, YouTube, and the extended Google Ad Network.

Lastly, MoEngage’s App Marketplace is for marketing, growth, and product teams to discover the right set of platforms and integrations that fits their needs. This aims to help brands build a modern tech stack and ramp up their customer engagement efforts.

“As organizations grow, their customer engagement needs become more complex. With the recent product launches, MoEngage aims to empower product, marketing, and growth teams to build memorable experiences and drive impact on LTV and customer retention,” said Raviteja Dodda, CEO and co-founder of MoEngage.

MoEngage has been in the customer engagement space since 2014, partnering with brands like WhatsApp, Microsoft, and theAsianparent.

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Technology Featured APAC

Location Media Xchange launches revenue management suite for OOH media owners

Singapore – Location Media Xchange (LMX), the supply-side technology arm of the Moving Walls Group, has announced the launch of a complete Revenue Management suite for Out of Home (OOH) media owners. The product revelation happened as the industry’s leading stakeholders converged at The World Out of Home Congress Toronto 2022. The company is offering a no-obligation 90-day trial for media owners to experience the platform.

OOH’s global renaissance has continued into 2022 after sharp drops during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Several factors, including increased travel activity, and the growing interest in Programmatic Digital OOH advertising, contribute to this.

OOH media owners now handle multiple sales channels – direct brand relationships, agency-managed spends, programmatic or automated media buys, and even online campaign bookings. Allocating inventory in an efficient manner is critical because unlike digital publishers who own virtual space, OOH media owners own physical assets that consume fixed costs like electricity, internet fees, maintenance, and more.

The expansion of OOH buying methods also means that the inventory is now consumed in a variety of ways – loop based, event based, audience based, impression-based, and so on. Maintaining up to minute availability information, understanding utilisation, and prioritising sales channels is just not scalable if done manually.

According to Mandakini Negi, co-founder of Moving walls and global head of LMX, “It is difficult to improve what you cannot measure. OOH media today is bought and sold in several ways and media owners who have a handle on inventory utilisation and demand trends across all their media sites in real time will be able to make decisions that improve their revenues.’’

The LMX Revenue management suite solves this by providing an online platform that connects traditional, programmatic, and other forms of campaign booking information in one place. The platform seamlessly connects to native and third party applications like the content management system or the accounting system by the media owner.

Gautam Bhirani, MD of Eyetalk Media Ventures India, commented, “Our network of screens spans across multiple locations. Just as the content on these screens is managed centrally, we require a system to understand live availability, build proposals, and accept campaign requests in an automated manner. The LMX suite does all of this from one application.”

Meanwhile, Eddie Song, MD of Laguna De Bay Malaysia, says that Integrating DOOH screens into the programmatic ecosystem is just the first step. He adds that just like digital, they need to make sure their inventory is visible and accessible to multiple demand partners. LMX Connect provides its network with the ability to transact with omnichannel and specialist Demand Side Platforms locally and globally.

LMX already works with more than 200 media owners across the globe including Southeast Asian markets namely Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam. The platform supports all kinds of media owners who use it to manage different parts of their business.

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Technology Featured Global

Freshworks launches CRM suite for startups

Singapore – Following the company’s recently-concluded event Refresh 2021, software company Freshworks has announced the launch of Freshstack, a customer relationship management (CRM) suite built for the unique needs of startups that unifies customer support, sales, and marketing teams. 

The product bundle helps startups personalize marketing to generate pipeline and deliver effortless omnichannel service for faster growth, at an affordable price point that’s easy to deploy and manage.

Said suite combines three Freshworks’ products: Freshdesk, Freshsales and Freshmarketer.

Freshdesk is an omnichannel customer support solution with a new unified inbox and collaboration functionality across support, sales and marketing teams, to help businesses resolve issues faster. Meanwhile, Freshsales is a unified sales intelligence solution with context-driven forecasting and pipeline management. Lastly, Freshmarketer is marketing automation software that enables AI-driven lead generation, email personalization and send optimization.

Speaking about the suite launch, Girish Mathrubootham, CEO and founder of Freshworks, said, “Startup founders should ensure that their developers are focused on building their core technology, not babysitting their CRM stack. From day one, Freshworks has built products that democratize access to modern, easy-to-use software. Freshstack builds on that commitment by helping the titans of tomorrow get going faster today.”

The combination of Freshworks applications helps give startups what they need to instantly get up and running with a CRM platform that attracts new customers, builds lasting relationships with existing users and scales as their customer base grows. Companies can get going with up to US$3,000 in credits for Freshstack, as part of the Freshworks Startup Program.

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Technology Featured Global

Talkwaker’s latest products to deliver actionable consumer intelligence

Singapore – To accompany its existing Consumer Intelligence Acceleration Platform™, consumer intelligence company Talkwalker has launched new products to deliver brands actionable consumer intelligence to drive business impact, as well as to accelerate growth of Talkwalker’s social listening capabilities.

The new products include Market Intelligence that provides consumer trends analysis and real-time industry datasets, with an app per category, to fast-track innovation; Customer Intelligence which creates a unique single customer view by combining customer and consumer data, social, ratings, and reviews; and Social Intelligence which is an expansion of Talkwalker’s deep social listening capabilities at scale, to help companies protect, measure, and promote their brands.

“Our new products and platform expand our deep listening capabilities into new areas, arming brands with insights that they can benefit from immediately. Only Talkwalker can help them get closer to their customers than ever before, and enable them to shape products, campaigns, and services to meet the market’s ever-growing demands,” said Tod Nielsen, CEO at Talkwalker.

In addition to their recently-launched products, Talkwalker has also launched its new professional services called the Talkwalker Activate team, which offers a broad range of customer services, including training, onboarding and insights, to help clients accelerate their time to value with Talkwalker technologies, from investment to real-world results.

Furthermore, Talkwalker has also announced that the company has been recognized as a Twitter Official Partner, where they demonstrated during their recent Talkwalker ‘Dare to Accelerate’ event that the social media platform can be used by businesses social listening, market research, customer intelligence, and product development.

“We will continue to listen forward and ensure our technologies and solutions are fit for purpose. This will enable brands to profit from actionable consumer intelligence to drive business impact,” Nielsen concluded.