Tag: Southeast Asia

Singapore – Over the weekend, a mysterious ‘‘#SmartHonestAdvice’ movement has caught the attention of Singaporeans, where a fleet of vans featuring candid advice on general topics in life, including home financing, was seen across 50 island-wide locations in Singapore. 

Today, the digital property marketplace in SEA, PropertyGuru Group, has revealed that its mortgage marketplace, PropertyGuru Finance, was behind the mysterious movement, which has quickly gained traction on social media, with netizens posting vans images with the hashtag ‘#SmartHonestAdvice’.

As part of the ‘#SmartHonestAdvice’ movement, PropertyGuru Finance is also engaging several online personalities in Singapore like Gladys Ng and Alexia Lim, to share their own ‘#SmartHonestAdvice” on their social media networks. In addition, they will encourage their followers to share similar ‘#SmartHonestAdvice’ on their social media channels.

Bjorn Sprengers, Property Group’s chief marketing officer and head of fintech, shared that they wanted to spark conversations among Singaporeans around the importance of seeking real, honest advice to help them make better decisions for almost any life situation, especially when it comes to crucial financial matters like securing the best home loan.

“We also want to encourage Singaporeans to lead such conversations by sharing their own #SmartHonestAdvice on social media. On a less serious note, we hope to get a light chuckle out of those who catch the advice,” said Sprengers. 

PropertyGuru said that the movement also aligns with the ‘PropertyGuru Finance – Smart, Honest Advice’ brand campaign, which unveiled a TV commercial featuring actor Aaron Charles Mossadeg. 

The commercial puts a comic spin on the metaphorical pain a family of four feels when they discover their “could haves” from the money saved from their mortgages, like fulfilling their children’s dream of owning a pet dog or enjoying a king crab seafood feast as a family.

Singapore – Local-based neobank YouTrip is planning to enter the adjacent B2B payments space. This was first revealed by YouTrip when they announced the brand’s major plans last September which included unveiling their goal of a brand refresh for 2022. 

The brand reiterated its foray to the B2B space alongside the new funding it secured, bagging US$30m in a series A funding. The fresh funds put its total funding at over US$60m since it launched in 2018. The company said that the funding will also be used to accelerate its entrance into the wider Southeast Asia region. 

At the core of their B2B offering is YouBiz, a corporate credit card which will offer higher spending limits while transacting at exchange rates in over 150 currencies with credit terms offered to selected business account users. Within its sighted B2B alignment, YouTrip will also allow companies to issue corporate cards to employees, with all expenses streamlined into one platform.

YouBiz will be rolled out in Singapore in the first quarter of 2022, and with plans to bring it to five other Southeast Asia countries in the next twelve months.

For Caecilia Chu, CEO and co-founder at YouTrip, the latest funding gives them the resources to strengthen their multiple growth engines in order to stay resilient and well-primed for expansion into new markets.

“We have transformed tremendously as a company since our last funding round. From a mobile travel wallet, we have grown to establish a strong foothold in new territories such as overseas online spending to meet the extraordinary shifts in consumer behaviors. We believe there is untapped potential in cross-border payments, and our market-leading position in this space puts us in a good place to serve more of our users’ payment needs – from travelers, to online shoppers, and now, businesses,” Chu explained.

Meanwhile, Arthur Mak, co-founder at YouTrip, commented , “We’re very excited about the B2B payments opportunity. It is a segment with a deep market, as companies increasingly operate in a distributed and borderless manner and we expect their cross-border payment needs to go up. By incorporating our company’s core strengths of offering the best exchange rates and an extremely easy to use interface into YouBiz, we help businesses save time and cost, so that they can focus their energy and efforts in finding growth.”

Singapore – Classifieds platform Carousell has launched anew its ‘Free Ads for Charities’ initiative, an advertising support program for non-profit organizations (NPOs) that helps various communities impacted by COVID-19.

In the previous ‘COVID-19 Free Ads for Charity’ in 2020, Carousell offered up to SG$2m fund of advertising support for NPOs in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines to help them replenish the supply of food and essential health products, donations for upkeep cost, call for volunteers and other initiatives caring for families-at-risk and seniors in need.

This year, the platform is doing the same by offering up to SG$250,000 to support any charities and non-profit organizations in Singapore impacted by COVID-19.

JJ Eastwood, the managing director of Carousell Media Group, commented, “We are very proud to bring back our Free Ads for Charities initiative and expand upon our commitment to uplift local communities in need. Charity donations have been impacted as fundraising events have had to be canceled due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Meanwhile, Carousell has also partnered with Singapore’s non-profit organization National Volunteer and Philanthropy Center (NVPC), to launch its annual ‘Blessings’ campaign, aimed at encouraging Singaporeans to share their blessings during this festive season.

The partnership will be supporting SG Cares Giving Week with their annual campaign, which is an expansion of the platform’s ‘#SayYesToBlessings’ initiative launched in August 2021 to help empower non-profit organizations in digitalizing and amplifying their causes online. 

For this year’s ‘#Blessings’ campaign, Carousell will be expanding its reach to bring greater awareness to the public to support local communities in need. Starting today until 31 December, interested donors can log on to Carousell and browse listings from over 20 charities and non-profit organizations, and give back to those who need it the most by donating essential items such as home appliances, COVID-19 test kits, clothes, and food, as well as make direct donations to their favorite causes via Carousell Protection.

In addition, users can list their usable items on Carousell under its Free Items category to help other individuals in need.

According to Carousell’s MD for Singapore Chee Soon Ng, the ‘#Blessings’ campaign originally started as a user-led initiative and has grown into one adopted by the wider Carousell community over the years.

“With every 1 in 3 Singaporeans using Carousell monthly, we are the perfect platform to connect charities with users who are looking to declutter their surplus purchases by giving back to those who need them the most. We are excited to partner with NVPC for SG Cares Giving Week and we encourage every donor to give generously and make a positive difference this festive season,” said Ng.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Natural bottled water brand, Spritzer, has appointed advertising agency FCB Malaysia to handle its creative duties.

Shiao Chan, Spritzer’s group marketing manager for Malaysia, believes that FCB is a masterful storyteller with an undeniable passion for building and enhancing the stature of local brands. 

“With their solid FMCG experience at our disposal, we’re confident that this partnership will bring to life the many tales that are waiting to be told for Spritzer,” said Chan.

Shaun Tay, FCB Malaysia’s co-owner and CEO, commented that winning over a major Malaysian brand like Spritzer has always been a dream. 

“What I personally appreciate is the clarity of vision that the Spritzer marketing team has for the brand, and we’re excited to be part of its continuous story of success,” said Tay.

FCB has already started work on several key 2022 campaigns for Spritzer.

Earlier this year, Spritzer has also announced the appointment of media company Trapper as its integrated media agency partner for all Spritzer brands.

Philippines – With the celebration of the Christmas season, people are now gearing up their financial allocations to make the most out of the ‘giving’ season. For Filipino moms, this specific budget has been identified to be an average of ₱10,029 or almost US$200, all for gifts, according to a survey by parenting content platform theAsianparent (TAP) in the Philippines. 

Despite the intended average budget, the survey found that at least six out of 10 moms plan to buy more than 10 gifts, which will amount to an estimated 10% of their monthly income, while only 13% say that they’re unable to loosen their budget.

Overall, 83% of Filipino moms say that their monthly expenditure goes up during this festive period in response to the holiday rush such as sending money, gifts, and treats, and shopping in malls, and shopping online. 

Moms buy gifts for their kids the most (95%) followed by immediate family (92%) and spouse (84%). Meanwhile, the number one item Filipinos purchase as gifts is clothes, followed by toys then educational games for the kids, while household items and food are most likely the items gifted to other loved ones. 

Besides gifts, Filipino moms also spend on high-value items. Half intend to purchase home appliances over the festive season, with 41% looking at furniture, and 37% planning to go into 2022 brandishing new devices and accessories such as smartphones, laptops, and headphones.

Malena Gong, theAsianparent’s regional head of insights, said that with these insights, Filipino moms are crucial segment marketers need to be looking at.

“Combine this with the cultural phenomenon of a long holiday season, and you’ve got an extended period of traditionally higher spending, concentrated on one key demographic: moms,” said Gong.

Aside from items, the report also revealed moms’ consumption practices this holiday season. About 72% of Filipinos will buy on both offline and online instead of just using one; moreover, 16% of respondents intend to shop two to three months prior to the holidays, while 15% plan to shop within a week or less. 

Meanwhile, on the factors for purchasing items, promos and sales offered online is a top factor followed by those offered offline. Recommendations from other moms and parenting apps take the third spot, trailed by recommendations from friends and family. Meanwhile, social media influencers and ads on e-commerce are also top factors that influence Filipino moms’ purchase decisions. For social media and parenting apps, the majority or over 70% are active on these platforms past 7 pm.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – It should be noted by now that Southeast Asia’s e-commerce landscape has been on a steady growth, indicating how the pandemic has vastly contributed to the accelerated digital adoption and the expansion of the industry in the region.

The latest data from e-commerce aggregator iprice analyzed the performance of the top e-commerce companies in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to determine which e-commerce sites are holding the most of the market share in the said markets, and which of them have been successful in drawing social engagement.

According to their data for Q3, Singapore-based e-commerce platform Shopee takes the lead across these three markets. In Malaysia, the site gets around 57.5 million monthly visits, while 61.2 million monthly visits for Thailand, with 77.8 million monthly visits in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Lazada takes second in the Malaysia and Thailand market, each having 14.2 million and 37.9 million monthly visits respectively. Vietnam, on the other hand, has its own e-commerce platform Thegioididong.com taking second, with 50.9 million monthly visits.

“These top sites have been [leveraging people] who are actively purchasing items online during the pandemic. They have significantly focused on diversifying their features and marketing campaigns to engage tech-savvy consumers, which consequently increased both their sales and traffic,” noted iPrice.

Meanwhile, the data also noted that local sites rank in the top three. PGMall (Malaysia), Central Online (Thailand), and Tiki (Vietnam) have done quite well in establishing themselves in their respective markets.

According to the report, the cross-country collaboration between PGMall and JD Worldwide, for instance, has encouraged local sellers to offer unique local brands to the Chinese market. With access to China’s extensive market, PGMall’s platform has become one of the most prominent domestic online businesses in Malaysia. 

Meanwhile, Tiki, which holds 13% of Vietnam’s e-commerce market share. They signed an exclusive partnership with insurance company AIA Vietnam for 10 years. Due to this, policyholders may manage their insurance accounts and seek health insurance solutions and claims through the Tiki website.

In terms of engagement with e-commerce brands on social media, Malaysians engage the most with e-commerce-related posts accounting for 44% of the total social engagements, followed byVietnamese users with 36% of the engagements while Thai users accounted for 20%.

“As these e-commerce platforms continue to pursue strategic partnerships, promotions, and social engagements, the future of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce industry is looking bright,” the company concluded.

Singapore – Media measurement and analytics company Comscore has tapped former regional vice president for sales and marketing for SEA at Universal Pictures Han Seng Lim as its new client services lead consultant for Southeast Asia, where he will continue to build on the relationships that Comscore established with both existing and new clients.

He brings into the company more than 20 years of business experience and sales success across the movies industry in Asia.

During his stint at Universal Pictures, he has left a track record in exceeding business goals through market development and building client relationships. Previously, he held a variety of senior roles in the movies industry, including at United International Pictures.

For Frank Perikleous, vice president for movies for APAC and AUS at Comscore, Lim’s experience within the region and his vast understanding of the market will strengthen their insights into the theatrical business in SE Asia. 

He added that with the reopening of many SEA markets after long periods of lockdown, it will be essential that data analytics and collection assist in the rebuilding and growth of the movie industry.

“Along with providing Comscore’s International Box Office Essentials (IBOE) service, which is the world’s leading box office database, Lim will also provide the exhibition community with access to the latest technologies in data analytics and marketing intelligence through leveraging Comscore’s relationships with Showtime Analytics and Gower Street to give the industry unprecedented information, communication platforms and coverage of the region,” Perikleous concluded.

Comscore has been tapped by dentsu Media during this year in order to instigate change in television measurement by enabling the adoption of advanced audiences and the move to impressions.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Top online food and grocery delivery platform, foodpanda, has appointed Mediabrand’s media network, Universal McCann (UM), as its new media agency of record.

As part of the remit, UM will be overseeing foodpanda’s media duties including strategy, planning, buying, and research, as well as data and analytics.

Bernard Chong, foodpanda’s marketing director, commented, “We were especially impressed by the people we met, and the commitment of the UM team. We are confident their insightful expertise across data, analytics, and storytelling will help us drive more brand love for foodpanda.”

Audrey Chong, Universal McCann and UM Studios’ CEO, shared that UM aims to help build brands that disrupt through data-led integration, digital acceleration, and content creation through a consultative lens, and this aligns with foodpanda’s vision of the media partnership. 

“The team is excited to get started on this fun, daring brand and we look forward to collaborating and building more buzz together,” said Chong.

The appointment of UM will commence in the first week of December 2021.

Just recently, foodpanda has announced a new vertical within its platform, partnering with Chinese tech giant Xiaomi to now deliver consumer electronics and appliances starting with Singapore and Thailand.

Singapore – GrowthOps, a marketing technology company, has made strategic appointments to strengthen its teams in the Southeast Asia region, namely David Isaac Mathews as chief growth officer for the Southeast Asian region, Shaad Hamid as general manager for Singapore, and Chris Greenough as general manager for Malaysia. 

Between Singapore and Malaysia, Hamid and Greenough will oversee a diverse team of some 200 professionals, in highly sought-after technology, user experience, creative, consulting, and marketing roles.

Prior to joining GrowthOps, Mathews was an innovation co-lead for ASEAN at EY-Parthenon’s TAS Digital, wherein he delivered digital transformation and strategy projects across a range of industries, covering business design and monetization for clients. Aside from his new role at GrowthOps, he is a mentor for Deep Technology Commercialization: formerly at Lean LaunchPad Singapore, and currently at the NUS Research Innovation Programme (GRIP) program.

“Driving growth increasingly requires regular innovation at the intersection of product and marketing strategy; our multi-disciplinary consulting and implementation teams are assembled to support that. At GrowthOps, we are guided by the customer experience and journey, and our aim is to implement the marketing technology needed to bring data-driven decision-making to the C-suite. Comprehensive marketing strategy and full-funnel marketing are the cornerstone of our best-practice methodologies, based on the learnings of what top-quartile CMO’s do to build, launch and grow,” David said regarding his appointment.

Meanwhile, Hamid’s past experience started off with DigitasLBi in Dubai, UAE as a senior account manager and then as SEO director, working on clients such as Etihad and Johnson & Johnson. He first joined GrowthOps in 2017 as the regional head of growth marketing services for Southeast Asia, a role he continues to hold up to this day alongside his new role.

“I am delighted to take up the role of GrowthOps Singapore’s General Manager, leading this brilliant team of people who bring passion, innovation, and diversity of thinking to work every day. I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved so far, and we are all excited about our next phase of growth. We continue to be client-focused, hungry to create amazing work, and humbled by our responsibility to shape the future of marketing in our region – in partnership with our visionary clients,” Hamid stated.

Lastly, Greenough started off his career with FutureLab in 2011, where he was part of the founding team that would go on to become GrowthOps Malaysia after a series of acquisitions. Then in 2015, he co-founded Hyperlab, an enterprise Conversational AI startup that was acquired by global Customer Experience firm, Everise. At Everise, he was elevated to Chief Marketing Officer, where he led the rebranding of multiple acquisitions and repositioned Everise from a traditional call center into a leading digital customer experience outsourcing firm. 

“My combined agency, startup and enterprise CMO experience gives me a well rounded perspective of the challenges leaders in various stages of growth and transformation encounter. Throughout my career I’ve blended the use of technology with creative marketing to build effective customer experiences. This is the working practice knowledge I bring to GrowthOps, which I hope will benefit our employees and customers,” he said regarding his new position.

Speaking about the new hires, Chee Hung Goon, CEO at GrowthOps Asia, commented, “Businesses today are rapidly evolving through digital transformation, but sustaining growth is difficult because the traditional ways of reaching a customer are no longer as impactful. We are growing, because our partners are gaining confidence from our ability to identify where their customers are, and how best to reach and retain them on digital platforms.”

Singapore – EventX, the SaaS company providing hybrid event management solutions for businesses, has announced its expansion to SEA with the official launch of its Singapore operations, supporting its growth efforts in the region.

The expansion comes after EventX closed its US$10,000,000 series B funding round. According to the company, its business in Asia has grown significantly in recent years, and they are committed to continuing to expand its presence in the key Asian markets.

Sum Wong, EventX’s CEO and co-founder, shared that SEA is experiencing rapid digitalization to varying degrees, and with this, they have seen a growing hunger from businesses in Singapore to adopt technologies that would fit the needs of today’s world.

“Singapore is one of the key markets for EventX’s growth and we’re thrilled to empower our clients with a hybrid event management solution to accelerate their businesses anywhere and anytime without limitations,” said Wong.

In addition to the expansion, EventX will be offering new clients in Singapore with free platform trials, which can hold up to 1,000 attendees with unlimited time duration, which is available until December 2021.