Tag: Southeast Asia

Manila, Philippines – UnionDigital Bank, the digital bank entity of the Union Bank of the Philippines, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with global play-to-earn guild Yield Guild Games (YGG) during its first-ever Managers’ Summit held last 3 to 6 March 2022 in the Philippines.

The partnership aims to make financial products and services more accessible to the play-to-earn and Web3 communities in the country. It will also further propel the rising Play-to-Earn community in the Philippines, addressing the communities’ emerging needs in the space.

UnionDigital Bank said that it aims to tech up and services the underbanked, enabling Filipino communities, businesses, problem solvers, and regulators to leverage innovative financial technologies in order to achieve nationwide financial inclusion.

Arvie de Vera, UnionDigital Bank’s co-founder and CEO, shared that their partnership with YGG brings to life their ambition to serve the growing Play-to-Earn community here in the Philippines.

“We are very excited to bring in our trailblazing leadership in Fintech, Blockchain, and Open Finance to the YGG community, providing them with services that best suit their needs in the P2E space,” said de Vera.

Meanwhile, Luis Buenaventura, YGG Pilipinas’ country manager, commented that this partnership with UnionDigital will give their play-to-earn community exclusive access to crypto services that are sorely lacking in the local ecosystem.

“We are confident that it will enable all kinds of interesting and new use cases, and continue to push the industry forward,” said Buenaventura.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Axiata’s fintech arm Boost has launched a one-stop storefront solution for Malaysian gamers called ‘Game Connect’ through its regional cross-border payment and customer growth platform provider subsidiary Boost Connect.

Boost Connect’s innovative storefront solution caters to its clients’ and partners’ needs to meet the rapid growth in consumer demand for digital content across gaming and entertainment. It also allows clients and partners to quickly ramp up their offerings to enrich their end-users’ digital lifestyle demands while driving more traffic to their services, achieving better customer retention, and expanding their revenue streams.

The storefront was developed for Boost Life, Malaysia’s consumer eWallet and digital lifestyle payments platform. This announcement also follows Boost’s launch last year of a similar Storefront for Cambodian telecommunications giant Smart to tap into the game voucher market there.

‘Game Connect’ will provide gamers with an end-to-end solution for their gaming needs. The new storefront currently allows for the discovery and seamless purchase of gamers’ favourite game reloads and vouchers. As a start, Game Connect features 63 titles in the store including must-have mobile titles like Mobile Legends, Genshin Impact, PUBG, and Roblox. Also available are vouchers for stores including Playstation, Unipin, Razer, Google Play, Garena, and Steam, as well as Nintendo, and Amazon.

Sheyantha Abeykoon, Boost’s CEO, shared that their aim is to create an inclusive digital ecosystem with accessible solutions that cater to the digital lifestyle of their customers. 

“Game Connect is part of our efforts to offer gamers a one-stop solution and easy access to purchase game credits, vouchers and more through one platform,” said Abeykoon.

Meanwhile, Raja Mansukhani, Boost Connect’s CEO, commented that they are excited about this launch, Game Connect offers Boost Life the opportunity to enhance its product value proposition, and at the same time, it provides the esports and gaming community in Malaysia a better and more convenient customer experience and meets the ever-increasing demand for gamers. 

“This is our second storefront solution deployment within the region and there’s an increasing demand for proactive product propositions like these across our client base,” said Mansukhani.

Boost said that game pass subscription, gaming devices and peripherals, entry passes to gaming tournaments, as well as a ‘Pay Later’ feature for games and devices will be made available through 2022. More gaming providers and partners will also be added in the near future. Boost Game Connect can be accessed via both the Boost app and a dedicated storefront website.

Singapore – Regional e-commerce platform Lazada has launched an augmented reality-powered feature called ‘Virtual Try-On’, where users can instantly sample products with pictures or live videos of themselves before making a purchase.

Users are able to immerse themselves with hyper-realistic virtual makeovers, try-on beauty products in real-time with true-to-life results. The ultra-personalised experience is straightforward and instantaneous, increasing customer satisfaction and confidence, and helping create great shopping journeys, without the need for physical product sampling.

The feature leverages Perfect Corp’s try-on platform, allowing consumers to preview their looks with the in-store experience in their homes via the LazMall flagship stores of Bobbi Brown, Estée Lauder and M.A.C. 

Alice Chang, founder and CEO at Perfect Corp, said, “Here at Perfect Corp, we pride ourselves on delivering market-reading AI and AR-powered virtual makeup try-on solutions that seamlessly integrate into our brand partners’ channels, and help them create high touch, customised, and ultra-realistic virtual shopping experiences. We are excited to partner with Lazada to bring our revolutionary solutions to their customers.”

Meanwhile, James Chang, chief business officer at Lazada, commented, “With Lazada’s shoppertainment strategy, we are excited to collaborate with more partners and introduce new virtual enhancements to uplift consumers’ experiences especially as e-commerce becomes an integrated part of lifestyles in Southeast Asia.”

He added, “This latest successful pilot is testament to the great partnerships we have and our commitment to scale up such immersive real-world experiences with more brands and products. Shoppers will definitely get to easily discover and try more new products while having fun with their friends and family when shopping on the platform.”

Indonesia – Short-video sharing platform TikTok has launched an all-in-one platform for music marketing and distribution, SoundOn, which is designed to empower new and undiscovered artists, helping them develop and build their careers. 

SoundOn is now fully launched in Indonesia, as well as the US, UK, and Brazil, with a growing number of artists opting to use the platform. It enables artists to grow their fanbases, harness their creative voice, and get their music heard worldwide. The platform also allows artists to upload their music directly to TikTok and begin earning royalties when that music is used. 

Moreover, SoundOn pays out 100% royalties to music creators in the first year and 90% after that and provides a range of promotional tools and support. Audience insight and development, expert advice from a dedicated SoundOn artist team, access to TikTok’s song tab where music is linked on profile pages and promotional support through creator marketing on the TikTok platform is all part of what’s offered to artists signing up. 

TikTok said that the new platform can also distribute to other music platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Instagram, and as a result, fans’ loyalty transcends TikTok and helps artists build audiences on other streaming services and DSPs.

Ole Obermann, TikTok’s global head of music, shared that SoundOn teams will guide creators on their journey to the big stage and bring the expertise and power of TikTok to life for the artist. 

“We’re incredibly excited about how this will surface and propel new talent and how SoundOn will contribute to an increasingly diverse and growing global music industry,” said Obermann.

Meanwhile, Paul Hourican, TikTok’s head of music operations for UK and EU, noted that there is a wealth of musical talent emerging on TikTok in the UK and they want to do all they can to support it.

“The SoundOn offering and the team we’ve put in place will enable artists to grow and build their careers. We’re excited to see how this can power even more TikTok hits for the UK music business,” said Hourican.

Thailand – Procter & Gamble (P&G) in Thailand has crowned global datatech platform Bounty Media as the first place for its vGrow innovation project, a search for bleeding-edge innovation addressing the Ad world’s search for a solution to the current consumer data challenge.

Nithin Dabari, P&G’s managing director for Thailand, noted that they are motivated to drive projects that focus on supporting and creating opportunities for startups with the vision and determination to grow their businesses in the future.

“That’s why we launched the vGrow project in Thailand. To provide a platform for start-ups in Thailand to join and present business ideas, come together to find a way to develop business together with P&G Thailand. In 2022, the first year of the vGrow project, we focus on the technology business, which at present is considered an industry with high growth potential,” said Dabari.

The win comes after Bounty Media, which has a zero-party deep data platform that empowers consumers and the brands they trust, expands to Thailand, opening its second market. This was the result of completing its first close of a US$1.5m Pre-A round (US$10m valuation) led by SOSV.

Bounty Media said that it will also provide an extra monetisation platform that underpins the 105 million users inside the MOX ecosystem, offering the ability for global brands to entertain audiences with premium content, apps, education, and news media in exchange for first-party data.

Claes Loberg, Bounty Media’s co-founder, shared that they are creating a transparent value exchange between consumers and advertisers.

“The consumers must provide consent for who is allowed to see their data and what they can do with it, and we’ve introduced a win-win-win for advertisers, publishers, and consumers to facilitate exactly that,” said Loberg.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Regional sports network SPOTV based in South Korea has launched a new mobile app, SPOTV NOW, aimed at bringing popular sporting events closer to sports fans in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines.

The new mobile app, both live and on-demand, will be streaming world-class events shown on the sports network’s regional pay-TV linear channels, SPOTV and SPOTV2. 

Through this, sports fans in Malaysia can catch top riders like Fabio Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia, and Marc Marquez battle it out for victory in the adrenaline-charged MotoGPTM and WorldSBK World Championships, and standout moments of sporting heroes in World Table Tennis events, tennis Grand Slams – Wimbledon and US Open Tennis Championships, as well as The Open Championships (Golf Major), amongst other prestigious events.

Choong Khay Lee, SPOTV’s CEO, shared that they aim to delight their subscribers with the electrifying experience of watching a big game and at the same time, provide an avenue for them to relive some of the exhilarating moments in sports with their on-demand features. 

He further shared that in the months to come, sports fans will get to watch exclusive content that is only available to SPOTV NOW viewers.

“We aim to replicate the success of SPOTV NOW across Asia – by bringing more localised and relevant content to our subscribers in each market, drawing them closer to their unique sports culture, and strengthening the bond among sports fans. In the near future, we will be rolling out SPOTV NOW to Indonesia, followed by Thailand,” added Lee.

Manila, Philippines – Creative and communications network dentsu in APAC has appointed Mark Gabriel Chaves (Mako), former client partner and head of media, creatives, and analytics at insights and consulting company Kantar, to be its new head of media for dentsu Philippines.

Chaves brings with him over two decades of experience across relevant fields of expertise in media research, strategic planning, analytics, and creative development. He will be returning to dentsu after 14 years, where he first worked at Carat Philippines in 2008, and three subsequent stints at dentsu Malaysia between 2010 to 2016 as communications planning director, chief insight officer, and most notably, general manager for innovations. 

Aside from his most recent role at Kantar, where he was responsible for the set-up, go-to-market strategies, and revenue growth of media and digital, social analytics, and business analytics, as well as oversight of creative capabilities, Chaves was also the general manager at Zenith Media Philippines.

In his new role, Chaves will be responsible for driving synergies for dentsu Philippines’ media brands and working closely with the heads of iProspect, dentsu X, and Carat brands to ensure a unified representation of dentsu’s media capabilities in the industry.

Commenting on his appointment, Chaves said “There’s more to building brands – chief of which is mutual growth as partners around a central transformational idea. Our CEO JC has brilliantly put together a team of experts to realize his vision for dentsu Philippines and I’m humbled to be seen as someone who can complement an already-strong team of innovators and brand-builders.”

Meanwhile, JC Catibog, dentsu’s CEO for Philippines, shared that Chaves is a big picture thinker and highly-motivated contemporary marketer who fundamentally believe that building brands is multi-faceted and hard work, and trusts the unique role of media. 

“All of us in the Philippines are excited to welcome Mako back to the dentsu family and look forward to working closely together in scaling our media business to new heights,” said Catibog.

In February 2022, Richard Reid, formerly the head of consulting, data, and performance at integrated marketing agency Iris, has also been appointed as the new regional integrated strategy partner at dentsu for APAC, where he will be responsible for driving integrated strategy development for dentsu’s key clients as well as new business opportunities across the region.

Singapore – In honour of International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on 8 March, the camera and social media company Snap has launched three workshops across SEA called ‘Lensathon’, aimed at upskilling and encouraging participation of young women in augmented reality (AR).

The workshops will let participants use Lens Studio, Snap’s free desktop app, to create and design their own AR experiences with the theme of International Women’s Day. The workshops were conducted by women creators from Snapchat Lens Network namely Danielle Grace for Indonesia and Singapore, and Yong Nurain Sofia Binti Khairulhiddard for Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. 

Moreover, Lensathon participants who will be submitting valid Lenses will stand a chance to join its Lens Studio Community and pursue their passion for AR.

Grace commented that she is honoured to be able to teach Lens Studio workshops to bud female creators in SEA to help them express their creativity with augmented reality.

“Having used Lens Studio to create thousands of AR Lenses myself, I know the potential for creativity is limitless and I can’t wait to see the creations from our growing creator community,” she said. 

Meanwhile, Anubhav Nayyar, Snap’s director of market development for SEA, shared that their approach to AR is rooted in storytelling and creativity as the entry points to introduce this new technology to broad audiences. 

“We have greatly evolved AR not only for entertainment but also utility use-cases like education, commerce etc. Our International Women’s Day Lensathon hopes to inspire and upskill women across the region to bring their creativity and passion to life,” said Nayyar.

Snap said it has been conducting multiple Lens Studio workshops across SEA to help students and youths create shared experiences and express their ideas in compelling ways. It also announced that it will be leveraging the power of AR by launching a series of special, #BreakTheBias AR Lenses, and hyperlocal geofilters for Women’s Day, in alignment with the celebration.

Manila, Philippines – The Philippine-based e-commerce, Konstruk, has launched its online platform that allows users to make online transactions for home improvement and construction supplies.

The platform, dubbed as ‘the first e-hardware ng bayan’, which translates to ‘the first e-hardware of the city’, was built on the realisation that while many businesses have transitioned online, the construction sector has not been able to fully do so. Moreover, the lockdown brought by the pandemic emphasised the importance of having an online presence. As the construction sector was not spared from the losses inflicted by the pandemic, small to medium businesses were amongst those who received the heaviest casualties, especially with the absence of an online platform.

With this in mind, Konstruk seeks to promote business continuity in the construction and home improvement sector. The digital marketing platform will help community hardware stores, wholesalers and distributors, and manufacturers of construction materials, including home appliances and furniture, become part of the online business ecosystem to promote new products and push their inventory through the platform.

In addition, the customers can now conveniently shop at Konstruk website and app and choose from a wide range of products. They are also assured that their transactions are reliable and safe as payment methods such as the Metrobank payment gateway system and Gcash are available.

Rommel Bulalacao, Konstruk’s founder and CEO, shared that the majority of the merchants from the construction sector, especially the MSMEs, are still brick-and-mortar stores or do not have sufficient capabilities to bring their business online

“Konstruk is committed to helping the industry build back better. As the first e-hardware ng bayan, we will continue to innovate and improve our service for the benefit of our partner merchants and customers,” said Bulalacao.

Singapore – As part of BHG Singapore’s digital transformation strategy, the department store has partnered with e-commerce suite and PIM platform Dynamicweb to launch its new unified commerce solution. 

Through the new solution, BHG Singapore will become more customer-centric and eliminate channel silos by leveraging one single commerce platform. It will also deliver a seamless shopping experience where BHG can offer a ‘Click and Collect’ experience, where customers can fulfill their order and, if needed, pickup part of the order in one store, another product in another and get the rest delivered.

Moreover, BHG Singapore can now offer the same flagship product experience in their smaller stores by introducing the endless aisle concept, as welll as introduce effortless check-outs, where customers can make their purchase whenever ready, at any spot of the store, skipping the traditional cashier queue and be served by staff with Mobile Point-of-Sale.

Jheeva Subramanian, BHG Singapore’s CFO, shared that it is a must-have to be able to really get these customer experience insights and a big reason why we needed a unified commerce solution.

“When we came across Dynamicweb, we realized that they understood our vision, industry, and why we want to do certain things. We chose Dynamicweb because we believe it is the fit we were looking for,” said Subramanian.

BHG Singapore is said to be undergoing a major transformation involving its merchandise, systems, and processes, and this recent implementation of unified commerce solution is likely to be the foundation of the company’s next phase of digital transformation. Its digital transformation strategy is a component of its five-year transformation plan, and it entails much more than going online or leveraging advanced technology tools. 

The company shared that the goal of this plan is to evolve into a new business model and the unified commerce solution is pivotal to this strategy. This new solution will allow BHG Singapore to propel towards the next phase of its transformation.

In the next phase of digital transformation, BHG Singapore is planning to introduce AI software for hyper-personalization, merge online and offline channels with concepts such as virtual stores, introduce predictive analytics, and build an ecosystem around the concept of a platform as a business model.