Tag: Southeast Asia

Singapore – Global communications firm Edelman has announced the promotion of Adrian Warr as CEO of Edelman SEA, and John Kerr as the vice chair for technology at Edelman APAC, effective by 1 October.

Warr was previously the CEO of Edelman Hong Kong and Taiwan, while Kerr was previously the CEO of Edelman Singapore.

Kerr’s appointment comes at a time when technology continues to play a larger role in daily life, and yet, trust in the technology sector continues to decline. As one of Edelman’s most senior client leaders and with unrivaled experience in this sector, Kerr will navigate Edelman’s teams of technology sector practitioners and clients in Asia Pacific through the fast-changing consumer landscape. 

Meanwhile, Warr’s appointment entails him to lead Edelman’s operations across Southeast Asia, and will be focusing on driving local expertise and cross-border collaboration across Southeast Asian markets, in order to deliver broader capabilities for Edelman’s clients. He will continue to lead the firm’s regional Employee Experience offering as well.

Stephen Kehoe, Edelman’s President and CEO for Asia Pacific, says, “As we continue to advance our plans towards our desired future, we are making important changes to our APAC leadership team today, in order to accelerate the growth of our people and our work, while creating a simpler structure that’s designed around the needs of our clients. 

He added, “Both John and Adrian are renowned leaders with proven track records for developing talent and driving business growth.”

Edelman’s latest appointment follows a slew of appointments by the firm across the region, ranging from updating the lineup for Edelman China, as well as updating its creative team for its APAC team.

Vietnam – In celebration of the Mooncake Festival in Vietnam, which is celebrated on 21 September, Mondelez Kinh Do, the Vietnam arm of snacking company Mondelez International, has partnered with marketing agencies Publicis, Spark, and Digitas, to launch a new genealogy platform that brings old family photographs to life for Kinh Do mooncakes, which is a brand that is synonymous with the festival.

The Mooncake Festival has been around for more than 2,000 years and is the second most important festival in the country after Lunar New Year. It is a time when families come together to celebrate the full moon.

The festival has been losing its sheen in recent years as Vietnam moves towards a digitally-driven economy, and with this, Kinh Do aims to take the responsibility for keeping meaningful Vietnamese traditions alive, which means reaching a new generation via digital and social channels. 

Through the new genealogy platform, consumers can now see their ancestors smile, blink, and turn their heads as old photos come to life. The experience is made possible with deep learning artificial intelligence from D-ID, the technology company based in the United Kingdom and Israel and the creator of web services platform MyHeritage. 

In addition, the platform makes it possible to relive family memories amid the lockdown.

Simon Crowther, Mondelez Kinh Do’s marketing director, shared that Kinh Do stands for meaningful Vietnamese traditions that bring the family together and keep the culture alive, and with the pandemic lockdown situation in the country, the festival atmosphere that used to line up the streets with stalls of mooncakes was not attainable this year. 

“Through technology, we are able to bring the spirit of the festival online – a testament to the fact that nothing can stop Kinh Do in keeping cultural traditions alive,” said Crowther. 

Publicis Vietnam’s deputy managing director, Anish Kotian, commented, “This is a coming together of head, heart, and hand in one idea. Activating the Power of One, we formed a group of experts across Publicis Groupe from creatives, data, technology, and media to bring the magic of Trung Thu to life.”

Manila, Philippines – Dating app Bumble, the disruptor in the dating scene founded in 2014, has released its first-ever campaign for the Philippines. The app currently has presence globally in 150 countries, where in Southeast Asia, it’s present in markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The campaign titled ‘Make the First Move’ is the first-ever communications of the brand in the country.

With the emergence of the internet, dating apps, in recent years, have become increasingly popular among young people, embracing it as a go-to opportunity to meet and mingle with other people.

Bumble, the women-first dating and networking app, has just released its first brand campaign for the Philippines, which seeks to empower women to take charge of their dating lives.

Bumble enables women to send the first message to start a conversation with a match, setting the tone for ‘kind’ and more ‘respectful’ communication and relationships.

The new campaign, which was created in collaboration with integrated marketing agency MullenLowe Singapore, aims to showcase Bumble’s mission to challenge traditional gender norms by encouraging women to make the first move.

The ‘Make the First Move’ film highlights how taking charge in dating can be exciting, empowering, and fun for women. Staying true to its mission for women, the production for the campaign was also women-led, shot by a crew with over 70% women representation.

Lucille McCart, Bumble’s director for APAC, believes that equitable relationships are key to a happy and healthy life. 

“This campaign shows that while putting yourself out there to make the first move can be taking yourself out of your comfort zone, it can also lead to feeling more empowered, more confident, and making meaningful connections that can lead to lasting relationships,” said McCart.

Bumble believes the campaign comes at a time when Filipinos are leaning into virtual dating, given the impact of the pandemic and strict lockdowns. According to the platform, about 30% of people on Bumble in the Philippines said they want to date virtually only, while a further 42% said they are open to socially distanced dating, with just 25% still preferring to date in real life. 

The film will run across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, as well as TikTok, and local OTT platforms throughout September 2021.

Singapore – Just recently, a new partnership has been launched that involves the Singapore academe with the aim to serve the communications industry through the nurturing of future and next-generation communications professionals. 

The partnership is between integrated communications agency APRW and Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (NTU WKWSCI) who launched the APRW-NTU WKWSCI Student Development Fund. The fund aims to help students fund their final-year projects at the school and in addition, to recognize and celebrate the best projects with the APRW Excellence Award.

The program is part of APRW’s 25th-year anniversary celebration. Through the fund, APRW hopes to empower and enable students of NTU WKWSCI to be one step closer to achieving their dreams as communications professionals. 

APRW plans to raise S$160,000 for the APRW-NTU WKWSCI Student Development Fund, and will be galvanizing its community including clients and partners to contribute to the fund.

To mark the launch of the fund, APRW and NTU WKWSCI jointly held a panel discussion titled ‘Towards Effective Public Messaging Strategies: Implications for Post Pandemic Communication’. The panel highlighted key considerations for the communication of public health issues and research findings on the critical role of mainstream news media as public education tools to correct misinformation during public health crises.

Guest-of-Honour and the Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information & Ministry of National Development, Kiat How Tan, was also present in the signing ceremony which was held at NTU campus on 8 September 2021.

Pei Lin Cho, APRW’s managing director, believes that the success of a company lies not just in the growth, but how they have a greater role as a homegrown company to leave a lasting legacy for the next generation. 

“Together with the support of our clients, business partners, and media friends, we want to contribute our part towards creating a shared future through this partnership with NTU WKWSCI,” said Cho.

May Lwin, the chair of Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, shared that as part of its curriculum, NTU WKWSCI’s Final-Year Project (FYP) aims to provide students with opportunities to apply the knowledge and abilities they have acquired at WKWSCI to real-time societal issues. 

“Our final year projects in various tracks like strategic campaigns, journalism, film, and research have produced output that contributed to improving society on numerous fronts. This is therefore opportune that APRW’s collaboration with WKWSCI will enable our final-year projects to progress even further,” said Lwin.

APRW has also commissioned one of its clients, local e-coffee company Hook Coffee, to create a signature blend called Brew Your Mind to support the fundraising efforts. About 50% of all proceeds from the sale of this coffee will go towards the APRW-NTU WKWSCI Student Development Fund.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Mediaspace.global, a unique form of social network platform targeting the media, marketing, tech, and regulation industries, is primed to enter the Southeast Asian landscape through a collaboration with Malaysian-based communications agency Orchan.

Mediaspace.global was founded in January 2020 with the aim to connect industry players at all levels and provide a platform for them to interact, share, and leverage opportunities and thought leadership. Members of the platform are able to connect with like-minded individuals to explore industry trends, and its Leadership Club covers members from fresh graduates in the industry through to seasoned industry members.

With more than a year since its launch, Mediaspace.global has been connecting industry players primarily across Europe. According to the platform, its Founder Kinga Incze recognized the opportunity to have regional hubs to extend the reach, and to help bring European opportunities to Asia, as well as to bring Asian media, contributors, and brands to Europe and other geographies.

The platform said that 14% of its current membership profile comes from the Asia-Pacific region, clearly presenting the interest from the region, and therefore an opportunity for further curation of content and events relevant to the APAC market of Southeast Asia. 

Incze said that up to now, the media industry has been operating in quite a physical manner and that it is now time to build a global B2B space where Mediaspace.global aims to lead the way.

“We are excited to strengthen our outreach and professional activities through Southeast Asia with this collaborative partnership, and look forward to bringing and sharing exciting ideas, activities, and events to the region, as well as broadening our respective global connections,” said Incze.

Orchan, whose founding team had been keenly contributing to the platform, has now been partnered to help realize the expansion.

Orchan Founding Director, Farrell Tan, commented, “We believe that Mediaspace.global’s unique positioning and current pool of professionals is a welcome addition for professionals wanting to network with other like-minded professionals within media, communications, and even tech across Europe, the Baltic Regions and beyond.”

He adds, “In a time of Covid, and in an increasingly borderless world, where communication and networking [have] the ability to open up doors to various opportunities, it would be remiss for professionals to not leverage on the platform to further position themselves as thought leaders in their respective fields.”

Plans for Mediaspace.global in Asia will include monthly industry online get-togethers, ‘On-point’ thematic workshops, trend-sharing podcasts, and the development of an industry-specific program to help students seek international experience and opportunities via the network.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – To celebrate the true spirit of Malaysia’s National Day, electricity giant Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has launched a new campaign film that aims to send positive energy to Malaysians in the face of adversity.

The new campaign film, which was created in collaboration with marketing agency Entropia, reflects one of TNB’s core values, which is ‘mindfulness’, as it reflects how Malaysians power through adversities to brighten the lives of others during the pandemic.

Titled, ‘Raikan Malaysia Kita’, which translates to ‘Celebrate Our Malaysia’, the animated film tells the stories of four Malaysians, namely Ridzuan Jamal, Yong Xun Ong, Paramesvary Munumsamy, and Nazirah Abd Rahman, who overcame the myriad challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, while also giving back to help others along the way.

In the first story of the film, Jamal, a former engineer from Sabah, started selling buns for RM1 during the pandemic, and with his bun business, he has provided job opportunities to others and fed hungry people. 

Meanwhile, in the story of Ong, also known as Zero Ong, who created the JomStudy mobile app. Despite not having any coding knowledge, Ong has managed to develop the app housing SPM subject notes, which is hugely beneficial to students, especially those adapting to the new normal learning process. 

The third story features the generosity of Munumsamy and her children, who worked together to cook and feed those in need, regardless of race or religion. And finally, the selfless act of Abd Rahman, also known as Mama Pinky, who is equally heart-warming as she willingly takes up two jobs to sustain the medical costs and provide meals for stray cats, despite having 50 cats of her own.

Zaheer Kaisar, the creative director at Entropia, commented that they need stories that will inspire and rally people together, so for this campaign, the team, director, and clients were all inspired to retell a more imaginative story as a way to pay tribute to the amazing Malaysians the film’s characters represent. 

“With illustrations and animation, we could beautifully capture the spirit and positive message behind this national holiday,” said Kaisar. 

Meanwhile, April Toh, Entropia’s principal, shared that by now they have all been stuck at home for more than 500 days, and while the pandemic robbed people of many things, there’s also much to be thankful for. 

“This National Day, we wanted to remind Malaysians that there’s good energy among us, and that spark of positivity will inspire us to soldier on. Because only in unity and kindness, we will prevail,” said Toh.

Singapore – The global measurement and data analytics company, NielsenIQ, has announced a new partnership with global experience management (XM) provider Qualtrics, to help brands drive sustainable growth.

The partnership aims to create comprehensive brand experience solutions, providing organizations with a real-time, 360-degree view of their brand health based on consumer feedback. Through this, NielsenIQ will be using Qualtrics BrandXM™ to power its measurement solution Winning Brands, turning consumer insights into action to differentiate themselves and expand their customer base. 

Winning Brands is NielsenIQ’s proven model for measuring brand awareness, consideration, and image before, during, and after brand exposure to consumers. Qualtrics BrandXM will be identifying essential brand drivers among potential customers, empowering businesses to accelerate customer acquisition and increase their brand value.

Yuneeb Khan, NielsenIQ’s global president for consumer insights, shared NielsenIQ’s best-in-class methodology, combined with Qualtrics’ experience management technology, which will help brands adapt and be successful in any business environment. 

“We are proud to be partnering with Qualtrics to provide brand leaders deeper insights in real-time, allowing them to gain a leg up on their competition,” said Khan.

Meanwhile, R.J. Filipski, the global head of ecosystem at Qualtrics, said that the experiences every organization delivers have never been more important.

“Bringing together NielsenIQ’s leading Winning Brands model with Qualtrics’ proven ability to help organizations deliver what consumers want will give brands a significant advantage in rapidly changing markets. The insights will empower brand leaders to serve consumers on a global scale faster than ever before,” said Filipski.

NielsenIQ said that the joint solution will allow brands to capture key brand metrics, such as Brand Equity Index, a barometer of consumers’ purchase intent correlated with market share, on a single platform. It will align them with business outcomes including awareness, consideration, and usage.

In addition, the solution will provide pre-built analytics, automated workflows, and interactive dashboards from Qualtrics.

Singapore– Automobile manufacturer Audi in Singapore has recently appointed communications consultancy RICE as its new public relations (PR) agency partner for the next three years.

The partnership will see RICE using communications to drive Audi’s brand presence. RICE will also be handling the brand’s strategy and planning, media relations and activations, and content development.

Moreover, RICE will be focusing on supporting Audi’s brand growth in the premium segment and realizing its vision to bring premium electric mobility to Singapore. Leading the charges are the latest Audi e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT, which deems to be the first high-performance electric sports cars from the brand, which are available for pre-orders in Singapore.

Rudi Venter, Audi’s head of marketing for Singapore, shared that they are experiencing one of the most exciting times in automotive history, and they want to play an instrumental role in shaping the transformation as they head into a new age of mobility.

“During the pitch process, RICE demonstrated a clear alignment with us on this vision, as well as their strategic and creative thought process and ideas. We are excited to embark on a new journey with them as our PR partner,” said Venter.

Meanwhile, James Brasher, the managing partner at RICE, commented they are really looking forward to building brand love for a brand that they already love. 

“Not just through the Audi cars, but also through driving experiences, and participating in conversations in the wider mobility space,” said Brasher.

In June this year, RICE also announced its partnership with IWG in Singapore and Hong Kong, two of IWG’s key hubs in Asia. The agency was selected as IWG’s partner after a comprehensive review of its communication partners worldwide.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – In celebration of Merdeka, the Independence Day of Malaysia, oil and gas company Petronas has launched a new animated film to remind Malaysians to face the challenges ahead with ‘resilience’ and ‘love’. 

The new animated film was created in collaboration with Ensemble Worldwide, the creative agency within media marketing solutions IPG Mediabrands.

Titled, ‘Demi Cinta’, which in English translates to “in the name of love”, the film features a song composed by renowned Malaysian composer Mohariz Yaakup and singer Vanessa Reynauld. It follows the stories of Malaysians from different walks of life, all of whom face their own challenges. Through it all, they are reminded of the ‘love’ they have around them, such as ‘love’ for their children, family, and country, lifting their spirits and getting them through their darkest times.

Datin Anita Azrina Abdul Aziz, PETRONAS’ senior general manager of group strategic communications, commented that they wanted to continue the storytelling journey through progressive means while staying true to their signature of evoking profound emotions to promote unity in Malaysia. 

“‘Demi Cinta’ is a love song we dedicate to all Malaysians, a theme song of our strive and strides in overcoming challenges to progress as one big family,” said Aziz.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Nazril Ibrahim, the creative director of Ensemble Worldwide, shared that ‘Demi Cinta’ is a message of ‘hope’, ‘resilience’, and ‘love’ for one another through tough times, and when thinking about this film, they will take a step back and look at the lives of Malaysians today.

“Regardless of our race, religion, or status in life, we have all gone through tremendous upheaval. Despite this, we wanted to show how far we’ve come to survive this pandemic. No matter the difference in our journeys, we all have hope for the same destination – a hope for a better Malaysia. And what better way to do it, than through song,” said Ibrahim.

The film was released last 29 August on TV, and PETRONAS’ official YouTube channel and Facebook page, reaching over one million views overnight.

Manila, Philippines – Security Bank Corporation’s consumer finance arm, SB Finance Corporation (SBF), has partnered with Grab Philippines to offer personal loans to Grab users, driver-partners, and merchant-partners through Grab’s superapp.

The partnership will enable Grab users to apply for an SB Finance personal loan of up to ₱2M with payment terms of up to 36 months. It aims to support Grab’s diverse ecosystem and provide more value-added products for a targeted market segment while growing its loan portfolio. 

The loan application will be through an online process and applicants can expect funds to be released in five days.

“Our strategic partnership with Grab Philippines aims to assist Filipinos by conveniently extending personal loans for their needs. We’re optimistic that Grab users, driver, delivery, and merchant-partners will be able to experience a holistic digital lending experience as we navigate the new normal,” said Abbie Casanova, SB Finance’s CEO and president.

Meanwhile, Erwin Yamsuan, Grab’s head of financial services for the Philippines, shared that the superapp has strived to provide value to consumers and stakeholders and empower them by leveraging its technology and offering its suite of reliable and convenient products and services. 

“The partnership with SB Finance will give our users more access to much-needed financing which they can use to pursue business plans, do home improvement, or pay for health emergencies, among others. We hope that through these loans, consumers can sustain or improve their quality of life, especially during this pandemic,” said Yamsuan.

Grab said that through its Grab Financial Group, it will be offering several financial products to its driver, delivery, and merchant partners. These include offline and online loans, purchase financing, and postpaid fuel cards for driver-partners. It will also offer working capital loans for merchants. 

On the consumer side, Grab also has its PayLater service that allows consumers to pay for Grab services a month later, in one monthly bill, while GrabPay will also be giving its users a more rewarding experience as consumers earn GrabRewards points for their purchases using the service. These points can then be used to avail of discounts, and deals on Grab-related services and other merchant partners.