Tag: Singapore

Singapore – MiQ, a global programmatic media specialist, expanded in Southeast Asia (SEA) through the opening of a new head office in Singapore.

The new office will function as a centre for MiQ’s growing SEA team. Several divisions, like local sales, account management, trade, and solution functions, will be housed there. A dedicated creative studio will also focus on the development of multichannel creative content. 

Together, these divisions provide support for a broad range of omnichannel programmatic activation opportunities, including the most recent CTV/OTT, YouTube, VOD, and HD streaming video solutions.

Following its initial launch into the SEA region in 2018, the expansion signifies a turning point in MiQ’s journey in Asia. The company steadily grew over the years, and the number of employees increased from six to 23. The increased workforce at MiQ has been crucial in assisting important agency partners and offering specialised knowledge of the local media business. The opening of the new office is proof of MiQ’s dedication to offering complete services and solidifying its position as a leading authority in programmatic media in Southeast Asia.

Jason Scott, CEO for APAC at MiQ, who will lead the Singapore office team, said, “We are thrilled to officially mark the opening of this new facility. With this expansion, MiQ aims to further enhance its capacity to deliver impactful advertising campaigns across various channels and optimise media performance for its SEA clients.”

“The new space will also work hand-in-hand with MiQ’s Centre of Excellence, located in Bangalore, which specialises in engineering, analysis and date science. Our goal is to use the new Singapore office to continue to expand our creative offering, particularly our total video solutions, and continue to deliver guaranteed performance campaigns for our clients.” he added.

Singapore – Global information technology company Yahoo has announced the expansion of its talent-building programme ‘Yahoo Academy 2023’ to Singapore. Said programme is set to gather sought-after global creative thinkers to share secrets of future-proofing their careers to rising media agency stars across Australia and Singapore.

‘Yahoo Academy’ is open for nominations, with 40 chosen participants set to get a masterclass in future-proofing their careers from world-renowned creative strategists Rosie and Faris Yakob of Genius Steals.

With AI and other emergent technologies already changing job roles and skills needs across the industry, this year’s academy programme will comprise engaging brand-building, networking and mentoring sessions focused on giving participants from Australia and Singapore the tools they need to navigate an exciting future. 

Moreover, it will culminate in a one-day workshop in Sydney led by the Genius Steals founders with a pitch-off competition. In addition, all Yahoo Academy participants will receive a delegate pass to Advertising Week APAC on August 1 and 2, providing an exceptional experience to fuel growth, shape the future, and make a mark in the industry.

John McNerney, managing director of Yahoo AUSEA, said, “Yahoo Academy 2023 promises to be our biggest and most compelling programme yet. With so much happening in the world, we’re thrilled to have two incredible practitioners in Rosie and Faris, joining us to lead what will be a true masterclass in every sense of the word.”

He added, “Launched in 2012, Yahoo Academy is the original and one of the best talent development programmes in the Aussie industry, with a reputation for nurturing leaders of the future. As one of the world’s most competitive economies and the top country for talent competitiveness in APAC, I’m thrilled that we will have participants from Singapore joining us for the first time. By arming rising stars with new skills and ways of thinking, we’re helping all of our agency partners to adapt and thrive.”

Meanwhile, Rosie and Faris Yakob commented, “No one knows exactly what the future holds, but one thing that is certain is that anything that can be automated will eventually be automated. As AI becomes an increasingly hot topic in the industry and beyond, we believe that the best way to future-proof agencies and careers is to focus on uniquely human attributes, namely creativity and collaboration.”

They added, “We believe that workshops, as with all kinds of work, won’t be any good if they aren’t any fun – so we’re really excited to partner with Yahoo to help inspire this group of rising stars, and equip them with the tools and vision to lead our industry into a future we can all get excited about.”

Nominations for the programme close this June 23, with applicants must have 1 to 7 years of experience in the digital media industry and may self-nominate with senior endorsement, or senior leadership may directly nominate talent.

Singapore – Organic dairy producer Arla has released a new campaign for World Milk Day, which showcases an extraordinary story of what ‘goodness’ is included in their organic milk in terms of deliciousness and nutritional value.

The campaign, conceptualised alongside Kingdom Digital and Areka Studios, embodies Arla’s unwavering commitment to delivering goodness through its organic milk offerings. The ad also captures the essence of Arla’s sustainable farming practices and meticulous quality control, showcasing its dedication to upholding the highest standards of taste, nutrition, and sustainability.

In addition to showcasing a glimpse of the ‘from farm to table’ process, Arla seeks to encourage daily milk consumption by highlighting the numerous nutritional benefits that milk offers. 

Young Shu Hui, trade marketing manager for SEA distributor market at Arla Foods, said, “We firmly believe that small actions lead to immense impact. It is these precise actions that infuse true ‘goodness’ into our organic milk, elevating its flavour and irresistibility. Our Arla Organic milk is 100% European-certified and our farmers are working hard on making dairy more sustainable.”

Meanwhile, Mior Anwar and Neerishma Biaspal, members of the strategy team at Kingdom Digital, commented, “We discovered that many Singaporeans avoid drinking milk due to the fear of weight gain, largely due to an overestimation of the fat content in full cream milk.”

Singapore – Tech giant Google has teamed up with the statutory board Enterprise Singapore and tech trade association SGTech to offer 15,000 Google Career Certificate (GCC) scholarships to 300 local small and medium enterprises in the country.

The GCC scholarships will provide SMEs with free access to flexible online training programmes to upskill in areas such as digital marketing, e-commerce, data analytics, IT support, and more. No prior experience is needed, and learners will earn an industry-recognised credential in three to six months of part-time studies.

Said scholarships were given out at the first Grow with Google for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) event, which was graced by Alvin Tan, Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry & Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.

Google will also expand its GCC and scholarship offerings to include advanced Certificates in these areas. Designed and taught by Google experts, the Certificates provide participants with hands-on experience with tools such as BigQuery, Python, and Tableau.

Ben King, country managing director at Google Singapore, said, “To fully unlock the potential of Singapore’s economy, we must ensure that SMEs and their employees have a chance to pick up new skills and knowledge to stay relevant in a fast-changing landscape. A recent Google study found that workplace training and online learning are major sources of skills attainment among Singapore employees, and 6 in 10 rely on government awareness programmes as their primary source of information.” 

He added, “Strategic public-private initiatives can help cultivate greater awareness and provide more learning opportunities for SMEs to pursue their growth ambitions locally, regionally and globally.”

Google has helped over 9,400 local SMEs since 2020 advance their business with digital tools and training, including through the Digital Practitioner Programme (DPP), developed in partnership with EnterpriseSG. This helps SMEs and heartland enterprises deepen their in-house capabilities in digital marketing and basic data analytics, through a two-month training programme and a three-to-six-month practicum with dedicated Google Specialists.

Malaysia – The Malaysian body of The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) has announced that it will be holding the ‘4As Consumer Insights Workshop’ on 16 June, a one-day masterclass about insight training. 

The workshop is an independent initiative of the industry body in Malaysia with the goal of raising industry standards and fostering continuous professional development for agency talent.

‘4As Consumer Insights Workshop’ is intended to provide account planners, account managers, and creatives with key skills in three areas – Understanding insights to a deeper level than others in the industry; Learning how to uncover, hone, and write more compelling insights that will catapult brand relevancy; Understanding what not an insight is and why data is different from insight.

“If marketing is about meeting customer needs profitably, then insight is the key tool that drives marketing. Products deliver functional needs. Brands also deliver emotional needs. The very best marketers and marketing companies invest in trying to understand their customers better than their competition. If you can uncover and tap into an enduring insight, you have created a sustainable brand. Thus, insight is the backbone of all marketing,” said Khairudin Rahim, 4As CEO.

The workshop will be conducted by Paul Arnold, an IPA UK-endorsed trainer with extensive experience in account management and planning for Saatchi’s and Grey for over 30 years, working across a large range of international brands, and winning five EuroEffies for Campaign Effectiveness. A

In addition, Arnold is also a trained Psychologist, with an MBA, an MSc in Organisational Change, as well as being a certified coach.

“Once again, the 4As is striving to provide our industry professionals with access to leading edge, bespoke and highly relevant training that’s not available anywhere else,” said Khairudin. 

“Additionally, we have sought out people like Paul Arnold and other IPA (UK) certified trainers who are the ‘cream of the crop’ to conduct this training, with the goal of raising the standard of competency across the industry,” he concluded.

Just this April, the organisation has elected its council office bearers who will serve the body for the next two years. Havas Group’s group managing director Andrew Lee has been re-elected as president whilst Ryusuke Oda, managing director of Hakuhodo Malaysia, has been named as new vice president.

Singapore – Ogilvy PR has named Q Akashah as its new managing director for Singapore and Malaysia. Amidst the new appointment, she will be retaining her portfolio as executive director for Islamic Marketing in Southeast Asia.

As part of Ogilvy’s Singapore and Malaysia integrated leadership team, Q will oversee and manage the PR offices across both markets, pursuing innovations in areas such as AI, influencer engagement, creative and content creation, and employee engagement, amongst others. 

“It is a privilege to be in the Company of Giants to bring forward our ambition of driving creative and impactful PR-led and social-first integrated work. The communications industry is changing rapidly, and my priority is to ensure Ogilvy PR remains at the forefront of propelling the success of our clients’ brands and businesses,” said Akashah.

With more than 15 years of strategic communications experience and stints in Ogilvy Malaysia and Indonesia under her belt, Akashah joined Ogilvy PR in 2008 and has steadily climbed the ranks through the years. She was recognised with the SEA Young Professional of the Year in 2014 and has worked on numerous award-winning campaigns locally and regionally.

She will continue with her second portfolio of spearheading Islamic marketing and communications efforts across the region, working with international brands to engage with Muslim consumers as well as Muslim-centric industries to appeal to a larger non-Muslim audience. 

The agency said the appointment is part of its commitment to talent development and succession planning and follows Emily Poon taking on the regional leadership of Ogilvy PR in 2021. 

“We are delighted to announce Q’s appointment,” said Emily Poon, president of Ogilvy PR in Asia Pacific. “As a values-driven leader that always seeks to do right by our people, clients, and business, I cannot think of a better successor to take on the leadership of our Singapore and Malaysia PR offices. At a time where we are seeing a rapid pace of change in AI, media and technology platforms, I am excited to work alongside Q and our network colleagues for our next phase of growth in Singapore, Malaysia, the region and beyond. At Ogilvy PR, we believe it is vital to continually invest in the growth of our next generation leaders, cultivate a diverse leadership bench and nurture an inclusive workplace for our network’s continued success.”

Ogilvy PR was recently re-appointed as AIA Singapore’s PR agency of record, extending it to a 13-year partnership following a competitive pitch. The agency will also be serving as AIA Singapore’s social agency of record.

Singapore – To commemorate the company’s 50th anniversary, FairPrice Group has penned down a love letter that honours the country’s frontliners, and how the company played a key role in securing the nation’s food supply through thick and thin in the midst of a pandemic.

The love letter, running under the company’s ‘Always, FairPrice’ campaign, was conceptualised by The Secret Little Agency (TSLA). The  love letter, which ran across all four languages of Singapore Press Holding’s main vernacular dailies, promises to safeguard its customers’ way of life in Singapore.

Alvin Neo, chief customer and marketing officer at FairPrice Group said that the campaign was developed at a time where Singapore is facing its highest rate of inflation in 14 years.

“Our love letter to all in Singapore aims to assure customers that through economic highs and lows, good times and tough ones; FPG will remain focused on moderating the cost of living by setting the benchmark for prices of daily staples, so as to keep food and essentials within reach and readily available. The word ‘always’ in ‘Always, FairPrice’ represents that long term commitment,” he added.

With its 50th anniversary celebrations, the public can also look forward to the launch of a nationwide ‘behind-the-scenes’ video quiz series which features real life stories of frontliners working around the clock to deliver daily essentials to all in Singapore.

Moreover, the brand campaign’s creative direction also features re-created miniatures of FairPrice Group employees visually representing every little effort that the FairPrice takes to ensure that it stays true to the promise of safeguarding the way of life, where essential products such as eggs take centre stage.

Singapore – Popular pizza chain Pizza Hut Singapore has teamed up with recently-appointed integrated communications agency TEAM LEWIS in launching a new campaign that uses generative AI to produce visuals depicting Pizza Hut’s price promos.

Titled ‘Takeaway Pocket Pleasers’, the key visual highlights the brand’s commitment to deliver simple, delicious pizzas that continue to be accessible for everyone. 

By prompting the AI program, Midjourney, to create a visual that showcases the unmistakable DNA of the Pizza Hut brand, the campaign reduces advertising and creative costs to ultimately pass on more value to their customers — with pocket pleaser pizzas starting from SG$3.

Some of the flavours being offered include ‘Very Beefy’, ‘Cheese ‘N’ Chic’, ‘Just Cheese’, and ‘Chicky Ham ‘N’ Corn’. 

In addition, the campaign will also represent a new category of different value deals that customers can look out for in the coming months to take even more advantage of Pizza Hut Singapore’s offerings.

Jayss Rajoo, director of marketing and food innovation at Pizza Hut Singapore said, “We are always thinking of new, creative ways to bring more value to our customers, while ensuring they get the same delicious product no matter the occasion. As a customer-first brand, this AI-driven campaign allows us to disrupt the way we present our offerings and drive more savings for our customers. As a brand many people have grown up with, such campaigns allows us to demonstrate our growth with our customers in terms of progressive, tech-driven ideas.”

Singapore – Food and grocery delivery platform foodpanda have entered into a strategic partnership with TADA, the blockchain-based ride-hailing platform, to introduce new user benefits for customers in Asia, starting with Singapore and Cambodia.

As part of the partnership, both foodpanda and TADA users can enjoy savings, discounted fares and loyalty programme subscriptions across both quick-commerce and ride-hailing platforms.

According to the release, up to 30,000 TADA users in Singapore can opt-in to receive a complimentary pandapro subscription which gives them easy access and cost savings to on-demand deliveries under the partnership

In addition, corporate customers of either foodpanda or TADA in Singapore can also utilise the combined food delivery and ride-hailing benefits through joint corporate bundles via foodpanda’s exclusive service for corporate customers, foodpanda for Business.

“On-demand deliveries and [ride-hailing] have become a big part of our daily routines, so we’re constantly thinking of ways to make these conveniences more accessible and affordable for customers,” said Jakob Angele, CEO of foodpanda, APAC. 

He added, “Joining hands and offering even more customer benefits with TADA is a natural next step to bring more choices and greater value for customers who use these services every day.”

Meanwhile, Sean Kim, CEO of TADA Mobility, said, “Partnering with foodpanda marks another exciting phase for TADA’s growth across the region. After seeing a rapidly growing user base in Singapore, and being one of the most downloaded apps in Cambodia..”

Kim also added that the partnership will introduce TADA to a larger community relying on ride-hailing and food delivery.

Angele concluded, “We expect that our partnership will only grow stronger as we continue to tap on each other’s networks and leverage our complementary services, offering customers the added convenience for all our customers across Asia Pacific.” 

Recently, foodpanda has also launched a 24/7 pandamart O2O concept store in Hong Kong, its first O2O concept store in APAC.

Singapore – Cryptocurrency firm Luno has announced that it is exiting the Singaporean market, with its services no longer available by June 20 this year. According to the company, the market exit is part of Luno’s evaluation of their global strategy and presence.

Luno also added that they have also informed the Monetary Authority of Singapore of their intention to withdraw their license application to operate in the country.

In a statement published in their website, the company expressed that while the announcement may come as a shock to their local customers, the decision to exit the market wasn’t taken lightly considering the rising cryptocurrency market in Singapore.

“As a key financial hub in the region and an innovator in financial technology, Singapore has the potential to lead the way in using crypto to build a fair and robust financial system. We can’t wait to watch its journey and are proud to have been a part of it,” they stated.

Moreover, they have expressed their gratitude to the thousands of Singaporeans who have supported them on their crypto journey, ever since they first entered the market in 2016.

Luno has asked its Singaporean customers to withdraw all of their local currency and cryptocurrency by June 19.

The exit also comes after Luno announced that is laying off around 35% of its workforce globally in January this year.