Tag: Report

Singapore – Eight start-up companies in fintech or fintech-related businesses occupied the spot in the latest ‘2023 LinkedIn Top 10 Singapore Startups List’, showing the rising trend of fintech firms in the country.

The list is based on the data analysed by Linkedin, covering the areas of employee growth, jobseeker interest, member agreement, and start-ups’ ability to attract talent from top company lists.

In this year’s list, a total of 8 fintech or fintech-related company start-ups, 4 of which provide business-to-business (B2B) fintech services, dominated the spot. This is a record number for fintechs on the list since their debut in 2020.

Among the list, financial services firm Aspire has retained its top spot since last year. Following behind it is the debut of fintech startup YouTrip, which offers a financial mobile platform for overseas payments.

Also on the list are telehealth provider Doctor Anywhere, which is focused on improving healthcare accessibility; car-sharing service GetGo Carsharing; AI tech start-up Advance Intelligence Group; digital corporate service provider Sleek; fintech company Endowus; digital securities trading platform ADDX; digital wealth manager Syfe; and cross-border payments platform Thunes.

The list reflects Singapore’s thriving ecosystem of innovative businesses. It highlights fintech’s enduring appeal as an engine of opportunity in Singapore that provides growth opportunities for professionals.

Furthermore, the presence of B2B start-ups suggests the growing relevance of B2B solutions in the country, especially in the small city-state where the business-to-consumer (B2C) market remains relatively small compared to other countries.

LinkedIn also revealed that the top companies on the list were those who were able to recognise and leverage the power of AI to grow in a fast-evolving environment.

For Pooja Chhabria, career expert and head of editorial in Asia Pacific at LinkedIn, the list is a great basis for career growth opportunities for professionals. And to be able to enter these top start-up companies, one must know what skills are needed to snag the job.

According to Pooja, one must think like a founder, as top start-ups are now looking for candidates with entrepreneurial spirit to seize opportunities for the business. It is also important to be a diverse team player and possess a growth mindset that is eager to learn, face challenges, and bounce back from setbacks.

Pooja said, “Fintech has a strong showing in Singapore’s Top Startups 2023 list, with 8 out of 10 startups in fintech or fintech-related businesses.This may be attributed to Singapore’s vibrant start-up ecosystem that nurtures and develops technology-based startups. The city-state is known as one of the world’s leading innovative and smart cities and is also looked upon as a model by other nations.”

“This year’s list of Singapore’s most thriving startups serves as a unique and actionable resource for professionals who are eager to work in companies that are revolutionising the industry they are in and driving exciting new innovations. Professionals can acquire hard and soft skills such as market research, agility, and entrepreneurial acumen,” she added.

Speaking on the list, Lim Wai Mun, founder and CEO at Doctor Anywhere, said, “We have been using AI in the form of machine learning and data analytics, reducing patient consultation time through smart form filling of common prescriptions, as well as understanding and matching users with various health and wellness products after they recover. With the advent of generative AI, this will enable us to deliver more personalised, efficient, and patient-centric care and also alleviate some of the most pressing challenges. This includes the talent shortage that the healthcare industry is facing globally.”

Meanwhile, Adrien Barthel, co-founder and chief growth officer at Sleek, also added: “The integration of AI is non-negotiable for businesses today. We started our AI journey a few years ago, and we continue to actively work on incorporating artificial intelligence to deliver more data automation that results in increased accuracy and better predictive outcomes.”

Singapore – Around 74% of marketers in Indonesia cited advanced machine learning technology as the most important factor when selecting mobile app performance marketing solutions, according to data from Moloco. 

The new global study found that marketers are adopting data-driven solutions and prioritising performance marketing over traditional brand marketing. 

Globally, 63.2% of companies surveyed saw a year-on-year boost in their mobile app performance marketing budgets compared to the revenue from brand marketing. This shows that mobile app performance marketing has a clear and resounding power to drive revenue, user acquisition, and profit, especially during times of economic uncertainty.

In Southeast Asia, the use of advanced machine learning (ML) came out as the number one factor when selecting a mobile app performance marketing solution.

Especially in Indonesia, a staggering 74% of marketers consider advanced ML to be the most important factor for precise targeting in mobile app performance, followed by Vietnam (60.4%) and Japan (52%). Meanwhile, only 22.6% of marketers in Korea and 22.3% in Singapore prioritise advanced ML when selecting a mobile app performance marketing solution.

Indonesia, with 61%, also takes the lead when choosing APRU (average revenue per unit) as the preferred KPI, which is higher than the rest of the markets in SEA and globally.

In terms of budget allocation for mobile app marketing, companies in every country surveyed allocated more than half their marketing budgets to mobile ads, with Indonesia ranking the highest at 81.8% while Singapore and Vietnam allocated 59.2% and 58%, respectively.

It is worth noting that performance mobile app marketing continues to grow consistently across all industries, with 64.7% of surveyed companies increasing their mobile ad marketing budget in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Daisuke Yokokawa, vice president of global marketing at Moloco, said, “The global shift in marketing from reach to results continues to gain momentum across different countries and various industries.” 

He added, “Many mobile app marketers are aware that the secret of big tech’s success in advertising is advanced ML technology and the performance marketing solutions that they provide. This global trend is due to the clear and resounding power that mobile app performance marketing has to drive revenue, user acquisition, and profit, especially during times of economic uncertainty.”

Meanwhile, Jennifer Ha, project leader and partner at Ipsos Strategy3, said, “Performance marketing is on trend, regardless of the country.Marketers are typically loath to share their best kept secrets, but thanks to this anonymized research study, we now have detailed insights about their strategic marketing decisions and investments. Ultimately, having consistent results such as measurable and impactful ROAS underpins the success of many global performance marketing budgets.”

Singapore – Along with the peak season of summer 2023, consumers are turning to their mobile devices more than ever before for travel and transportation needs, increasing year-over-year usage by 14%, which is more than three times the total from the summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report by mobile analytics provider data.ai.

Data from the report mainly suggests that time spent in travel apps reached new heights with time spent on Android phones surpassing four billion hours, or an average of more than one billion hours per month, between May and August 2023.

Interestingly, the increase in time spent between 2022 and 2023 came mostly from apps used for more day-to-day travel, not vacations. Transportation apps and rail & coach booking apps had significant increases in time spent in the summer 2023 season.

Meanwhile, apps related to vacation and business travel like integrated travel service, hotel booking, and airline apps, were able to mostly maintain the gains seen from the previous year, with time spent in these apps notably surging in the summer of 2022 with consumers planning trips for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

The report also listed the travel and transportation apps that saw the most time spent in the summer of 2023, with transportation apps being prominent in the list with apps such as Where is my Train, inDrive, and Grab Driver being top breakout apps of the season. 

However, apps outside of the transportation subgenre such as Flightradar24, United Airlines, Trainline, and Jet2 managed to reach the top breakout rankings in many key markets like the US and the UK. 

“The trend seen in the results suggests that this is not just a one-off spike following the pent-up demand after pandemic-related travel restrictions, and that these travel and transportation apps will continue to see positive growth, especially during peak travel seasons,” data.ai said in a press statement.

Asia Pacific – Around 81% of Asian consumers think there are too many subscription services to choose from now, and 93% are seeking a single hub to manage all this, a report from Bango revealed.

According to the data gathered, over three-quarters, or 81%, of subscription users believe there are now “too many” subscription services available, and 93% are demanding a unified platform to administer all of their subscriptions.

The boom in the subscription economy is threatening to overwhelm consumers across India and Southeast Asia. But even with many feeling subscription fatigue, 81% would consider signing up for more subscriptions if they were consolidated through a centralised content hub.

The latest report also revealed that there is a subscription overload happening, with 86% of consumers having more than two subscriptions and 15% having more than six. These include services ranging from streaming to food delivery, music to sports, and more.

Many consumers are having a tough time tracking their current subscriptions on separate platforms, resulting in unnecessary costs. According to the data, nearly half, or 44%, say they’ve kept paying for subscriptions they forgot were still active, while 32% are currently paying for subscription services that they never use.

However, despite the overwhelming number of subscription services, the study also showed that consumers are not looking for fewer choices. Rather, they are simply looking for a more seamless experience.

The majority of consumers (93%) want all their subscriptions to be managed through a ‘Super Bundling’ content hub, where there is a single payment to a service aggregator for multiple subscriptions like streaming services in a single hub.

Bango’s research report revealed that subscribers in Asia consider an ideal content hub to provide discounts in subscription prices (58%), access to a variety of services in one place (56%), and the ability to pay multiple subscriptions at once (51%).

Furthermore, a majority of consumers (89%) would spend more time using their subscription services if a content hub was available. Meanwhile, 91% also believe that having all of their subscriptions in one place would help them manage their household expenses.

When it comes to building this solution, the survey showed that local mobile network operators may be the key to unlocking ‘Super Bundling’.

For a majority of Asian consumers (81%), telcos are the most trusted provider for a centralised content hub. They’re the logical go-to, as two-thirds (67%) of consumers already have subscription services included in their phone plan.

Additionally, the data also revealed that ‘Super Bundling’ content hubs can boost consumer loyalty, with 95% saying they would be more loyal to the brands that provided them and 66% willing to leave their current telco provider if this service became available elsewhere.

An example of a ‘Super Bundling’ content hub are the ones offered by Verizon and Optus in the US and Australia. Both are offering centralised hubs for streaming, music, gaming, and more through their +play and SubHub platforms, respectively.

Anil Malhotra, co-founder at Bango, explained, “Managing multiple subscriptions is a headache for users. They don’t want less choice—just less admin. We should focus on building all-in-one solutions that can offer consumers flexibility in billing, a wider variety of choices, and a great user experience. That’s what they really want.”

Australia –  A majority of Australian advertisers are set to increase their spend on programmatic DOOH by over a third by the next few months, according to a report by VIOOH.

The findings of the research showed that the future of programmatic DOOH (prDOOH) remains strong, with its popularity surging, especially in Australia. 

Over 37%, or a third, of Australian advertisers who have worked across campaigns in the past 12–18 months have included prDOOH, with the average expected to increase to 43% in the next 18 months. 

The survey respondents in Australia stated that they plan to increase spending by over a third, or 34%, over the next 18 months. Nearly a third of advertisers in Australia are taking budgets from other digital or traditional channels (28% and 29%, respectively), and 15% are allocating new budgets for prDOOH.

And while only 7% of main OOH teams are likely to be accessing new budgets for prDOOH,  this increases to 17% for digital or programmatic teams when buying is diversified. 

A majority, or 81% of those surveyed, also felt that prDOOH offers the most innovative opportunities compared to any other media channel, with it delivering highly targeted activations, the ability to buy placements in real-time, optimise campaigns in-flight, and delivering dynamic and contextually relevant creative.

Furthermore, with the steady rise of advertisers in Australia adopting prDOOH, awareness of the distinctive advantages it offers is also gaining recognition, with brand safety at 67%, accurate location targeting at 66%, and establishing trust and credibility with the target audience at 67%.

Oftentimes, OOH teams oversee prDOOH buys (67%), with over half (56%) of buying responsibility sitting within digital teams, suggesting some level of overlap. 

The Australian advertisers take advantage of prDOOH’s flexibility (63%, +8% pts vs. DOOH) and ability to establish credibility with an advertiser’s customer (64%, +8% pts vs. DOOH). 

Another part of the report showed that over a third, or 35%, of Australian advertisers purchase their DOOH campaigns through a programmatic buy only, followed by 32% of Australian advertisers saying they usually or always use a mixture of programmatic and direct buys. 

Additionally, both performance-led and brand-led campaigns are popular options in the market, with a large overlap of participants totaling more than 50% stating that prDOOH is important for both options (81% for performance-led and 78% for brand-led campaigns).

Meanwhile, Australian advertisers also consider social media to be a natural fit to complement prDOOH in both brand (80%) and performance campaigns (80%). Other options considered include the use of display ads (77%), alongside prDOOH in both performance and brand-led campaigns.

Jean-Christophe Conti, chief executive officer at VIOOH, said, “Programmatic DOOH is becoming mainstream and is now a must-have on every media plan. This year’s State of the Nation report shows not only that advertising budgets continue to be reallocated for increased prDOOH spend year-on-year, but the opportunities from highly targeted activations to trigger-based buying are giving advertisers a raft of flexible, high-value tools which complement both brand and performance ad campaigns.”

He added, “With programmatic DOOH becoming more mature, media professionals are also increasingly integrating prDOOH into multi-channel strategies, often using it alongside social media and display advertising.”

Singapore – Contextual-driven ads on YouTube have been observed to drive 28% more attention in contrast to other industry benchmarks, according to the latest data from Channel Factory and Playground xyz.

According to the data, these contextual-driven ads generate nearly 70% more attention for skippable ads. Both non-skippable and skippable ad formats consistently demonstrated ideal performance, exceeding benchmarks 97% and 95% of the time, respectively. 

Moreover, curated activity for these types of ads delivers above benchmark more than 80% of the time. The data also revealed that such tech delivers 28% more attention than the industry norm, on average more than one second of extra attention per placement.

Alex Littlejohn, managing director for APAC at Channel Factory, said, “Every second of attention on an ad has a huge impact for brands, which makes these results incredibly powerful. They prove beyond doubt the direct relationship between contextual relevance and increased user attention metrics.”

He added, “While it stands to reason people will engage more with advertising that’s relevant to their interests, too many advertisers are still ignoring this fact and blindly spraying ad placements in non-curated environments. Channel Factory technology helps brands deliver their campaigns more efficiently and in contextually relevant environments and now with the added benefit of attention measurement and reporting incorporated in their buys.” 

Meanwhile, Rob Hall, CEO of Playground XYZ, commented, “Attention metrics give brands the key to understanding how their campaigns are resonating with customers. Our partnership with Channel Factory gives advertisers the ability to understand their YouTube campaigns on a deeper level and drive ROI.”

Singapore –  A staggering 70% of banks in APAC failed to achieve digital transformation for their banking platform, as reported by Backbase. 

The latest report challenges the long-standing default approach of building in-house solutions for digital engagement banking platforms. 

According to the data, 65% of mid- to large-sized banks in the region have opted to build their engagement banking platform in-house to attain digital transformation. And of this number, 70% of these projects have failed due to costly and lengthy in-house efforts. 

An overwhelming 80% of digital engagement platforms built in-house with a budget of $10 million also face underperformance and have not yielded the desired ROE in their digital initiatives. 

Despite having embarked on digital transformation since the 2000s, many banks in APAC remain at an early stage, failing to fully capitalize on its benefits and deliver compelling digital customer engagements.

Furthermore, the latest report also highlights a crucial disconnect between banks and their customers, where most banking products and offerings are deemed “me-too” and limited, resulting in shortfalls in digital experiences. 

As banks focus on locking in a high amount of resources to get banking platforms into shape, they fail to prioritize the creation of differentiated upstream customer journeys and experiences. As a result, customers face challenges accessing multiple services through disparate interfaces, lack a unified view of their portfolios, and endure lengthy onboarding processes. 

The demand for instantaneous approvals and streamlined digital processes remains unmet, while personalized experiences, segmentation, and relevant promotions based on customers’ lifestyles, life moments, and goals continue to elude them.

Additionally, backend operations suffer due to the lack of intelligent assistance in contact centers, leaving customers repeating information to different service officers due to the absence of a 360-degree unified customer view. 

However, the current report also found that the “Adopt and Build” approach is a pragmatic solution for banks to accelerate their go-to-market efforts, differentiating where it matters instead of reinventing the wheel by building from scratch. 

By adopting a collaborative platform and building upon it, banks can achieve a 40% faster time-to-market, where digital engagement banking platforms can be launched within 11 months, as compared to the traditional 20 months with a full “build” approach. In addition, “Adopt and Build” had proven to be more cost-effective, offering 2.3 times more than the traditional in-house “build” option.

The “Adopt and Build” approach was rated highest and had shown tangible advantages across six key metrics: market fit and differentiation, legacy risk, build risk, time to market, modernizing talent and IT skill sets, and regulatory compliance. This is in comparison to the “Build” and “Buy” approaches.

The in-depth report draws insights from 125 banks and 316 CIOs in APAC to offer a full regional perspective on digital transformation. Backbase commissioned IDC InfoBrief for the report. 

Ashish Kakar, research director of financial insights at IDC Asia Pacific, said, “Building in-house has been a de-facto strategy by banks, but it’s no longer feasible to deliver to the pace and scale that is required to be competitive. The complexities that come with the extensive amount of data layers, channels, features, upstream and downstream integration that needs to support legacy and modern systems to manage and orchestrate sophisticatedly is where in-house implementation breaks apart.” 

Riddhi Dutta, regional vice president at Backbase Asia, also shared, “A true platform comes with all the hygiene requirements from market fit, to security and regulatory compliance, to being versatile and customizable to support each bank’s unique customer needs. The platform is a composable fabric providing modularity and re-usable data and journeys for banks to help banks futureproof at scale.” 

Singapore – Despite a softening in direct consumer gaming spend overall, mobile gaming is still the most significant market opportunity for video games in 2023, according to the ‘Gaming Spotlight’ 2023 report by mobile data analytics provider data.ai, and market research agency IDC.

Data from data.ai and IDC suggests that while mobile gaming is expected to have a slight decrease of 2% in spend, the platform is still set to surpass $108 billion worldwide in 2023 — maintaining its lead over PC/Mac.

The report also revealed that APAC saw the most significant growth in market share for global consumer spend across Mobile, PC and Mac gaming. It is also worth mentioning that South Korea significantly accounted for the gains in market share for mobile spending in APAC, whilst Brazil, Turkey and Mexico led growth outside of it. 

The top played and spent on mobile games which defined H1 2023 are notably, Monopoly GO, Honkai: Star Rail, Royal Match, and FIFA Soccer, which all saw success in H1 2023, signaling that publishers who capitalize on strong IP, market momentum and in-game events can succeed in a down market. Furthermore, cloud-streamed gaming (CSG) on smartphones and tablets projected a worldwide usage rate of 26% this year, up from 16% in 2019.

The given data also specifically mentioned that in Singapore, mobile gaming consumer spend grew up to nearly USD $100 Million in Q1 2023, compared to $82.3 Million the year prior, accounting for around 5.7% of total gains in revenue for the APAC Region, putting  Singapore at 19th place for the largest mobile gaming market by revenue in SEA, above other higher population markets such as Malaysia (20), Indonesia (22) and Vietnam (25). 

Commenting on the data, Lexi Sydow, head of insights at data.ai., said, “Mobile continues to level the playing field for gaming. Now more than ever, publishers can target consumers in niche areas, and many markets are primed for growth.” 

“The ‘new gamer’ is one of the most diverse and inclusive cohorts yet. Especially in a market that’s slowed by headwinds, having the right data is critical to staying ahead in this fast-changing landscape in order to streamline acquisition and optimize monetisation opportunities,” he added. 

APAC – Latest data from audience intelligence tool YouGov Profiles reveals that 46% of all APAC consumers are drawn to socially-conscious brands that display values aligned with their own and that 48% are drawn to brands that get involved with issues of wider societal interest. 

According to the data, more than half of APAC consumers are most likely to consider a brand’s values when making purchase decisions and appreciate brands that engage with social issues.

Information provided also delves into the appeal of brand messaging amongst APAC consumers, as well the appeal of other efforts such as sustainability actions and valuing the locality and nationality of brands.  

On brand messaging, Brands that have a moral message are also more likely to appeal to three out of five  APAC consumers. Regionally, 54% of Indonesian consumers and 45% of Thai consumers consider whether a brand upholds values that align with their personal outlook before making a purchase and are also most likely to appreciate brands that engage with social issues. These brands have the widest appeal in Indonesia (80%) and Hong Kong (60%), although just under a third of consumers in the latter like brands that get involved with social issues.

When it comes to sustainability, the data reveals that about 48% of APAC consumers try to buy from brands which are socially and environmentally responsible, and 53% prefer those that engage in fair trade processes. Notably, the majority are also willing to pay more for eco-friendly products. Buying from socially and environmentally responsible companies is a priority for most Thai (62%) and Indonesian (55%) consumers, but for roughly only a third in Singapore (33%) and Hong Kong (34%).

Looking out for fair trade products is something close to two-thirds of consumers in Indonesia make an effort to do, but only two in five consumers in other key APAC markets say the same. Indonesian consumers are also most open to spending more for eco-friendly products (72%), ahead of Thai (51%) and Australian (50%) consumers, while less than half of Singaporean (41%) and Hong Kong (38%) consumers would.

Lastly, around half of all APAC consumers are also concerned with large online and multinational enterprises driving out small businesses in their community, with over half of APAC consumers choosing local community shops over foreign ones and making efforts to support local businesses.

Specifically, consumers in Indonesia are most likely to conscientiously support local businesses (82%), followed by Australia(68%). On the other hand, Singapore is the only market where less than half of consumers say they make an effort to support local businesses and prefer shopping close-by.

Singapore – With millennials being referred to as the generation of ‘digital natives’, it comes as no surprise that they are one of the most influential demographics in the current era of marketing. This being said, research on key trends among millennials conducted by market research firm GWI shows what millennials from APAC cater to when it comes to their behavior towards media consumption and brand purchases.

Data from GWI’s study touches on how millennial preference can contribute to the rise of brands, media platforms, and even influencers, as well as what millennials seek in brands that they purchase on a regular basis. 

When it comes to media consumption, the study shows that APAC millennials are actually spearheading the growth of the podcast as a media platform, with 25% of respondents  listening in for at least two hours a day. This also leads to respondents saying that 12% of them discover new brands or products through podcast advertisements.

APAC millennials have also been found to be easily swayed by nostalgia, with the study stating that 65% of respondents prefer if brands or companies bring back old logos and ads. The same can be said with the effect of memes in advertising, as the study says that they are more engaged with finding memes funny when compared to the later Gen Z demographic.        

Moving on to brands, influencer marketing plays a significant role in marketing to APAC millennials, with 85% of respondents saying that they trust influencers. Nearly 4 in 10 APAC respondents say influencer recommendations are more trustworthy than regular ads, which translates into purchase behavior — as there is an 8% more likely than average likelihood for them to purchase a product recommended by influencers.

Lastly, brand trust towards millennials is vital in terms of reliability, as 45% of the respondents are loyal to the brands that they already like in terms of quality control. Respondents also said that they are 11% more likely than average to cite a live-chat feature as a purchase driver, and the number one thing they expect from brands is to be socially responsible.