Australia – With the original formation of a KITKAT chocolate, everyone knows that the best way to eat it is to break the partitions and enjoy it finger by finger. After all, this is where the famous slogan of the brand comes from, “Have a break, Have a KitKat.” But through the years, people have been less traditional and are taking a bite out of their KITKATs with the way they like and how they think it is most enjoyable.
In a fun and light campaign by Nestlé Australia on TikTok, the brand is finally acknowledging the passionate debate swirling online about the correct way to eat a KITKAT.
Done with creative agency Wunderman Thompson, the ‘Have a bite’ social campaign sees KITKAT jump in to respond to the many people proudly flaunting their innovative and somewhat intriguing approach to the correct KITKAT consumption method.
The natural tendency is to tear the pack, break off a finger, and snap in half. But some people have opted to take a giant bite out of all four fingers, or even nibbling off the chocolate layers.
The campaign, which will be running until 30 September, kicked off with prominent TikTok creators throwing their voices into the debate by showing how they have a bite. Roped in the commotion to shed more light is screen legend Michael Caton who bit into a KITKAT himself and asking Aussies, “Is this wrong?”
Commenting on the campaign, João Braga, chief creative officer of Wunderman Thompson, said, “As Australia’s favorite chocolate bar, we know that people have some serious love for the iconic treat, but we wanted to discover new ways to engage with the fanbase online. What better way to do this than by jumping into the heartfelt and passionate debate over the true, right, and ‘correct’ way to eat a KITKAT.”
Joyce Tan, Nestlé’s head of marketing, added, “We knew it was time to finally weigh in on the conversation regarding how to properly eat a KITKAT and acknowledge the weird and wonderful ways Aussies eat theirs.”
“Teaming up with Wunderman Thompson, we were able [to] leverage the power of TikTok creators and iconic Australian actor Michael Caton to generate real-time conversation about the many ways that a KITKAT is enjoyed,” Tan said.
In line with the social campaign, KITKAT releases limited-edition packs showing variations of the iconic bitten KITKAT.
Ultimately, Nestlé said in a press release, KITKAT is OK with how you choose to eat your KITKAT “as long as you’re taking a break to enjoy it.”
To show that ‘other’ ways of having a bite are at least being entertained by the brand, KITKAT is testing the waters with some limited-edition packs, where the iconic snapping fingers printed on the pack are replaced with some of the different ways Aussies bite their KITKATs.
According to Wunderman Thompson, the campaign has gained 4.3 million views organically across TikTok and Instagram in the first 48 hours of launch, and the attention of some very passionate KITKAT fans with more than 70,000 votes in a Twitter debate.
Singapore – TikTok Singapore has recently launched a week-long #MentalHealthAwarenesscampaign, where it has been rolling out a series of global live streams as part of ongoing efforts to invest in its community’s mental well-being. The campaign runs until 16 September.
On Monday, 13 September, local non-profit organization in Singapore, Mental ACT, went live to discuss ways in which people can take charge and ownership of their mental health.
The upcoming fresh live stream will be Wednesday, 15 September, beginning at 8 pm SGT, featuring TikTok’s Head of Regional Policy, Trust & Safety for APAC, Jamin Tan. Tanwill be joined by Seah Yang Hee, Deputy CEO and group director for service planning & funding in the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), as well as by non-profit partner Limitless, and TikTok wellness creators Yanni Ruth and Nur Hidayah Azman.
The group will be sharing how improving mental health starts with a conversation, discussing their lived experiences, and how we can, collectively, help make sure that quality mental health care is available to everyone who needs it.
“People need more than static pages for help; they need avenues to feel heard, and platforms that are safe for their self-expression,” shared Tan.
“We are inspired by how our community in Singapore has truly opened up a conversation about mental health, sharing and uniting others through their own inspiring stories. That is why we are pleased to be working with industry experts and mental health advocates in our efforts to raise #MentalHealthAwareness. We care deeply about our community, and will always look for new ways in which we can help to nurture their well-being,” Tan added.
Through the campaign, TikTok invites Singaporeans to engage openly and bravely with important mental well-being issues. Aside from partnering with local non-profit organizations and independent experts, TikTok has also enlisted the presence of its ‘Youth For Good’ creators, an initiative launched by the platform that seeks to empower youths to raise awareness on mental and cyber wellness.
Users can tune in live at @tiktoksg to join the conversations.
TikTok first introduced #MentalHealthAwareness globally last May to mark this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week.
Singapore – Nativex, a mobile-first advertising platform, has announced that it has entered the TikTok Marketing Program in the Southeast Asian region, making it one of TikTok’s partners present in the regional market.
According to the official partner page, Nativex will offer primarily their XMP service, which is a multi-channel media-buying tool that allows cross-channel campaign management. Furthermore, XMP by Nativex also offers a full-suite of features designed to give brands full transparency and granularity over the creative component of your campaigns and AI-powered data analytics that focus on improving campaign return of investment (ROI), return on ad spend (ROAS), and lifetime value (LTV).
Qualifying technology companies inducted into the TikTok Marketing Partners Program have passed a vetting process anchored by different evaluation criteria. Partners have demonstrated diverse specialities and industry expertise, as well as proven track records in creating, implementing and measuring advertising campaigns that drive success and business outcomes for marketers and brands.
At the moment, Nativex offers a suite of services and tools for brands across a range of verticals, such as gaming and e-commerce. These include ‘XploreChina’ which is a one-stop mobile marketing solution empowering brands to break into the China market, including acquisition, monetization, and creative services; and ‘TopWorks Creative Studio’ which is a global creative network that helps brands develop excellent creatives, equipped with data and insights from local markets.
Irene Yang, managing director at Nativex, has expressed that they are proud to be recognized as a TikTok Marketing Partner, and join a select handful of top agencies that have been consistently delivering campaign results for brands across the platform.
“This stands testament to the strong relationships we have with our customers, as well as our ability to achieve exceptional outcomes across different verticals and industries. As we continue to drive campaigns and expand our footprint globally, we are committed to broadening our expertise and service offering, and bringing greater value to our partners and customers,” Yang stated.
Singapore – Sales used to be a one-off thing, or at least a seasonal event that sees it happening after a particular interval, but now, sales, in the mid of the rise of e-commerce, has now become so much more than just brands offering discounts, but has turned to be a ‘celebration’ of some sort – a celebration of consumers’ buying power and merchants’ easier access to revenue. With this, mega sales are now being held on a regular basis, specifically every identical date of the month – such as ‘7.7’ for July, or ‘8.8’ for August.
The trend on mega sales events quickly transcended online commerce, and is now being joined by offline brands as well. This then makes brands think, how is the consumer behaving amid all this hoo-ha? Short-video platform TikTok conducted a 2021 survey among over 1,800 Southeast Asian users in March 2021, where 82 percent admitted to purchasing a new brand instead of a regular brand during mega sales.
Moreover, the same survey demonstrated that over half, 55 percent, made unexpected purchases during the said sales events, even when they had prepared a shopping list. This comes as an interesting insight as brands are in constant search of ways to attract new buyers. Adding to this, TikTok’s data also found that during this time, consumers are more open to exploring, with them shopping more across all categories.
Consumers’ likelihood to demonstrate an adventurous disposition during these mega sales events can be chalked up to the feelings of elation that shoppers have when these special sales arrive. According to a Nielsen Global Authenticity study, likewise commissioned by the short-video platform, 67 percent of users felt ‘happy’ or ‘excited’ towards the mega sales shopping season.
On that feel-good factor, it seems that shoppers are not only looking to the shopping event itself to ignite these positive feelings but are also expecting it at every step of the experience – becoming more inclined to engage in ‘shoppertainment’ or the fusion of entertainment and shopping. Brands themselves have raised the bar, leveraging today’s digital platforms in order to allure shoppers such as through live streams, short videos, and even augmented reality.
The same Nielsen study shows that 83 percent of users prefer to see video ads from brands over gifs or text posts.
Ng Chew Wee, the head of business marketing for TikTok in Southeast Asia, said that people have ceased simply searching for products, but are also searching for ‘people’.
“This year, we are seeing a rise of Shoppertainment – a convergence of content and commerce – where shoppers expect not just to be sold to, but to be entertained as well. Instead of people searching for products, products are now searching for people. We hope these insights can help businesses own their Mega Sales moment and engage with TikTok’s community of happy users. Happy users, happy buyers!” said Ng Chew Wee.
Singapore – Despite a huge percentage among nations getting their Covid jabs, some countries are still on the journey of counteracting vaccine hesitancy from citizens. Brands and enterprises are leveraging their platforms to spread vaccine education, and joining the move is TikTok, which has announced a collaboration with Gov.sg under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) to bring the national vaccine education campaign, #IGotMyShotSG, encouraging young adult users in the country to get vaccinated.
The partnership is part of the platform’s ‘TikTok for Good’ efforts in support of Singapore’s nationwide vaccination drive, and to provide a safe online space for users to gather trusted information about the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program.
The #IGotMyShotSG campaign includes Gov.sg’s first-ever ‘Gamified Branded Effect’, a game where users can have fun challenging other users to determine the best ‘COVID SLAYER’. The game also creatively weaved in bite-sized vaccine-related facts to encourage users to get vaccinated. Available on the TikTok trending effects panel, the app users can find a range of effects to inspire their creativity as they share their personal vaccination experiences.
Users can also participate using the hashtag #IGotMyShotSG and view vaccine-related videos from the broader TikTok community on the app’s Discover page. This not only fosters a sense of community through shared COVID-19 vaccination experiences but also addresses users’ questions around COVID-19 vaccines.
Soffy Hariyanti, the director of campaigns and production department at MCI’s Public Communications Division, shared that they have been reaching out to different segments of the population via targeted communications, and TikTok allows them to reach more youths using a platform that is popular with them.
“Through formats that engage and appeal to youths like gamification and live streams on TikTok, we aim to address key concerns that youths may have about COVID-19 vaccinations and dispel myths,” said Hariyanti.
Meanwhile, TikTok SEA’s Head of Public Policy Teresa Tan commented that in support of the country’s nationwide vaccination drive, they are doing their part to provide access to reliable information about the COVID-19 vaccination program.
“Through working with the government, public health organizations, and experts, we are committed to contributing to important public health goals,” said Tan.
In addition, TikTok has worked with public health experts from Singapore’s COVID-19 Vaccination Expert Committee, healthcare professionals, frontliners, and content creators, to launch a seven-part #IGotMyShotSG live series, which will start from 12 July until 22 July 2021. It aims to increase the national vaccination rate so the country can look forward to re-opening safely.
According to TikTok, the finale of the live series will be even more special. Titled, ‘Vaccinate Without Fear’, the live show will be hosted by TikTok creator Fauzi Aziz, and graced by the Minister for Health, Ong Ye Kung. Its panel will feature Professor Vernon Lee, the senior director of Communicable Diseases Division, Quek Shu Hui, a spin instructor and COVID-19 survivor, and Shahrizal Salleh, a chef and TikTok creator.
They will come together to discuss Singapore’s plan to accelerate testing, tracing, and vaccination in the next phase of the fight against COVID-19 and address how everyone can carry on with their lives in this new normal.
TikTok also announced its collaboration with non-profit organization Temasek Foundation. From 30 July 2021, through the organization’s first-ever hashtag challenge on TikTok, #FlexYourVax, users can share their vaccination journeys with specially curated interactive filters that help open up new, unique and meaningful possibilities for storytelling.
Singapore – As part of its ongoing commitment to promote online kindness, TikTok has launched a global campaign called #CreateKindness, a creative video series that aims to raise awareness on online bullying and how people can choose kindness.
The campaign features the real and personal stories of six diverse creator-animators, namely @milkymichii, @recokh, @kellyemmrich, and @amyrightmeow, as well as @rosie.gif, and @king.science.
Each creator will be illustrating their personal experiences with online bullying and how to counter it. They will be using their unique animation style, offering advice around countering bullying, and sharing why it is important for everyone to choose kindness.
“The platform is driven to maintain a welcoming environment for the global community, and over the last year has introduced a range of features aimed at fostering kindness and preventing bullying,” said TikTok.
TikTok Singapore’s User and Content Operations Manager Doreen Tan shared that they are mindful that online interactions often have an offline impact, which is why they hope this movement will inspire conversations around nurturing kindness and compassion.
“In this effort, we’re glad to encourage our community to share heart-warming stories and moments that inspire kindness. After all, we are one community, and what makes us special is how we care for one another,” said Tan.
The #CreateKindness videos will be available on @TikTokSG and @TikTokTips – a TikTok-owned dedicated account to promote privacy, safety, and positive vibes.
Singapore – With the initiative to give small and medium businesses (SMBs) across Southeast Asia to boost brand engagement and accessibility, short video platform TikTok has launched its newest initiative ‘Shop Local Saturday’ that gives SMBs opportunities to be featured on their platform.
Currently available for SMBs across Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, the ‘Shop Local Initiative’ features a variety of paid advertising packages to showcase the SMB branding through a unique suite of in-app spotlight features on TikTok, which will roll out starting 4 June. With many SMBs still managing the impact of the pandemic, this initiative also seeks to level the playing field by raising awareness about their businesses and amplifying their offerings.
Through the initiative, SMBs will have the unique opportunity to not only participate in TikTok’s campaign but also to leverage the platform’s scale and reach. With special perks such as a dedicated in-app page that is designed to drive traffic to the various SMBs’ sites, exclusive access to creators, produced ads, creative workshops and listings on TikTok’s website and blog, SMBs will receive next-level brand exposure to drive conversions of more users into new customers.
Beyond the benefits to local SMBs, local TikTok users in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam can also look forward to great deals, including providing promotion codes within the app for customers, available on TikTok all across June as they do their part to support their local businesses.
Esme Lean, head of small and medium business in Southeast Asia at TikTok stated that they are thrilled with the launch of said initiative, adding that the initiative aims to empower more SMBs to use TikTok as a platform to find their authentic voice and reach new audiences.
“This is our way of supporting SMBs and enabling them to grow in spite of the pandemic. We hope to show SMBs in Southeast Asia that they can leverage TikTok to launch meaningful campaigns that will ultimately drive sales and real business results,” Lean stated.
TikTok notes in its TikTok SMB Report conducted by TikTok for Business, 1 in every 4 SMBs in Thailand as well as 1 in every 3 Vietnamese and Indonesian SMBs have used TikTok as their preferred ad platform and find TikTok ads to be most effective, highlighting the strength of the platform as a marketing tool to drive their business goals.
In addition to the various benefits brought to SMBs by Shop Local Saturdays, TikTok will also amplify the initiative further on the platform through In-Feed Ads as well as attention-grabbing full-screen displays known as Brand Takeovers, to direct users to the Shop Local Saturday listings throughout June.
Beyond Shop Local Saturday, TikTok is firmly committed to helping SMBs bounce back by providing them with the tools, resources and best practices to connect with their audiences and grow their business during this difficult time:
TikTok Ads Manager: SMB can leverage TikTok Ads Manager to create advertising campaigns with easy set up and flexible budgets while helping their business to reach their relevant audiences.
Grow with TikTok – Starter Lab: A monthly training programme kickstarted in February 2021, where over 6,600 SMBs have since benefited from learning directly from established figures in the marketing industry and TikTok experts on getting started on the platform.
Small Business Resource Center: Introduced in March 2021, it houses TikTok’s practices and resources for SMBs to learn to connect with their audience and drive results.
Lead Generation: TikTok’s first-party solution that helps businesses reach prospects in order to convert them into potential customers with ease, is also available to businesses. Lead Generation enables businesses of all sizes to create seamless interactions to reach prospects in order to convert them into potential customers.
Supporting Local Payments on TikTok Ads Manager: TikTok supports local-friendly payments through integration with e-wallets like DANA in Indonesia and Rabbit LINE Pay.
Signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the governments in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam: TikTok has also partnered local governments in key markets with MOUs, reinforcing its commitment to supporting SMBs across the region.
Singapore – To celebrate the International Museum Day on 18 May, TikTok will be live-streaming its first-ever ‘#MuseumMoment Live’, an all-day global live stream event brings together some of the world’s most iconic arts and culture institutions.
The live stream will see 23 museums across 12 different countries giving virtual tours of each of their institutions, taking them on a one-of-a-kind cultural journey. For the APAC region, Singapore and Japan are the countries that will be joining. Japan will be taking viewers to its Mori Art Museum while Singapore will be giving a tour of its National Gallery Singapore. Other countries include Brazil, Spain, and Netherlands, as well as Germany, and Italy, among others
The ‘#MuseumMoment Live’ will be kicking off with National Gallery Singapore on 18 May at 3:00 pm SGT, and will be finishing off on 19 May at 9:00 pm SGT. It will be streamed live via TikTok for Good and TikTok’s global social impact content hub.
For the Singapore leg of ‘#MuseumMoment Live’, viewers will be treated to a surprising tour of the gallery, enabling them to view Singapore and Southeast Asian artworks up close, including pieces such as Raden Saleh’s painting Forest Fire and Matthew Ngui’s installation Chair. They will also get to experience the Gallery’s signature art event – the Light to Night Festival, and marvel at its iconic architecture.
TikTok Singapore’s User and Content Operations Manager, Doreen Tan, shared that with TikTok’s ‘#MuseumMoment Live’, they are proud to be a place where museums and galleries can open their doors digitally and connect with audiences all over the world with their exciting content.
“Starting with Singapore’s very own National Gallery, we can’t wait to see what’s behind the scenes of some of the most iconic institutions in the world and provide a platform for viewers to be immersed in culture from all around the world,” said Tan.
Meanwhile, Chris Lee, the chief marketing officer at National Gallery Singapore, commented that they are honored to represent Singapore in TikTok’s new live event and bring the best of Singapore and Southeast Asian art to TikTok’s global audience.
“Audiences can look forward to enjoying novel and surprising art experiences on the tour, and learning about the unique heritage and culture of Singapore and Southeast Asia through art. Through this innovative collaboration, we hope more audiences will come to know of the Gallery’s multi-faceted offerings, and experience it for themselves in person when they visit Singapore,” said Lee.
Viewers will be getting an exciting look at the United Kingdom’s Black Country Museum, Germany’s Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and Netherlands’ Rijksmuseum, as well as the United States’ Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others.
Singapore – Short video platform TikTok has announced its latest Sound and Login Kits which now allows third-party apps to create more frictionless sharing and authentication experiences for their users.
With the introduction of the new software development kits (SDKs), it is now easier for the TikTok community to share sounds and seamlessly log in with their TikTok credentials through the all-new Sound and Login Kits for TikTok.
As part of this new tool kit launch, TikTok will add Singapore-based food discovery platform Burpple to its platform, as both brands embark on a first-of-its-kind partnership to cultivate the buzzing and passionate food-loving community in Singapore. TikTok users in Singapore will be able to sign into Burpple quickly and securely through their TikTok login credentials from 7 May.
For Vanessa Brown, director of business development for SEA, ANZ and South Asia at TikTok, the new tool kit integration comes at a time when more third-party apps across a variety of categories and use cases are looking to tap into the TikTok community for their own platforms.
“Through the Sound Kit and Login Kit for TikTok, we’re providing seamless integration solutions that help developers expand their reach, increase exposure for creators, and empower our community to showcase their content on other platforms,” Brown stated.
Speaking about their partnership with TikTok, Theodora Lai, chief strategy officer at Burpple, commented, “This integration not only allows for a more seamless experience between Burpple and TikTok users, but will also connect our food-loving communities, provide more creative ways to express and encourage even greater engagement within the social sphere.”
She added, “Our goal at Burpple has always been to bring people closer together through food and enabling community-driven reviews for the best recommendations on where and what to eat, and this partnership further fuels our mission to continue creating and providing people with a unique food discovery experience.”
This is just one of the newest endeavors TikTok has engaged in support of brands looking to expand their campaign strategy, such as with IPG Mediabrands and iHeartRadio. It has also seen marketing companies like Adjust join their TikTok Marketing Partner Program to aid advertisers on their TikTok ad campaigns.
Part of the recent slew of TikTok partnerships and kit releases sheds light on the platform’s pledge to make the platform more ‘inclusive’ and safer, with a new set of guidelines released earlier this year.
This month’s top stories are all about game-changing old practices and breaking stereotypes in the industry. A new agency has just launched a new proprietary tech that aims to bring more science to the practice of media planning, while a popular short-video platform moves beyond its popularized brand of entertainment to launch a pilot educational series.
Meanwhile, the world of gaming makes another comeback. Two companies have recently partnered to offer brands an inventory of a new type of advertising in the gaming world. An AI and data company has also offered a new solution to a marketplace that is of surging demand today – e-commerce; while this month also saw the appointment and elevation of one veteran in the area of loyalty marketing in APAC.
Rankings were sourced from Google Analytics from the period of 16 March to 15 April. Take a look.
More brands will be able to better engage with gamers around the world and get their hands on a relatively new type of brand placement in games – in-game advertising – as two platforms have partnered to offer the said type of inventory to advertisers in Africa, Asia, and CIS, as well as Europe, and MENA.
Anzu.io is a global in-game advertising platform, while Eskimi is a full-stack programmatic and data platform. What Anzu offers are real-life advertisements that fit natively into games, and Yaniv Rozencweig, the director of business operations at Anzu, said that it is looking for a demand-side platform (DSP) like Eskimi that has a strong and agile tech team that is able to “make adjustments” in order to tap into its supply.
MARKETECH APAC spoke to both Rozencweig and Monika Poškutė, the head of marketing at Eskimi, where both said that the partnership ultimately aims to solve the long-standing problem of intrusive ads.
“Our mindset is very similar [and] basically the same, we believe that ads should not be intrusive, and they should not be a big distraction in your life. You’re supposed to have your activities online for the game that you’re playing on your mobile phone, and it is the game that you’re enjoying, it’s entertainment, [so] suddenly receiving like a pop-up [ad] is a distraction, it’s intrusive,” said Poškutė.
They also said that the tie-up will be offering foremost the education to clients and brands on how to work around this unique type of advertising and how to best harness it to better connect to gamers which had already reached about 3 billion around the world.
“You can find various user segments in this big gamer audience in a non-intrusive way, and we believe that by educating our clients about this new opportunity, we are able to offer new channels, [and] new engagement rates, and I could even say probably more loyal user segments,” added Poškutė.
Singapore-based digital agency JOLT Digital has recently unveiled its new tech for media planning J-CAL, or which stands for J-Calculator, which aims to turn the practice of media planning on its head by bringing more science to advertisers’ processes through econometric modeling.
MARKETECH APAC spoke to the agency’s founder Sebastien Lepez, where he said that throughout his own experience in media planning, he found that most executives allocate media budget based on gut feel.
Lepez, a marketing veteran with over 13 years of experience in both the agency and client sides, shared that media planners usually use media metrics or the rate of likes, impressions, and views, and while, effective in its own way, still doesn’t integrate sales in the process.
“We allocate the optimal media budget to the channels we have selected. Our tool is able to tell us exactly how many percent should be invested into each of the channels,” he said.
In the development of J-CAL, five years’ worth of data across Southeast Asia was used to build econometric curves or what the agency calls response curves for each of the channels that are present on digital.
“J-CAL has taken nine months to develop and I think we have created a technology that is very unique and very robust. A lot of data, efforts, and thinking has gone into it. We truly believe that it is going to game-change media planning,” Lepez stated.
He further said, “Our industry is in need for a change and it’s been requested by clients for many years. After years [of] working at agencies and clients, I had time to observe the gaps and now I am able with JOLT and with J-CAL to fill these gaps.”
While TikTok is most popularly known as an entertainment platform, TikTok in Singapore aims to showcase that such is definitely the case and that the platform is far more reaching than just exciting dances and singing. With this, it launched last 31 March to 6 April its first educational series which has its pilot theme on careers on tech.
The first-ever #JobTok educational live stream series is a lineup of shows that aims to equip the youth aspiring for tech careers with knowledge of the jobs and skillsets of the future in the industry to help them to make more informed career decisions in life.
“We recognize the need to dispel the uncertainty among today’s job seekers and equip them with the relevant skills to be future-ready, so with that idea in mind, we decided to launch the first-ever ‘JobTok’ educational live series to equip all the users in the platform with the knowledge and the skill set of the future to allow them to make more informed career decisions,” said Doreen Tan, user & content operations manager at TikTok Singapore, in an interview with MARKETECH APAC.
The platform has roped in women leaders in tech, tech executives from the government, and even its own engineers to shed light on some of the most burning questions of tech enthusiasts. Segments presented were ‘Adulting Advice from Young GovTechies’, ‘The Faces Behind TikTok live’, and ‘Women Leadership in Tech’.
‘Ultimately, what we are trying to do here is providing an insider look into the tech industry and to just spark greater interest among Singaporeans to enter this fast-growing industry,” added Tan.
Just recently, hospitality giant Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has consolidated and rebranded its Southeast Asia Pacific Rim (SEAPR) unit to now represent the whole Asia Pacific, and with this, it has elevated its former director for marketing and loyalty in SEAPRLynn Poh to now take the lead as the senior director for the hotel’s rewards program, Wyndham Rewards, in APAC.
MARKETECH APAC conversed with Poh to know more about what her first order of business will be as she takes on the role.
“My first order of business is integrating the marketing and loyalty teams in Asia Pacific, and plus, developing a strategic marketing plan for both digital and loyalty that will support the needs of our hotels across the region,” said Poh.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is one of the biggest hospitality chains in the world with brands across upscale, midscale, and value segments. The APAC leg currently comprises over 1,500 hotels, and within the running quarter of the year alone, the region has announced new additions to its portfolio with a new property in India state Gujarat, and inaugural entries in Nepal and Cambodia.
With tight travel restrictions in the region still in place, how does Lynn plan to keep the rewards program on its feet when such depends on recurring bookings? She said it’s about leveraging digital channels and employing social media strategies that will keep the brand on consumers’ radar.
“We have seen positive news of travel bubbles coming out of certain destinations, so while we’re still very focused on integrated campaigns, we are also taking a sub-regional approach that’s tailored to market needs,” she shared.
“So I agree that bookings have not reached historic levels, but throughout the pandemic, Wyndham had been really present in social media and digital channels, and we’ve been driving this message of dreaming to travel again, reconnecting with family and friends, so really driving that top-of-mind awareness through our social media platforms,” she added.
Nabbing the top spot for this month of April is ADA, a company that uses deep data and AI capabilities to provide brands in Asia actionable marketing insights and brand and communication strategies. ADA garnered the highest readership for the month for its new e-commerce solution, which is an end-to-end offering for brands.
Speaking with MARKETECH APAC, Anurag Gupta, chief operating officer and chief of agency at ADA, said that what the company found was that while e-commerce is a booming industry in Southeast Asia, companies’ current solutions for online brands are very siloed.
“There are companies who are driving traffic to the e-commerce platforms or marketplace, then there are companies helping brands optimize the customer journey, then there are companies helping them do fulfillment, but nobody’s linking everything together,” Gupta said.
Hence, its launch of the new solution. The service is aimed at clients seeking comprehensive solutions to drive traffic, manage customer experience, optimize conversions throughout the funnel, and create engaging content on digital marketplaces as well as owned e-commerce sites.
Gupta said that even amid the increase in adoption of e-commerce, it is still seen as vanity and supplemental channel, where about 90% of sales are still dependent on offline purchases. With the new solution, ADA also aims to help companies understand that with the right direction and strategies, it can be a major channel for a brand.
Gupta cites one of the pitfalls for brands on the customer journey, taking into example cosmetics brands, where most of the time, customers will come searching on the internet to look for different types, for example, of lipsticks. If brands don’t take the difference of keywords in search seriously, a seemingly small detail would be a big problem on online presence, he said.
“[E-commerce] is a major part of the digital ecosystem. We see that companies are going to accelerate their e-commerce investments, it is going to be a much bigger channel in their portfolio, and hence, we want to prepare companies how to manage this,” stated Gupta.
This is in collaboration with Malaysia-based media company The Full Frontal.
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