Tag: Southeast Asia

Malaysia – Global advertising company Publicis Groupe in Malaysia has been appointed by automotive manufacturer BMW in Malaysia to handle its strategic planning, creative advertising, and digital for BMW passenger cars, Motorrad and MINI business units, which will take effect in April 2022.

During the pitch, Publicis Groupe has developed a compelling strategy and holistic ideas on how to lead, promote, and educate electric vehicle adopters for the BMW and MINI brands, as the automotive industry transitions to electric mobility.

The remit will see Publicis Groupe enhancing BMW Malaysia’s consumer journey, elevating their brand experiences, and crafting a sustainability narrative, as well as building brand relevance for each brand and their audiences. 

Through the remit, Publicis Groupe Malaysia is now setting up bespoke hybrid teams to manage the brands separately with domain experts and related automotive experience.

Neil Hudspeth, Publicis Groupe’s CEO for Malaysia, commented that they could not be happier and prouder to warmly welcome BMW and Motorrad, and of course continue their relationship with MINI, one of the world’s most recognisable car brands. 

“It is incredibly rewarding to see world-class work being recognised by world-class and storied brands, and we look forward to achieving great things together over the next five years, especially as together we can help shape the automotive narrative in Malaysia,” said Hudspeth.

Publicis Groupe Malaysia is also the incumbent agency for MINI Malaysia.

Singapore – Public relations and content marketing agency Mutant in Singapore has appointed four new key leaders, namely Matthew de Bakker, the new country manager for Singapore, Lina Marican, the new regional managing director, Byravee Iyer, the new head of content, and Rebecca Lewis, the new brand strategy director.

De Bakker is an experienced agency leader who has led Mutant’s PR business in Singapore since 2017. During his time as head of PR, De Bakker helped add a string of big brands and well-funded startups to the agency’s client roster, including Singapore Sports Hub, Experian APAC, Disney, and Ula, amongst others. 

Meanwhile, Marican was previously Mutant’s managing director, and has more than tripled the agency’s revenue and expanded its headcount to over 30 across its Singapore and Malaysia offices. In her new role, she will now be responsible for launching and scaling the agency in new and existing markets in Southeast Asia. 

And lastly, Iyer and Lewis, who will both step into newly created roles, will now be seeking to expand Mutant’s fast-growing content and brand offerings.

Joseph Barratt, Mutant’s CEO, shared that they have exciting plans to set up offices in new markets, with Indonesia and the Philippines on their horizon this coming Mutant’s 10th anniversary. 

“I am confident that Mutant’s leadership team will continue to build on our foundation of being communications partners that drive business results for our clients,” said Barratt.

Singapore — InMobi, an independent marketing cloud company headquartered in Singapore, has released its annual Mobile Marketing Handbook 2022, entitled ‘The Indisputable Magic of Mobile’. The guidebook underscores the way to navigate towards the current mobile behaviour within Southeast Asia’s digital economy. Aside from that, the handbook also dives into the potential of the metaverse and other technological advancements currently rolling out in the region’s mobile marketing sector.

The handbook goes into detail about salient points in mobile shopping, forecast on the maturity of the mobile market in Southeast Asia, and the reasons behind the hyperconnected consumerism through mobile channels during the pandemic. The guide also offers a way to introduce marketers to gaming in the Web3 metaverse and how they can make cautionary but informed decisions through purpose-led marketing, building programmatic capabilities, investing in data privacy and analysis, and defining clear purchase paths for consumers during this transition to blockchain economics.

Rishi Bedi, vice president and general manager for Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea at InMobi, said that the peak of mobile is potentially upon us as it increasingly becomes the channel of choice for addressing even the most basic of needs in Southeast Asia. He added that as the region’s mobile market rapidly grows and evolves, marketers must keep up with these changes to keep their audiences engaged.

“Our mobile marketing handbook is intended to provide guiding knowledge that may empower marketers to re-evaluate and pivot their mobile marketing strategies to sustain audiences and to try and stay ahead of their competition,” Bedi said.

InMobi has also spent the past year building a number of consumer and industry reports for the industry of mobile marketing. Recently, their report on the insights of mobile gaming’s presence in Indonesia was named MARKETECH APAC’s Insight of The Year.

Thailand – Global brand experience agency VMLY&R in Thailand has appointed two new hires to drive its brand experience, customer experience, and commerce practices, which has already reaped new business wins including Lotus, CP, and CPF.

The two new hires to the newly-created roles are Chaicharn Jiraumnuaiporn, the new director of commerce, and Thiti Thianprued, the new director of experience design.

Jiraumnuaiporn has over 10 years of experience in e-commerce and digital marketing, specialising in harmonising channel strategy. Having started out client-side at Groupon Thailand and Ensogo, he then applied his deep understanding of the end-to-end process at major retail firms Makro, FN outlet, and Big C.

Meanwhile, Thianprued started his career in the design and advertising field as a digital art director, and has become the creative director at Wunderman Thompson Thailand, where he was responsible for managing the creative and production teams, overseeing all digital creative solutions. He then worked for various start-ups, focused on improving UX (user experience) and CX (customer experience).

Commenting on his new role, Jiraumnuaiporn said, “VMLY&R research shows e-commerce in Asia-Pacific as the highest-growth region in the world with a cash flow of over $1.3b. While global e-commerce continues to grow by 28.5%, the Thai e-commerce market has grown by 71%. This is why I joined VMLYR Commerce, to help clients tap into the opportunities offered by e-commerce.”

Thianprued also commented, “It’s exciting to have joined VMLY&R Thailand, where we see CX work as essential for creating that human connection between the customer and the brand. It is a creation that must come from understanding the customer before they have met the brand.”

Meanwhile, Yupin Muntzing, VMLY&R Thailand’s CEO, said, “Our belief is to build connected brands from BX to CX and Commerce. Today with our team and our potential, we are ready to meet the needs of our customers in every aspect, including working closely with customers to generate sales and profits.”

Ekaluck Charanvas, VMLY&R Thailand’s brand experience lead and chief strategy officer, shared that a 2020 survey of over 13,000 Thais using VMLY&R’s BAV tool found that despite the global pandemic and consequent economic crisis, many brands in Thailand were surprised to find an increase in the value of their brand and an unperturbed faith in their business. 

“During uncertain times, people feel insecure and therefore look for things they can trust and have confidence in,” said Charanvas.

Most recently, VMLY&R Thailand has also appointed Anuwat ‘Bert’ Nitipanont to be its new chief creative officer.

Singapore – The National Crime Prevention Council of Singapore (NCPC), a non-profit organisation committed to promoting public awareness about crime, has launched their latest anti-scam awareness TVC for its ongoing ‘Spot the Signs’ campaign, aimed at renewing efforts to educate the public about scams that continue to plague the city.

The new spot, which was created in partnership with advertising agency Ogilvy Singapore, uses behavioural science techniques to hone in on the emotional and mental toll of being scammed, and the effect it can have on individuals.

Titled ‘The New Job’, the TVC highlights the scary aftermath and fallout that victims have to deal with after being exploited in a scam. The narrative brings Singaporeans to the realization that they too could have been victims, through juxtaposition with internal monologues, that capture the train of thought that led them to fall for the scam.

Khee Jin Ng, the chairman of Public Communications Sub-Committee, the council of National Crime, and the creative partner of Kheej LLP, shared that many in Singapore have been lulled into a false sense of security by thinking that they are immune to scams. 

“Therefore, NCPC needs to continue in its efforts to raise awareness and educate the public in recognising the different signs of potential scams. We hope that the TV commercial and online video, which forms part of our NCPC Anti-Scam Campaign, will help convey this urgent message to the general public,” said Ng.

According to mid-year statistics released by the Singapore Police Force, scam victims last year lost S$168m to conmen in the top 10 scam categories in the first half of 2021, and a sharp spike from S$63.5m in the same period last year. This comes on the back of a 16% rise in the number of reported scam cases and an 11.2% hike in overall crime.

Mitchell Tan, Ogilvy Singapore’s executive group director, noted that their aim with this latest campaign is to go beyond logic and use emotion and empathy to reach the audience.

“Together our goal was to communicate to the public by using best practice techniques to help craft powerful, behaviour-changing narratives so that people will protect themselves against scams,” said Tan.

Indonesia – Indonesian rural-focused social commerce startup, Dagangan, has introduced its new online merchandise shopping services, with the aim to fulfil primary needs for rural communities of shopping from home and have their groceries delivered within 24 hours without postage via its local stock centres. 

According to Dagangan, amidst Indonesia being one of the largest economies in Southeast Asia, two to three out of five Indonesians live in rural areas. With this, the social commerce platform’s strategy is to focus its operations in rural Indonesia to give them a strong position in the supply value chain. Dagangan offers a profitable option to many, especially for people living in villages and other rural areas, where they have to travel up to two to three hours just to shop for what they need in the nearest town. 

Understanding the lack of access to basic needs in rural areas, Dagangan has implemented a hubs-and-spoke model that allows them to establish a synergy with community leaders, local SMEs, and entrepreneurs, which play key roles in interacting within the communities.

Moreover, the new business model enables communities to benefit from their participation as distributors, resellers, or agents of various primary goods, and even as shop owners or retail buyers. Dagangan also supports community empowerment in entrepreneurship by facilitating high-quality local products to access a wider market.

Ryan Manafe, Dagangan’s CEO and co-founder, shared that Dagangan is expected to accelerate economic equality by paving ways for rural communities to access their basic needs in an efficient manner.

“They now have the same opportunity as urban communities, completely meeting their daily needs affordably, without incurring additional shipping costs,” said Manafe.

Meanwhile, Maha Willy Chandra, Dagangan’s COO and co-founder, said the hubs-and-spoke operating model helps large producers, both national and international, reach areas that were previously difficult to enter due to logistical limitations.

“Currently, we have more than 40 hubs (stock centres) spread over several points in rural areas so that the delivery to customers will be faster and cheaper,” added Chandra.

Dagangan said that it will continue to expand its operations, both in Java and outside of the island, so that more rural communities in the country can benefit from its services.

Indonesia – Indonesia’s Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform Kredivo has partnered with lifestyle retailer Mitra Adiperkasa (MAP) to enable customers to shop for high-quality products from global brands, while maintaining healthy cash flow by paying them over time with low-interest rates.

MAP, which has been operating in Indonesia for more than 27 years, fulfils customers’ demand in lifestyle and food and beverages through its omnichannel chains across the country. 

Through the new partnership, Kredivo can now be used as a payment method at MAP retailers, including Zara, Pandora, Bershka, Mango, and Calvin Klein, as well as Lacoste, and Marks & Spencer, amongst many others. 

Lily Suriani, Kredivo’s general manager, shared that the partnership with MAP is an important step for them to accommodate users’ needs and to realize their commitment to making it easier for them to shop at the best retailers with a fast, convenient, and affordable payment option.

“We are very pleased to offer this new access point to our customers and we are excited to partner with MAP, Indonesia’s number one and largest lifestyle company that has 2,600 outlets in 81 cities across Indonesia,” said Suriani.

The integration between Kredivo and MAP is now live as of 25 January 2022. Kredivo said that it is set to expand its services and collaborate with other MAP brands in the future.

Thailand – Thailand shopping centre Megabangna has launched a new programme called, ‘Mega Smile Kids’, an extension of its Mega Smile Rewards loyalty programme which aims to raise a total membership by 20% while driving repeat traffic for tenants.

The ‘Mega Smile Kids’ programme, which is in line with Megabangna’s 2022 strategy to provide an inclusive lifestyle experience to all groups of mixed-generation customers, offers special promotions and privileges to families with children under the age of 12. The first phase of the programme will cover 40 participating shops and partners offering free workshops and classes, special menus and cash vouchers, among others. There are also numerous benefits and promotions from participating in child-centred shops, schools and specialized academies, restaurants, and lifestyle shops. 

‘Mega Smile Kids’ members can enjoy various privileges like the welcome pack, a gift pack that includes a backpack, a pin, a water bottle, and special discounts coupons at certain shops, as well as an M-Gen Card from Mega Cineplex, and an adorable set of limited collection stickers from ‘I Found Something Good’. The members can also gain kids rewards such as discount coupons, gift vouchers and premium gifts available for exchange all year round, as well as ‘E-Discount Coupons’, which enable large discounts at participating shops.

Moreover, they will also have birthday privileges, which include surprise birthday gifts with special menus from some of the kids’ favourite restaurants at Megabangna, and lastly, events and workshops to help them gain experience, learn skills, and develop creativity provided by schools and academies at Megabangna.

Sirinchat Sangsri, Megabangna’s vice president of marketing, noted that they launched the Mega Smile Rewards loyalty programme in May 2019 via their Megabangna application, to provide loyal customers with special benefits and promotions. Moreover, it also has the added benefit of staying connected through CRM with their core group of customers.

She further shared that the programme currently has over 300,000 members who can accumulate points via the Megabangna app, which can be exchanged for premium items, discounts, and other benefits, including cash vouchers of 100 baht for every 30 points that can be used at participating shops, as well as use the points to receive benefits and vouchers from participating petrol stations and the country’s leading hotels.

“In 2022, we are preparing to upgrade our Mega Smile Rewards programme to embrace all generations of customers. We believe that building good customer relations should not be limited to parents but should also extend to their children who play a key role in the purchasing decisions of their parents,” said Sangsri.

Members of Mega Smile Rewards are now eligible to apply for Mega Smile Kids membership for their children under the age of 12 for free. The programme details and conditions are available on Megabangna’s website.

Megabangna said that it is also transforming every square inch of space in its shopping centre into ‘Your Everyday Meeting Place’, where customers can enjoy a memorable experience with family and friends, while adhering to strict pandemic precautionary measures.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Digital-first agency Lion & Lion has launched its new ‘The Chopsticks of Roaring Fortune’, a pair of super-sized chopsticks, specially designed to take prosperity tosses to the next level this Chinese New Year. 

According to Lion & Lion, ‘lo hei’, which means ‘prosperity toss’ in English, is a staple ritual during the CNY gatherings in Malaysia and Singapore, which are performed using chopsticks with Yu Sheng – a salad comprising a mix of ingredients that symbolically represent blessings and good fortune. The aim of the ‘lo hei’ is to mix the ingredients together by scooping them up with one’s chopsticks and raising them as high as possible. Local Chinese tradition said that the higher the toss, the more luck one receives throughout the year. 

At 128 centimetres, the new ‘Chopsticks of Roaring Fortune’ are almost five times longer than an ordinary pair of chopsticks. While some improvisation in tossing technique is needed, the extra-long chopsticks will extend their user’s reach and allow for higher tosses of the Yu Sheng, and a more bountiful Year of the Tiger for the user. 

Each ‘Chopstick of Roaring Fortune’ has a delicate and smooth gold finish, as the auspicious colour may further aid in the generation of good fortune. A roaring tiger ready to pounce graces the base of the sticks, while the character 寅, referring to the Year of the Tiger, is carved onto the caps. The pair of sticks also comes packaged in a red paper sleeve, as the colour red is also considered to be a lucky colour for the new year celebrations.

Moreover, the launch of the supersized chopsticks came with a tongue-in-cheek film by Lion & Lion, which was collaborated with production house Directors Think Tank. The film utilised elements of comedy and suspense to tell the story of the chopsticks, while also delivering a warm new year’s greeting.

Cheelip Ong, Lion & Lion’s regional chief creative officer, believes in finding fresh and fun ways to celebrate key occasions of the year with ideas that engage and entertain. 

“Our super-sized Chopsticks of Roaring Fortune marries our respect for tradition, the festive spirit of Chinese New Year, and our heart for innovation to wish all greater heights of success in the Year of the Tiger,” said Ong. 

Meanwhile, TattHo Chow, Lion & Lion’s creative group head, shared that they thought of building this giant pair of chopsticks to allow the Chinese community in Malaysia and Singapore to ‘lo’ higher than everyone else.

“This fun idea comes from true insight as members of this community, and that ability to turn the insight into a creative expression is important for us in Lion & Lion,” said Chow.

Lion & Lion said that it is also offering a pair of the new ‘Chopsticks of Roaring Fortune’ to a lucky winner. To enter the giveaway, applicants should send a direct message to Lion & Lion’s LinkedIn or Instagram page with a creative ‘lo hei’ greeting. This giveaway will run until 7 February 2022.

Bangkok, Thailand – The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion of Thailand (OSMEP), in association with the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) and the Federal Government of Germany and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) have spearheaded the launch of the ASEAN Access MATCH, a business matching platform, with a view to boosting trade within and beyond the ASEAN region.

Said platform is the newest feature of the ASEAN Access, the online portal for business information on trade and market access in ASEAN launched in June 2021. The platform offers registered members of the ASEAN Access platform the opportunity to be a part of an international business community and create visibility for their businesses beyond the region.

In his keynote address, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Veerapong Malai, director-general of OSMEP Thailand, said, “The MATCH’s feature will be a gamechanger in connecting enterprises across ASEAN and beyond to remain relevant in the global supply chain by establishing business connections from MATCH services which include live market information events, 1-2-1 matchmaking meetings, and product and technologies showcasing opportunities.”

Meanwhile, Reinhold Elges, country director at GIZ Thailand, highlighted the convenience of connecting to businesses abroad offered by the ASEAN Access MATCH.

“ASEAN Access MATCH will allow these businesses and entrepreneurs to connect with buyers and suppliers in ASEAN and beyond, at the click of a button. No more extensive travelling to meet a potential client, and no more travelling and accommodation costs when meeting suppliers. ASEAN Access MATCH will allow businesses to connect virtually with one another and showcase their products and services, free of charge,” he stated.

The ASEAN Access contributes to the implementation of the ASEAN Strategic Action Plan for SME Development 2016 – 2025 which envisions to create globally competitive MSMEs that are seamlessly integrated into the ASEAN community by focusing on initiatives to promote productivity, technology and innovation; increase access to finance, enhance market access and internationalisation; enhance policy and regulatory environment and promote entrepreneurship and human capital development.