Tag: Southeast Asia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – SEA-focused digital marketing agency Lion & Lion has announced two new leadership appointments for its Malaysia and Singapore units. They are Amelia Peng, the new business director for Malaysia, and Hendero Fin, the new business director for Singapore.

Both will report to John Campbell-Bruce, Lion & Lion’s regional managing director, and will focus on creating and strengthening client relationships in their respective markets while ensuring that the finest of data-integrated creative solutions remain at the core of all client services. 

Peng joins Lion & Lion as the newest member of the senior management team. She has been involved in branding and advertising for more than 15 years, working for both the client and agency sides. For several businesses, including Petronas, Grab, Nestle, Proton, AIG, Shell, Astro, and Maybank, she served as team leader for the client servicing division. After building her experience in branding and advertising, she spent a few years leading the marketing and strategy teams for companies like Disney and BookXcess before putting her attention back to what she truly loves – advertising. 

Meanwhile, Fin, who after managing Lion & Lion’s Indonesian market for almost two years, has relocated to Singapore to oversee the agency’s client servicing there. During his tenure as the business director of Indonesia, Fin oversaw the growth of the market with new wins such as biotechnology company Novozymes, and consumer brands Cool Air and Doublemint under Mars Wrigley. 

Fin is an advertising veteran, with 12 years of experience split evenly between Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. He has managed clients from a range of industries, from telecommunications to consumer products. His portfolio includes well-known Indonesian and international brands such as Diageo, Indosat Ooredoo, Marlboro, Lazada, and Redoxon, as well as Mars Wrigley. 

Commenting on her appointment, Peng said, “It’s been such a warm welcome to the den. I thoroughly believe that a happy and engaged team will be inspired to do great work. Such a team requires a good leader who isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty while leading the team through challenging times. Armed with my experience, I can’t wait to learn more from my team members. I am also confident that we will be able to enhance Lion & Lion’s status as a place where impactful and meaningful solutions are created for our clients.”

Fin also commented, “I am embracing this new role for two great reasons ‒ personal growth and to bring Lion & Lion even further ahead in Southeast Asia. I aim to grow Lion & Lion’s business here in Singapore, and in the near future, introduce a hub and spoke model to our potential clients in the region. Because of the multiplicity of nationalities and cultures we represent, our people are our most valuable asset, giving Lion & Lion an advantage in offering seamless and comprehensive solutions to our clients.”

Meanwhile, Campbell-Bruce said, “Amelia has integrated well with the Lion Malaysian team. She has quickly established herself and is already driving the business forward. We are very happy to have her on board and I am excited to see how she will help continue the agency’s rise in 2023 and beyond, in line with our expansion strategy.” 

He added, “Fin has been a strong leader for the Indonesian business over the past two years. He came in as a client director, and quickly established himself as an effective marketer and leader. He has shown great determination, talent and smart business acumen, which saw him promoted to business director. I am extremely excited to see him continue his development and take over the helm of the Singapore market, which is a core market for regional networks like Lion & Lion.”

Singapore – Social media conversation within the Southeast Asian region has been focused on topics on the metaverse, social commerce, as well as sustainability–according to the latest report from consumer intelligence and deep listening company Talkwalker and digital-first customer engagement software Khoros.

The topic of the metaverse is trending amongst Southeast Asian audiences with more than 5.9 million conversations recorded on social channels over the past year. Indonesia recorded the highest number of mentions and engagement amongst the countries monitored, accounting for 60% of all conversations and one-third of total engagements on the topic. This is closely followed by the Philippines, which accounts for almost 24% of mentions and 29% of engagements across Southeast Asia.

In addition, brands looking to launch metaverse campaigns need to stay on top of the latest conversation trends, and ensure that these new realities connect with consumers’ real-world needs.

Meanwhile, in Southeast Asia, the pandemic drove more shoppers online last year, with e-commerce and social commerce accounting for more than 50% of online purchases in 2021.This trend is set to accelerate in 2023 and beyond, with social media platforms set on making the social shopping experience more seamless for consumers.

Furthermore, post-pandemic digital growth and rising costs of living are driving an increased demand for affordability. Consumers are becoming more willing to explore new shopping channels such as social as a result. However, some countries are more ready to adopt social commerce than others. 

Lastly, brands are learning to speak the same language as consumers, as both increasingly use the same keywords to drive sustainability conversations. This indicates a unified vision shared by consumers and brands, and suggests that more brands are determined to integrate sustainable practices in 2023, in order to make a genuine difference to the situation. 

David Low, chief marketing officer at Talkwalker, said, “Marketers are constantly playing catch-up with consumers given the rapidly evolving digital landscape. This is particularly apparent in the Asia Pacific region which is home to some of the world’s largest populations of digital consumers, and which leads the way in online spending globally.”

He added, “In this new environment, marketers must focus on forging symbiotic relationships through a better understanding of online conversations and taking quicker action. It’s this new understanding that will help brands create meaningful experiences and become closer to their consumers.”

Meanwhile, Dillon Nugent, chief marketing officer at Khoros, commented, “As marketers, we know the value of data and the importance of listening to our customers. But, we need to be more action-oriented and use those insights more effectively. Consumers’ comfort level for doing things online—shopping, researching, socialising—is not slowing down as the world opens up.” 

She added, “They also care more about their communities—global, local, IRL, and online. Marketers need to tap into these trends and behaviours more deeply to personalise customers’ experiences and create more impactful strategies that empower your brand to stay connected to customers and grow your presence in the market.”

Bangkok, Thailand – Ogilvy Thailand has elevated Gumpon Laksanajinda, its former executive creative director, to be its new chief creative officer, where he brings in craftsmanship and awards expertise.

Under the new role, Laksanajinda will be providing creative leadership, strengthening and diversifying Ogilvy’s creative capabilities, and empowering teams across all creative functions.

A true visionary who skillfully combined creativity, data, and technology to create breakthrough communication works, Laksanajinda is the creative force behind the company’s consistent wins at Cannes Lions and other prominent awards during the past few decades.

Laksanajinda noted that moving forward, he will focus on enhancing the agency’s creative capabilities in four key areas. 

“The first is Variety. Thanks to our comprehensive services that include Advertising, PR & Influence, Experience, Health, and Consulting, we are able to solve clients’ marketing problems creatively and innovatively. [The] second is Speed & Scale. We will utilise [the] latest technologies in Creative Cloud to make our creative process seamless and our creative works scalable in order to serve clients’ increasingly dynamic needs,” said Laksanajinda.

He added, “The third is Talent. We welcome fresh and seasoned talents from a wide variety of backgrounds, skills, and interests, as long as they are passionate about using creativity to make big differences. The last area is Effective Impact. We are convinced that works with mere commercial results are not enough to grow and sustain brands in the long run. We will join hands with our clients to push forward projects that promote [a] positive impact for the people and the planet on top of business performance. We will make sure our clients walk with confidence toward the future with us by their side.”

Meanwhile, Nopadol Srikieatikajohn, chairman of Ogilvy Thailand, said, “It is about time that Gumpon uses his accumulated experiences and expertise to bring our company to a new era of success and to pass on our unique DNA to the next generation of creative talents.”

In August 2022, Ogilvy also appointed Chatree Chokmongkolsatian as its newest chief strategy officer in Thailand.

Singapore – Publicis Groupe in Southeast Asia has partnered with Web3 marketing consultancy Mana Partners to form ‘Publicis Play’, allowing clients to find a single solution to work with from creation, production, and placement to measurement.

Publicis Groupe and Mana see the offering as critical for a generation whose preferred means of social networking, entertainment, and commerce will soon be grounded in Play. The offering does not see gaming and the metaverse as two silo solutions, but as one integrated offer as the content and fandom from gaming are the foundation for metaverse experiences.

In addition, the offering is not just about badging brand presence but a belief that the future’s most successful brands will master Play – behaving authentically and earning attention and love from their communities.

The new offering helps brands discover and define opportunities where they can play in the long term, execute a fan-first strategy by designing purposeful and immersive gaming and Web3 experiences, and establishing robust relationships with key publishers, developers, esports teams, and ad tech partners that ensure an advantage for brands, players, and fans alike.

Publicis Play has already been piloted with several Publicis Groupe clients, including Singapore Tourism Board, McDonald’s, and PepsiCo, among others.

Ian Loon, chief transformation officer at Publicis Groupe SEA, said, “Connecting our Groupe capabilities with Mana Partners, who are intrinsically plugged into this rapidly evolving economy, ensures all our clients are welcomed into the community with access to true expertise. With the launch of Publicis Play, we can immediately deliver new ways to integrate and deliver between Web2 and Web3, provide measurable value, and drive business outcomes for brands.”

Meanwhile, Jamie Lewin, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Mana Partners, commented, “The Play Economy is the new modus operandi. Publicis Play is the gateway for brands keen to explore the full spectrum of opportunities, from gaming, esports, creators, and content, to participative digital experiences underpinned by Web3 philosophies and concepts. Our decision to partner with Publicis Groupe SEA was a real meeting of the minds on how we collectively view the opportunity.”

Lastly, Matthew Zatto, co-founder and chief commercial officer at Mana Partners, said, “In 2021, consumers spent more time watching gaming content on YouTube than the total hours of content watched on Netflix. By the end of 2022, players will have also spent one trillion hours and $200 billion playing games and 25 billion hours watching gaming content. On top of this, ad spends are also forecasted to grow significantly in the coming decade to more than US$214b annually. It is a huge opportunity but one that needs the right partnership between brands, agencies, and fans to create true value.”

Singapore – Credit card service company American Express has elevated Marlin Brown, its former country manager of Thailand, to be its new country manager for Singapore, where he will be responsible for the company’s corporate, small business, and consumer card businesses.

Brown joined American Express in 2011, and has held several roles across the company’s consumer teams and worked in various locations including New York, Hong Kong, and Thailand. He was also a part of the American Express finance organisation leading the controllership teams across China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

Moreover, before joining American Express, Brown was a senior manager with KPMG’s national office in New York City. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds an accounting degree from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

Commenting on his new role, Brown said, “We have a great brand in Singapore, known for our exceptional customer service and being a trusted partner to our Card Members. Together with my team, we are excited to continue our focus on growing, especially in the premium space, by continuing to evolve with our Card Members as they expand their lifestyle and experiences beyond travel.”

Meanwhile, Fredrik Sauter, senior vice president and head of growing markets cluster and international card services at American Express, noted, “Singapore is an important part of American Express’ overall strategy, and we want to not only accelerate our growth in the country, but also reinforce our leadership in the premium space. With Marlin’s knowledge, understanding of the business and the region, his solution-focused approach and strategic perspective, I’m sure our Singapore business will grow from strength to strength.”

Malaysia – Colgate in Malaysia has launched a new installment for its global-wide inspirational brand campaign titled ‘Smile Strong’ that seeks to champion positive change within the community, particularly during uncertain times. This new brand film highlights the ‘power of smile’ in the face of adversity.

The latest film tells the story of Malaysian singer, songwriter, and rapper Airliftz, who despite relentless challenges throughout his life brought by his in-born facial deformities, continues to ‘smile strong’. The 24-year-old Kajang artist was born with a nose missing cartilage, making him instantly recognisable by his unconventional appearance.

Developed in collaboration with Red Fuse, WPP’s integrated global team dedicated to serving Colgate-Palmolive, the cinematic direction of the film takes the viewer on a journey through Airliftz’s life from childhood, giving a very real insight into what he has faced throughout his life. 

Moreover, about 90% of the film is shot from the back, retracing significant and often heartbreaking moments in his life, until he walks from the dressing room to the stage where he is greeted by thousands of excited fans. The contrasting stories aim to demonstrate how his willpower and determination have broken through societal biases, which ultimately led him to share his passion with the world.

Colgate said that Airliftz’s poignant story was chosen to inspire and remind Malaysians that with perseverance and a positive attitude, we can all achieve great things that can change our life forever.

See Mei Sin, associate marketing director for Oral Care at Colgate-Pamolive, said, “Colgate believes that everyone deserves a future they can smile about – no matter the age, race, gender, or simply one’s looks. It is our hope that Airliftz’ story inspires an optimistic spirit within Malaysians – that there is true power in our smile, regardless of our circumstances.”

Meanwhile, Adrian Miller, chief creative officer at Ogilvy Malaysia, shared that in the toothpaste category, they don’t tend to see much deviation from the norm when it comes to brand storytelling, and so, they always ask themselves how can they bring a fresh perspective to well-trodden territory.

“By keeping the protagonist’s face hidden throughout the commercial and juxtaposing the harsh realities of his past life with the adulation he’s receiving in the present we created a film that will intrigue the viewer. In a world of disposable content, the best we can hope for is for people to watch to the very end and the least we can do is reward them for doing so,” said Miller.

The new film will be running in cinema and digital until December 2022.

Singapore – Global creator and entertainment company Gushcloud has been appointed by MUSINSA, a Korean online fashion platform, as its digital partner in Southeast Asia. Through the appointment, Gushcloud will provide marketing services–including influencer marketing services–to MUSINSA as it accelerates its growth in the region.

With deep insight and a strong network in Southeast Asia, Gushcloud has been partnering with MUSINSA to deliver the most localised content aligning with their core branding messages.

The move rides the wave of global interest in Korean culture, particularly in K-dramas, K-Pop, Korean food, beauty, and fashion. In Southeast Asia, Korean dramas are the largest consumed online video content category, as well as K-Pop-related online videos.

MUSINSA’s ‘Global Store’ presents current Korean fashion trends, including Seoul fashion from casual, street style, and contemporary to luxury, sports, and beauty.

In May this year, Gushcloud launched a new live commerce unit called GC LIVE which operates premium live commerce shows distributing global brands into SEA.

Singapore – Society Pass, through its digital advertising arm Thoughtful Media Group, has recently announced that it is teaming up with global independent omnichannel sell-side advertising platform Magnite to create a retail media network in Southeast Asia through delivering targeted content, messaging, and experiences to the region’s concentrated populations of online consumers and merchants.

The TMG Media Network offers brand advertisers exposure to consumers in Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, including the more than 3.3 million registered consumers on SoPa’s ecosystem. The network features premium inventory spanning its owned channels and the wider web, including display, mobile, video, social and digital out-of-home when fully deployed.

Meanwhile, Magnite enables programmatic activation and expands demand facilitation for TMG Media Network across its omnichannel inventory. Advertisers and publishers are then able to activate data from TMG Media Network through Magnite, unlocking new opportunities to reach audiences at scale across ad formats for brands.

Dennis Nguyen, chairman at Thoughtful Media Group, explains, “We are excited to launch the TMG Media Network, which provides advertisers access to influencer content creation, highly targeted 1st party e-commerce data, and social commerce opportunities at scale. As a leading retail marketing solution in SEA, the TMG Media Network incorporates a multi-faceted, data-driven approach to audience reach, engagement, and conversion, which provides for a more impactful brand and consumer experience.” 

He added, “And as data-driven social commerce becomes increasingly pervasive, TMG is well-positioned to power the region’s first media and advertising network with an end-to-end content, data, and supply solutions.”

Meanwhile, Gavin Buxton, managing director for Asia at Magnite, stated, “We are excited to work with one of Southeast Asia’s most innovative brands and platforms to drive meaningful growth through game-changing content, data, and technology. Activating SoPa’s expansive and growing audience data to scale impactful, multi-channel experiences shapes the way consumers engage and interact with brands.”

The recent partnership with Magnite comes weeks after Society Pass welcomed Rokas Sidlauskas as its newest chief marketing officer, as well as the recent beta launch of their loyalty app. Thoughtful Media Group is one of the many acquisitions Society Pass made, including Philippine delivery platforms Mangan and Pushkart.ph, and Vietnam-based delivery service Handycart under Dream Space.

Philippines – Global merchant platform for SME, yufin, has partnered with Singapore-based insurance provider, Gigacover, to enable Filipino small businesses on the platform to access Gigacover health insurance products tailored to their needs at the touch of a button.

Under the partnership, the small businesses will also be able to access business protection and offer customised insurance products such as family and health insurance to their customers.

The platform said that the announcement comes as it has exceeded 15,000 merchant sign-ups since launching in Davao City, in the Philippines end of May 2022.

Shubhrendu Khoche, chief strategy and product officer at yufin, said, “Small businesses are the lifeblood of Southeast Asian economies and communities but many are underserved. Our partnership with Gigacover helps us bring insurance to last-mile merchants to give them peace of mind and to help them offer their customers much-needed access to insurance protection.”

Meanwhile, Chesca Figueroa, country manager and partnerships lead at Gigacover Philippines, noted, “With this partnership, we aim to further support yufin’s efforts in financial education, planning, and protection to their respective small merchants.”

Gerald Chua, head of merchant acquiring at yufin Philippines, commented, “We are delighted and humbled by the welcome yufin has received so far from our community merchant partners. We help small businesses manage their transactions through a suite of tools, products and services that help them grow and prosper.”

Liz Servañez, head of business development and partnerships at yufin, noted, “With partnerships such as our partnership with Gigacover, much-needed financial services products, like insurance protection can also be sacheted to make them accessible and affordable for the yufin merchant network and their customers.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – IPG Mediabrands has appointed Elina Peek-Lantz, former head of digital strategy and planning at Maxis, to be its new managing director of Reprise, the global performance marketing agency within the Mediabrands network.

Peek-Lantz has 17 years of experience working with international teams in corporate and start-up environments as a highly qualified data-driven marketer. In her new role, she will be responsible for innovating Reprise’s product and service capabilities, and will be working in close collaboration with partner agencies UM and Initiative to drive the strategic direction of performance marketing, analytics, and technology channels across all clients. Peek-Lantz will also be reporting to the CEO of Mediabrands Malaysia, Bala Pomaleh.

Commenting on her new role, Peek-Lantz said, “I’m thrilled to join Mediabrands as we expand the Reprise footprint in Malaysia. The current market landscape has created great opportunities for brands to further amplify their online presence, and the Reprise framework of ‘Customer Flow’ is a perfect launch pad for any business looking to incorporate digital strategies and drive business growth. I look forward to expanding the Reprise service and product portfolio as we focus on creating a seamless customer journey for path to purchase.”

Meanwhile, Pomaleh shared that Peek-Lantz comes with deep knowledge of the changing nuances in their digital marketing ecosystem, and they have seen great strides in these new spaces and have been investing immensely in growth areas such as e-commerce, experience design, and performance content. 

“Elina’s role will have a significant influence over the success of our organisation as she works alongside our leadership teams at UM and Initiative to drive digital strategies and create a safe and responsible media environment across our portfolio of clients,” said Pomaleh.

Pippa Berlocher, president of Reprise APAC, noted, “I’m excited to have Elina join our business. Given her entrepreneurial background and experience, I know she will bring great energy and capabilities that both our team and clients will benefit from. Malaysia remains a key market for us in the APAC region, and I’m looking forward to partnering closely with Elina to elevate the craft excellence within our business and drive growth for both our clients and Mediabrands.”