Tag: Southeast Asia

Philippines – As part of Exploretale Technologies’ commitment to making the 2022 National Elections have well-informed voters, the software company based in Antipolo, Philippines has developed an app called Standpoint PH, an unbiased social media platform that allows users to have respectful political discussions. 

According to Exploretale Technologies, while there are social media platforms and news outlets they can depend on to get vital information about the candidates, it cannot be denied that these platforms may be corrupted with biased information and political propaganda. 

With this in mind, it has decided to launch the new app to let voters, non-voters, and politicians altogether exchange insights and knowledge to help voters choose who they deem to be the best candidate to run the country.

Standpoint has three main features, including verification process, which ensures accountability and verified accounts, the politician page, which enables users to tag politician pages so that related posts about that politician are in one place, and the discussion page, which allows the exchange of information and ideas about the candidates, their platforms, and the election process.

John Eris Villanueva, Exploretale Technologies’ founder and product lead, said, “We intend this platform to be a catalyst for change. We want the voters to get to know our politicians better and understand the importance of electing candidates who have the best interests of the Filipino people at heart.” 

The new app was released in early January 2022 and is available on the App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Advertising agency FCB Malaysia has announced a slew of creative promotions, namely Wang Ie Tjer, the new head of creative, Jonathan Chan and James Voon, the new associate creative directors, Megan Ong and Wong Ching Sin, the new senior copywriters, and Ahmad Hafidz, the new senior art director.

Headlining the new creative promotions and hires is Tjer, who had previously held the title of creative director at FCB Malaysia. He has been a member of the agency’s senior team since 2018, and his consistent delivery has been integral to FCB’s continuing success in Malaysia. In his new role, Tjer will be leading a creative team of 30, spearheading the creative efforts on key clients and new businesses, while also representing the agency as a thought leader at industry events and media engagement.

Explaining why the agency decided to double down on its creative talent, Shi Ping Ong, FCB’s co-owner and CEO, shared that coming out unscathed and profitable after two difficult years of the pandemic speaks volumes of the people in the agency and their grit and tenacity during adversity, and they are now in a fortunate position to return the commitment by investing in their future.

“Why Tjer? Because he is very, very good! Since becoming part of the team, Tjer has always been putting his head down to focus on nothing but doing great work, and his can-do approach to even the most challenging tasks has honed him to become a true leader who the folks in the agency can always look to for inspiration and guidance,” said Ong.

In addition to the promotions, the agency has also made numerous new creative hires, including Suah Boon Chuan, the new associate creative director, Amin Taib, the new senior AV producer, Lim Poh Yeng, the new senior art director, and Muhammad Fadhli, the new senior graphic designer, as well as Tan Lai Kuen and Muhammad Syamim, the new graphic designers.

“If there’s one positive that we can take out from this pandemic, it’s that we’re certain that the future of FCB Malaysia is in very, very good hands,” said Ong.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Global technology company vivo in Malaysia has released a new short film, aimed at inspiring Malaysians to reach for their dreams no matter the circumstances.

The new short film features a deaf Malaysian girl’s determination to be a national athlete. It was shot with the vivo X70 Pro, the professional photography flagship smartphone with advanced mobile imaging technology co-engineered with ZEISS.

Titled ‘Shout it Out’, the film follows the true story of Siti, a deaf Malaysian since young who, against all odds, fights her way to master Karate and represent Malaysia in an international Karate tournament. Set in scenes where she constantly faces various challenges and rejections, being laughed at and self-doubt, the film highlights her strong determination coupled with her teacher’s unwavering guidance to get her on the world stage as a national athlete.

Mallory Lee, the director of ‘Shout It Out’, shared that he wanted to capture the true essence and emotions played by Siti, showing her struggles, joy, determination and courage in reaching her dreams regardless of her difficulties.

“Using the vivo X70 Pro, I was able to capture all of that as seen in the final video. I hope Malaysians would be inspired watching this short film as it inspired me,” said Lee.

Meanwhile, Mike Xu, vivo Malaysia’s CEO, believes that every person has the potential of accomplishing great achievements, regardless of their background, and they are humbled to have the opportunity to share the life of Siti through the film. 

“Using the vivo X70 Pro’s advanced imaging technology, the film demonstrated the filming capabilities of the smartphone and its potential as a professional filmography device,” said Xu.

The ‘Shout it Out’ short film is now available and can be viewed on vivo Malaysia Official Youtube Channel.

Singapore – Following the conclusion of its ‘Blazing Sapphire’ main event to mark its fifth-year celebration, integrated communications agency COMCO in Southeast Asia has announced the appointment of public relations and communications practitioner Joyce Yu as the agency’s newest deputy account operations director for marketing PR. 

She will be leading the agency’s teams who are managing some of the clients, including Eastern Communications, Jobstreet, Sunlife ASCP, Skechers, Lamoiyan Corporation’s Licealiz Head Lice Treatment Shampoo and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

With more than a decade of experience working in the field, Yu specialises in media relations, copywriting, social media management, event management, and journalism. 

Speaking about her appointment, she said, “Prior to joining COMCO, I’m already familiar with the company, the team, and the projects that they’ve accomplished through common friends in the industry. I’m very excited to be part of an award-winning dynamic team, to learn from the leaders, and hopefully give back through mentoring those who want to learn about the ins and outs of the industry. I’m really thankful to be given this opportunity.”

Aside from Yu, COMCO also welcomes its newest staff members, who are graduates of the Camp COMCO Mentorship Program. They are Louise Macaraeg and Cherry Gajito as brand communications associates, Bea Cabrera as digital and integrated communications associate, and Narah Faigal as digital and multimedia arts associate. 

Ferdinand Bondoy, regional integration and chief executive director at COMCO, commented, “Despite recent challenges and limitations brought by the pandemic, I’m immensely proud to see our COMCO Squadron thrive and grow. Joyce, Louise, Cherry, Bea and Narah joining the team is very exciting as we cap off our Blazing Sapphire anniversary and expand to new horizons this 2022.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysia-based shopper marketing services provider, shopper360, has partnered with data analytics and AI agency Surge Ventures, to form a joint venture called ‘Avinity Analytics’, which aims to provide data analytics, data science, machine learning, and AI to retail, e-commerce, and marketing-related businesses and brands.

According to shopper360, it wants to capitalise on the global AI Software market, which has risen at 35.6% CAGR and will grow to approximately US$300b by 2026. The overall AI market includes a wide array of applications such as natural language processing, robotic process automation, and machine learning. The joint venture is poised to enable shopper360 clients to adopt these capabilities in their day-to-day business operations in retail. It will be incorporated in Singapore to leverage on the country as a regional hub for start-ups, acquiring regional business accounts and a magnet for assisting companies to grow into unicorns.

With an investment of RM1m for 40% equity in Avinity Analytics, shopper360 is confident that it will further unlock the company’s potential in further developing retail analytics and AI technologies. Meanwhile, Surge Ventures will inject contracts worth RM500,000 into Avinity Analytics with a potential pipeline of contracts worth RM1m. This pipeline of potential contracts is not inclusive of shopper360’s current network of clientele which will be introduced over time to the joint venture’s technology for automating data preparation, insight discovery, and AI model deployment for out-of-stock prediction, inventory management, and sales forecasting.

Sue Ann Chew, shopper360’s executive chairman and group managing director, commented that they are very pleased to be embarking on a crucial service offering that will enhance the actionable data they can provide to their clients to help them grow and increase sales.

“We are fortunate to be able to invest in a data team at Surge Ventures that has experience in acquiring clients of all sizes, and a track record of delivering successful data and tech projects. Their passion for data ensures that we will together always adopt the latest data technologies to create a competitive edge,” said Chew.

Shopper360 believes that retail analytics and predictive analysis will be the essence of the new venture, helping FMCG Brands with accuracy in forecast and demand planning that will enable efficient stock ordering.

Vincent Ng, CEO of Surge Ventures, shared that they started working with shopper360 in 2020, and they were able to excite a few of their clients by providing them AI models with their data sets, which they are actively using for their day-to-day operations and decision making.

“We look forward to deepening this partnership to provide more of shopper360 group’s clients with an integrated data dashboard that will help retailers and brands reduce out-of-stock, track in-store price changes and understand competitive brands with data. We are a team of success-hungry founders that has what it takes to grow Avinity Analytics into a successful regional tech company,” said Ng.

Singapore – As part of Flash Coffee’s commitment to making its menu easily accessible to all, the Singapore-based coffee chain has partnered with pandago, foodpanda’s on-demand express delivery service, to launch a new in-app delivery through its official Flash Coffee app in Singapore.

The new in-app delivery on Flash Coffee app’s main page allows customers to have their orders delivered straight to their doorstep, which is an additional option to Pick-Up. This in-app delivery integration is enabled at 23 stores and counting across the country.

According to Flash Coffee, customers can now collect points on Flash Coffee’s loyalty programme for in-app delivery orders, which they can redeem for free or discounted products. These points will help in levelling up on membership tiers, which are connected to additional benefits like free products, limited edition merchandise, and invitations to exclusive events. In addition, the in-app delivery will be incorporated in the ‘Challenges’ feature in the near future, where fans will get additional rewards and points for completing fun, engaging tasks.

Sahil Arora, Flash Coffee’s managing director for Singapore, commented, “Powered by foodpanda’s pandago, we are one big step closer to making our specialty coffee as accessible as possible while catering to our customer’s ever-evolving lifestyle needs.”

Meanwhile, David Brunier, Flash Coffee’s CEO and founder, shared that launching this feature is a major strategic achievement for them as a fully tech-enabled company and paves the way for numerous customer experience improvements via technology in the future. 

“Given the strong user adoption since our soft launch just a few weeks ago, we are excited to roll out the feature across the rest of our APAC markets shortly”, said Brunier. 

Sukhdeep Singh, foodpanda’s director of strategic partnerships for Singapore, said, “With pandago, Flash Coffee can now tap on our reliable fleet of riders and advanced algorithm dispatching systems to satiate customers’ cravings for their favourite Flash Coffee drinks in the shortest time possible.”

Furthermore, Flash Coffee has also announced that customers can get complimentary in-app delivery on the Flash Coffee app with minimum orders of S$10 until 31 January 2022.

Bangkok, Thailand — Southeast Asian end-to-end e-commerce enablement platform and solutions provider aCommerce announced that it has become the first Shopify Plus partner in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

The partnership allows both brands and consumers a better overall experience; utilizing the capabilities of Shopify Plus’ fast-to-market and cost-effective platform that enables quicker D2C (Direct-To-Consumer Retail) and the extensive market knowledge, development expertise, and channel operations offered by aCommerce.

Tom Srivorakul, group head of business development at aCommerce, commented on the partnership, saying that the company is thrilled with the Shopify Plus partnership, seeing it as a key solution in the region for many brands looking to extend their sales channels.

“Having a Direct To Consumer initiative will give brands more control over customer engagement, enable loyalty programs, optimize margins, and ownership of all data. aCommerce clients who are adding this Direct To Consumer channel to their existing Marketplaces and Social Commerce will benefit from a unified view of all their e-commerce channels while optimizing their merchandising, marketing, and supply chain,’’ Srivorakul said.

Meanwhile, Neel Bhatt, Southeast Asian head of partnerships at Shopify Plus, commented that Shopify Plus offers a scalable, powerful platform that supports every type of business from fast-growing D2C brands to celebrity entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 firms. Bhatt further added that the company is confident that aCommerce will be able to help Indonesian, Thai, and Filipino brands leverage all that Shopify Plus has to offer to accelerate their future growth.

Last October, Shopify also partnered with global audio streaming platform Spotify to allow artists to create meaningful expansions in music and merchandise with the capabilities of both platforms.

Philippines – Aimazing, the retail data platform for mall management, has partnered Philippines’ IT consulting and O2O marketing company, M2Cash, aimed at enabling malls and retailers in the Philippines to digitalize shopper campaigns and create seamless engaging shopping experiences in physical retail stores.

The partnership will provide malls and large retail chains an enhanced user experience for consumer campaigns, as well as streamline their back-end operations and provide clear visibility of campaign performance and ROI. It will also allow them to leverage automation technologies and run a multitude of promotional campaigns concurrently, delivering a new user experience while significantly lowering costs and raising efficiency.

According to Aimazing, retailers are looking for ways to future-proof their systems with the rapidly changing retail landscape as they used to face fragmented POS and manual systems for vouchers, draws, and validation combined with high vulnerability to human error and fraud. 

With Aimazing, the retail automation will simplify the manual processes and allow physical retail to operate with real-time intelligence, as well as run campaigns such as live shopping events. It also creates seamless customer experiences, such as instant earn-and-burn for mall loyalty points and instant carpark redemption. In addition, the simple plug-and-play solution allows Philippines malls and retailers to easily track their offline transaction data and run their own promotional campaigns.

Jun Ting, Aimazing’s CEO, shared that as the retail experience continues to evolve, automation at scale has been proven in powering sales with a high gross merchandise value and bringing about proven cost savings.

“Our partnership with M2Cash marks another major milestone for Aimazing as we continue to push the arc in providing solutions for retailers, brands and shoppers through a highly personalised shopping experience in the Philippines,” said Ting.

Meanwhile, Chris Fong, M2Cash’s CEO Chris Fong, said, “We want to offer a compelling omnichannel experience – this joint partnership with Aimazing will take shopper engagement to the next level and build a strong digital ecosystem where both retailers and consumers can maximize their engagement.”

In December 2021, Aimazing has also partnered with local upper-scale mall destination in Manila, Power Plant Mall, to launch a digital raffle campaign that offers customers opportunities to earn rewards in real-time for their purchases at stores across the entire mall.

Singapore — Verloop.io, conversational AI customer support automation, has partnered with global cloud communications provider Vonage, to bolster the capabilities of its conversational AI application into new channels using Vonage’s communications APIs (Application Programming Interface).

Through the partnership, Vonage allows Verloop.io the ability to seamlessly manage multiple channels from a single platform namely Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, Voice and SMS.

Vonage APIs make it easy for businesses to build solutions and enable essential business features like remote delivery of services, embedded telehealth capabilities, and safeguard against fraud.

Gaurav Singh, founder and CEO of Verloop.io, commented on the partnership, saying that Vonage’s API Platform brings both power and flexibility to businesses through the integration of multiple channels, including messaging, voice, and video communications solutions.

“We’re excited to be working with Vonage to extend the channel capabilities of Verloop.io, all on a consolidated cloud communications platform. This will enable brands to seamlessly build automation on their channels from one dashboard, transforming the entire user experience,” Singh said.

Meanwhile, Guillaume Calot, global vice president of API Partners at Vonage, says that they are excited to further the customer support platform’s conversational AI capabilities and enable its customers to enhance their customer engagement with intelligent, personal conversations.

Singapore – Southeast Asia research and analytics firm Milieu Insight has unveiled the new update of its mobile survey app, Milieu Surveys, which provides flexibility and convenience of gaining insights into localized trending topics.

Milieu’s opinion-sharing community is made up of an extensive representative panel across all ages, and segment groups, enabling quality consumer research results at quicker turnaround times. Milieu Survey’s innovative survey technology allows respondents to take surveys, polls, and quizzes, as well as learn, and earn at the same time.

The new app update builds on its previous version, focusing on offering a superior user experience with a host of new gamification features. By utilizing highly visual gamification elements, language localization features and engaging, interactive content, the new app experience encourages active participation and delivery of high-quality data.

The new key features include ‘play’, which allows users to earn points from participating in surveys, taking daily quizzes or ‘Hot Topic’ polls, and also earn booster points from time to time. It also includes ‘track’, which enables users to view their status tier and track how many points they have earned, surveys completed, and activity history. And lastly, the ‘spend’ feature, which allows users to redeem their reward points for attractive items such as shopping vouchers or donations to charity.

Gerald Ang, Milieu Insight’s founder and CEO, shared that they started Milieu Insight to make market research accessible to everyone – consumers and businesses alike.

“We are excited to have reached a new milestone with our Milieu Surveys mobile app, as we continue to innovate and find new ways to transform the market research landscape, empowering our clients to move beyond legacy ways of conducting consumer research,” said Ang.

Meanwhile, Stephen Tracy, Milieu Insight’s COO, commented that the success of their data collection app, Milieu Surveys, was built on their unwavering commitment to user-centricity.

“Our latest app upgrade doubles down on our commitment to offering our users a great experience, while adding exciting new features and ways to collect new types of data that are opt-in and permission-based,” said Tracy.