Tag: Southeast Asia

Singapore – Global financial services company Mastercard has announced the revamp of its ‘Mastercard Experience Center’ in Singapore which offers visitors a chance to experience what the future of commerce looks like. The experience centre is just one of six centres globally, with others located in London, Stockholm, Dubai, Mexico City and New York City.

The revitalization of the Singapore innovation space coincides with the release of Mastercard’s Future of Payments report which highlights three broad trends that have the potential to collectively expand prosperity and inclusion in the digital economy. 

Correspondingly, many of the innovation space’s new exhibits and technology demos bring these trends to life by blending the digital and physical across screens, tactile tables and lab spaces, creating an immersive, interactive experience for visitors.

The MEC in Singapore acts as a regional Asia Pacific hub for Mastercard to conduct customer workshops, executive roundtables and employee events. It also serves as an innovation space and R&D lab where consumer insights, needs and trends are identified, helping to inform white space, blue sky innovation and actionable product development roadmaps for the next 12 to 24 months.

Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice president, products and innovation for Asia-Pacific at Mastercard, said, “In the coming years, a convergence of forces will redefine and reshape commerce, transforming how people pay and get paid. The Mastercard Experience Center is designed as a portal to that future, a place where customers and partners can virtually experience that future today, and where we’re only limited by the power of our collective imaginations.”

He added, “By guiding visitors through the future economy, Mastercard aims to bring abstract concepts to life, to inspire purposeful innovation and co-creation of the technologies of tomorrow.”

Singapore – GrabAds, the advertising arm of regional super-app Grab, has teamed up with Japanese digital marketing solution provider Media Bank to bring its tourism campaign into Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. 

Designed for the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA), the campaign aims to create awareness for travellers in Southeast Asia to ‘Discover Another Side of Japan’, going beyond the traditional tourist spots.

The campaign will be featured in the Grab app and across the Grab fleet, using various online and offline touchpoints, including in-app ads, branded challenges, and fleet activation. The campaign will showcase another side of Japan, from scenic hiking trails to historical samurai districts. 

GrabAds enables advertisers to leverage Grab’s localised insights to reach potential Southeast Asian travellers through the Grab app. This allows brands to connect with consumers at every stage of their travel journey, making it an ideal platform for inspiring interest in popular destinations such as Japan. By tapping into Grab’s deep understanding of local culture and preferences, advertisers can deliver targeted and effective campaigns that resonate with their audience.

Ken Mandel, regional managing director and head of GrabAds and brand insights at Grab, said, “We are honoured that Mediabank chose to partner with GrabAds to connect with a new generation of Southeast Asian travellers in discovering new places and experiences beyond the typical tourist spots. Our latest GrabAds travel data indicates a 1.84x increase in international travel plans this year, with 72% of Grab users planning to travel abroad. Grab users love to travel, and Japan has consistently been named their top international destination.”

He added, “There’s tremendous potential for travel and tourism brands to tap on Grab’s hyperlocal insights in Southeast Asia and create targeted campaigns for a ready-to-travel audience using the Grab app as they eat, commute, and pay. The combination of insights and a strong ecosystem on Grab provides brands with a platform for meaningful reach to build awareness and consideration.”

Meanwhile, Patrick Ngan, director of Media Bank, Inc., said, “Southeast Asia represents a vital market for Japan. We are truly inspired by the robust demand from travellers in this region, which is further reinforced by GrabAds’ insights proving that Japan is the region’s top travel destination. We are confident that leveraging Grab’s hyperlocal insights and their profound grasp of the Southeast Asian market will provide us with the most effective way to encourage potential travellers to discover another side of Japan in creative yet meaningful ways throughout the year.”

Manila, Philippines – Dannah Majarocon has been appointed to the position of managing director of JobStreet Philippines, which took effect this July. 

Majarocon’s responsibilities as the managing director of JobStreet Philippines will include carrying out business plans and developing frameworks to support corporate growth. She will also put a high priority on developing good relationships with both internal and external stakeholders, directing engagement and performance, and fostering the workplace culture. 

Majarocon will report to Lewis Ng, chief operating officer of Asia, SEEK.

She has over 11 years of experience in the Philippines’ tech sector. She recently served as managing director and consultant at Lalamove Philippines, a same-day delivery platform in Asia. Prior to that, she managed GCash and Fuse Lending for Mynt as well as at Globe Telecom, a telecommunications company in the Philippines. She has managed the whole P&L, business operations, and strategic planning throughout her career.

Peter Bithos, Chief Executive Officer of Asia, SEEK, expressed, “Dannah joins us at an exciting time at SEEK, as we are embarking on a new phase of growth with the transformation of our JobStreet platform this year, which will start in the Philippines. The new platform will enable us to innovate faster, deliver exceptional value, and better serve our talent and employer community.” 

Commenting on the appointment, Ng said, “We are thrilled to welcome Dannah to our team. With her exceptional track record and capabilities, we are confident that she will successfully guide JobStreet in advancing our commitment to helping talent find meaningful work and supporting employers in finding top talent in the Philippines.”

Meanwhile, Majarocon commented, ”I’m very confident that our team will be able to continue making a difference in the Philippines and take JobStreet to the next level to help more Filipinos find meaningful and fulfilling working lives. I do hope to be able to drive a significant impact on more talent in the market—most importantly, the under supported blue-collar and freelance workers in the country.”

Singapore – GrabAds, the advertising arm of regional superapp Grab, has launched ‘Marketing Manager’ a web-based marketing platform which aims to aid micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Southeast Asia create marketing campaigns that drive sales.

With the newly launched ‘Marketing Manager’, merchants can access new features on any browser to get a full view of their campaigns, tailor how their budgets will get used, and get real-time detailed reports. This also includes the capability for merchants with multiple outlets to now concurrently run campaigns for all their stores and also schedule when their ads will run.

In addition to merchants being able to state how much budget should be allocated to each campaign and over what duration, now they can also set a cap on the number of times their ads can be shown to a user in a day.

Moreover, merchants can precisely configure which audience segments are targeted with their ads, whether by demographic, food choices, visits to places of interest, types of Grab services used such as GrabFood or Grab Unlimited subscribers. With the platform, merchants can leverage additional formats, such as video, to showcase their ads. 

Lastly, merchants can leverage the reporting dashboard to gather insights on real-time sales and performance, allowing them to accurately track returns on investment and find ways to improve and optimise campaigns. 

Margaret Y.C. Chang, regional head of SMB at GrabAds, said, “Guided by Grab’s mission to drive Southeast Asia forward by creating economic empowerment for everyone, we hope to provide our MSME merchants with effective digital tools on GrabAds so that they can easily reach millions of customers who eat, shop and commute using the Grab app. We have added Marketing Manager to our existing suite of digital tools to empower merchants with new ways to promote their products and grow their business with Grab’.”

Singapore – Australian independent creative network, DO, has further expanded its operations in Asia-Pacific with the launch of a new South-East Asia (SEA) business. 

The launch of DO SEA marks DO’s second overseas market, as the multi-disciplinary creative agency expands in Asia-Pacific by partnering with individuals and brands looking for growth across the region.

DO has also acquired regional digital media & KOL agency, Ambient Digital Group and collaborated with leading regional agency executives Matthew Collier and Beer Poonnotok, as joint founding partners and taking the roles of managing director and executive creative director respectively.

DO Founder & Group CEO, Andrew Dowling said the opening of DO SEA continues the agency’s goals of creating a multi-disciplined global micro-network.

“The launch of DO across South-East Asia, is another momentous achievement for our growing team. The acquisition of Ambient Digital Group was the first step in our South-East Asia ambitions. Their expertise in digital media is something which we can utilize across our other offices in Asia- Pacific and brings key marketing disciplines under the one roof. The second and most important step was partnering with the best regional talent in Collier and Beer, two proven and effective leaders with decades of in-market experience. Both have worked with the biggest networks and clients across the region, on occasion crossing paths. Their joint ambition was a natural fit for the DO brand and business model,” he added.

Meanwhile, Matthew Collier, managing director and founding partner for DO SEA, said, “Dowling and I have known each other for over 10 years. He approached me at the right time and our minds were converging into the same space. The DO model of ‘Talk Less, DO More’ is something I’ve always been a proponent of. Our industry talks too much, trying to create a perception of value versus getting things done and delivering measurable success for our clients, that’s what DO is focused on. Also, the benefits of having digital media and creative services under the one roof is exciting. Clients spend far too much time managing agencies, our nimble one-stop-shop solution makes their lives easier, not harder.”

Lastly, Beer Poonnotok, executive creative director and founding partner for DO SEA also commented, “It’s indeed an extremely exciting step for me after dedicating 20 years working across all markets in South-East Asia. This opportunity to partner with Tom Ormes and the DO team was an exciting one that I couldn’t miss. The emergence of micro-networks and the thriving regional economy, coupled with the agency’s strong team, shared beliefs, and efficient structure, make it an irresistible chance to seize. As I always say, “Let’s DO this!”

Singapore – Amidst a growing interest from consumers to experience more personalised campaigns for them, marketers in the Southeast Asia region are optimistic about the use of various digital experience media, including generative AI, on their line of work. This was according to the latest data from Adobe.

According to the data, nine in ten respondents believe generative AI will help increase their work volume (93%) and create better content (89%), enhance their creativity (92%), and help reach more of the right customers (88%). 

Strong majorities also believe that generative AI will help better personalise customer experiences (93%), as well as in identifying new audiences and customer journeys (93%).

From the consumer perspective, nine in 10 SEA consumers expect to view products through virtual or augmented reality, and 86% want brands to provide new ways to engage in immersive and virtual worlds.

In response, SEA brands plan to respond with new and innovative digital experiences such as the ability to build virtual products and convert them into physical items (84%), VIP access to virtual influencers and celebrities (84%).

And while both brands and customers are excited for the future of digital experiences, the current economic environment is putting pressure on brands to up-level their customer experiences: Almost two-thirds (64%) of SEA consumers say their expectations are higher when economic conditions worsen. The sea of data and technology companies in the market today also resulted in over half of SEA consumers (58%) expecting more personalised experiences that are tailored to their unique likes and needs.

Simon Dale, vice president and managing director for SEA and Korea at Adobe, said, “As economic challenges intensify, customer expectations for always-on, personalised content will continue to grow. Marketers across SEA recognise this soaring demand, and as such are proactively embracing advanced technologies such as generative AI to maintain a competitive edge. Strategically investing in cutting-edge technologies to transform their brand interactions results in enhanced organisational efficiency and allows for exceptional customer experiences.”

Singapore – Go-Ventures, an investment firm focused on the Southeast Asia region, has announced its rebranding effort to Argor, signaling the firm’s strategic direction and independence as it targets high-growth start-ups across the region.

The Argor rebrand was made possible by WPP’s Design Bridge and Partners, and is underpinned by the brand message ‘genuine performance, representing the firm’s mission to be truly authentic in its commitment to founders and investors.

The new brand name ‘Argor’ – derived from the words “ardor”, “rigor” and “Go” – was created by Design Bridge and Partners to convey the dynamism, transparency and relentless pursuit of excellence that Argor encapsulates in its mission to support Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing companies. The name has been brought to life through a new logo – a bold and sleek wordmark – crafted to reflect Argor’s determination to always create impact in everything they do.

Moreover, a fresh, distinctive and contemporary colour palette and combined typeface have also been designed to serve as a manifestation of the brand. The dark green colours throughout the identity deliver on trust, experience and gravitas while the light blue indicates Argor’s openness towards different partnerships and experiences. Injecting a distinct pop of vibrance to the colour palette is bright orange, which represents the brand’s tenacity and the bold ambitions they have set sight on. The fonts, Canela Text and Archivo, a modern and sophisticated combination, have been chosen as the brand’s typography to be used across all brand communications.

Lastly, Argor’s new photography style will further enhance its brand mission. Abstract images establish them as a strong but quiet force, capturing the trails of impact they leave behind, whilst environmental imagery can be used to tell the brand story and mission, focusing on unique perspectives and capturing the alluring charm of Indonesia’s landscapes. People’s photography will be natural and relatable, showcasing its collaborative spirit and attention to detail.

Ambrish Chaudhry, head of strategy at Design Bridge and Partners, said, “It was a privilege to support Argor in its journey to re-establish its identity at a time of strong growth for the brand. Together we have built an exciting and refreshing identity that captures its commitment to founders and the investor community, maintains its important connection to GoTo and bakes authenticity and passion into its very DNA.” 

Singapore – Global media and entertainment group Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has announced that it is rebranding its kids’ television channel Boomerang to Cartoonito in Southeast Asia. The rebrand officially takes effect on July 28. Cartoonito is previously the preschool brand of Cartoon Network.

As a full regional channel offering, Cartoonito will introduce a new generation to a diverse slate of original series and welcome them into the world of WBD’s iconic franchises. Modern preschool adaptations that support each child’s unique potential include fan-favourite franchises such as ‘Batwheels’ and ‘Bugs Bunny Builders’.

Channel favourites including ‘Tom & Jerry’, ‘Baby Looney Tunes’, ‘Alice & Lewis’, ‘Pat the Dog’, and ‘Grizzy and the Lemmings’ will remain on the channel, alongside other friends such as ‘Dino Ranch’, and ‘Mumfie and Tangranimals’. 

Cartoonito brings together all of these characters on one channel – while adding brand-new shows like ‘Mittens & Pants’ and ‘Vida the Vet’ – offering a wider variety of programmes for users.

The channel’s modern approach to preschool programming is supported by an educational framework called ‘Humancentric Learning’. All Cartoonito shows follow a curriculum – designed by early childhood education expert Dr. Laura Brown – to form the four pillars of: Creativity, Caring, Curiosity and Courage. The brand aims to inspire kids aged 2-6 to use their imagination, to learn from their mistakes and to treat others with empathy and respect. 

Christopher Ho, head of kids networks for Southeast Asia at Warner Bros. Discovery, said, “In a year when Warner Bros. celebrates 100 years of entertaining fans, Cartoonito is set to ignite the imaginations of our region’s youngest audience. Our new-look preschool channel celebrates individuality and originality, offering a safe space where kids and their families can laugh and learn alongside beloved characters.”

Singapore – DoubleVerify, a software platform for digital media measurement, data, and analytics, has announced the commencement of business operations in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam; as well as new updates to its leadership. They include promotions of Stephanie King as senior director for Indonesia and the Philippines and Jeremy Chang with his senior director role expanding growth responsibilities across Vietnam, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

In conjunction with the regional growth and expansion of leadership roles, DoubleVerify plans to increase local in-market sales resources in Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam over the coming quarters.

Conrad Tallariti, RVP of Sales for Asia, said, “The region has enormous potential, evidenced by high growth in digital ad spending as compared with the worldwide average. As advertisers increase their digital investments in the region, our team is working closely with them to protect their ad spend and maximize the effectiveness of their campaigns. Key DV customers in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam include local, regional, and global brands such as Colgate-Palmolive, foodpanda, and OPPO, among numerous others.”

Meanwhile, Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify, said, “DoubleVerify’s expansion into Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines is a milestone in our global growth strategy.”

He also said, “These markets have shown significant growth in digital advertising, and our increased presence will enable us to better support our customers, respond to local market needs, and strengthen our overall position across the Southeast Asia region.”

Singapore – Regional ride-hailing and super-app Grab has announced that it is laying off 1,000 of its employees. Said update was part of the company’s restructuring effort.

In a letter sent by current Grab CEO Anthony Tan to employees, he said that the company needed to adapt to the ever-changing environment of their industry ecosystem, with cost of capital going up, directly impacting the competitive landscape.

“We believe fundamental step-changes in our operating model and cost structure are needed to build our competitive moat for the longer-term. The primary goal of this exercise is to strategically reorganise ourselves, so that we can move faster, work smarter, and rebalance our resources across our portfolio in line with our longer-term strategies,” he stated.

Tan has noted that impacted employees will receive various benefits from Grab in terms of financial, professional and medical support.

Moving forward, he said that all of these changes were made with great care and consideration from the company’s higher-ups.

“We recognise that change can be incredibly challenging, and the decisions made have been weighed with great care and consideration with all our leaders. Our priority is to support impacted Grabbers throughout this transition [and] we are committed to providing resources and assistance to help ease the process,” he concluded.

The new layoffs come after Grab underwent a massive corporate restructuring, with its co-founder Tan Hooi Ling stepping down from her operating roles, and transitioning into an advisory role for the company.