Tag: User engagement

Hong Kong – As audio-driven platforms are growing exponentially all over the world, and Hong Kongers have shown a ‘listen-first’ behaviour even with video platforms like Youtube, livi Paylater, a Hong Kong-based BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) service under virtual bank livi Bank, has partnered with dentsu’s digital-first end-to-end media agency iProspect to launch the industry’s first audio ads on Youtube, in an aim to grow with their audiences.

According to consumer insights conducted by Google, 63% of consumers spend the most time listening to music digitally on Youtube, and 81% of the measured campaigns have proven to lift brand awareness when launched in Youtube Music. Youtube thus reacted swiftly to support users who are opting for audio-based experiences, including music lineups expansion for audio and podcast targeting, amongst others. In response, instead of investing solely in the mass video, livi Paylater has refined its marketing strategy to launch four sets of audio. 

Moreover, the voiceover is conducted by Jay Fung, Hong Kong’s popular singer, who has given the audios a great deal of relevancy and familiarity for his listeners. With this, the results include accumulating 130% total impressions on top of standard video buy, about 82% completion rate of audio ads and created an ad-recall for audiences, and over 100% relative search lift on the ‘livi bank’ search term.

Eric Lin, CMO of livi Bank, shared that livi Paylater enables a smarter way of spending that allows customers to have greater control of their spending and create the financial flexibility to help them to live life to the full.

“Whether it is for those just released trainers, furniture for a first flat, a gift for a loved one, the phone upgrade, a rent deposit or the course fees for advancement, they can all benefit from livi Paylater. As an innovative brand, we are always looking for new ways to engage our customers and create meaningful relationships with them,” said Lin.

Meanwhile, Kitty Kwan, associate planning director of dentsu international Hong Kong, commented that this is definitely an insight-driven media breakthrough and they’re glad that it brings incremental reach on top of the standard video buys.

“Leveraging the growth of audio platforms, we believe audio ads are one of the great potential formats to reach out proactively to our target audiences under a fragmented media landscape. Based on the audiences’ insight report powered by dentsu’s proprietary tool, the target audiences of livi PayLater are fashionistas, digital savvy and pursuing quality of life, hence we transformed this insight into 4 sets of audios, including Luxury, Gadget, Home-moving and Travel, with merchant offer support in a personalised approach,” said Kwan.

Singapore – Storyly, a user engagement platform based in the United States, is now available in APAC, helping marketers in the region achieve user engagement goals in their mobile apps and websites through the mobile content format – Stories.

Storyly Stories, by nature, provide mobile apps with an opportunity to communicate any message interactively without interrupting the experience and empower lifecycle marketing strategies from discovery to purchase and beyond to loyalty and advocacy. 

By using Storyly Stories, marketers can make use of advanced personalisation, targeting, content-automation capabilities, monetisation via Google AdMob or Ad Manager, and various interactive features such as polls, quizzes, countdowns, and call-to-action buttons to deliver a much more captivating mobile experience. 

Moreover, aiming to provide video-centric capabilities and help gather users’ attention starting from the discovery level without compromising the app’s performance and any media hosting cost, Storyly empowers its customers with interactive shoppable videos. With its intuitive studio and dashboard, Storyly also makes creating engaging content that fits the style and design of any mobile app and website effortless. 

Emre Fadillioglu, Storyly’s CEO, said that losing a user acquired is very costly in comparison to user retention and that brands have to get even more creative with how they engage with their users to avoid such a cost.

“On top of all, attention is a scarce resource today. So, marketers have to take the experience beyond the limits of the mobile screen and build engaging, immersive, interactive, and personalized communication with consumers. That’s what Storyly is aiming for. Storyly brings the leading mobile content format, Stories, that we are all familiar with into mobile apps and websites. Actually, that’s the reason why we call it ‘the missing piece to deliver captivating experiences,” he added.

Fadillioglu continued to say that APAC is a promising market for Storyly as the app market in the region is blossoming. He noted, “Our growth journey in the region has kicked off from Thailand and Singapore as the key markets but we are definitely looking to extend our footprint across the region as we grow.”

Mumbai, India – CleverTap, global user engagement and retention cloud, has expanded its core leadership with the appointment of Sidharth Malik as global CEO. The company said the new leadership comes as it accelerates its international growth and builds new capabilities in customer retention for digital consumer brands.

Malik brings with him a track record of building and leading dynamic organizations in competitive markets. He is a former chief revenue officer at Freshworks, a SaaS provider of customer experience solutions, where he was instrumental in scaling the business from a single product to a multi-product platform with a global footprint. Under his direction, Freshworks unlocked new markets and strengthened its position in the CRM space.

CleverTap said Malik’s appointment marks a new chapter in its own success journey. Under the leadership of CleverTap Co-Founder and Founding CEO Sunil Thomas, the company has penetrated new markets and according to CleverTap, achieved US$45m in annual recurring revenue in less than six years of monetization, with a 235% compounded average growth rate.

“CleverTap has grown phenomenally, and through the more than 10,000 mobile apps leveraging our platform worldwide, we’re empowering mobile brands and businesses to touch the lives of over a billion people every day,” said Thomas.

With Malik’s appointment, Thomas will then assume the role of executive chairman. He will be focusing on scaling innovation and strategic direction for CleverTap, while Malik will help provide leadership for organization-building and day-to-day business execution.

“Sidharth’s passion, insights and leadership skills, coupled with his experience in helping take a world-class SaaS startup from India to the world, make him the right leader at the right time for CleverTap,” commented Thomas.

Vikrant Chowdhary, recently appointed CleverTap’s first-ever Chief Growth Officer, said Malik’s proficient management skills, combined with more than 20 years’ experience across all organizational functions, equip him to drive superior business results in a short timeframe.

“It’s so heartening to have Sidharth come on board as CEO to partner with me as we scale the business for faster growth, while Sunil focuses on innovation and strategic initiatives with a founder’s mindset,” said Chowdhary.

Earlier this month, the company acquired Patch, a technology that enables businesses to brand and embed communication channels, including in-app voice, chat, and push notifications directly into consumer apps. 

In September this year, MARKETECH APAC partnered with CleverTap to hold an APAC-wide roundtable featuring marketing leaders from the grocery, QSR, TV, fitness, and publication industries, among others. The leaders discussed how brands’ consumer acquisition and retention strategies evolved amid the pandemic.