Tag: Southeast Asia

Cyberjaya, Malaysia – Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), has appointed former SME Bank Malaysia’s Group Chief Strategy Officer (GCSO) Aiza Azreen as its new chief digital business officer (CDBO), still in line with the agency’sReinvent’ agenda, the mission to strengthen MDEC’s organization to further better its strategies in expanding the nation’s digital economy in the new normal. 

The ‘Reinvent’ agenda seeks to implement a strategic change in the agency’s management, aiming to inculcate a high-performing and high-impact organization. With this mission, the agency can build capabilities internally, identifying the right skills for managerial roles and ensuring that the departments have the best performances.

As the new CDBO, Azreen will be responsible for driving all business development, strategic, and operational aspects of the company. This also includes corporate and business development initiatives, strategic planning, budget development and control, commercial input into national digitalization development, and supporting investor relationships and fundraising.

Azreen will also be a member of the MDEC Operating Council (MOC) and will report directly to CEO Surina Shukri, overseeing and steering the digital adoption ecosystem in e-Commerce, data ecosystem development, and the digital infrastructure departments. She will also lead external innovation opportunities to expand commercial strategies and build corporate business and innovations for e-commerce, in line with MDEC’s focus on digitizing SMEs, MSMEs, and enterprises.

Azreen’s experience spans 20 years. She has worked in Australia and Malaysia across multiple industries in strategy development and execution of large-scale business transformation. She held leadership positions in organizations, such as Pertama Digital Berhad, Axiata Digital Services, and Axiata eCode Sdn Bhd, as well as Bank Rakyat, Sime Darby Group, and Media Prima Berhad and AmBank Berhad where she helped pioneer digital ecosystems. This includes pioneering Malaysia’s cashless ecosystem with Boost eWallet, deploying frontier technologies, innovating operating models, and commercializing businesses through mergers and acquisitions (M&As), venturing, building, and collaborating with strategic partners.

Azreen commented that she had “the good fortune” of having conversations with the leadership team at MDEC on what is required to accelerate Malaysia’s digital economy and on the execution of MDEC’s ‘Reinvent’ as well as the inherent and future challenges in these efforts. 

“At the end of these conversations, taking leave from the private sector to be part of MDEC’s journey was not a difficult decision to make. Today, I join the best-in-class team to contribute not just to MDEC, but to the country as well. With the recent launch of MyDIGITAL initiative and the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, I am excited with what lies ahead,” said Azreen.

YBhg. Datuk Wira Dr Hj. Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff, chairman of MDEC, said that with Azreen addition to the team, the organization aims to strengthen its expertise and experience as part of our relentless effort in fulfilling Malaysia 5.0.

“Increasing number of distinguished talents are now gravitating towards MDEC and this augurs well for our stakeholders, adding new perspectives and dimensions in a rapidly-changing landscape during unprecedented times like these. Her appointment will enable us to further expand and solidify our business development initiatives and reach in the digital economy sphere, allowing us to fulfill our goals and Malaysia’s digital vision as espoused in the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL),” said Hussin.

Meanwhile, Shukri said, “The appointment of Aiza will strengthen our line-up as we expand our business capabilities and opportunities, both domestically and globally, in our resolve to create and bolster impactful digital outreach for Malaysia. I’m excited to work with Aiza and I am confident that she will further add value to MDEC as we strive towards driving digital outreach for the society and economy. Aiza’s appointment is a reflection of MDEC’s commitment to create technocrats and a people-first society in the age of 4IR technology, leading to shared prosperity for all.”

Singapore – Adtech Criteo has announced a strategic partnership with advertising and technology company MediaDonuts to expand its market in Vietnam through providing performance marketing solutions among Vietnamese brands.

Through the partnership, Criteo is expanding its services in the country through the Ad Sales Partner Program within MediaDonuts. The said program provides brands with performance marketing solutions which include funnel marketing solutions, aimed at driving profits and sales for retailers and brands. By connecting shoppers to products and services that appeal to them, it delivers performance at scale while working with its Ad Sales Partners. Furthermore, the partnership provides Criteo a unique platform to cover broader market segments in this fast-growing country. 

“This exclusive partnership will help us to expand our coverage in Vietnam. For Criteo, Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing markets in SEA. And shoppers in Vietnam have a variety of choices when it comes to e-commerce platforms, millions of products and services to choose from, and multiple devices to engage with and discover,” said Taranjeet Singh, managing director of Criteo SEA and India.

Pieter-Jan de Kroon, managing partner at MediaDonuts, noted that the Vietnamese internet economy has reached USD14B in gross merchandise value (GMV), and is expected to grow to USD52B by 2025.

“The digital media landscape is evolving fast in Vietnam and we’re seeing a very interesting opportunity, especially in the performance space. Therefore this partnership will be a game-changer for all companies eager to exceed their media and business objectives by implementing sophisticated campaign strategies through the world-class technology developed by Criteo,” de Kroon stated.

Singapore – Location technology platform Foursquare has appointed a new regional head for its Southeast Asia and Hong Kong operations, former head of sales of martech Playground XYZ Tim Castle.

His new role will revolve around working closely with brands, agencies, and advertisers in this region to further the expansion of Foursquare across Southeast Asia, following the company’s recent rebranding stage, and various strategic acquisitions for the past two years, the companies namely Placed and Factual.

Prior to his new role, Castle spanned multiple roles among regional hubs, including in the UK and Australia, where he led new business initiatives at GroupM, AOL, which is now Verizon Media, and most recently at Playground XYZ, where he was responsible for expanding the business’s mobile rich media and measurement solution into new markets across Asia.

“Location services are critical to any enterprise’s technology stack. Foursquare has continued to push the boundaries of what’s possible with location technology with their full range of capabilities to help businesses scale, and create better customer experiences and business outcomes,” Castle said, commenting on his recent appointment.

Castle will report directly to Aditi Kohli, managing director of Foursquare Asia-Pacific.

“Tim’s appointment marks an exciting new step for Foursquare in the region. As we continue to gain momentum with our innovative enterprise products and proprietary location technology and data, we will deeply benefit from Tim’s years of expertise in driving new business growth across multiple markets,” Kohli stated.

Singapore – Creative production company MediaMonks Singapore has tapped Joao Flores, former chief creative officer of dentsu International, to be its new executive creative director (ECD) in SEA, Korea, and Japan, supporting its business expansion plan across the APAC region.

The new ECD will be responsible for developing creative partnerships with the company’s clients, as this will help influence teams with a growth mindset across APAC and elevate the standards for creativity in the region.

Prior to his new position, Flores started his journey being in creative leadership at marketing company Cheil Iberia. Through this, his perspective about imaginative narratives and experiences transformed, which also opened his world for a new age of creativity.

He was then responsible to lead Horizon Foote, Cone & Belding’s (FCB) creative vision in the Middle East, which guided him into dentsu in Singapore, where he gained recognition while growing the business, being promoted to Chief Creative Officer.

Commenting on his appointment, Flores said, “We are living in a new age for creativity, the pioneers of that mindset are MediaMonks and S4 Capital. How to structure creative teams at scale in this new era? How to define a new creative identity elevating data and tech? And what does that mean for people, for the ones living those experiences? The passion for the craft, connected ecosystems, and the commitment to create product ideas with a tangible positive impact, that’s the Monks way, that’s my why, and what made this opportunity so appealing to me.”

According to Joris Knetsch, managing director of MediaMonks Singapore, Joao is known for his creative leadership and his disruptive creative process, as well as his vision for integrated ideas which positively impact people, businesses, and culture.

“We share the passion for creative excellence, and I’m excited to start working with Joao. Together with the rest of the MediaMonks team, we are perfectly set up to scale to new heights,” said Knetsch.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Dentsu Malaysia has won Malaysian insurance company AIA’s creative retainer services, with immediate effect.

In addition to the existing creative duties of dentsu for AIA PUBLIC Takaful, the network will now become the sole creative agency of record to further support AIA’s purpose of delivering communications that would empower Malaysians to make healthy living choices in the new normal.

AIA is one of the largest independent pan-Asian life insurance and finance corporations, with a presence in 18 markets across the Asia-Pacific region.

Chief Marketing Officer of AIA, Heng Zee Wang said that after an impressive stint with its Takaful business, the company has decided to place its trust in dentsu to extend its capabilities in managing the entire AIA brand in Malaysia, creating integrated solutions that will help build a stronger brand narrative and deeper connection with customers across multiple touchpoints. It is expected that dentsu will create an integrated model that aims to leverage ‘connected creativity’ and help evolve AIA’s brands to be fit in this virtual economy.

Meanwhile, CEO of dentsu Malaysia One Michelle Ong commented that they are deeply honored to acquire the business.

“Our collaboration internally even during work-from-home has been charged with inspiring positivity. The brief was to have AIA at the forefront of consideration for both health and wellness needs. However, one requirement was to not just deliver a ‘campaign’, but a sustainable communication solution that can be carried forward naturally and touches all the relevant consumer and agent points,” Ong said.

Milan Agnihotri, chief strategy officer of dentsu, shared that the anchor of AIA’s proposal was in the seamless integration of ‘Big Organizing Idea (BOI)’ with ‘Return on Investment (ROI)’ for the brand.

“We leveraged our proven methodology of ‘Masterbranding + Behaviour Mapping’ to make sure we steer the brand through the funnel and the brand ecosystem – externally and internally, on a single-minded platform,” Agnihotri added.

Singapore – Hong Kong-headquartered Asiapay and Singapore-headquartered Atome have announced a joint partnership to enable seamless, flexible installment payment options to online and offline retail businesses across the APAC region.

AsiaPay is a digital payment solution and technology vendor in Asia based in Hong Kong, aiming to bring advanced and cost-effective electronic payment processing solutions and services to banks, corporate and e-Businesses in the worldwide market.

On the other hand, Atome is a ‘buy now, pay later’ platform in Asia based in Singapore. It partners online and offline retailers to increase conversions and grow average orders and customer segments.

Through this team-up, both companies intend to remove the complexity for merchants and retailers of all sizes, to benefit from this seamless partnership that enables greater ‘buy now, pay later’ payment convenience and acceptance across both offline and online channels in the APAC region.

Atome has partnered with over 2,000 online and offline retailers in six markets (Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and mainland China). Key merchant partners and e-commerce platforms include Sephora, Agoda, Zara, Marks & Spencer, Charles & Keith, Yoho, JD.ID and Sendo in verticals such as beauty, fashion, electronics, home decor, and lifestyle services.

AsiaPay’s platform connects over 100 banks and alternative payment methods, including credit and debit cards, bank account/net banking, prepaid cards, digital wallets and ‘buy now, pay later’ product in 11 country locations – Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Macau, Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Joseph Chan, CEO of AsiaPay, said that the move towards digital payments across Asia is accelerating and there is increasing merchant demand for a complete integrated payment acceptance solution to optimize sales and business conversion.

“Buy now, pay later plans are growing in popularity among customers in Asia who are seeking more financial flexibility when shopping either in-store or online. We are thrilled to partner with Atome who can enhance the sales conversion of merchants in Asia with BNPL convenience and provide merchants with a flexible payment alternative that boosts customer experience,” Chan said.

Meanwhile, CEO of Atome David Chen stated that consumers want flexibility, transparency and a better, more personalised shopping and payment experience.

“This exciting partnership with AsiaPay will support thousands of businesses across the region in enabling a superior, seamless checkout experience for consumers, both in store and online websites. This in turn will optimize customer conversion, increase average orders and repeat usage,” Chen added.

Singapore – Funding Societies, a Southeast Asia-centric digital financing platform for regional SMEs, is expanding its operations to Thailand, marking its fourth market since the platform’s establishment six years ago. Currently, the platform operates in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

With the market expansion, Funding Societies will be addressing the US$250B SME credit gap that exists in ASEAN’s biggest economies – Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Funding Societies has disbursed over US$1.4B in financing across more than 65,000 SMEs throughout the region and is prepared to provide Thai SMEs with full access to its short-term customizable financing solutions, which are funded by retail and institutional investors.

The platform will also operate closely under the debt-crowdfunding license given by Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission. This expansion comes after more than one year of working with Thai regulators and planning for market entry.

Co-founder and group CEO of Funding Societies, Kelvin Teo (left), said, “Funding Societies’ vision has always been to financially enable growth for SMEs, while growing wealth for investors. Having built a market-leading presence in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, we’re excited to bring our vision to Thailand and launch today. We’ll also be able to better support Singapore companies expanding into Thailand and vice versa.”

Meanwhile, Varun Bhandari, country head of Funding Societies for Thailand (right), commented, “By leveraging technology, Funding Societies offers SMEs a new avenue of accessing business financing that is fast, affordable, and convenient. The crowdfunding landscape in the country is growing steadily and we see a lot of potential here. We look forward to driving financial inclusion in Thailand and helping to uplift the country’s economy.”

Singapore – Social storytelling platform Wattpad, through its advertising and partnerships arm Wattpad Brand Partnerships, has partnered with pop culture-inclined marketing agency Culture Group to bolster’s Wattpad presence in the Southeast Asia region.

Through the partnership, Culture Group will help connect brands to Wattpad’s growing Gen Z audience, which has now reached a global community of over 90 million people, including more than 22 million users in Asia-Pacific countries. Wattpad is a platform where users can post self-written stories, novels, and full-on books, which are then voted by readers by genre and popularity. 

Over the years, Wattpad has been recognized by various media entities in Southeast Asia. The company’s studio division, Wattpad Studios, has produced hit projects like ‘Slow Dancing’, a six-episode series from Mediacorp and Wattpad in Singapore; and ‘Turn On’ from Wattpad, Vidio, and Screenplay Entertainment in Indonesia. 

Wattpad also works with Anvil Publishing, Inc., one of the leading book publishers in the Philippines, to bring Wattpad stories to bookstores. The companies have partnered to create Bliss Books, a ground-breaking YA imprint for Filipino book lovers.

Furthermore, the move will offer advertisers more opportunities to tap into Wattpad Influencers, original stories, and thriving Southeast Asian fan communities for innovative brand campaigns and activations. Brands will be able to create content-driven marketing programs in a variety of formats, including audio and video content, associated with fan-favorite Wattpad’s stories. 

Commenting on the partnership, Chris Stefanyk, head of Wattpad Brand Partnerships said their expansion to the SEA region responds to a larger untapped younger generation for brands to be exposed to.

“Southeast Asia is home to some of the largest and most engaged communities on our platform, and there’s enormous potential for brands to tap into the Wattpad Stars and long-form Influencers that have found international fame on Wattpad. We’re excited to work with more brands in Southeast Asia to tell their stories in a culturally relevant way that resonates with today’s youth,” Stefanyk stated.

Meanwhile, Culture Group’s founder and president Michael Patent, stated, “We believe firmly that Gen Z is the world’s ‘creation generation’ and nowhere is this more apparent than on Wattpad, where amazing stories are told. We’re thrilled to be partnered with Wattpad in creating immersive, multi-format partnerships through content and fan communities in Southeast Asia.”

Singapore – Data company Vpon has announced two new senior hires in line with the company’s continuous Asia expansion, namely Joe Nguyen (left) and Basil Chua (right) as its new senior consultants.

Through the new appointments, Vpon will seek to develop its presence in the Southeast Asia market in terms of developing e-commerce business growth in the region. Statistics from a recent Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company report show that in post-COVID-19, Southeast Asia’s e-commerce is expected to hit USD 172 billion and online media USD 35 billion by 2025.

Prior to joining Vpon, Nguyen is an APAC board member of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Southeast Asia and India’s ex-chair for IAB. He has also worked for Millennium Copthorne Hotels Group as director of global e-commerce. Joe is currently serving on the board of directors of online travel marketing firm, eMarketingEye, and has led media company Comscore as APAC senior vice president.

“It has been exciting to watch Vpon growing in the past few years. They have excelled in big data marketing and advertising solutions, especially in the travel sector. Vpon has played a crucial role in helping the National Tourism Organizations (NTOs), including Japan’s JNTO, use advanced data and analytics to formulate effective marketing and recovery strategies. I am looking forward to bringing Vpon’s proven solutions to the travel and tourism organizations in Southeast Asia,” Nguyen commented regarding his appointment.

Meanwhile, Chua has worked with various media companies such as Fox International Channels, National Geographic Channel, StarHub, Singtel, and Pacific Internet. He is also the founder and managing director of business management consultancy Multiverse Partners.

“Data is the lifeblood of the digital media and advertising ecosystem. Vpon’s high-quality audience data and mobile advertising inventory will provide improved accuracy in targeting. Further, Vpon’s solution has proven to deliver vastly enhanced marketing performance by combining advanced data science and artificial intelligence. We will be engaging with partners, marketing agencies, and brands in the coming weeks,” Chua said.

Vpon founder and CEO Victor Wu commented, “I am excited to have Joe and Basil joining the Vpon team. I am confident that Joe and Basil will bring significant value in expanding our Southeast Asia’s business. With their diverse expertise from business development, to strategic partnerships and digital innovation, they will support us to establish our leading market position.”

Jakarta, Indonesia – Food and nutrition company Nestlé has teamed up with Plug and Play, a Silicon Valley-based innovation platform, in an effort to boost innovation opportunities and efforts in the Southeast Asia region.

The recent partnership entails Nestlé enabling the leverage of Plug and Play’s innovation expertise and ecosystem of startups, corporations, and investors, enabling the company to accelerate its innovation capabilities for future food technologies and solutions.

The Plug and Play Program was devised by the Indonesia president Jokowi Widodo in 2016 to drive the country’s innovation efforts within its startup ecosystem. Since then, they have created a thriving ecosystem of like-minded innovators where corporations, startups, investors, and government entities can collaborate to drive further innovation.

“I have witnessed the decline of many traditional and conservative companies because they failed to adapt to rapidly evolving industries. We are really proud that Nestlé Indonesia is partnering with us to embark on this pursuit of innovation and transformative excellence in the food industry,” said Halim Hartono, director of GK-Plug and Play.

Meanwhile, Guy Kellaway, communication director of Nestlé Indonesia commented, “For over 150 years, we have continuously focused on innovating our brands, products, systems, and technologies in order to remain relevant, and competitive. We look forward to this exciting partnership with GK Plug and Play which will drive our innovation efforts in the region.”

Nestlé is the sixth company to join the Plug and Play program, which has seen partnerships with automotive conglomerate Astra International, financial institutions Bank BNI, and Bank BCA, coal supplier ITM, pulp and paper company Sinar Mas Group, and the Global Innovation Alliance.