Tag: SUBPLACE

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Subscription and rental based online shopping platform SUBPLACE has launched a donation drive to pledge support to seven local women’s NGOs that will be featured in a charity campaign held in conjunction with International Women’s Day.

The seven women’s NGOs featured on SUBPLACE include the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM), PT Foundation, Women of Will (WOW), Purple Lily Sarawak, Stand Up, and Pertubuhan Kebajikan Al-Firdausi.

SUBPLACE hopes that the campaign will help raise awareness about NGOs that have been working tirelessly towards protecting women’s rights and welfare.

Mak Wai Hoong, CEO of SUBPLACE, added that they hope this campaign will draw attention to the plight of women throughout the country who need our support, and to the NGOs that are tirelessly helping them.

“Through campaigns such as our International Women’s Month campaign, we hope to highlight to our subscribers that we don’t just offer home goods, food and electronics or shopping, but our platform also supports charities and NGOs, and we encourage our subscribers to pledge their support with monthly donations of a nominal fee,” he stated.

The platform also hopes that subscriptions will eventually be a mainstay in the consumer lifestyle, as the subscription mechanism makes it an ideal channel for donations to charities and NGOs while also being conveniently accessible by consumers looking to give back.

“SUBPLACE hopes that charity subscriptions can help connect the public to a variety of NGOs working for the public good that may not normally be on their radar, forming a sustainable funding channel between NGOs and the public, so that the former may continue with their good work,” the company said in a press statement.

They added, “By making giving back as easy as one clicks to subscribe, and with the option to cancel anytime as simple as signing up, SUBPLACE hopes that they can help revolutionise charity donations by making it easy and accessible for everyone.”

SUBPLACE’s International Women’s Month will run between 8 to 25 March 2022.

Jumping off the icebreaker of the year, the list this February is another group of brands showcasing innovation and over-the-top creativity. Three out of five are marketing campaigns hailing from Malaysia, with one region-wide; while stories of new leadership appointments, with new hires tasked to take the helm of an Asia-wide team, continue to inspire this month. 

Based on Google Analytics from 16 January to15 February, here are the top 5 stories for February.  

Top 5: SUBPLACE’s ‘Founder Story’ campaign 

When SUBPLACE launched in December, it became the first-of-its-kind, offering an all-in-one marketplace for products on a subscription-based service. In order to encourage merchants to hop on the said business model, it rolled out its ‘Founder story’ campaign. 

The unique proposition that SUBPLACE offers pushed it to similarly offer innovative marketing strategies. In the ‘Founder story’ campaign, it roped in the founders and CEOs of five of its partner brands to talk about each of their brand stories and why they chose the subscription model. The brands featured were probiotic drink Yakult, health and wellness retail chain store, Ogawa, and intimate health and aesthetic clinic, Clinic Rui, among others. 

SUBPLACE CEO Mak WH shared to MARKETECH APAC, “We invited our biz partners to be storytellers, to talk about why they chose to adopt the subscription model in these challenging times, and what their inspiration for doing so was. Through these short features, we also introduce the subscription business model to viewers and convey how this model differs from other business models through first-hand accounts from business owners,” said Mak.

Top 4: dentsu announces new chief growth officer for CXM

Global media and marketing network dentsu international is continuously bolstering its leadership, unveiling veteran hires from time to time; and for its customer experience management business in APAC, it has appointed digital and tech veteran, Rachel Ooi, as its chief growth officer.

Prior to joining dentsu, Ooi has worked for professional services company Accenture as managing director for Industry X.0, the firms’ digital and tech solutions for businesses; and for multinational conglomerate General Electric (GE) as general manager for the ASEAN enterprise sales, as well as leading GE’s Ecosystem Alliance for the APAC region.

For her role, she will be responsible for bolstering dentsu’s CXM regional footprint through new business and organic growth, working closely with the leads of the network’s Media and Creative divisions on integrated opportunities. 

In an exclusive conversation with Ooi, she said that the pandemic has turned the CXM landscape around, where everyone is transiting to a ‘Digital Genesis’ era. 

“In the past, database marketing is the way to go, direct marketing is the way to go. [Right now], we’re talking about leveraging not just on technology, data, but also enhanced creativity, working closely with the ecosystem,” noted Ooi. 

“Here in dentsu, even Merkle, we aim to achieve [and differentiate] by giving competitive advantage to brands and clients. We do that by having a different perspective, no longer just advertising, marketing in siloes, sales, and commerce; we look at it as a full perspective [on] how we can be a strategic partner to clients.” 

Top 3: Creative tech development company Adaptis appoints seasoned business development executive Joven Barceñas as head of growth

Joven Barceñas, former head of advertising and sponsorship sales at Lighthouse Independent Media, the publisher of Singapore-based Marketing Magazine, has been named as head of growth at Adaptis. 

Adaptis is a collective of digital development studios strategically located in Europe and Southeast Asia, providing experience-led technical capabilities to global clients. 

With the role, Barceñas will be responsible for growing the business of the firm through business development and marketing, as well as improving processes within the function. 

Having almost a decade of experience in media, marketing, and technology, Barceñas shared that he chose to further focus on the latter as the industry of technology keeps on evolving and that he aims to be in an environment that presents consistent innovative offerings to improve results for clients.  

“In my current role at Adaptis, I was very fortunate to have been working with very talented people in technology development, and I’m learning a lot about UX, UI, and how machine learning or AI works,” he said. 

Top 2:Kingdom Digital delivers 300 personalized digital ‘thank you’ cards for its 2020 wrap up

Social and content agency Kingdom Digital in Malaysia exercised its expertise in social media and digital creatives when it went the extra mile for its 2020 year-ender special, delivering and publishing over 300 personalized ‘thank you’ cards, to clients, media partners, and employees.  

In the form of 8-second clips, the agency curated a sincere and unique message for each receiver, all posted and published on its Facebook and Instagram Stories. 

Its Head of Strategy Edmund Lou let us in on the agency’s conceptualization process for the initiative, sharing that the team decided to push through with it, knowing how digital cards increased in popularity during limited physical contact at the middle of the pandemic. 

Lou said the team had to appoint designated writers and make use of a proprietary system, Digital Creative Automation (DCA), in order to pull off the moving banners which required 170 varied visuals and copy. 

Top 1: Colgate’s ‘Made for Greatness campaign’

The top story for this month can be considered as a dark horse in its own right–Colgate’s ‘Made for greatness’ campaign which was first released a little while back – in November 2020 – and coming through the ranks, garnering the most views for the month. 

The campaign is for its hardworking formula, Colgate Total, where it featured professional climber and Academy Award-winning documentary director, Jimmy Chin. The spot shows Chin climbing an arduous mountain, but succeeding in the end, bringing the message of strength and ‘greatness’ in tandem with the Colgate brand. 

In an exclusive conversation, Lyndon Morant, Colgate-Palmolive’s regional marketing director, shared that the theme of greatness came about in answering the question “Why did we make Colgate Total?”

“The answer is that we designed [it] for those people, for whom the highest grade [and] the highest performance in everything that they use makes [a] difference,” he said. 

Watch the live report of the top stories for the month on our YouTube channel, where we give you exclusive appearances from the newsmakers themselves.

This is in collaboration with Malaysia-based media company The Full Frontal.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – SUBPLACE, the newly launched subscription platform in Malaysia, has announced its #SUBportingTogether campaign, which will offer discounted subscription services for as low as RM1.   

As a first of its kind, SUBPLACE just launched last December to offer an all-in-one marketplace for subscription-based purchases. With this new campaign, SUBPLACE aims to assert its “commitment to help Malaysians get through this difficult time.”

The campaign will run from 1 February to 31 March 2021. Consumers will be able to subscribe to curated subscription boxes containing grocery products, daily necessities, and personal care products, among others, for a fraction of the price. 

Its lowest RM1 subscription deal subscribes users to a vegetable box, an enormous slash from the original RM13.77. Users will also be able to avail discounts from its other curated consumer subscription boxes such as its ‘Snack Pack’ SUB Box, ‘Mom’s Favourite’ SUB Box, and ‘Cook Easy’ SUB Box, which snips away about 20 % off the original fee.

SUBPLACE’s CEO Mak Wai Hoong said the campaign aims to shine more light on the subscription model, believing that many people are still unfamiliar with it. 

“Through this campaign, we hope to introduce consumers to the benefits of subscriptions, both in terms of convenience and cost savings,” said Wai Hoong. 

“We believe that the #SUBportingTogether initiative will benefit more than 100,000 people and help ease the economic pressure on consumers. It also tides businesses over these tough times with a stable recurring income,” added Wai Hoong.

All subscriptions must be placed between the promo period. Participating SUBPLACE merchants include Meet The Chili, Japanese beverage company Dydo Drinco, hairdressing product Mase Group, massage product Itsu, POS system Smart POS and safe box maker Falcon.

All subscription boxes are offered on a free delivery, with the RM1 vegetable box to be availed by pick-up.

Aside from the current promo, SUBPLACE has also launched its top pick deals with a limited period discount. Consumers can subscribe to top pick products at up to 50% discounted price. Participating merchants include The Fresh Company, Jom Makan Place, Ogawa, GOODNITE, Kuvings, among others.

Malaysia – SUBPLACE, a new e-commerce player from Malaysia has recently launched to disrupt the subscription market – although independent players may have been running the rental and subscription model for quite some time, SUBPLACE has emerged to provide a dedicated e-commerce to house all of these brands in one place. 

While SUBPLACE is at it, the e-commerce is not stopping in its tracks of innovation. With a brave new platform, comes a fresh marketing strategy – shifting the spotlight to partner brands and merchants. 

Soft-launched in early December, all products and services on SUBPLACE are offered on a subscription basis, with a portion of non-edible products made available for lease or rent-to-own, where users only need to subscribe once to receive their products and services regularly.

While many e-commerce platforms are rightly hung up on attracting shoppers, SUBPLACE is also showering some love on an equally valuable part of the equation – the partner merchants.

In its ongoing campaign ‘Founder story’, SUBPLACE has rallied founders and top management executives of partner merchants to talk about each of their brand’s vision and story.

Joshua Chin, CEO of computer rental service Smart Rental, on his short feature for SUBPLACE’s ‘Founder story’ campaign

At its early stage, the e-commerce currently features majority of its items from local Malaysian brands computer rental Smart Rental, probiotic drink Yakult, and health and wellness retail chain store Ogawa, as well as bedding manufacturer and furniture company Goodnite, and services from intimate health and aesthetic clinic Clinic Rui.  

In a 3-to 4-minute video, top management from the said brands are given the seat to talk about the brand’s story and promise, and what it means for them to partner with a subscription model platform like SUBPLACE. 

Patrick Wee of local Malaysian wellness clinic Clinic Rui is one of the founders featured in the campaign

SUBPLACE cozies the often serious and hard-at-work individuals, capturing them at their candor. Set up in a muted, pitch-black background, executives’ passion are brought into focus.

In one video, Patrick Wee, founder of Clinic Rui, shared how like the healthcare center, he himself values wellness and ‘slowing down’. Wee would also be seen doing yoga at the beginning.

In the feature, Wee said that the subscription model allows for its clinic to offer flexible options to clients, and therefore helps them build trust among customer relationships.

Yakult Malaysia’s Managing Director Hiroshi Himada on his feature for SUBPLACE

In Yakult’s video meanwhile, Hiroshi Himada, its managing director, is captured in his spontaneity with all smiles and even humorously singing repetitive lyrics of ‘Yakult.’

Of course, leading the pack is SUBPLACE’s founder Mak WH, who used the opportunity to share the idea behind SUBPLACE. 

SUBPLACE’s CEO Mak WH

Speaking to MARKETECH APAC, SUBPLACE’s CEO Mak WH said, “We think each brand has [its] own story, but the public may not have an opportunity to know more about these brands, many of which have interesting insights to share.”

“We wanted to give them the opportunity to express first hand why they created their brand and what their motto, their achievements, even their company core values are,” added Mak.

SUBPLACE believes that businesses operate best when they adopt a singular business model, such as a subscription model, and therefore, invited its business partners to be its ‘ambassadors’ of the model brought about by changing consumer behaviors.

“We invited our biz partners to be storytellers, to talk about why they chose to adopt the subscription model in these challenging times, and what their inspiration for doing so was. Through these short features, we also introduce the subscription business model to viewers and convey how this model differs from other business models through first-hand accounts from business owners,” said Mak.

SUBPLACE has already established its online presence across all social media platforms, with the campaign currently running on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, with the short features published on YouTube.

SUBPLACE further shared that as many business partners have come on board the platform, it intends to continuously run the campaign so that more consumers are able to ‘meet’ the faces behind their favorite brands.

SUBPLACE also revealed that it is currently preparing a new campaign for Chines New Year with the occasion fast approaching.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – As the product rental niche continuously grows, a brave new kid in the block has made its way into the Malaysia market – SUBPLACE, a lifestyle subscription platform, has soft-launched in the country. 

While most subscription markets comprise of independent players, SUBPLACE aims to pioneer a full ecosystem, where its platform brings in different partner brands, allowing consumers to subscribe to a wide range of products and services, ranging from daily necessities, personal care products to furniture, home appliances, and electronics.

With a subscription-based business model, our partners will benefit from a recurring income as well as easy financial forecasting and inventory management, which will ultimately help them achieve greater business sustainability.

Mak Wai Hoong (WH Mak), CEO, SUBPLACE
SUBPLACE’s CEO Mak Wai Hoong

“As for consumers,” its CEO added, “SUBPLACE will be able to offer them a wide variety of products and services with greater flexibility and convenience so that they can better plan their finances.”

All products and services on SUBPLACE are offered on a subscription basis, with non-edible products made available for lease or rent-to-own, where users only need to subscribe once to receive their products and services regularly.

The platform will be operating under two subscription models – SUB and SUB+. SUB is where users will be able to subscribe to their daily necessities and services such as cultured milk drinks, milk powder, diapers, cat food, and more. Products are available as a single plan or in bundles.

Additionally, subscribers are able to cancel subscriptions without obligations or continue the subscriptions on a monthly or long term basis. SUBPLACE’s partner, for example, Yakult, will then fulfill the order by delivering the product directly to the subscribers from their warehouse. 

SUB+, on the other hand, is its subscription for high-value products such as furniture, home appliances, and electronics, all of which come with a warranty as well as servicing and available at a low entry cost.

Mak Wai Hoong added, “We know that our customers want variety and discovery. For many, renting or subscribing to a product or service is also a way to try new things without the commitment of a purchase or concerns of contributing to the landfill. For example, if a person is not really sure if he is going to have a place for the couch a year from now when his lease is up, it feels good to know that he not going to be throwing it into a landfill.”

Aside from the new source of revenue and a prospect of a recurring income, SUBPLACE also aims to make things easier for businesses through its built-in payment gateway, data analytics, user risk assessment, as well as product and service fulfillment, and customer support, among others. 

SUBPLACE said it targets to engage more than 30,000 SMEs and businesses by the end of 2021. 

In early September, another subscription model e-commerce, PopWonders, has forayed into the Malaysia market, where the platform offers brand new items availed by consumers on “monthly boxes”.