Tag: Technology

Singapore – Out-of-home (OOH) technology solutions provider Vistar Media has identified Southeast Asia (SEA) as a key growth market following significant investment from both advertisers and media owners across the region.

As advertisers across travel, CPG, retail, finance, tech, entertainment and more industries continue to recognise the value of programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) solutions, brands are increasingly testing and leveraging the channel for their marketing efforts both at home and in new regional markets.

Advertisers using Vistar Media’s marketplace in SEA have increased by 120% over the last 12 months with no signs of slowing down. This proves media investment in the channel across brands and agencies is growing tremendously – signalling a rise in confidence in programmatic DOOH as a trusted, must-have medium in an omnichannel media mix. 

As a result, Vistar Media’s team in SEA grew fivefold as it continues to expand its on-the-ground resources and presence in Singapore, with imminent plans to expand team operations into Thailand this year.

Talking about this growth, Ben Baker, managing director for Vistar Media APAC, explained, “The advertising market in Southeast Asia is booming, and with a greater understanding of OOH as a channel, regional and global advertisers can seamlessly tap into a new, fresh way to reach their target audiences. DOOH specifically enables brands to take a data-driven, personalised approach with campaigns, ensuring they’re delivering relevant messaging to the people that matter most to them, at the exact right moment.

Meanwhile, Franck Vidal, director of Southeast Asia sales & partnerships at Vistar Media, highlighted, “We have been fortunate to strengthen partnerships with new leading and innovative media owners in the region including Mediacorp in Singapore, Big Tree and Brandavision in Malaysia, UpMedia and Plan B Media in Thailand, Pitchworks and ONGO SMART ADVERTISING in the Philippines, and Interads and Stickearn in Indonesia, among others.”

“These partnerships have been vital to ensuring that advertisers activating campaigns on Vistar’s DSP and DSP Partners are able to reach critical audiences across premium digital inventory around the world,” he added.

Singapore – Yahoo Advertising has announced the launch of ‘Yahoo Identity Solutions’ for connected TV (CTV) environments, to give advertisers enhanced targeting and measurement for the ID-constrained world, backed by global partnerships with Paramount, Tubi, NBCUniversal, and FreeWheel.

Yahoo Identity Solutions aims to take an integrated, omnichannel approach to the identity-constrained world and consists of two components: Yahoo ConnectID for addressable environments and Next-Gen Solutions for non-addressable environments.

Through the launch of Yahoo Identity Solutions, Yahoo ConnectID and Next-Gen Solutions products will be made available for CTV buys through the Yahoo DSP in Australia and Singapore.

This initiative will then allow advertisers to better target and measure the omnichannel performance of their campaigns across CTV environments, as well as other addressable and non-addressable channels.

Talking about the launch, Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, chief revenue officer at Yahoo, said, “As CTV investments increase, identity signals are declining, impacting targeting and performance across channels, including CTV. Yahoo is committed to helping advertisers evolve with the landscape, safeguarding addressability and measurement for our partners while supporting consumer privacy. Today, we’re excited to introduce Yahoo Identity Solutions to CTV environments, furthering its momentum across the industry.”

Meanwhile, Leo O’Connor, SVP of advertising at Paramount, commented, “Implementing the Yahoo Identity Solution exemplifies Paramount’s commitment to providing best-in-class programmatic activation,” said Leo O’Connor, SVP of Advertising at Paramount. “The enrichment of our premium inventory with Yahoo ConnectID will allow our clients to optimise their campaigns with precision targeting and accurate performance insights.”

Singapore – Hoppr, a CTV platform that provides premium TV ad space with a unique “first in market” guaranteed view, announced its partnership with Magnite, an independent sell-side advertising company. Together, they hope to give local buyers access to a new category of premium merchandise on the TV menu guide. 

The TV menu guide is a brand-new area on the TV unit where advertising is now available because of Hoppr’s technology. To guarantee marketers that their advertising is seen, it only activates advertisements when customers hold a remote. Furthermore, Hoppr gives marketers access to unmatched data, performance insights, and targeting information about the households that interact with the advertisements.

Hoppr will be able to provide this inventory programmatically for the first time by utilising Magnite’s technology. Through this partnership, advertisers will have more access, allowing them to interact with customers on the living room’s main screen.

Speaking about the partnership, Gavin Buxton, managing director, Asia at Magnite, said, “As competition increases across the CTV landscape, Hoppr is creating new opportunities to help media owners make the most of their assets and revolutionising TV advertising through its innovative technology. We’re excited to be their first programmatic partner as they embark on their global journey, beginning in Singapore, and look forward to working with them to drive increased capabilities for their cutting-edge CTV supply.” 

Meanwhile, Joe Prusz, CEO of Hoppr, stated, “We chose to partner with Magnite, the leading supply-side company for premium CTV publishers globally. They will provide Hoppr with scale and reach in Singapore, our first market. We are committed to delivering ultra-premium inventory from Singapore’s premium triple play operator StarHub, through next-generation engagement combining the best of linear, digital and data.” 

He added, “As advertisers get closer to supply and desire publisher-direct relationships, Magnite’s industry-leading technology makes it easy for the largest advertising companies to engage directly with us through programmatic. We know that TV remains the greatest medium to tell a story, using sight, sound and motion. It is only through our tech that households can be targeted with precision, using data insight to curate an audience that is guaranteed to watch the ad.”

Singapore – Global cloud communications provider Vonage, a part of Ericsson, has announced the launch of generative AI for Vonage Conversational Commerce to provide better support for businesses. 

Leveraging the advanced generative AI capabilities of Jumper.ai that are seamlessly integrated with its Conversational Commerce solution, Vonage equips businesses with the resources necessary to establish personalised, real-time connections with customers across various platforms. This approach enhances the acquisition of valuable customer data and optimises operational efficiency through automation.

The latest enhancements to the Vonage Conversational Commerce solution, driven by generative AI, like the addition of a marketing template content generator, live chat assistance, and intuitive knowledge base inquiries, are making an impact on customer interactions across various touchpoints for modern enterprises, benefiting agent, marketing, and customer support teams alike.

Core to these new AI-powered capabilities is the introduction of AI-powered assistance in live chat interactions. The live chat will help agents tailor their responses and provide better customer service in real-time. 

Through enhancements that boost live chat response times and refine communication by providing agents with tools to adjust their tone and responses accurately, AI is empowering businesses to elevate agent productivity and enhance overall communication effectiveness.

Also part of the new offering is a content generator, which is designed for crafting WhatsApp-based marketing templates, empowering brands to speed and simplify the production of diverse marketing content and significantly reduce the workload on marketing teams. By cutting down on the time and effort needed to create different marketing messages, marketing teams can now handle multiple campaigns while ensuring each message connects with individual customers. These user-friendly templates enable businesses to establish meaningful connections that generate genuine leads and boost profitability.

Additionally, Vonage’s conversational commerce can now provide AI-powered answers through Knowledge Base, helping reduce human dependency and allowing a knowledge base AI bot to interpret user queries, parse through knowledge base documents, and answer user queries directly.

By utilising documents uploaded as the knowledge base to respond to queries and streamline customer support, Knowledge Base eliminates the need for canned, impersonal responses, delivering a more personalised experience for the customer. 

Vonage Conversational Commerce users can also now initiate WhatsApp referral campaigns right from the dashboard, giving them the ability to acquire new customers without additional marketing overhead costs. 

Lastly, Vonage has introduced Conversational Commerce APIs, allowing third-party apps to integrate with the Jumper.ai dashboard. This facilitates conversational marketing and commerce capabilities through integration with platforms like MoEngage and Salesforce Marketing Cloud. These APIs empower marketers and product owners to upgrade from basic notifications to interactive conversations, leveraging Vonage’s capabilities to share product catalogues and facilitate transactions, thereby converting notifications into sales.

Generative AI-powered enhancements to the Vonage Conversational Commerce powered by Jumper.ai solution are currently in beta and will be generally available in the second quarter of 2024. 

Savinay Berry, EVP of product and engineering at Vonage, said, “We are seeing a significant increase in demand for integrated AI capabilities that can easily be expanded across platforms as businesses recognise the efficiency and customisation possibilities that generative AI offers. By integrating state-of-the-art generative AI capabilities with our Conversational Commerce solution, we are empowering users to generate creative content, automate tasks, and improve the overall user experience.” 

Speaking on these updates, Krishna Baidya, Sr. director of information and communication technologies at Frost & Sullivan, also shared, “Advancements in generative AI can be harnessed to significantly enhance Conversational Commerce solutions, empowering e-commerce marketers and online retailers to seamlessly connect with potential customers while delivering a personalised experience.” 

“Infusing generative AI with the knowledge base, brands can respond to queries and streamline customer support, ensuring efficient and reliable self-service options during conversations. Adding AI-powered assistance in live chat interactions will boost agent productivity and communication effectiveness,” she added. 

Meanwhile, Kamila Skötsch, global CRM team lead at HolidayPirates, said, “With WhatsApp and Vonage, we’ve been able to better identify and market to the top 25 percent of our active subscribers. Our subscribers using WhatsApp are faster to act on deals than people using other channels, generating more traffic to our partners with click-through rates as high as 40 percent and some messages receiving a 97 percent open rate.” 

USA – Quantcast, a global advertising technology company, announced three new appointments to its APAC sales team today, following its continuous expansion efforts in Australia and Southeast Asia. All of the appointments will take effect immediately. 

Alara Yenisey joins ANZ as client success manager, while Koh ChewHoi and Amanda Soh take up client success manager and senior sales manager roles at the Singapore office, respectively. 

Yenisey, who will have her headquarters in Melbourne, has a track record in client management, digital media, and advertising, which she brings to Quantcast. Prior to joining Quantcast, Yenisey worked for News Corp Australia, UM, OMD, and SBS as a key account manager and in digital planning. There, she worked with both domestic and international clients like McDonald’s, Coles, and Optus.

ChewHoi is a digital specialist with more than ten years of experience in media and publishing, mostly in Singapore. ChewHoi has worked in management at Performics, iProspect, Zenith, and Singapore Press Holdings across her career.

Soh brings sales and account management expertise from the APAC digital advertising sector to Quantcast. She will be in charge of leading initiatives to boost income and developing strategic alliances with important clients throughout the area in her new position.

Prior to joining Quantcast, Soh oversaw initiatives to increase the platform’s market share while working for Twitter (now X) as the Southeast Asia agency lead and client partner. She was also employed by Oracle, Amnet, and MEC as a senior account manager. 

Speaking about the appointments, Sonal Patel, vice president, APAC at Quantcast, said, “We’re excited to expand our sales and client management team in the region as we continue to grow. Amanda, Alara and Koh all bring a depth of experience in their respective markets, and a passion for enhancing client relationships. Quantcast has significantly bolstered its Australia and Southeast Asian operations over the past several months, reflecting a genuine commitment to growing our APAC footprint and strengthening our relationships with our clients. The sales team is well-placed to extend our efforts in the APAC market.”

Meanwhile, Yenisey said, “As a digital-first marketer, Quantcast’s dedication to leading the market in effective, accurate digital advertising makes it an attractive place to work. I’m excited to join the growing ANZ team and look forward to bringing my extensive agency experience to drive measurable outcomes for Quantcast clients.” 

Chewhoi also said, “Quantcast has become one of the premier digital advertising marketers across Asia and I’m excited to be part of such an illustrious organisation. With a passion for improving the client experience, I’m looking forward to bringing my experience to help grow the client books across Asia.” 

And lastly, Soh said, “Having worked in the APAC digital sales industry for most of my career, I’ve had a front row seat to Quantcast’s ongoing growth and domination in the market. I’m excited to be joining the team at a pivotal time for the organisation as it seeks to further drive revenue and new client partnerships, particularly across Asia.”

Singapore – Integral Ad Science, a worldwide media measurement and optimization platform, today announced a partnership with Snap Inc. This agreement seeks to provide advertisers with greater transparency during their Snapchat campaigns by employing IAS’ AI-powered total media quality (TMQ) brand safety and suitability measurement tool.

Compliant with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) guidelines, the newest product offers marketers the benefit of independent verification together with reliable and open industry data. Frame-by-frame analysis of images, audio, and text is used in IAS’s Total Media Quality solution to provide insights into video content while guaranteeing the most accurate assessment at scale. 

Speaking about the partnership, Lisa Utzschneider, CEO of IAS, said, “We are excited to partner with Snap to deliver our best-in-class measurement solution for marketers to safeguard and scale their businesses on Snapchat. Snap is focused on developing ad offerings in a premium and safe content ecosystem, and our partnership will give advertisers actionable data to maximise their investment across Snapchat.”

Meanwhile, Patrick Harris, president of Americas at Snap, expressed, “We’re thrilled to partner with IAS to offer Snapchat advertisers an additional layer of brand safety and suitability. We’ve built safety into the fundamental architecture of our platform and are dedicated to providing our community and partners a healthy and safe experience. We look forward to continuing to invest in products and partnerships across the brand safety ecosystem.” 

Singapore – Accenture has formed a partnership with Adobe to jointly develop industry-specific solutions. They intend to help enterprises create content at scale and alter their content supply chains by leveraging Adobe Firefly, Adobe’s family of creative generative AI models. 

Accenture intends to include Adobe Firefly Custom Models in its Accenture Song marketing services. With the help of this integration, clients will be able to use their proprietary data and brand guidelines to train customised models with the industry-specific insights that are needed. Designed for commercial use, Firefly is accessed through Adobe Creative Cloud and Experience Cloud apps, as well as APIs via Firefly Services. 

Marketers can create particular campaigns by producing content that matches their brand’s aesthetic and visual language. Then, by utilising effect analysis and performance statistics, these programs may be continuously improved. Iterative strategies reduce the need for manual modifications and streamline the process of creating content. 

Accenture’s data and AI engineering skills will be leveraged by the new solutions, which are first aimed at the automotive, retail and consumer goods, financial services, and health industries. They will also integrate Accenture’s strategy for creating cohesive brand experiences with its approach to responsible AI.

Through the integration of these solutions with Adobe’s wider range of generative AI-powered tools and client systems, businesses can gain the benefits of content that is industry-specific, locally relevant, and internationally consistent. In addition, Accenture engineers will receive specific training in Adobe Firefly so they can help clients with generative AI initiatives. 

Accenture will use Adobe Firefly in its marketing division as part of the partnership to help staff members create creative material effectively. Accenture is able to customise content for each of the 19 sectors it services by using a Firefly Custom Model that is adapted to its unique brand style and design language. 

Speaking about the partnership, David Droga, chief executive officer, Accenture Song, said, “Brands today are looking for ways to go beyond experimenting with generative AI to achieve real impact. Whether it’s consumer goods companies scaling their product data and images in e-marketplaces worldwide, or healthcare providers ensuring brand standards for patient safety, the demand for scalable generative AI solutions is increasing. By bringing together Adobe technology with Accenture Song’s tech-powered creativity, we can help democratize the ability for teams to develop creative assets and accelerate content supply chain transformation.”

Meanwhile, David Wadhwani, president, Digital Media Business, Adobe, stated, “Businesses have an unprecedented opportunity to leverage generative AI to deliver truly personalised experiences that connect with their customers. Firefly is an enterprise grade solution that powers a full suite of generative capabilities – from content generation to editing to assembly – through our industry-leading applications and enterprise automation APIs. We are excited to partner with Accenture to define and implement solutions that empower organisations around the world to harness the power of AI.” 

Furthermore, Jim LaLonde, lead of the Accenture Adobe Business Group, commented, “In recognition of our technology and industry experience and decades-long relationship, Adobe has selected Accenture to help develop and deliver industry-specific generative AI capabilities that will give organisations the tools they need to unlock new value. Together with Adobe, we’re continuing to invest in the talent and technology needed to drive next generation experiences for our clients.”

Singapore – Global creative agency VML has launched its inaugural ‘Asia-Pacific MACHathon,’ inviting innovators, thinkers, and technology enthusiasts to demonstrate the MACH (Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless) in tackling real-world difficulties. 

VML is holding this in partnership with MACH Alliance, entries will be judged by a jury of APAC brand and technology executives. A portion of the $4.7K USD prize pool will be up for grabs for participants to compete for.

The week-long event, which begins on April 23, is currently accepting registrations. It brings together developers, designers, and creatives to work together on creating MACH solutions and demonstrations that are customised to a real-world brief.

On May 9, 2024, an online awards event will spotlight and commemorate the eight champions from various categories whose winning concepts were chosen. The event, which will be broadcast regionally via hubs in Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, Delhi, Mumbai, and Thailand, will be the first time the region comes together to celebrate creative MACH solutions. 

In June 2020, the MACH Alliance was established with the goal of helping businesses make use of MACH technologies. These technologies facilitate the creation of a corporate tech stack that is modular, pluggable, scalable, replaceable, and capable of constant improvement through agile development in response to changing business requirements. 

Holly Hall, managing director of the MACH Alliance, said, “Customer expectations are disrupting every market, and traditional legacy enterprise technology suites can’t keep up. The MACH Alliance presents and advocates for composable, truly open and future-proof best-of-breed architecture – microservices-based, API-first, cloud-native SaaS, and headless.” 

She added, “We know that just the spark of an idea can ignite a game-changing improvement or innovation, and are excited that VML is bringing together the region’s finest innovators to show what’s possible in the first-ever MACH Hackathon in Asia-Pacific.” 

Meanwhile, Hasan Hasnie, chief technology officer at VML APAC, said, “We know first-hand how by leveraging the latest advancements in cloud and API design you can create highly performant, fast, and scalable customer experiences, far ahead of the competition. We are excited to host the region’s first MACHathon and will be looking for entries which demonstrate the power of these technologies for creating connected customer experiences which inspire action, drive engagement, and deepen customer relationships at speed and scale.”

United States – Global technology company IBM has announced that is laying off staff across its marketing and communications teams, as previously reported by CNBC.

According to media reports, the IBM layoffs were made by the company’s chief communications officer Jonathan Adashek in a meeting that only lasted seven minutes amongst those in the marketing and communications teams who will be affected.

The layoffs reflect IBM’s rapid move to replace nearly 8,000 jobs in the company with AI, as well as massively upskilling all of its employees on AI. Its CEO, Arvind Krishna, previously told CNBC that it will be cutting 3,900 positions back in January 2023.

“In 4Q earnings earlier this year, IBM disclosed a workforce rebalancing charge that would represent a very low single digit percentage of IBM’s global workforce, and we expect to exit 2024 at roughly the same level of employment as we entered with,” the company stated.

IBM joins a slew of tech companies making significant layoffs this year including Cisco, Amazon, Snap, Okta, PayPal, and Microsoft.

New York, USA – Global media platform Teads has announced an expanded exclusive global partnership with LG Ad Solutions for CTV native advertising inventory across the Asia-Pacific region. 

The expanded partnership will cover Australia, New Zealand, and the other ten countries in APAC, including Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and India. 

These new territories will extend Tead’s current exclusive footprint on LG Smart TVs in France and Belgium. Currently the exclusive premium associate for the first touch point on LG TVs in these regions, Teads is advancing the accessibility of high-quality advertiser engagement on the largest screen within households.

In France, Teads and Danone teamed up for Danone’s inaugural CTV campaign as an Olympic Games sponsor, using LG Ad Solutions’ unique CTV Native format. With Teads Studio and detailed data, they reached audiences on different devices, ensuring Danone’s presence in a top-quality, safe environment for brands.

Teads and LG Ad Solutions’ worldwide exclusive agreement adds to their current partnerships in Central and Eastern Europe on LG Smart TVs. This wider coverage lets advertisers use LG Ad Solutions’ Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology for better targeting. The seamless integration of ads and precise targeting ensures viewers get relevant experiences while advertisers enjoy improved media performance.

In these regions covered by the expanded partnership, brands can now use LG Ad Solutions’ ACR data to learn about how LG TV users watch shows and ads using privacy-friendly visual and audio recognition tools. Teads can then target particular audiences based on the type of TV consumption (live or streaming), content and ad exposure, and other relevant viewership data.

LG Ad Solutions’ advertising formats create a bridge between linear TV and OTT content consumption on the largest screen in the home, providing prominent brand placement, interactive ad formats, and direct access to advertised content and products.

Furthermore, Teads also collaborates closely with industry-recognised partners like Kantar and Cint (Lucid) to provide thorough and dependable measurement solutions. This gives clients strong insights and performance data, helping them evaluate their campaign effectiveness and make smart decisions.

This partnership with LG Ad Solutions helps Teads reach new CTV audiences and gives brands the chance to use Teads’ holistic omnichannel targeting strategy for precise and effective campaigns across different screens.

Combined with tailored ad formats that further amplify brand storytelling, Teads empowers brands to cut through the clutter and captivate viewers on the biggest screen, thereby maximising engagement and driving measurable results in the ever-evolving digital advertising landscape.

With customised ad formats that enhance brand storytelling, Teads enables brands to stand out and engage viewers on the largest screen, boosting involvement and delivering measurable outcomes in the constantly changing digital advertising world.

Bertrand Quesada, co-founder and co-CEO of Teads, said, “Our expanded partnership with LG Ad Solutions enables brands and agency partners to extend exceptional creative across all screens and further their storytelling with vast audiences. In just less than a year, we’ve already seen tremendous success in France and Belgium as they embrace CTV native advertising to leverage omnichannel strategies. We look forward to our elevated relationship as we deepen our CTV presence globally with a world-class leader.”

Also speaking on the partnership, Serge Matta, president of Global Ad Sales at LG Ad Solutions, commented, “As smart TVs are increasingly becoming the central device of households around the world, we are thrilled to expand our exclusive partnership with Teads in these new regions. We’re eager to further elevate our direct-to-glass strategy and shared mission in partnering with brands to deliver incremental audiences.” 

Meanwhile, Thibaud Rivals, lead media manager at Danone Paris, also shared, “The strategy deployed by Teads enabled us to respond to the challenges of media fragmentation and the new uses of our audiences. We were delighted to have been one of the first companies to test this new CTV screen, through the partnership between Teads and LG Ad Solutions.”