Singapore – Independent full-service agency Leverate Group is proud to announce the appointment of Monica Hynds as its managing director for Singapore.
In her new role, Hynds will focus on strengthening and growing the full range of Leverate Group’s services, including all-round media services, creative brand communication, and martech.
Prior to joining Leverate Group Singapore, Hynds took on the role of general manager at DDB Group Singapore and, before that, regional director APAC of Hogarth Worldwide. She was also previously at BBDO Singapore as managing director and held the position of head of agency at Spark 44 for Jaguar Land Rover APAC between 2017 and 2020.
A seasoned brand and business professional, Hynds worked with several leading global agency networks such as We Are Social, Ogilvy & Mather, and J. Walter Thompson. With over 20 years of industry experience, she is well-equipped to guide Leverate Group on its journey toward becoming an industry leader that serves clients with global expertise, executed locally.
Speaking on her own appointment, Hynds said, “Singapore is a strategic hub for Leverate group, our clients, and our partners. We are here for one reason only: To fuel and elevate our clients’ business growth with our holistic capabilities under one house. I look forward to speaking to all our clients very soon!”
Meanwhile, Marlina Lim, CEO of Leverate Group, commented, “We believe in Monica’s leadership and her ability to not just build brands for our clients, but also transform their businesses. I am excited to extend Leverate’s excellent and game-changing work across the region with Monica.”
Tag: Southeast Asia
Singapore – Popular anime streaming service Crunchryroll has appointed India-based Bloomingdale PR and Singapore-based Eastwest PR as their strategic communications agency partners in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
Based in India, Bloomingdale will be responsible for strategic planning and coordination of Crunchyroll’s regional PR efforts in India, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The scope of work includes strategic planning, client liaison, account management, media relations, and press office management, among others.
In Southeast Asia, Bloomingdale will be supported by Eastwest Public Relations for local strategic counsel in Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Based in Singapore, Eastwest PR will be responsible for landing high-impact earned media stories for Crunchyroll in all three markets and building the corporate reputation of Crunchyroll as the premiere destination for anime.
The timely appointment of Bloomingdale and Eastwest PR will further drive brand awareness and accelerate user growth for the platform across the region.
Akshat Sahu, director of marketing for APAC at Crunchyroll, said, “We are excited to embark on this journey with Bloomingdale PR and Eastwest PR as our trusted partners in India and Southeast Asia. With their strategic counsel and expertise in media relations, we are confident in our ability to further establish Crunchyroll as the ultimate destination for anime enthusiasts in the region.”
Meanwhile, Diana Fernandes, founder and CEO of Bloomingdale PR, expressed her excitement about the partnership, stating, “We are honoured to be entrusted with the PR mandate for Crunchyroll across Southeast Asia. The anime community is vibrant and growing quickly across South East Asia. We are committed to leveraging our expertise and creativity to elevate Crunchyroll’s brand presence and engage with fans across the region.”
Lastly, Naveen K, Partner at Eastwest PR, commented, “Millennials like us grew up watching anime as a hobby. Today, Gen Z has embraced the category as a beloved form of mainstream entertainment. There is perhaps no better household brand than Crunchyroll when it comes to anime, and we are excited to partner with the company to deliver impactful campaigns that resonate with audiences of all demographics.”
Singapore – Southeast Asians are more active on social media than their global counterparts, and are now the world’s most active gamers, according to a report by creative agency We Are Social and social and media intelligence firm Meltwater.
According to the report, social media users in Southeast Asia are all above the global average in terms of usage rate, and that the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam took all three of the top spots in the latest rankings for percentage of internet users playing video games worldwide.
Going further into detail, this above average rate of social media use in Southeast Asia encompasses countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, with users in the Philippines notably spending 3 hours and 30 minutes each day on social media – an extra 1 hour and 10 minutes above the global average.
With the TikTok app, Southeast Asians surpass the global average time spent on TikTok which is 31 hours and 47 minutes, as Indonesia clocks in with 38h 24m, followed by Malaysia (38h 7m), Thailand (37h 18m), the Philippines (36h 49m), Vietnam (36h 16m), and Singapore (32h 59m).
Gaming is also very popular within the region, with Filipinos taking the top spot as 96.5% are seen as active gamers, followed by Indonesians (95.3%) and the Vietnamese (94.7%).
This prominence of usage in the area also extends to viewing video content as 97.4% of internet users in the Philippines watch TV via streaming services – above the global average of 92.7% and the second highest globally. Similarly, the nation tops watching music videos online (72.9%) and vlogs (49.9%).
Other notable areas where Southeast Asians record higher than average is YouTube, wherein Thailand spends the second most time globally using YouTube’s app with 42 hours and 49 minutes each month, and podcasts, with nearly twice as many Indonesians (40.2%) listening to podcasts each week compared with their global counterparts.
The report also found out that Gen Z are the biggest users of search engines and email, as more than 83% of the demographic used a search engine in the past month, which is higher than any other age group. Young women, who are the biggest users of TikTok, are actually the most prolific users of search engines.
Lastly, despite assumptions about the generation, data shows that Gen Z is also the biggest users of email with around three-quarters using email each month.
Singapore – Out-of-home (OOH) technology solutions provider Vistar Media has identified Southeast Asia (SEA) as a key growth market following significant investment from both advertisers and media owners across the region.
As advertisers across travel, CPG, retail, finance, tech, entertainment and more industries continue to recognise the value of programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) solutions, brands are increasingly testing and leveraging the channel for their marketing efforts both at home and in new regional markets.
Advertisers using Vistar Media’s marketplace in SEA have increased by 120% over the last 12 months with no signs of slowing down. This proves media investment in the channel across brands and agencies is growing tremendously – signalling a rise in confidence in programmatic DOOH as a trusted, must-have medium in an omnichannel media mix.
As a result, Vistar Media’s team in SEA grew fivefold as it continues to expand its on-the-ground resources and presence in Singapore, with imminent plans to expand team operations into Thailand this year.
Talking about this growth, Ben Baker, managing director for Vistar Media APAC, explained, “The advertising market in Southeast Asia is booming, and with a greater understanding of OOH as a channel, regional and global advertisers can seamlessly tap into a new, fresh way to reach their target audiences. DOOH specifically enables brands to take a data-driven, personalised approach with campaigns, ensuring they’re delivering relevant messaging to the people that matter most to them, at the exact right moment.
Meanwhile, Franck Vidal, director of Southeast Asia sales & partnerships at Vistar Media, highlighted, “We have been fortunate to strengthen partnerships with new leading and innovative media owners in the region including Mediacorp in Singapore, Big Tree and Brandavision in Malaysia, UpMedia and Plan B Media in Thailand, Pitchworks and ONGO SMART ADVERTISING in the Philippines, and Interads and Stickearn in Indonesia, among others.”
“These partnerships have been vital to ensuring that advertisers activating campaigns on Vistar’s DSP and DSP Partners are able to reach critical audiences across premium digital inventory around the world,” he added.
Singapore – Advertising spend on retail media networks (RMNs) in Southeast Asia is projected to hit US$4.b by 2030, underscoring the increasing significance of RMNs as a pivotal channel for advertising by marketers in the region. This is based on the latest study by GrabAds and Kantar.
Globally, RMN ad spend is expected to surge by 73% in the next seven years, surpassing growth rates in search (47%) and social (45%).
The study also reveals that year-on-year growth of RMN ad spend in Southeast Asia is forecast to be higher or consistent with the growth being seen globally. The study also notes that Southeast Asian marketers will prioritise investments towards RMN channels this year, with year-on-year ad spend growth projected to increase from 8% in 2024 to 11 % in 2030.
Ad spend growth on RMNs in each of the Southeast Asian countries is also projected to grow higher than the global growth index, with Indonesia leading the pack with a forecasted growth of 219% from 2023 to 2030. Indonesia is also projected to have a CAGR of 13.41%, which is around 1.9x higher than the projected global rate.
Moreover, said study reveals the four main types of RMNs in Southeast Asia- social media RMNs, which are digital marketplaces within social media platforms; e-commerce RMNs, digital retail marketplaces that offer advertising spaces; large retailer RMNs, which differ from e-commerce RMNs by nature of their physical retail spaces; and superapp RMNs, which consist of an ecosystem of services.
The increasing share of RMNs in marketers’ media mix over the next 7 years is also propelled by the unique market dynamics in Southeast Asia. The study also highlighted that 2 out of 3 Southeast Asians find it important to have products and services on demand. 61% also shared that it is very important to have products or services to anticipate their needs, compared to the global figure of 52%.
This suggests that Southeast Asian consumers prefer seamless, convenient transactions that fulfil their needs quickly. Superapp RMNs are well-positioned to serve these consumer needs with their O2O full-funnel ecosystem powered by first-party data.
Ken Mandel, regional managing director at GrabAds and brand insights at Grab, said, “Tomorrow’s hybrid shopper will look very different from today’s shopper. Marketers are tasked with the arduous task of identifying the right ads to serve at the right time to the right consumers to value-add to the buying or discovery experience.”
He added, “RMNs provide a full-funnel sales flywheel to help marketers do just that – first-party transaction data from RMNs inform marketers of users’ real needs and interests, thereby delivering ads that provide a suitable solution for the right occasion, while their full-funnel ecosystem allows marketers to close the loop and track return on investments accurately. As marketers increasingly invest in this emerging channel, it is crucial to design ad campaigns that leverage RMNs’ unique features, creating immersive experiences that extend beyond the conventional buying journey to also include loyalty and advocacy.”
Meanwhile, Katie McClintock, regional managing director at Kantar, commented, “RMNs allow marketers to serve highly relevant ads to consumers by showcasing products and brands that cater to their immediate needs and behaviour across the buying journey. This approach to advertising adds value to consumers rather than disrupting the browsing experience.”
She added, “Keeping up with consumer habits and behaviour is the only way for brands to be meaningfully different, and we at Kantar believe that RMNs, with first-party data informed by real consumer transactions, can give brands the tools they need to provide greater value for consumers and build strong brand differentiation.”
Singapore – Apple has announced a new expansion in its Singapore at Ang Mo Kio, declaring that they will be investing $250m to said campus. This adds to Apple’s milestone in over four decades of work fostering job creation and deep connections with the local community, and will provide space for growth and new roles in AI and other key functions.
Today, Singapore serves as a central operations centre for Apple in the region, and is a hub for critical roles in software, hardware, services, and support. The country is also home to three vibrant Apple Store locations.
Tim Cook, CEO at Apple, said, “Singapore is truly a one-of-a-kind place, and we are proud of the connection we’ve built with this dynamic community of creators, learners, and dreamers. With our growing campus, Apple is writing a new chapter in our history here. Our Singapore teams have played an important role in enriching the lives of our customers — and we can’t wait for many more decades of innovation to come.”
Apple opened its first facility in Singapore in 1981 with 72 employees focused on Apple II, and has since grown to include a team of more than 3,600 that contributes to every part of the company.
Across Singapore, Apple supports more than 60,000 jobs through direct employment, its supply chain, and the iOS app economy. The company also works with educational institutions, businesses, and organisations using technology and innovation to build a brighter world.
Lastly, like all Apple facilities, the expanded Singapore campus will run on 100 percent renewable energy. Once complete, the office aims to attain LEED Gold certification. Apple has been carbon neutral for its corporate operations since 2020 and has run all of its facilities using 100 percent renewable energy since 2018.
Singapore – Travel marketing agency Affilired and partnership management platform, impact.com, have joined forces to provide travel and hospitality brands in Southeast Asia with a powerful solution for affiliate marketing success.
This collaboration leverages Affilired’s deep travel industry expertise and impact.com’s best-in-class partnership management platform to unlock new markets, optimise campaign performance, and drive measurable growth for industry leaders.
The partnership with impact.com positions Affilired to accomplish significant business objectives for their clients in Southeast Asia, primarily focus on expanding their reach into previously untapped markets such as Vietnam, Philippines and also the African continent.
Additionally, they plan to harness impact.com’s solutions to refine affiliate marketing strategies and enhance performance, thereby driving growth and fortifying their foothold within the travel industry.
Talking about the partnership, Diego Gomila, chief executive officer of Affilired, said, “At Affilired, we’re firm believers in collaborative innovation to drive the travel industry forward. Our partnership with impact.com exemplifies this ethos, merging expertise and resources to elevate travel experiences worldwide. Together, we’re not merely navigating; we’re pioneering uncharted territories, shaping the future of travel through our mutual dedication to excellence and innovation.”
Meanwhile, Antoine Gross, general manager, Southeast Asia & India at impact.com, commented, “This partnership creates a powerful synergy between Affilired’s travel-focused expertise and our award-winning technology. Together, we offer a comprehensive solution for travel and hospitality brands, unlocking new avenues for market reach and growth. This collaboration will position Affilired and impact.com as the preferred go-to solution for driving success in travel affiliate marketing across Southeast Asia.”
Singapore – Carlsberg Asia has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Grab for a strategic partnership that will transform how consumers enjoy their beer. This partnership will cover awareness and promotional campaigns on GrabAds across four key countries in Southeast Asia (SEA) which includes Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore.
The partnership will kick off with the launch of an exciting football season campaign featuring Liverpool Football Club and a collaborative Responsible Drinking campaign. The partnership also includes the setting up of a virtual store for Carlsberg on the Grab app in Singapore, to make it easier for consumers to order and have their favourite Carlsberg beers delivered.
Carlsberg has been a principal partner of Liverpool Football Club (LFC) for over three decades and became the club’s official beer in 2010. This football season, Carlsberg will bring football excitement to LFC fans across the SEA region by leveraging Grab’s multiple touchpoints, online to offline.
Carlsberg will also collaborate with GrabAds, Grab’s advertising arm, on a Responsible Drinking campaign later in the year to promote responsible alcohol consumption and prioritise safety by encouraging GrabCar rides. By tapping into Grab’s extensive ecosystem and hyperlocal insights in the region, Carlsberg aims to expand its digital footprint in the region and make its portfolio of products available to a larger audience.
Arindam Varanasi, vice president of commercial for Asia at Carlsberg, said, “As part of Carlsberg Group’s Accelerate SAIL strategy, this exciting partnership will help us drive digital transformation and growth in the region by going beyond traditional retail channels.”
He added, “With our joint forces, we will be able to introduce more drinking moments to consumers and make it easier and safer for them to access Carlsberg’s portfolio of local and international beers and Beyond Beer brands at their doorstep. This will also be a strong initiative to Carlsberg’s continuous efforts in driving responsibility drinking.”
Meanwhile, Ken Mandel, regional head of GrabAds and brand insights, commented, “It’s truly an honour that Carlsberg, one of the world’s leading brewery brands, chose Grab’s advertising arm, GrabAds, to strengthen their brand equity through purposeful consumer campaigns – the LFC partnership and the Responsible Drinking Campaign.”
He added, “This partnership not only showcases the extensive and impactful reach of GrabAds’ online to offline touchpoints but also attests to GrabAds’ effective engagement with high-value consumers who use Grab to engage or transact with brands and merchants every day.”
Bangkok, Thailand – Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) has announced the reopening of its Levi’s store at popular mall CentralWorld, in Bangkok, Thailand. At 364 sqm, the expanded store is now the largest Levi’s store in Southeast Asia, marking yet another milestone in LS&Co.’s footprint within the region.
This reopening also represents LS&Co.’s focus on its direct-to-consumer strategy as the company continues to grow its fleet of fully owned-and-operated stores across key locations in the country.
The Levi’s NextGen Indigo store will offer consumers an elevated shopping experience that brings together style and originality, through a broad selection of products and customisation offerings. Appreciating that originality and self-expression are important considerations to Thai shoppers, especially youths, the store also boasts the country’s second Levi’s Tailor Shop which unlocks a range of personalisation options.
To offer the fullest expression of the Levi’s brand, the store will also house an extensive product assortment across all collections including seasonal exclusives. This also includes collaborations with key cultural figures. To mark the occasion, a limited-edition collection designed in collaboration with Sundae Kids, a rising generation of Thai artists known for their unique and vibrant designs, will exclusively be available on the day of the store opening.
Sameer Koul, general manager for Southeast Asia and country manager for Thailand at Levi Strauss & Co., said, “Thailand is an important strategic market for Levi Strauss & Co. within Southeast Asia, and Bangkok is one of the world’s most popular destinations for international tourists. Levi’s CentralWorld store opens as our largest store in Southeast Asia to date, and represents our commitment to this dynamic market as we continue to build deeper direct connections with both local and international shoppers in Thailand.”
He added, “We always strive to deliver immersive experiences that resonate with consumers, right where they shop. By bringing the fullest expression of our brand to their doorstep, we hope to cultivate lifelong denim fans in Thailand – and the wider Southeast Asia region.”
Jakarta, Indonesia – Out-of-home (OOH) advertising solutions provider EYE Indonesia today announced that it has adopted the Broadsign Platform to expand its capabilities for media buyers across the region.
Part of the EMTEK Group since 2016, EYE Indonesia oversees the conglomerate’s OOH media division, offering customers a comprehensive range of OOH campaign options, including traditional and programmatic media placement on strategically located screens, as well as assistance with ad creative and tax permitting.
By leveraging the Broadsign Platform, the company is able to deliver new capabilities for its media buyers, such as share of voice, impression-based buying, programmatic transactions, and more.
Among the EYE Indonesia OOH inventory powered by Broadsign is the company’s cutting-edge LED Videotron network, which is installed in high-traffic areas. From its urban centers to roadside installations, and screens in bustling public spaces, the network sets a new standard in outdoor advertising.
Videotron’s vibrant, high-resolution displays give advertisers a powerful platform to showcase their brands, products, and messages. Using the Broadsign Platform, the Videotron network supports real-time updates and targeted content delivery, ensuring campaigns remain relevant and impactful.
Recently, brand aggregator Tjufoo ran a successful campaign using EYE Indonesia’s Videotron network, generating significant engagement with consumers across Jakarta. Based on that campaign’s result, EYE Indonesia anticipates rolling out similar implementations for other brands in the region.
Livia Joehana, director at EYE Indonesia, said, “Our commitment to innovation, strategic partnerships, and personalized campaigns positions us as a trailblazer in the industry. Partnering with Broadsign has empowered us to deliver exceptional value to our advertisers, and we look forward to continued success together. We chose to partner with them due to their reputation for providing a comprehensive and reliable end-to-end solution. Our experience has exceeded expectations, with seamless ad management, real-time analytics, and a user-friendly interface.”
Meanwhile, Remi Roques, general manager for APAC at Broadsign, commented, “Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world, comprising hundreds of diverse communities that make for a truly unique advertising landscape. Digital out-of-home, in particular, is evolving rapidly in the region, driven by technology advancements that provide the ability to deliver personalised, contextual content, and this partnership will only help further the possibilities. We’re excited to be working with EYE Indonesia as it prepares for this next phase of growth and to ensure it has the flexibility and adaptability it needs to deliver new approaches to buying and securing OOH ad inventory so that clients can plan and execute more dynamic and impactful campaigns.”