Tag: Southeast Asia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – In conjunction with the Deepavali festive celebration, also known as Festival of Lights celebrated on 4 November, banking institution RHB has launched a new campaign film, aimed at showing the essence of true beauty at the time of hardships.

The new campaign, which was created together with advertising agency FCB Malaysia, tells the true story of Nisha Thayananthan, the reigning Miss Earth Malaysia, who is not just a beauty queen but also a doctor who fought in the frontlines amid the nation’s battle in the pandemic. 

Titled ‘The Inner Light’, the film features Thayananthan’s journey in discovering her ‘inner beauty’ after spending many of her growing-up years pursuing only what’s beautiful on the outside. Told through two separate timelines of her life – a teenage Thayananthan and the Thayananthan of today, the film highlights how Thayananthan’s mother, through her humanitarian work, inspired the beauty queen to embrace her inner beauty through a simple act of kindness.

Abdul Sani Abdul Murad, RHB Group’s chief marketing officer, shared that it may be an emotional coming-of-age film on the surface but that the film also aims to be a heartfelt tribute to the nation’s frontliners. 

“It’s important that we never forget the amazing efforts and contributions from the thousands of selfless heroes like Nisha that have helped us get back on our feet. Their acts are the true definition of ‘Together We Progress’,” said Murad.

Meanwhile, Tjer Wang, FCB Malaysia’s creative director, shared that it’s been a challenge at first to do Thayananthan’s story justice using two separate timelines.

“But thanks to the guidance and expertise from our production partners at D1 Productions and GT Records, we’re ecstatic that we managed to bring the whole idea to life,” said Wang. 

Ong Shi Ping, the co-owner and chief creative officer at FCB Malaysia, said, “Even as we are slowly rebuilding our lives and attempting to put the challenges of the pandemic behind us, we should always remember the kindness and selflessness that we’ve shared during our darkest times together, and then bring them along with us into the future.” 

The campaign is currently running across all RHB Bank’s social and digital channels.

Bangkok, Thailand – With many Thai businesses projected to shut down by the end of 2021 due to the pandemic, mobile operator dtac has launched its new improved 700MHz spectrum signal with its new campaign, aimed at helping local businesses survive and thrive by giving its advertising space to promote their own businesses.

The launch of the new 700MHz spectrum is a reflection of the brand’s ambition to become a network for all, as dtac is committed to ensuring digital access through intensive network coverage expansion, to reduce inequalities and empower societies with the ability to use digital technology.

Titled ‘#GoodforAll’, the new campaign, created in collaboration with Google and creative and CRM agency Wunderman Thompson, adopted hyper-personalization marketing through data-driven creative where online ad spaces were personalized to regional level dialects and location specific targeting of local communities. Using technology and data, Wunderman Thompson produced more than 300 highly personalized creatives just for dtac’s real customers to find new customers in their local areas on the spaces.

Through the campaign, dtac selected customers from 50 provinces across the country where their businesses were promoted on billboards, out of home, and TV tie ins, as well as online films – personalized at nationwide scale, all of which were donated by dtac. 

Lih Ren How, dtac’s chief marketing officer, believes that building deeper connections with the local communities and people is important, and this emotional engagement differentiates their brand. 

Meanwhile, Park Wannasiri, the chief creative director of Wunderman Thompson Thailand, said they focused on how they can fight together with their customers. 

“In every touchpoint, down the whole funnel. Hats off to our brave clients. They did put in all of their capability to help real people, by doing good without expecting something in return. In the end you get the result you deserve,” said Wannasiri.

Sean Ong, Wunderman Thompson’s director of strategy for Thailand, shared that their strategy was to change the conversation of the category, and the category was focused on the future technology (5G), which may seem appealing but unattainable for the majority of Thais. 

“In contrast, dtac’s ‘#GoodForAll’ changed the conversation from flighty dreams of the future, to practical tangible improvements that people need today. dtac 700MHz network improvements increased data capabilities and coverage on existing handsets. These are benefits that can help drive small businesses and customers to overcome the challenges they are facing now. It was more than a telecommunications network but a network of support and progress,” said Ong. 

More than 1,500 dtac customers and businesses participated in this campaign, with 120 businesses given free ad spaces to promote their businesses – directly infusing a lifeline back to their businesses.

Singapore – Financial services company Aviva Singlife has partnered with global experience management (XM) provider Qualtrics to improve capabilities and insights for better customer experience (CX).

With Qualtrics’ CustomerXMTM, the company’s listening engine, predictive intelligence and analytics, and full closed-loop actioning capabilities, Aviva Singlife will be able to deliver premium financial services support and products aligned to the customers’ changing needs. 

It will also standardize its CX and create a new, continuous listening platform, which will allow to make regular, targeted, and meaningful improvements to the customer journey, and interact with its 1.5 million customers at key moments across a number of different engagements and channels – such as when buying insurance products or making a claim.

Moreover, Qualtrics will be helping Aviva Singlife to rapidly resolve issues and close the loop with every customer. Intelligent, automated workflows will immediately alert the customer service team of engagements requiring their attention. Qualtrics will also help in conducting deeper analysis to help guide Aviva Singlife’s growth.

Lara Truelove, Aviva Singlife’s head of customer experience, shared Qualtrics will equip them with intelligent capabilities to continually develop and deliver products, services, and support, aligned to the customers’ changing needs.

“Importantly, the rich insights will also help us remove the complexity and confusion often associated with insurance, empowering our customers to make confident decisions,” said Truelove. 

Mao Gen Foo, Qualtrics’ head of SEA, said that by standardizing and taking full control of its customer experience with Qualtrics, Aviva Singlife will be able to get to know and service customers better at every touchpoint. 

“This is a significant ability, helping the company create a world-class customer experience helping it attract and retain customers in the financial services industry,” said Foo. 

Qualtrics said that Aviva Singlife, partnered with Qualtrics Research Services, has also conducted a large market research study into changing consumer needs and expectations in the industry, to further strengthen the propositions being brought to market. The findings from the study have been made available throughout the organization, equipping every department with valuable insights to guide and inform future decisions – from product innovation to the type of advice provided.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – To commemorate International Children’s Day, which is celebrated on 20 November 2021, beverage brand Goodday Milk in Malaysia, which has kids part of its main consumers, has launched a new contest for kids that will have them decorating PPEs, or personal protective equipment, one that has become everyone’s gear this pandemic. 

Called ‘Happee PPEs’ contest, the brand will be giving children the opportunity to design the artwork they wish to see on PPEs, giving it a colorful makeover and adding some cheer to the otherwise mundane kit. 

Created together with marketing consulting-meets-agency Entropia, part of Accenture Interactive, the contest aims to spread ‘goodness’ and ‘positivity’ among young hospitalized COVID-19 patients, where chosen PPEs will be distributed across different hospitals in Malaysia for frontliners to wear.

Yee Pek Kuan, Etika’s vice president of marketing and Goodday Milk’s owner, shared that the new campaign champions ‘Give good, get good’ – a positive, universal belief that helps make the world a better place, and about how a small act of good can create kindness around the world by paying it forward in some way. 

“Working with Entropia, we came up with this ingenious idea to get creative with the PPE suits used by frontliners in children’s hospital wards, so they feel less anxious and respond better to these healthcare providers,” said Kuan.

Soo Mei Goh, the principal of integration at Entropia, shared that working with Etika, the brand’s fully integrated Halal company, enabled them to stand in childrens’ little shoes and experience how they view their world. 

“At the same time, we want to help children make a superhero connection to the PPE, explaining that doctors and nurses donning the PPE are heroes protecting and helping other people. The Happee PPE contest concept was conceived from there,” said Goh.

The contest is scheduled to run from 25 October until 14 November 2021. At the end of the contest period, judges will select three winners based on technicalities of the designs and print, and announce them on 22 November. Each will be awarded a RM10,000 education fund. 

The mechanics of the contest can also be found on Goodday’s Facebook and on Instagram.

Manila, Philippines – Following the announcement of the partnership between global platform for user-generated stories, Wattpad, and Filipino live streaming platform, kumu, in July, the tie-up has finally come out with its very first ‘Wattpad Fan Fest’, a virtual event where fans, readers, and authors can engage and celebrate with the Filipino Wattpad Community. 

The ‘Wattpad Fan Fest’, which will happen on 31 October 2021, aims to bring exciting shows and surprises to delight the reading and writing community for a full day, starting at 10:30 am until 10:00 pm PHT on the @wattpadPH kumu channel. 

Through the event, fans can get a chance to attend multiple ‘Meet and Greets’ throughout the day, play interactive quiz games such as ‘Guess The Story’ and ‘Guess the Star’, and attend a workshop called ‘From Stories to Stars’, featuring writers Loridee DeVilla, Claudia Tan, and Wattpad representatives Aron Levitz, the president of Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and Maria Hall, the international writer lead of Wattpad. 

In addition, the virtual fanfest includes a panel discussion on ‘Publishing as a Passion’ by Wattpad authors Greenwriter, TheCatWhoDoesntMeow, Patyeah, heartlessnostalgia, and kissmyredlips, as well as publishing experts Ryan Benitez of Wattpad, and Anvil’s Arlyn Dimayuga and AJ Villamar. It will also feature ‘Wattpad Fanfest Special’, a live reading of excerpts from Wattpad story ‘He’s Into Her and The Four Bad Boys and Me!’.

Kyla Relucio, kumu’s content partnerships director, said, “kumu has always been groundbreaking in its efforts – from its digital capabilities to innovative show concepts, to its culture that celebrates all creative talents. Kumu is the world we’ve always wanted to build, and we’re so happy to be growing along with them every day.”

Chris Stefanyk, the head of brand partnerships at Wattpad, commented that they appreciate kumu as its safe space allows people to directly engage with their readers, fans, and even idols.

“Through the different live streams, activities, and events, the community is able to come together in a new way and build this exciting culture powered by fresh, creative energy. This is what the writing community has always sought to achieve on a deeper level, and it’s been amazing,” said Stefanyk.

Singapore – Despite many consumers now reducing their budget for shopping and fearing shopping in-store due to pandemic concerns, about 93% of Southeast Asian consumers say that they will shop more across digital commerce sites this festive season, new insights from marketing technology company InMobi shows.

According to the report, about 39% of respondents have said that this is the first time that they will be trying out online shopping.

A positive sentiment is evident across online shoppers in the region, saying they want to learn about a product (39%) and explore product categories (71%), as well as making a purchase (69%). Some 24% of respondents declared that they would spend more on online shopping for the holiday season, while 47% planned to reduce their budget for in-person shopping.

“Despite a tough 2021, Southeast Asians are still gearing up for the year-end holiday shopping season, which has traditionally been the most active period for e-commerce sales in the region. More shoppers than ever are going online and spending more money online, most using their mobile phones to explore, discover and purchase. The time is right for brands and marketers to leverage mobile-first marketing to attract the interest of the connected festive shopper this year,” said Rishi Bedi, vice president and general manager for Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea at InMobi.

However, nearly 64% of consumers are still ‘undecided’ or are ‘completely unplanned’ on their online shopping experience, giving brands the opportunity to capture this market.

The report also noted that there are three key buyer personas that are emerging across Southeast Asian consumers for the holiday season, namely bargain hunters (64% of respondents), category explorers (26% of respondents) and brand lovers (10% of respondents).

In terms of spending, some 51% of Indonesians planned to spend over IDR 500,000 for their online shopping, while one in five Singaporeans will spend more than S$1000, with the average Filipino family shelling out ₱7627 for the festive season. 

Meanwhile, clothing and accessories, groceries, gadgets, and home appliances emerged as the most in-demand product categories across Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

“Since 2020, the consumer shift towards mobile shopping has meant a surge in the adoption of InMobi’s shoppable media and online to online/offline commerce solutions by brands for maximizing ROI. These solutions, along with our unique deterministic audience targeting on programmatic, will play an even more significant role for brands in this online festive season,” Bedi concluded.

Singapore – Esports media company ONE Esports has shared in a press release that it is planning to launch an esports talk show by 2022, in partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott International’s travel program.

Aside from the talk show, the partnership will also see Marriott Bonvoy focusing on expanding its reach to engage esports fans in Singapore and Malaysia via local Mobile Legends: Bang Bang community tournaments.

Aside from the global hotel brand, ONE Esports has also forged a tie-up with top insurance company FWD, to sponsor its Mobile Legends Professional League Invitational 2021 in Indonesia, where the top teams across SEA will compete to be the region’s best. 

Through this, the esports media company will also feature the insurance company on its website, as well as create custom content for the brands’ flagship app, FWD Moments.

ONE Esports has been bolstering its media collaborations. The said partnerships follow the company’s recent tie-up with top online food and grocery delivery platform foodpanda, to create a new multi-part docuseries on esports called ‘Heroes of the Game’, which tackles the ‘ONE Esports Dota 2 Singapore Major’ event held in March this year.

Carlos Alimurung, ONE Esports’ CEO, noted that these partnerships will grow the esports ecosystem, and reaffirm ONE Esports’ commitment to scale esports globally with the world’s best brands. 

“We are thrilled to have these partners join us in our mission to share and celebrate the stories of esports heroes who ignite the world with strength, hope, dreams, and inspiration,” said Alimurung.

Meanwhile, Julie Purser, the VP of marketing, loyalty and partnerships at Marriott International APAC, shared, “Marriott Bonvoy has evolved from a rewards program to an immersive and inclusive travel program, and we look forward to collaborating with ONE Esports to bring our expression of good travel in both virtual and physical settings to gamers across the region.”

Singapore – With remote work now grounded as the norm, ‘workplace horrors’ have taken on entirely different forms. This is the spotlight of BBDO Singapore’s new in-house campaign for Halloween. 

Titled ‘WFHalloween’, the campaign aims to let employees share their horror stories ever since the work-from-home setup has become their day-to-day. The campaign creatively uses creepy imagery formed through staple objects found in a remote work setting. 

For example, a Dracula formed by paper clips and a phone, which represents the anxious experience of getting a text from the boss in the middle of the night. Another is a Spider formed by messy computer wires. And lastly, ‘Scream’, a worn-out ominous electricity socket which stands for the intense fear employees get every time they put a plug, “only to realize it doesn’t work when your laptop shuts down in a crucial meeting.”

Singapore – Despite diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) being prominent across media and marketing, about 40% of ad agencies based in the Southeast Asia region admit to never checking client specification on DE&I before creating creative work for them, insights from independent global marketing consultancy R3 note.

According to the consultancy’s latest report spanning 300 video advertisements broadcast in the region, there are lapses in regards to gender representation in these advertisements. About 33% of the sample ads have shown negative stereotypes on body image, 38% have portrayed negative stereotypes of gender characteristics, and 44% have portrayed negative stereotypes of gender roles.

For Shufen Goh, co-founder and principal at R3, there should be a greater need for more people from diverse backgrounds in control of storytelling and production or we risk telling stories that are one-dimensional, adding that with 60% of agencies reported not having a formal process to ensure that diversity is addressed in client advertising is already considered a ‘red flag’.

“Marketers can play a positive role and encourage greater change in the narratives being developed by requiring diversity among creative directors and producers and demanding more inclusive organizational design,” Goh stated.

Despite the negative connotations, there are still brands who have persisted in creating campaigns that respect gender representation.

Based on the review, Kotex, Avon, Colgate, Apple, and Nike were five brands with the best gender representation in advertising in Southeast Asia. All brands scored positively in areas of avoiding objectification, positive body image portrayals, and positive portrayal of gender roles and characteristics. The best performing advertising addressed female empowerment, body positivity, ethnic and economic diversity, and sexual orientation.

In addition, female empowerment has been the focus of diversity initiatives across agencies in the region, though most activities reported were limited to educational and culture building exercises.

“If we look at progress through a regional lens, change is being made. There is greater representation across gender and ethnicity in the workforce, and more equality in agency leadership positions. Now it’s time for marketers and agencies to come together and shift the topic of diversity from one of corporate culture and optional participation to tangible process and policy,” Goh concluded.

Singapore – With borders reopening across the world, Singapore Airlines (SIA), the flag carrier airline of Singapore, has launched a new global campaign, which is its first since the beginning of the pandemic, marking a significant step forward for the airline industry’s path to recovery.

Created in collaboration with creative agency TBWA\Singapore, the new campaign aims to capture the ‘freedom’ and ‘weightlessness’ of being able to finally travel again, encouraging people to turn their anticipation into action.

Titled ‘Look forward to flying again with Singapore Airlines’, the campaign features travelers literally floating through their day, leading up to their first flight out with SIA, from the moment they wake up to traveling to the airport and boarding the plane. 

In order to capture an authentic flying experience on camera, the airline shared that its team worked alongside a professional stunt crew who are masters in coordinating gravity-defying performances.

Lau Hui Ling, the general manager, brand, and marketing at Singapore Airlines, shared, “The campaign highlights how SIA’s renowned world-class service and experience allows customers to enjoy their first post-pandemic flight and start looking forward to being in the air once again.”

Andy Grant, TBWA\Singapore’s ECD, said that they wanted the ‘blissful liberation’ on screen as travel resumes.

“We made the magical and distinct experience of flying with SIA visceral throughout the film – focusing on the sense of warmth, calm, and peacefulness people encounter from the moment they wake up to when they step onboard,” said Grant.

Beyond Singapore, the campaign was also launched around the world in high-profile media placements such as New York Times Square, Japan’s Shibuya Crossing, and London Cromwell.