Tag: Southeast Asia

Singapore – Equativ, a global independent ad platform, has announced changes in its senior leadership team, with the appointment of Rueben Vijaratnam as its new managing director for SEA. 

Vijaratnam will join the Singapore office to develop a demand-focused strategy and guide Equativ to even greater success. With his strategic vision and leadership, the SEA team is expected to reach new heights, ensuring continued success and growth for the company in the region.

With significant experience in regional sales, Vijaratnam brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will be instrumental in driving growth and innovation.

His background includes six years at Yahoo, where he honed his skills in digital sales and marketing. He then spent two years at Oath, playing a key role in developing and executing strategic initiatives that significantly boosted demand and revenue. Most recently, Rueben spent 5 years at Quantcast, leading demand generation efforts and contributing to substantial market expansion and success.

Throughout his career, Vijaratnam has consistently demonstrated a remarkable ability to understand and respond to market needs, driving demand and fostering strong client relationships. His expertise in ‘demand leadership’ will be invaluable for Equativ as it aims to continuously innovate and expand its offerings.

Vijaratnam’s appointment marks a significant milestone for the APAC Business Unit, underscoring the company’s dedication to continuous improvement and growth. 

In his appointment, Vijaratnam commented, “I am excited to be joining Equativ at a very interesting point in our journey. The recent merger with Sharethrough springboards Equativ to a new level in the company’s global ambitions, and curation is becoming an ever more important solution to the challenges facing brands who are navigating the digital world today. We look forward to growing the Singapore office, expanding our footprint in Southeast Asia with existing and new partners, and truly delivering the promise of adtech in this region.”

Céline Gauthier-Darnis, EVP for MENA & APAC at Equativ, added, “I am confident that with Rueben as a leading figure, we will solidify our supply position as a key player in the region and accelerate and scale our ambitions with Demand by achieving success and exceeding expectations.”

Singapore – Advance Intelligence Group’s digital financial technology platform Atome Financial has secured a three-year term loan facility from EvolutionX Debt Capital (EvolutionX) and is concurrently working with a syndicate of investors to fully utilise the accordion feature of the facility which can increase the total amount to up to US$100m.

The new facility will drive expansion of the company’s profitable regional credit portfolio and support the launch of new products such as savings, lending, insurance, and Atome Card (Pay Later Anywhere) in markets including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Rahul Shah, partner at EvolutionX, said: “We have been impressed by Atome Financial’s management team and support from long-term investors and partners, underpinned by strong focus on risk management and operational efficiency, which has resulted in sustainable and profitable business growth. The launch of innovative and fit-for-market solutions like the Atome Card (PayLater Anywhere) and lending products demonstrates their ability to expand offerings while leveraging local market expertise.”

He added, “This is our first fintech investment in Southeast Asia, and we’re excited to support Atome Financial in their ongoing journey to improve financial inclusion and access to mobile-first financial services in large under-served markets in Southeast Asia.”

Meanwhile, Jefferson Chen, group co-founder and CEO of Advance Intelligence Group, commented, “With Atome Financial having reached profitability earlier this year, we’re excited to partner EvolutionX for our next stage of growth. This new facility recognises Atome Financial’s operational excellence and platform value as we look to accelerate the momentum of our digital financial services business, the expansion of regional strategic partnerships like TikTok Shop and Lazada as well as the launch of the new Atome Card, savings and lending products across key Southeast Asian markets.” 

Atome Financial, which comprises Atome Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) and Kredit Pintar, has recently posted impressive business performance for FY2023 with operating income nearly doubling to US$170m from the year before. A key factor was the profitability of its BNPL business, driven by a 40% year-on-year surge in GMV to US$1.5b and 130% y-o-y growth in revenue, despite FY2023 being a period of capital market contraction and macroeconomic headwinds.

Singapore – Viddsee, a short-form drama platform, has joined forces with Chinese content investment and licensing company Risingjoy to bring and introduce the popular Chinese micro drama content to Southeast Asia. 

Microdramas, known for their concise narratives and compelling storylines, have surged as a cultural phenomenon in China and globally in recent years. The market value of China’s micro-drama industry hit around US$5.3 billion in 2023, with projections soaring to USD$233 billion by 2028.

This partnership capitalises on the growing global appeal of microdramas, a trend gaining significant traction in China and worldwide. As a short-form drama platform, Viddsee strategically expands its diverse content offerings by bringing these compelling microfilms to Southeast Asia, meeting the evolving preferences of regional audiences.

Since 2022, Viddsee has been producing original vertical microseries, leading to a notable increase in viewership and engagement on the platform, underscoring the growing popularity of microdramas.

Viddsee’s partnership with Risingjoy is expected to accelerate this momentum by presenting selected Chinese micro-drama titles to Southeast Asian viewers while initiating cooperative production ventures in the region. 

The initial batch of Chinese micro-drama titles is scheduled for release on Viddsee in the latter half of 2024. 

Ricky Ow, board of directors at Viddsee, commented, “With over 10 years of experience in short form content, Viddsee has honed its expertise in understanding and delivering what audiences crave. The growth of micro dramas, coupled with Viddsee’s expanding capabilities as a studio and platform, ensures that they are uniquely positioned to lead in this emerging entertainment format and excel.”.

Ho Jia Jian, CEO and founder of Viddsee, added, “We are excited to partner with Risingjoy to bring fresh and engaging content to our audiences. This collaboration marks the beginning of several such partnerships, through which we aim to diversify our content offerings and maintain our leadership in the short-form drama space.”

Meanwhile, Cassandra Yang, general manager at Risingjoy, said, “This is a tremendous opportunity to bring rich and diverse Chinese content to Southeast Asia. Viddsee’s studio and extensive network of creators, the largest in Southeast Asia, also make them an ideal partner to facilitate localization of such micro dramas in the region. We look forward to solidifying our competitiveness and sustainable growth in this dynamic content landscape.”

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – OMD Vietnam and Sanofi CHC have formed a partnership between Sanofi CHC’s Lactacyd Baby Wash and CoComelon producer Moonbug Entertainment. The partnership and intellectual property agreement is a market first for Lactacyd and Moonbug in Southeast Asia, including branded content, consumer product licensing, advertising on CoComelon’s media ecosystem, and points of sale.

It consists of a creative 60-second song and animation in which Baby JJ and his mother Melissa use Lactacyd during bath time. Additionally, it includes on-pack branding and e-commerce activations in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. 

In order to increase brand love and association in the three markets, Lactacyd Baby Wash realised that, in a competitive category, a campaign that connected emotionally with parents was necessary. OMD and the brand made the decision to fundamentally alter how they approached media outlets and came up with the concept of working with CoComelon.

Operating out of Vietnam, the agency plans media with its OMD colleagues in the Philippines and Indonesia; for creative work, it collaborates with Media.Monks; and for in-store executions, it works with Visual Latina. The campaign formally debuts in Vietnam and the Philippines and will be implemented in stages, with OOH activations in August and the campaign launching in Indonesia in September.

Heejoo Won, head of marketing Lactacyd APAC, Sanofi CHC, said, “This association mirrors a shared commitment to fostering strong bonds between parents and children through positivity, joy, and music. With Cocomelon’s widespread popularity among our target demographic in Southeast Asia, initiating this partnership in three of our key markets was a natural progression. We are thrilled about the potential.” 

Meanwhile, Simon Barnett, director of ad sales and brand partnerships, APAC at Moonbug Entertainment, expressed, “We’re thrilled to partner with Lactacyd with a new, original song and animation featuring the brand alongside CoComelon characters. A first-of-its-kind partnership for CoComelon in the region, this is a testament to the CocoMelon popularity in Southeast Asia.” 

Furthermore, Uyen Diep Nguyen, head of innovation/lead Lactacyd APAC, OMD Vietnam, stated, “From the outset, we envisioned a partnership that would forge an emotional connection between JJ and the Lactacyd brand. This represents Sanofi CHC’s inaugural foray into licensing on such a scale, and we anticipate substantial growth in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia.” 

Lastly, Julien Courant, chief operating officer, Omnicom Media Group Vietnam added, “This campaign epitomises our agency’s platform-first approach, recognising the pivotal role of creative media in engaging today’s dynamic consumers. This partnership signals just the beginning.” 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Three media groups in Southeast Asia–Malaysia’s Star Media Group (SMG), Indonesia’s Media Group of Kompas Gramedia (KG Media), and the Philippines’ Inquirer Group of Companies (IGC)–have joined forces today to launch Asia’s first ESG Positive Impact Consortium (A-EPIC) at Sime Darby Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur. 

The launch of A-EPIC marks a watershed moment for the three media partners which are taking on a shared mission to drive influence of ESG principles in facilitating the region’s green economic growth. 

This cross-border alliance aims to collectively impact 123 million people across the region. SMG, KG Media and IGC share a solidified partnership with a common goal to expedite the adoption of ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance – in the mainstream media, to ensure public accountability and transparency. 

Moreover, as key influencers of the media landscape, the consortium recognises that its responsibility extends beyond news gathering and distribution on nation-building. The consortium aims to achieve this through the delivery of content that informs, inspires, and empowers audiences across the region. 

The Consortium launch ceremony was graced by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim. Adding to the prestige of the event were representatives from the Consortium’s esteemed regional media partners. These included Andy Budiman, chief executive officer of KG Media and Rudyard Arbolado, president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, who were present to commemorate this historic occasion alongside H.E. Dato’ Indera Hermono, Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, H.E. Maria Angela Abrera Ponce, Philippines ambassador to Malaysia, as well as ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from across Asia.

Chan Seng Fatt, group chief executive officer at Star Media Group said, “Through the collective power of our reach to over 123 million people, we envision a sustainable Asia where media collaborations promote progressive environmental, socio-economic and governance commitments for future prosperity across the region. We are dedicated to promoting and supporting each member’s ESG initiatives to educate, engage and foster a fraternity of like-minded ESG practitioners to hasten ESG adoption across the region. Together, we will tackle challenges and seize opportunities as we move towards a prosperous, resource-efficient and inclusive Asia.”

Meanwhile, Andy Budiman of KG Media commented, “KG Media proudly announces our partnership with the Asia ESG Positive Impact Consortium, a strategic collaboration that reinforces our belief that a sustainable future is our shared responsibility. This conviction drives our Lestari campaign, aimed at amplifying local sustainability initiatives for greater impact. By joining A-EPIC, we seek to further elevate these efforts and open more collaboration opportunities for greater impact. This alliance with top media powerhouses across Asia, positions us as catalysts for positive socio-economic development, propelling the region towards a sustainable future. Our commitment is resolute: to showcase and amplify impactful local efforts, champion sustainability as the new standard, and empower businesses and communities through bold media strategies.”

Lastly, Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Rudyard Arbolado said, “Today marks a significant milestone for the Inquirer Group of Companies as we proudly announce our partnership with Asia ESG Positive Impact Consortium. This strategic alliance underscores our unwavering commitment to fostering sustainable development and social responsibility, reflecting our core values and commitment to positive change.”

Philippines – Visa, a global payment solutions provider, is dedicated to increasing digital and financial inclusion in Southeast Asia by providing women and youth with digital and financial skills. This effort strives to promote long-term growth and prosperity. 

Southeast Asia’s young population, which makes up approximately a third of the region, as well as its SMEs and MSMEs, which account for 99% of all firms, are critical to economic growth. Visa is contributing to this success by increasing digital and financial literacy among women SME owners and young people.

In 2023, Visa will have digitally empowered 10 million SMEs in Asia-Pacific. The Visa Foundation has invested more than US$47m in the region, supporting two million women-led SMEs and sustaining 500,000 jobs. It just invested US$100m to APEC economies over a 5-year period.

According to an OECD assessment, women, people from specific ethnic minority groups, and rural regions have obstacles when it comes to fully embracing digital possibilities. These groups frequently face institutional and cultural barriers to growth, in addition to a predilection for unofficial funding. 

Stephen Karpin, regional president, Asia-Pacific, Visa, said, “In the Philippines, women and young people form a crucial engine propelling local economic growth. Visa utilises our resources and vast network to give back to the communities we operate in, particularly in promoting digital and financial inclusion. We believe in the transformative power of providing individuals and communities with global access to digital financial tools. As a key partner in Southeast Asia’s financial ecosystem, Visa is committed to reaching the most underserved communities, ensuring they too can reap the benefits of the digital economy.” 

Meanwhile, Kelly Tullier, vice chair, chief people and corporate affairs officer, Visa, added, “At Visa, we are dedicated to empowering women, particularly those running small businesses, to set them up for success. My trip to Vietnam reinforced how contributions within local communities are most impactful when done in concert with leaders on the ground. We met Visa Foundation partner, WISE Vietnam (Women’s Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship), which has supported 100,000 women entrepreneurs in Vietnam with access to digital tools to grow their businesses. 

“Meanwhile, Visa’s partnership with The Asia Foundation enables us to work with government agencies and microfinance institutions to support local businesses and help the digital economy thrive. By supporting each other, we lay the groundwork for equitable futures for all,” Tullier added. 

Visa and the Visa Foundation form strategic partnerships to promote digitisation and financial inclusion in Southeast Asian communities. 

In line with Visa’s financial literacy initiative in the Philippines, which began in 2017, has trained over 36,000 students and teachers in 64 schools spread across 21 cities. Visa collaborates with Tanghalang Pilipino, the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ resident theatre troupe, and Teach for the Philippines (TFP), a non-profit organisation supported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. 

The program includes a Tagalog skit that was performed in classrooms and eventually developed into two online series about financial literacy. In order to promote student development programs and leadership development projects that place transformative teachers and changemakers in schools and education governance organisations, TFP recently received a grant from the Visa Foundation. 

Meanwhile, in Indonesia, Visa provided women-led Indonesian SMBs with the tools they needed to drive financial and digital inclusion. Since its launch in 2017, the “Ibu Berbagi Bijak” (Women Sharing Wisdom) financial literacy initiative has benefited over 1,400 women, including more than 1,000 women-led MSMEs in Central Java, Yogyakarta, Bali, and West Java, through training, mentorship, and business matching. This project received backing from regional governments, Bank Indonesia, the Financial Services Authority, and key ministries such as the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises. 

Additionally, the Visa Foundation’s partnership with UN Women and the Swiss Association for Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets produced a program that provides business coaching, networking opportunities, and funding to women-led care firms. Following program completion, the first cohort touched over 6,500 employees and independent caregivers in addition to over 27,000 care beneficiaries. 

In Vietnam, Visa’s ‘Accelerate My Business’ program, developed in collaboration with The Asia Foundation and the Center for Women and Development, assists ethnic minorities, youths, and female Vietnamese company owners. This initiative delivers basic financial, commercial, and digital expertise to micro and SME owners in disadvantaged communities, with the goal of empowering 25,000 female company entrepreneurs over the next three years.

Additionally, Visa provides help to households and ethnic minority communities under a three-year Memorandum of Understanding signed with the State Bank of Vietnam in 2023, in collaboration with the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs. Improving financial and business literacy in Vietnam is the goal of the yearly Financial Literacy Program, which was founded in 2012 in collaboration with the Vietnam Students’ Association Central Committee. 

Furthermore, in Cambodia, Visa works with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Cambodia (MoWA) and the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) to empower women through financial literacy and entrepreneurship programs. Since 2020, Visa, MoWA, and NBC have collaborated on a four-year initiative called “Promoting Financial Literacy for Women and Women Entrepreneurs,” which has benefited over 10,000 female entrepreneurs and students. 

Visa is committed to coordinating its social impact initiatives with the objectives of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), in light of NBC’s progressive pledge in its National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2019–2025 to cut the percentage of women who are financially excluded by half, from 27% to 13%. 

Over 1,200 women entrepreneurs in the Philippines and Cambodia have benefited from The Visa Foundation’s cooperation with The Asia Foundation. Over 800 women entrepreneurs in 12 provinces in Cambodia were given access to cash, financial education, business training, and online markets through the project’s use of pre-existing e-commerce platforms. 

Singapore – Global marketing and advertising agency dentsu has recently announced the appointments of Sanchit Mendiratta as chief growth officer, SEA and managing director of CXM at dentsu Singapore.

Concurrently, Trishe Goh has been promoted to senior director of Growth, Merkle.

Mendiratta and Goh’s appointments serve to bolster the expansion of its Customer Experience Management (“CXM”) capabilities across Southeast Asia.

Through its data-driven CXM agency, Merkle, dentsu’s Southeast Asia cluster will serve as a centre of excellence for analytics, customer data management, as well as customer experience and commerce for the network’s clients in the region.

Speaking on their appointments, Mendiratta and Goh jointly commented, “Our people-based marketing approach helps brands create a competitive advantage to thrive in the experience economy. We have local teams that keep a close pulse on the ground, and bring a strong understanding of the dynamics of each market in shaping transformative experiences that work for the right audiences.”

“But more importantly, our end-to-end integrated solutions seamlessly marries the best of creative, media, and CX to deliver winning strategies for our clients in an increasingly competitive consumer landscape. We look forward to helping more brands win in the era of Southeast Asia,” they added.

Commenting as well, Sanjay Bhasin, CEO, dentsu, Southeast Asia, said, “With our proven track record in delivering data-driven customer experience transformation and our hyper pulse on consumer behaviours on the ground, we are excited to reimagine the customer experience with brands who are ready for this journey. I am confident that Sanchit and Trishe will propel our growth in this segment across the cluster.”

Meanwhile, Chun Yin Mak, president, CXM, dentsu APAC, mentioned, “As incomes and consumption rise across Southeast Asia, consumer demographics will diversify as the competition for their time and attention intensifies. This is where we can help brands win with agility, technology, data, and experience. We have been at the forefront of driving innovation and transformation in customer experience around the world, and now, Sanchit and Trishe are well-placed to further grow our presence with our clients in Southeast Asia.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – China’s ByteDance, the parent firm of the social media app TikTok, intends to invest around 10 billion ringgit (US$2.13b) to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Malaysia. As part of the agreement, ByteDance will also invest 1.5 billion ringgit to develop its data centre facilities in Malaysia’s Johor state. This is also part of the company’s several goals of expanding its IT services into Southeast Asia.

Speaking about the investment, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Trade and Industry Minister, said, “This additional investment by ByteDance will undoubtedly help Malaysia achieve its target of growing the digital economy to 22.6% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product by 2025.” 

In line with investments to develop artificial intelligence in Malaysia, Microsoft recently invested US$2.2b to develop Malaysia as a hub for cloud computing and related technologies like generative AI. Through the investment, Malaysia is set to become a hub for cloud computing and related technologies like generative AI. It will also help Malaysia to capitalise on the significant economic and productivity opportunities presented by AI technology.

Meanwhile, TikTok also recently launched new business solutions to enable businesses to explore new ground on TikTok, such as a new suite of creative AI tools, performance and measurement solutions, and improvements to high-impact branding placements. In line with the expanded commercial solutions, TikTok also established the ‘TikTok Media Buying Certification’ program to help businesses choose the ideal partner to power their TikTok campaigns. This global accreditation allows digital marketers to demonstrate and authenticate their TikTok advertising experience while also strengthening advertisers’ networks of trustworthy TikTok partners.

Furthermore, Tiktok has established a new leadership development program called ‘TikTok Academy: Elevate’ in Southeast Asian nations such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The programme provides challenges for participants to complete, with the goal of either encapsulating the session’s theme or leveraging participants’ strengths, enhancing their understanding of the evolving marketing landscape, emerging platforms such as TikTok for advertising and marketing, and providing space for self-reflection on their career growth. 

Singapore – Regional fashion and lifestyle e-commerce platform ZALORA has announced the launch of its AI-powered customer service chatbot, designed to provide seamless and personalised support to customers across Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, as well as in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

ZALORA’s new customer service AI-powered chatbot is the result of a partnership between ZALORA’s technology team and Forethought, a provider of customer-first AI experiences. 

The chatbot leverages AI that is programmed to learn and understand the intent behind customer inquiries, to provide relevant, accurate responses in a highly intuitive and visual format. For simple queries, it leverages generative AI and draws from an ever-growing comprehensive knowledge base of FAQs, while for more complex questions, it utilises natural language processing to grasp the customers’ intentions before providing useful answers. 

Moreover, the chatbot can adapt and respond to any language communicated with it, for instance, an entire conversation can be started in English and ended in Mandarin or any of the local languages seamlessly. 

In addition to delivering a seamless customer experience, the chatbot is envisioned to support and augment the capabilities of our human customer service representative. Across the e-commerce industry, millions of customer service inquiries have to be answered each year, which traditionally requires a human customer representative to address.

For ZALORA, what makes its AI-powered app to other ones in the industry is that it has a deep integration with our consumer core services. This means, once customers sign into their ZALORA shopping profiles, the chatbot can directly access and offer personalised information linked to their accounts, this includes information about the status of their orders, deliveries, and returns.

Liam Hutchinson, director of product at ZALORA Group, said, “As a fashion company at heart, we want to help our customers discover great products and brands that make them feel great and confident. ZALORA is known and loved for its industry-best customer service and we’re continuously exploring ways to improve that experience, especially in a more scalable and digital-first way.”

He added, “The innovation around generative AI and large language models (LLMs) has given us access to more capabilities and partnerships to deliver experiences to give our customers an elevated fashion shopping experience.”

Meanwhile, Sumit Jain, chief technology officer at ZALORA Group, commented, “The chatbot sits as part of our broader investments in automation & artificial intelligence under TITAN, our proprietary platform intended to lead fashion e-commerce innovation in maintaining a safe and seamless experience for customers and taking the online shopping experience to the next level.”

Singapore – StackAdapt, a multi-channel advertising platform, has announced the appointment of Deirdre Chew as its new director of sales for Southeast Asia to advance the company’s growth plan in the Asian region.

Chew brings fifteen years of experience in the agency and digital advertising industries. In her new role, Chew will focus on spearheading the market expansion of StackAdapt’s programmatic footprint across the SEA region. 

As the new director of sales, she will drive strategic regional initiatives and commercial partnerships to secure business growth, deliver a streamlined operating model to provide optimal customer experiences, and motivate and mentor colleagues to excel in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. 

Before joining StackAdapt, Chew spent ten years at Google, where she most recently led a team of measurement specialists in Asia, assisting customers in managing privacy concerns and optimising data-driven performance.

At Google, Chew played a pivotal role in launching the company’s programmatic advertising business across Asia from 2014 to 2019. In the following year, she implemented Google’s technology partner strategy, concentrating on analytics and advanced solutions. Additionally, Chew also served as a regional digital manager at MEC in Asia and worked at iCrossing in the US market.

Speaking on her appointment, Chew said, “StackAdapt is leading the market in AI-powered digital advertising and delivering tremendous results for brands by prioritising flexible business partnerships and a customer-centric approach.” 

“The value proposition that StackAdapt provides to brands was a compelling reason to join the company, and I’m excited for the opportunity to create and accelerate a substantial business across Asia,” she added. 

Chew’s appointment follows that of Liam McCarten, who was recently announced as the new VP of sales for StackAdapt Asia-Pacific in February. McCarten said the appointment of Chew will fast-track the company’s presence among key brands in Asia. 

“We are extremely excited to welcome Deirdre to StackAdapt. I believe it’s another example of our ambition and willingness to attract top talent from across the industry. Beyond being impressed with Deirdre’s track record, what has stood out is her client- and agency-centric mindset. She will be a key member of our leadership team and a contributor to StackAdapt’s growth across Asia,” McCarten shared.