Tag: Singapore

Singapore – To simply answer the question – Singaporean parents need about S$1,600 to cover a baby’s basic supplies and items, revealed a study by e-commerce aggregator iPrice.

Based on iPrice’s data from thousands of sellers and merchants on its website, the e-commerce aggregator recorded the median prices of selected essential items for a baby’s first year.

The one-off purchases such as baby car seats, strollers, five toys, cribs, step stools, and many more, are all amounting to about S$1,557, while the median prices of items that need to be bought on a regular basis such as diapers, wipes, and milk formula cost about S$43, which when summed up leads to the said estimated budget.

The study notes that the amount only covers basic items and has not included other items such as bath products, cleaning accessories, clothing, feeding items, and baby décor, or even bigger non-item necessities such as healthcare, which all account for overall baby care.

The analysis further remarked that since the prices are only estimated ones, there could be cheaper alternatives, and hence, a cheaper necessary budget.

The study measured the estimated expenditure against the country’s minimum wage to find out how capable parents can provide for baby care. Things are looking up for Singaporean parents since the country records the highest minimum wage in the region with S$1,400, a recent increase announced by its government.

However, this may take a while for parents to save up in other countries such as Malaysia where the minimum wage is just S$387, indicating that the expense of basic baby items would take up about half a minimum wage earner’s salary in the country for 8 months.

Singapore – A group of independent public relations agencies representing Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, as well as Singapore, and South Korea has joined forces to form the new ‘PerfectPitch Asia PR Network’ in SEA. 

The new network aims to support global companies in strategizing and implementing their business communications programs as they venture into Asian markets. It is composed of female founders who are experts in brand strategy, public relations, and integrated marketing, as well as social media.

PerfectPitch founders include Constance Chao, the founder of Media Plus for Mainland China and Taiwan, Maggie Chen, independent representative for Hong Kong, and Yukiko Harada, TrainTracks’ managing director for Japan, as well as Melinda Ilagan, I.M. SEA Communications’ managing director for Singapore, and June Cha, TwinTracks’ managing director for South Korea.

Harada said, “We have come together combining the depth and breadth of our experiences in various industries, practices, and our respective geographies to provide global clients good counsel and strong execution to help them succeed in Asia’s mega-economy.”

Meanwhile, Ilagan shared that SEA continues to experience brisk growth as global enterprises and disruptive innovators set their eyes on the region’s young, tech-savvy talent and consumers.

“Our experience is that global companies and our counterpart agencies in the western hemisphere seek expert advisors in the most economically vibrant countries like Singapore, Mainland China/Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. They come to us because of our intimate understanding of this diverse region,” said Ilagan.

Chao also noted, “With over 20 decades of media experience in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan via Media Plus and Maggie Cheng, PerfectPitch can provide the total solution for the companies who want to enter into these comprehensive markets.”

As free trade agreements get ratified and borders start to reopen amid COVID-19 PerfectPitch said it is anticipating a fresh burst of business opportunities coming into the region.

Singapore – Insurance company Prudential in Singapore has launched a new campaign where they will be giving away 85 limited edition decks of their “Ready, Reset, Go! Power Cards”, specially crafted to help Singaporeans improve their overall well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The deck consists of 15 cards divided into three categories that are key to living well holistically – finances; health and wellness; and work and relationships. Each card in these categories contains an interesting tidbit followed by a prompt for the reader to take an action step that will improve the state of their wealth, health, or work or social life. 

Also included in the deck are three blank cards that people can personalize by penning intentions and reflections as they take action to improve their well-being.

For people checking on the cards under the ‘finance’ category, the cards direct them to discover a set of wealth solutions that are available on Pulse, a digital health and wellness app from Prudential. Meanwhile, on checking cards under the ‘health and wellness’ category, they need to follow the instructions on the card to access a ‘BMI Recorder’ on Pulse. The feature just needs the user to upload a selfie to reveal their BMI. A SG$50 Deliveroo voucher is also available within the card deck of the ‘work and relationships’ category.

The campaign will run from 2 to 24 December 2021, until stocks last. To join the contest, consumers can register an account on the Pulse by Prudential app. Then, take a screenshot of the registration page and send it to a dedicated email address and wait for confirmation.

Singapore – Global banking institution Standard Chartered has released a new ‘colorful’ ad that aims to reiterate the danger of carbon emission to the environment and the bank’s commitment to helping to achieve the net-zero goal by 2050. 

The bank recently announced its new net-zero approach which aims to mobilize US$300b in green and transition financing in helping clients reach net-zero targets and to reduce absolute financed thermal coal mining emissions by 85 percent by 2030, among others.

“Carbon – it’s helped build everything we have, but to keep moving forward, we need to leave carbon behind,” said the ad.

Developed together with creative agency TBWA\Singapore, the ad rightly focuses on the imagery of carbon, where ‘carbon’ is the ‘star’ from start to finish. From a massive cloud of black carbon enveloping the community, it is eventually met with carbon in Standard Chartered’s bright brand colors of blue and green symbolizing how the bank is stepping in to help impede the growing environmental hazard.

TBWA\Singapore said that with the ad, which used an underwater technique to deliver the stunning imagery of smoke, they aimed to move beyond the clichéd visuals typically associated with sustainability communications.

“While the conversations around sustainability and carbon transition have been re-energized in recent months, the depiction of these initiatives in mainstream advertising is anything but fresh,” said Asheen Naidu, global creative director at TBWA\Singapore.

Naidu adds, “To disrupt the sea of sameness and really get our message noticed, we opted for a more artistic approach – partnering with the brilliant Eben Mears of Psyop, to tell the story of a world under threat and visualizing how Standard Chartered is working to minimize and ultimately remove that threat.”

The ad was produced by production studio Psyop. According to the campaign’s team, they used a unique production technique involving jets of food colorant in a water tank, creating the illusion of smoke engulfing a city and its residents. As the black clouds billow through the 3D-printed underwater model, two more jets of colorant are then introduced – this time Standard Chartered’s signature blue and green brand colors.

The StanChart team further shared that the film was developed without CGI and shot using a high-speed robotic motion control system, allowing the camera to move through the model city at precise angles and speeds. The jets were also carefully controlled to create sharp, vivid footage of the food colorant flowing through water at varying pressures and speed in the aim to create a captivating film that artistically showcases the role of the bank in transitioning to a carbon-free future.

Emma Sheller, global head of brand and marketing at Standard Chartered, commented, “Coinciding with the recent announcement of Standard Chartered’s pathway to Net-Zero, the new campaign leverages the power of creativity to portray our commitments to tackling climate change and helping countries and businesses accelerate their transition to carbon neutrality.”

According to the team, to stay true to the theme of the campaign, the film production had an exceptionally low carbon footprint, and the entire shoot was conducted remotely with the agency in Singapore, director in New York, and production team in Germany.

Singapore – Metigy, an AI-powered marketing solution for small businesses, has opened its first office in Southeast Asia and hired a team of four in Singapore, as part of its commitment to make digital marketing easier for SMEs across the region.

The market expansion comes one year after the company had raised US$20m in funding.

As part of the new Singapore office, Hemant Doshi will step in to lead the team in the market as the company’s first director of strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Metigy, Doshi was CEO of The Praxis Company Singapore and Malaysia, and had previously co-founded DriveMate. He is now driving Metigy’s partner-led growth strategy in the region. 

Speaking about the appointment, Doshi said that Singapore is an essential pillar in their geographic expansion strategy as they look to ramp up efforts in Southeast Asia. He added that having an office that serves as their headquarters for the entire region is key for their market presence in Singapore, and for the benefit of SEA clients.

“We’re already working with some great local partners such as the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), JustCo and Julian Grey and are focused on growing the local content, growth and customer service teams, giving them access to tools designed to help make digital marketing easier for SMEs in Southeast Asia,” he stated.

The ASME, JustCo, and Julian Grey are Metigy’s local channel partners in Singapore.

Meanwhile, David Fairfull, CEO and co-founder of Metigy, commented, “There’s a massive opportunity to help the 150 million small businesses across Southeast Asia. According to Google, 97% of Southeast Asian SMEs have no ad tech or martech solutions and also lack the supply of talent to meet that demand. In response, technology like ours will solve the challenges faced by this market.”

Metigy’s platform operates by turning contextual real-time data from social and digital advertising channels into easy-to-understand insights and recommendations. This in turn takes the guesswork out of marketing to help businesses who don’t have large or experienced marketing teams.

Singapore – With more consumers in Asia seeking to make a positive impact through their consumption, Ogilvy Consulting, the global growth and innovation arm of advertising agency Ogilvy, has launched its sustainability practice in Asia to help brands shape sustainability priorities and solutions in the region.

Ogilvy’s new practice will focus on Asia’s myriad pressing environmental, social, and inclusion issues. This includes the continued fight against poverty, the balancing of a growing middle-class and urbanization with the environmental impact, the stress for companies to move faster to net-zero emissions, as well as the desire to transform to alternative energy, and the complex and diverse cultural context for equity and inclusion improvements. The agency said that while many of the topics are global in nature, clients will be seeking solutions tailored to Asia’s unique market situations and social issues.

Jerry Smith, Ogilvy Consulting’s CEO for Asia, said that sustainability has become a greater priority for businesses, brands, and people, and the urgency and importance of this topic mean they need to build a more structured solution for their clients. 

“Our work now needs to take the corporate strategy and mandate and create practical ways to activate that at a regional and local level,” said Smith.

The new practice will be headed by Andy Wilson, former head of strategy at advertising firm BBDO Singapore. He brings with him over 25 years of experience in innovation, brand building, and strategic communications planning.

Commenting on his new role as Ogilvy Consulting’s senior partner of sustainability for Asia, Wilson said that he is thrilled to be able to accelerate this positive transition and help the clients across the region grow profitably while solving sustainability issues.

“We are on the brink of a radical paradigm shift in how we manufacture, market, and consume products and services. We have a critical role to play in helping organizations and brands develop environmentally and socially sustainable solutions and practices,” noted Wilson.

Singapore – Over the weekend, a mysterious ‘‘#SmartHonestAdvice’ movement has caught the attention of Singaporeans, where a fleet of vans featuring candid advice on general topics in life, including home financing, was seen across 50 island-wide locations in Singapore. 

Today, the digital property marketplace in SEA, PropertyGuru Group, has revealed that its mortgage marketplace, PropertyGuru Finance, was behind the mysterious movement, which has quickly gained traction on social media, with netizens posting vans images with the hashtag ‘#SmartHonestAdvice’.

As part of the ‘#SmartHonestAdvice’ movement, PropertyGuru Finance is also engaging several online personalities in Singapore like Gladys Ng and Alexia Lim, to share their own ‘#SmartHonestAdvice” on their social media networks. In addition, they will encourage their followers to share similar ‘#SmartHonestAdvice’ on their social media channels.

Bjorn Sprengers, Property Group’s chief marketing officer and head of fintech, shared that they wanted to spark conversations among Singaporeans around the importance of seeking real, honest advice to help them make better decisions for almost any life situation, especially when it comes to crucial financial matters like securing the best home loan.

“We also want to encourage Singaporeans to lead such conversations by sharing their own #SmartHonestAdvice on social media. On a less serious note, we hope to get a light chuckle out of those who catch the advice,” said Sprengers. 

PropertyGuru said that the movement also aligns with the ‘PropertyGuru Finance – Smart, Honest Advice’ brand campaign, which unveiled a TV commercial featuring actor Aaron Charles Mossadeg. 

The commercial puts a comic spin on the metaphorical pain a family of four feels when they discover their “could haves” from the money saved from their mortgages, like fulfilling their children’s dream of owning a pet dog or enjoying a king crab seafood feast as a family.

Singapore – Classifieds platform Carousell has launched anew its ‘Free Ads for Charities’ initiative, an advertising support program for non-profit organizations (NPOs) that helps various communities impacted by COVID-19.

In the previous ‘COVID-19 Free Ads for Charity’ in 2020, Carousell offered up to SG$2m fund of advertising support for NPOs in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines to help them replenish the supply of food and essential health products, donations for upkeep cost, call for volunteers and other initiatives caring for families-at-risk and seniors in need.

This year, the platform is doing the same by offering up to SG$250,000 to support any charities and non-profit organizations in Singapore impacted by COVID-19.

JJ Eastwood, the managing director of Carousell Media Group, commented, “We are very proud to bring back our Free Ads for Charities initiative and expand upon our commitment to uplift local communities in need. Charity donations have been impacted as fundraising events have had to be canceled due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Meanwhile, Carousell has also partnered with Singapore’s non-profit organization National Volunteer and Philanthropy Center (NVPC), to launch its annual ‘Blessings’ campaign, aimed at encouraging Singaporeans to share their blessings during this festive season.

The partnership will be supporting SG Cares Giving Week with their annual campaign, which is an expansion of the platform’s ‘#SayYesToBlessings’ initiative launched in August 2021 to help empower non-profit organizations in digitalizing and amplifying their causes online. 

For this year’s ‘#Blessings’ campaign, Carousell will be expanding its reach to bring greater awareness to the public to support local communities in need. Starting today until 31 December, interested donors can log on to Carousell and browse listings from over 20 charities and non-profit organizations, and give back to those who need it the most by donating essential items such as home appliances, COVID-19 test kits, clothes, and food, as well as make direct donations to their favorite causes via Carousell Protection.

In addition, users can list their usable items on Carousell under its Free Items category to help other individuals in need.

According to Carousell’s MD for Singapore Chee Soon Ng, the ‘#Blessings’ campaign originally started as a user-led initiative and has grown into one adopted by the wider Carousell community over the years.

“With every 1 in 3 Singaporeans using Carousell monthly, we are the perfect platform to connect charities with users who are looking to declutter their surplus purchases by giving back to those who need them the most. We are excited to partner with NVPC for SG Cares Giving Week and we encourage every donor to give generously and make a positive difference this festive season,” said Ng.

Singapore – Beer brand Heineken in Singapore has launched a special campaign that lets you share your dream holiday and actually gives you a chance to win it and experience it–the closest to reality.

Done in partnership with travel and leisure booking platform Klook, the ‘Heineken Festive Cheers’ campaign involves a brief quiz to match you to your dream holiday. Heineken lets you be carefree with how you envision your dream vacation–and then matches you with something close within the bounds of the beauty of Singapore.

Prompts include where you wish to go, if whether you’d like to escape or explore the city, and what your sighted R & R involves such as a festive party or a scrumptious spread. 

At the heart of the campaign is a special microsite. From 26 November to 24 December 2021, consumers can head to the ‘Heineken Festive Cheers’ site to wing the quiz and be matched to any of the campaign’s prepared holiday packages in Singapore. In the end, participants will be given an exclusive Klook Promo Code for a chance to win it.

With the focus on local tourism, Gerald Yeo, the marketing director of Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore, Heineken’s parent company, said celebrating the holidays doesn’t need necessarily mean traveling somewhere new and that it’s about making time to meet family and friends.

“We look forward to Heineken being at the heart of many celebrations right here in Singapore this season, giving us even more reasons to celebrate with those who matter,” said Yeo. 

Meanwhile, Sarah Wan, Klook’s general manager for Singapore, commented, “Klook is delighted to partner with Heineken to spread festive cheer and joy this year-end. We have made it our mission to uncover hidden gems, feature local merchants, and to pioneer unique experiences here in Singapore. We are confident that this campaign will help bring more awareness to local merchants and shed light on how much Singapore has to offer.” 

Some of the leisure packages that can be won include a staycation for two at Lloyd’s Inn, a staycation at KēSa House, The Unlimited Collection by Oakwood for two, and a guided hike around Keppel by X-Trekkers, among many others. 

Of course, Heineken will be with celebrators at every step of the way. With each leisure package comes a Heineken Blade and a compact 8-liter countertop draught set-up to make sure winners are able to enjoy their Heineken beer as they revel in the holidays. 

In addition to winning experiences, fans could walk away with special Heineken packages such as a six-pack of Heineken or a six-month supply of Heineken. 

Singapore – Black Friday and massive year-end sales are here and shoppers are ready to tick off their lists–even in the least ideal times. An Aussie study has already revealed that some shoppers have added to cart and checked out–while drunk. Meanwhile, Singaporean shoppers, on a lighter note, would do it–out of boredom. 

Of more than a thousand Singaporean adults, 37% will shop sales for a number of different reasons. Topping their intentions was surprisingly to stave away boredom, with 16% saying so, found a survey by comparison platform Finder. 

This is only slightly higher than the number of people who’ll shop because the sales provide good value (14%). In terms of demographics, women are slightly more likely than men to shop the sales overall (38% women vs. 37% men), while men are more likely to be shopping out of boredom (18% men vs. 15% women). 

Meanwhile, Singaporeans aged 65 and above are most likely to shop the sales, with 41% of people from this age group saying they’ll be making a purchase. Only 33% of those aged 35-44 say the same. 

Despite affirmative findings, the survey also found that 63% of Singaporean adults choose not to shop for reasons such as inflated prices (6%) and due to personally-eyed sales not being discounted (5%).