Pune, India – Global Music Junction, a digital entertainment platform under digital entertainment and technology company JetSynthesys, has signed an exclusive short video licensing deal with regional music player Amara Muzik to strengthen its position in the Odia market. 

Through the partnership, Global Music Junction will now become the exclusive short video distribution partner for Amara Muzik’s content and expand to markets such as Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Northeast, and Nepal territories. Additionally, Global Music Junction is poised to leverage its market leadership in Bhojpuri music to further the growth of Odia music in the country.

Rajan Navani, founder and CEO of JetSynthesys, said, “Global Music Junction was always aimed at taking music to places and we now plan to take Odia music to a larger audience. We are thrilled to associate with Amara Muzik as their exclusive short video distribution partner and accelerate not only Global Music Junction’s but also Odia music industry’s reach in the country.”

Meanwhile, Rajkumar Singh, CEO of Global Music Junction, shared that after making a strong presence in the Bhojpuri market these years, they now plan to tap the Odia audience, and they are happy that they made it possible by collaborating with Amara Muzik. 

“With their presence in the industry that is backed by their owned content and strong production presence, this is a logical next step of growth. We are excited to see the growth this development leads us to,” said Singh.

Naveen Bhandari, managing director at Amara Muzik, commented that they are thrilled to collaborate with JetSynthesys and Global Music Junction through this exclusive deal, as short videos play a vital role in the promotion of regional content. 

“With Amara Muzik’s deep roots in Odia, Bengali, Chattisgarhi and Gujarati markets, and GMJ’s presence therein, we believe this partnership will enable us to have a wider reach and hence tap a larger set of audience. It will not only help us with extensive reach but will also give the Odia music industry a national platform. We’re looking forward to taking this long-term partnership ahead,” said Bhandari.

Manila, Philippines – Consumer intelligence company Talkwalker is now providing TikTok data in its Consumer Intelligence Acceleration Platform™.

Through the new offering, Talkwalker will be analyzing short videos from any TikTok account which will allow businesses to discover critical insights on how consumers are interacting with their brand on the social media platform.

The intel provider refers to data that over half, or 63% of TikTok’s users are under 30, and believes that the insights through their new service will enable brands to connect with an audience that is growing in “both size and significance.”

Talkwalker’s CEO Tod Nielsen said that TikTok has taken the world by storm.

“Now, we’re able to bring our clients’ data from this trendsetting platform, providing them with a clear understanding of what makes the TikTok generation tick. By combining this with other data from all the major social media platforms, we’re giving brands the most comprehensive and actionable consumer intelligence available,” said Nielsen.

Brands will be able to use the platform to measure the impact of their campaigns, monitor competitor activities, identify and analyze the impact of brand influencers, and find the videos that are driving brand conversations.

Brands will also be able to use Talkwalker’s proprietary image recognition technology to identify logos, objects, and scenes within posts, enabling them to understand how consumers are interacting with their brand in real-time.

The latest boost to its offerings follows the company’s recent announcement of acquiring consumer and cultural insight platform discover.ai.

Marketing companies are recognizing the short-video platform’s power as a platform in attracting a wide consumer base. Just recently, advertising agency dentsu in APAC has also unveiled a special partnership with TikTok to deliver media and creative capabilities that will help brands elevate their engagement on the short-video platform.

Singapore – Creative and communications network dentsu in Asia-Pacific and leading short-video platform TikTok has newly forged a regional partnership, aimed at driving media and commerce excellence for clients. The partnership, which has already been kickstarted in SEA, will enable dentsu clients to leverage TikTok’s strengths as a platform to deliver best-in-class capabilities across commerce, creativity, and creator marketing to drive brand outcomes at scale.

A key aspect of the partnership is the ‘Test with TikTok’ program which brings together leading performance specialists from dentsu and product innovators from TikTok to test several performance and commerce hypotheses on the platform.

With a fixed set of exclusive clients on the pipeline, dentsu clients will enjoy access to new features and best practice optimization opportunities on TikTok to uncover new learnings. The agency said that efforts around this initiative are already underway where select dentsu clients are currently participating in an exclusive hypothesis test around the effectiveness of different audience strategies on the platform.

Delilah Chan, head of channel revenue partnerships for SEA at TikTok, shared that through the collaboration, dentsu’s clients will be getting custom product testing opportunities, giving them actionable insights that present advantage when developing growth strategies on the TikTok platform.

“We are delighted to partner with dentsu as by complementing the strengths of our two organizations – TikTok’s product and platform capabilities with dentsu’s world-class performance and commerce capabilities, we can truly put the needs of the clients at the heart of our partnership,” said Chan.

Sunil Naryani, dentsu APAC’s president for product, commercials & partnerships, further shared that more than 10 client tests are already in the works and the longer-term objective is for these tests and best practices to culminate into client-centric commerce and performance strategies on the TikTok platform. 

“Genuine commitment between dentsu and TikTok has allowed us to expand our partnership beyond standard training programs into progressive and tangible areas of product testing for performance and commerce outcomes. We appreciate the strong collaboration from TikTok with dentsu advertisers for exclusive hypothesis testing and generating actionable insights on their platform through the ‘Test with TikTok’ program,” said Naryani.

The APAC division of dentsu has also recently announced a new integrated solution focused on gaming. The new ‘dentsu gaming’ aims to bring together the extensive gaming heritage and expertise of the dentsu Japan network with the global scale and specialist capabilities within dentsu international. 

Manila, Philippines – TikTok in the Philippines is moving to support would-be entrepreneurs through the launch of its new campaign, ‘’Negosyo Mo Na Yan’. Negosyo is a Tagalog term for business, and the campaign is aimed at helping Filipinos cope financially in these trying times by empowering them to launch their own businesses.

Through this campaign, TikTok hopes to equip aspiring entrepreneurs with the tools and basic knowledge they need to jumpstart their business ventures. During the pandemic, a lot of beginning and closeted entrepreneurs came out of their shells with online marketplaces seeing an unprecedented surge during the period. With this, content platforms and e-commerce platforms themselves have been launching online initiatives to teach budding business owners to navigate and foray into online selling.

‘Negosyo Mo Na Yan’ will focus solely on food-related businesses, largely because, according to the short video platform, most of the thriving local businesses born during the pandemic are centered around food.

The campaign will kick off with ‘Negosyo Week’ from 27 September to 3 October 2021. During this period, a series of masterclasses will be hosted by different TikTok partners via TikTok Live. Each session will last for 2 hours where viewers will gain insights and information relevant to a food entrepreneur’s journey. Partner speakers include GCash, Puregold, Abenson, Canva, and When In Manila Food as well as Globe.

This will be followed by a #NegosyoRecipe challenge from 4 October to 21 October 2021, where participants can win amazing prizes, including appliances and tools that can help them start their businesses. In order to join, users need to upload their best negosyo recipe videos on TikTok using the hashtag #NegosyoRecipe. TikTok will then select 10 creators from among all the participants who will move on to the next round.

Shortlisted creators will be given the exclusive chance to develop their negosyo ideas, and improve their business models through one-on-one mentoring sessions. The challenge will culminate with a business pitch, where the final 10 creators will present their ideas to a panel of judges composed of respected entrepreneurs and experts from the food industry such as RJ Ledesma of Mercato Group, celebrity chef Marvin Agustin, and Mark del Rosario of Let’s Eat Pare.

After the pitch, the three creators with the most promising business ideas will be awarded as winners. Along with the business-building tools, one grand winner will also be entitled to a six-month mentorship with Marvin Agustin, which includes a spot in his cloud kitchen, The Secret Kitchen.

As the leading short video platform, TikTok has been ramping up its content strategy in order to include conversations relevant to society. Its Singaporean counterpart has recently launched a livestream series dedicated to anchoring the discussion on mental health awareness.

India –  India’s version of TikTok, short-video app Chingari, has announced that it has collaborated with short-video news app Dekko to introduce infotainment to its users. 

With this partnership, Chingari aims to make video content on news and information more accessible and shareable. 

The Chingari app. Image from Google Play.

Dekko is an early-stage start-up that is focused on delivering trending news summarized in 30 seconds for a Non-English-speaking audience. The tie-up is designed to specifically serve Hindi-speaking consumers across the globe. Chingari will be boosting content accessibility in various genres including politics, business, and entertainment, as well as international, technology, and lifestyle for the news consumers of Dekko.

The Dekko app. Image from Google Play.

“We are delighted that Chingari users will now have [access] to the latest news and happening across the world from Dekko. Our aim is to provide a seamless experience to our millions of users to keep themselves updated with the events occurring around the world along with creating and watching interesting content,” said Chingari’s CEO and Co-Founder Sumit Ghosh.

Adding to this, Deepak Salvi, Chingari’s COO, and co-founder commented, “We are glad to have Dekko as an official news partner with us. This partnership will change how users are going to view [news] nowadays. [Over a period] of time, on-the-go news consumption has been evolved.”

Meanwhile, Dekko in a press statement, said, “We are very excited to partner with Chingari which is continuously striving to build India’s strongest and most entertaining short-video platform. With this partnership, we aim to fill the gap for high quality, credible short-video news in the industry and reach millions of [users],”

Just recently, Chingari has also introduced a brand-new over-the-top (OTT) platform, Chingari Multiplex, enabling users access to their favorite Indian movies. 

Singapore – As Singapore’s multi-currency mobile wallet YouTrip reaches its four-month mark in the short video platform TikTok, it shared how it maxes out the platform’s massive userbase to stay present in consumers’ minds. 

YouTrip established its TikTok account in June of this year, and as of current, it has a total of 32.5k followers and has garnered 691.3k likes across its videos.

YouTrip’s service comes with a prepaid Mastercard and enables users to pay in over 150 currencies with no fees. Branded as a “travel” wallet, its TikTok videos circle lifestyle content, such as tips on how to enjoy international destinations such as Spain, a list of the “coolest” Apple shops, and how one can get a taste of travel through whipping up different versions of super grain bowls. 

The brand revealed that it uses a two-pronged approach to leverage its presence in TikTok: making informative content and staying relevant to trends.

For valuable content, it adopted a strategy of adapting original blog articles that had performed well to the TikTok format. During the firm’s content planning process, it identified e-commerce shopping guides and hotel reviews as such. One of its most successful TikTok videos featured a guide to get the “Cheapest Nintendo Switch,” garnering over 119k views to date.

@youtripsg

If you know someone looking to buy a Nintendo Switch, share this with them! 💜👆🏼👀 #nintendoswitch #gaming #videogames #youtripsg #foryoupage #fyp

♬ original sound – YouTrip SG – YouTrip SG

In terms of staying within the wave of trends, YouTrip identified that it is vital to be the first-mover in driving reactive content on trending topics, audios, or hashtags.

Hopping onto the challenges bandwagon, YouTrip took an informative spin on the challenge featuring the trending song Kings and Queens by American singer Ava Max. In such challenge, users showcased culture and traditional costumes. YouTrip took the opportunity to emphasize its branding on travel and culture, and published a version featuring real queens from around the world. The rendition garnered over two million views and 12.8k followers in two weeks.

The brand shared that by driving travel content, it also aims to strengthen its brand positioning to remain top-of-mind for when travel rebounds.

Head of Marketing Jeremy Lim said that curating meaningful content that resonates with users has been the core of YouTrip’s marketing strategies.

“Our venture into TikTok allows us to tap into our creativity to find new ways to connect with our users. We encourage brands to consider including TikTok in their marketing mix as well if they aim to establish themselves as relatable and reliable,” he said.

Chew Wee Ng, head of SEA business marketing at TikTok also commented, “TikTok is about embracing the creative, positive, and real moments that make our community so special, with solutions for businesses to connect and grow with our wonderfully expressive community.”

Ng also emphasized that with the right content strategy and a touch of authenticity, any brand can find success on the global stage with TikTok.

“YouTrip’s rapid growth on the platform is a prime example. As one of the first movers, they’ve incorporated TikTok early into their marketing mix and are now reaping its successes through a customized content strategy, collaboration with the TikTok community, and growing with a global audience,” said Ng.

Mumbai, India – India’s short video platform Chingari and entertainment brand The Q India has formed a joint programming and marketing agreement that will enable content from the brand to be featured in the platform.

The partnership comes as Chingari expands its delivery of content to include short-form video on demand (VOD) together with games and news.

The Q India is a Hindi language channel and VOD provider delivering digital programming from social media stars and leading digital video creators with young Indian consumers as its target, mirroring that of Chingari’s main audience.

The content on the Chingari platform will be offered on an ad-supported basis.

Deepak Salvi, co-founder, and COO of the Chingari app said that India has evolved from being a consumer of traditional TV content to a creator of digital content.

“We share the ambitions of Q India to create a new and dynamic brand delivering the content that the young Indian audience is looking for on platforms that they can engage with all day every day. As we build our content offering across both [user generated content] and professionally produced content to our fast-growing audience, we are excited to add programming from Q India to the mix,” Salvi said.

Meanwhile, The Q India’s Chief Revenue Officer Krishna Menon commented, “Chingari has proven to be one of the fastest-growing apps in India driving millions of views daily across their platform. We look forward to co-marketing our brands to our respective users and continuing to deliver together great content for [young Indians]. We expect that offering Q India content across yet another major and fast-growing platform will increase our value to the brands and advertisers who we align with”

The Chingari app, which means “spark” in Hindi, was launched in 2018 and saw its user base surge when TikTok was banned in the country earlier in June.

Hong Kong – Travel and leisure booking platform Klook officially unveils the newest feature on its app, an interactive livestream called Klook Live!.

While users on Klook have only been enticed of new food and travel offerings via images and text on the app, users will now be able to view up-close the offerings through interactive and instant video content on Klook Live!. 

The feature has been formally launched in August in five APAC markets Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines.

During this period, Klook released a series of hyper-localized content on Klook Live!, featuring offerings from food and dining to hotel staycation packages, where the five markets have reported a 4 times average uplift in conversion rates. This is compared to in-app conversion rates on an average day.

According to the brand’s data, in Thailand, a staycation surprise deal has been sold out in just eight minutes, while in Singapore, two out of three staycation bookings made within 24 hours were direct conversions as a result of the livestream. Both countries also experienced about a two times uplift in revenue compared to an average day. 

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, a number of food and dining exclusive deals were snapped up in less than five minutes. 

With the new feature, the brand aims to introduce traveltainment, to which it refers to as a new form of immersive content that elevates users’ ways of discovering and booking both local and overseas hospitality offerings.

“The pandemic has made users even more critical and discerning when making a purchase. With Klook Live!, we enable users to gain a more authentic look at our offerings, as well as directly ask questions in real-time before buying,” said Marcus Yong, vice president of APAC marketing

“Our early success demonstrates that users are increasingly demanding a new way to discover things-to-do, starting from their backyard. It also signals that users prefer a more entertaining, social, and personalized customer experience,” added Yong. 

During the livestream on Klook Live!, customers can interact directly with merchants, express their feelings through emoji and polls, redeem exclusive promo codes and check-out; all while watching a live episode.

According to the company, Klook Live! is designed to cater to the region’s growing demand for online video content on mobile devices. It refers to a study by digital research brand eMarketer, that over 1.2 billion Asia-Pacific users consume video content on their mobile devices in 2019, and that this is expected to increase by over 75% to 1.6 billion by 2023. 

The company also looks to leverage the forecast that video content is expected to be a norm post-pandemic as people consume more video content. According to a study by market research firm Globalwebindex, Gen Z respondents said that they expect their increased levels of consumption of social media, videos, and streaming services to continue even after the outbreak. 

On the merchant side, Klook is confident that the new feature will aid vendors in targeting their audience reach which has proven trickier amid the pandemic. 

“With international travel restrictions in place, merchants require creative platforms to showcase their offerings to local audiences and encourage them to support local businesses that depend on tourism. With Klook Live!, merchants of all sizes can bridge that gap and build stronger connections with local users, boosting brand awareness and sales,” the company said in a press statement.

In the coming weeks, Klook Live! will be rolling out more content and products, including episodic programs to unveil a new local carnival in Taiwan and indoor recreational parks in Malaysia among others

Klook Live! can be accessed by downloading the Klook app on Google Play or the App Store.