Tag: vietnam

Vietnam – As Vietnamese find themselves having a hard time to pronounce the brand name ‘Carlsberg’ locally, the popular beer brand has teamed up with Happiness Saigon and BLISS Maker Studios to launch an AI that rewards bypassers with a free beer if they manage to say Carlsberg the right way. 

The AI was built using voice inputs from hundreds of people pronouncing ‘Car-z-berg’ and was trained to distinguish the most accurate entries possible. The Carlsberg AI doesn’t just power the voice activated tap, it also powers the campaign website.

In addition, a social video of the on ground activation, billboards across the city of Ho Chi Minh, YouTube pre-roll, and Spotify ads all lead to the microsite carlsberg.com.vn/vn where anyone in Vietnam can attempt to nail the difficult name themselves and win some ice cold beer.

“Carlsberg is one of the leading brewing companies in the world today. This year they are celebrating 175 years as ‘probably the best beer in the world’. But before doing that, the brand needs to properly (re)introduce themselves to the Vietnam market. A market where their unique name is practically unknown,” according to a press statement.

Meanwhile, Hoàng Vũ Hải, brand manager at Carlsberg Vietnam, commented, “Working on carlsberg for all these years, our team realised something: it is so difficult to pronounce. So difficult in fact, we want to reward anyone who can pull it off with a complimentary beer. We think it’s a fun and smart way to increase brand recognition and product trial, especially for the launch of the new product in Vietnam.”

Singapore – Global financial services company Mastercard and superapp Grab have joined hands to launch the ‘Small Business, Big Dreams’ regional programme to digitally upskill gig economy workers and small businesses in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. This collaboration is part of Strive Community, a global philanthropic initiative developed by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and Caribou Digital that aims to support the resilience and growth of five million small businesses around the world.

The new regional programme includes the launch of two online business courses for Grab’s driver and delivery-partners aspiring to start new businesses, and small business owners seeking to grow in a competitive digital economy. It aims to enable small businesses to reach their full potential by supporting them to digitise their operations, unlock their access to financial services, and more effectively participate in the digital economy.

The two new online courses, namely the ‘Driver Entrepreneurship Toolkit’ and the ‘Small Business Toolkit’, were created based on survey insights from over 34,000 driver-partners and 600 small businesses in the region. Although almost all small businesses surveyed use smartphones for their businesses, 42% still rely solely on paper and pen to manage their businesses.

“Many Southeast Asians working in the informal sector aspire for more, but the reality is that a lot of them do not have the means or the opportunity to access quality training programs. Through our partnership with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, we hope to give gig workers and small businesses a boost to get started. Our ‘Small Business, Big Dreams’ programme will equip them with business knowledge and practical skills through a structured learning journey tailored to their needs and interest areas,” said Cheryl Goh, group head of marketing and sustainability at Grab.

Meanwhile, Payal Dalal, SVP of social impact, international markets, and centre for inclusive growth at Mastercard, commented that they are delighted to work with Grab on this initiative that will boost digital capacity and inclusion amongst aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses post-pandemic.

“Mastercard has globally committed to bringing a total of 1 billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses into the digital economy by 2025. Today’s announcement follows the success of Mastercard Academy 2.0 in Indonesia, Business Cell in the Philippines, BSR’s HER Project Digital Wage in Cambodia, and Care Ignite in Vietnam, which have empowered millions of small businesses to access technology, training, mentorship, and financial services,” she said.

Vietnam – Vietnam-based digital bank Timo has announced two new key leadership appointments. These include Henry Nguyen, the new executive chairman, and Jonas Eichhorst, the new CEO and will retain his position on the board of directors. 

As executive chairman, Nguyen will continue on working on strategy and planning, as well as regulatory and external relations, including partnerships and strategic alliances. In addition to Timo, Nguyen also serves as chairman of Phoenix Holdings, whose portfolio holdings include strategic partners of Timo, including VietCredit and Kredivo, Viet Capital Securities, and Viet Capital Bank.

Meanwhile, in Eichhorst’s new leadership role, he will continue to work closely with Nguyen and the senior leadership team at Timo. Over the past 15 years, Eichhorst has supported the development of a wide range of high-scale products and businesses across various emerging markets. Having first joined Timo’s Board in 2020, he took on the CFO position in 2021 before now being promoted to CEO.

Timo said that the change also marks the two-year milestone of Timo’s relaunch of service under its long-term partnership with Viet Capital Bank.

Commenting on his appointment, Nguyen said, “While my work at Timo will remain unchanged and uninterrupted, I am extremely excited about Jonas’ promotion to CEO. It reflects all of the hard work and leadership he has exhibited at Timo so far while also expressing the potent and high expectations we all have for him.”

Meanwhile, Eichhorst said, “Timo has had an incredible journey since its founding seven years ago to become the most trusted digital banking brand in Vietnam. We have a unique opportunity to really set the benchmark for digital banking in a market that is quickly developing. Ultimately, our customer’s success in moving, managing, growing, accessing and protecting their money drives our success.”

Vietnam – Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R has been appointed by Vietnam-based fabrics manufacturer Everpia Joint Stock Company, as its strategic brand partner for its flagship mattress and bedding brand, Everon, in Vietnam.

Working with VMLY&R, Everon hopes to relinquish its status as a leader in the market – maintaining the brand’s core values that consumers already know and trust, whilst introducing new values to enhance its connection and appeal to Millennial consumers. 

In addition, VMLY&R will also be tasked with helping the brand to expand its product portfolio, creating product differentiation and improving market competitiveness, whilst also helping Everon to become a home fashion brand, using its textile experience to develop its own range of home textile products.

The announcement follows a six-month process by Everpia to find the right fit in brand experience (BX), customer experience (CX), creativity and reputation to reposition the Everon brand and provide the company with guidance and counsel around the overall direction and long-term vision of the business.

Lee Jae Eun, CEO at Everpia Joint Stock Company, said, “We are excited to be working with VMLY&R, who stood out to us due to their experience in building truly connected brands. We were keen to work with a partner who can help us to understand the market, consumers and new industries as the basis for building a robust and comprehensive brand strategy for Everon.” 

He added, “This will involve every aspect of our business from product R&D and distribution, through to marketing, communications and point-of-sale, and we are confident that we have chosen the right partner to help us do this effectively.”

Meanwhile, Ha Nguyen, CEO at VMLY&R Vietnam, commented, “Everon is an exciting brand with a lot of potential. Their ambition to reform their brand and expand the business beyond their current product portfolio is inspiring and we are committed to helping them to realise their vision – every step of the way.” 

She added, “At VMLY&R we believe in harnessing creativity, technology, and culture to create truly connected brands that resonate with consumers in real and authentic ways. This means bringing together brand experience, customer experience and commerce to create brands that stand the test of time by continuing to meet the demands of today’s ever evolving consumer.”

Vietnam – Global communications company Havas Group has announced the reestablishment of its fully-owned village operations in Vietnam. It has also appointed Alexandre Sompheng as group CEO and Thanh Bui as managing director.

Earlier this year, Havas ended its partnership with its local affiliate and decided to re-establish its full-service Village offering, as Havas Group Vietnam. Havas Group Vietnam will therefore house the following businesses for the group, namely Havas Creative, Havas Media, Havas Health, RED Havas (PR) and Ekino.

Having been part of Havas for 10 years and previously overseeing the operations for Ekino in Vietnam, the Village’s digital arm, Sompheng’s extended remit as Group CEO will see him responsible for all aspects of the business operations and championing the group’s vision. 

“This is indeed an exciting opportunity to extend our future-forward vision. Our Havas Village model of collaboration and integration is exactly what clients are looking for. Our local and regional teams provide quality service at international standards for our clients, making Havas a force to reckon with in the Vietnamese market as well as in SEA,” Sompheng said.

Meanwhile, with over 15 years of experience working across large client portfolios, Bui will be responsible for leading integrated solutions, strategic client management and new business for the agency. 

“Havas’ Village offering is truly unique and allows us to be innovative, agile to adapting business challenges and create the most meaningful experiences as well as drive growth for our clients. I am extremely excited to be part of the team and looking forward to taking Havas Vietnam to its next phase of growth and expansion,” Bui said.

Meanwhile, Alberto Canteli, CEO and chairman at Havas Group, Nordics CEE & Middle East, SEA & NA, said, “Our success as a network is determined by the strength of our people and leadership. Vietnam is a significantly important and growing market. Alexandre and Thanh have the proven expertise coupled with extremely strong leadership skills to build on what we have within the network and will help to set us up for renewed success.”

Vietnam – Transparent programmatic and data-driven agency, Bidmath, has appointed Rakesh Singh, former head of digital, destination marketing and marcom at Hoiana, to be its new country manager for Vietnam and commercial head for APAC.

In his new role, Singh, who will be based in Ho Chi Minh City, will be responsible for leading the new business and solutions in Vietnam, as well as commercial partnerships across the APAC region. 

Aside from his previous role at Hoiana, Singh has also served as the managing director at Havas Media in Vietnam. In his career span of more than 18 years, he has always been associated with the large media and communications companies in the industry, having worked with agencies like Group M (Mindshare and Mediacom), Omnicom Publicis, and Havas Media Group across Asia and Africa markets, with more than 10 years in senior leadership roles. 

On his thoughts regarding the largest opportunity for brands in Vietnam, Singh commented that the share of programmatic advertising in several emerging markets in APAC is much lower than that of mature markets where more than 80% of the digital spend is bought programmatically, and the primary reason for this is the lack of exposure of brands to the several benefits of programmatic advertising and this is largely due to inefficiency and lack of capabilities prevailing within the industry primarily driven by traditional media agencies who are struggling to move from the traditional media buying approach to the new audience buying approach driven by data and technology.

He said, “With the advancement of technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), programmatic is now playing a significant role in the digital marketing ecosystem and with our huge expertise in this area, Bidmath is well placed to spearhead the growth in the region.”

Moreover, Singh also shared the key game-changers that he believes to be the future of online, which includes AI in marketing, the Metaverse, livestream commerce, AR, voice search optimisation, programmatic advertising, chatbots, and marketing automation, as well as micro-influencers, and shoppable content. Meanwhile, lack of resources, skills, and knowledge are amongst the key barriers for brands to achieve personalisation goals.

Singh noted, “I consider myself an emerging market specialist having had the opportunity to work across several emerging markets like India, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, and Vietnam. With the rapidly accelerating technological advances in digital marketing, the recognised value of data and increasing data literacy amongst brands and marketers, I’m looking forward to many more interesting experiences in the near future.”

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – WPP’s media services company Mindshare has announced new leadership appointments namely Shankar Rajagopal as chief client officer for APAC; Ashish Thukral as managing director at Mindshare and m/SIX Vietnam; and Preeti Mascarenhas as head of strategy and product for APAC.

Rajagopal was previously the CEO of Mindshare and m/SIX Vietnam, and a media veteran with two decades of experience leading client accounts from Unilever to L’Oréal and HSBC, as well as helming business divisions in India, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.

Commenting on his appointment, he said, “I am looking forward to my new role – the fourth within Mindshare – where I will focus on driving the business transformation agenda for our clients in the region. I am excited to lead the Mindshare Asia-Pacific Client Leader community and will partner our account leads to continue nurturing our client relationships as well as ensure seamless integration and sharing of best practices across all markets to ultimately benefit our clients.”

Meanwhile, Thukral brings with him extensive brand-side experience from Standard Chartered and Diageo. He has also led agency client accounts including Levi’s, Nike, Lenovo, Nestle, GSK; and was most recently, the Managing Partner for Unilever, leading the global strategy and content for Mindshare’s long-term client. 

Lastly, Mascarenhas has returned to Mindshare where she previously spent eight years as the GSK APAC lead, handling numerous client accounts and winning new businesses across the CPG, FMCG, fintech and edutech sectors.

Rajagopal will be reporting to Helen McRae, CEO of Mindshare APAC, while Thukral will report to McRae as well and to Himanshu Shekhar, CEO of GroupM Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Mascarenhas, meanwhile, will report to Rohan Lightfoot, chief growth officer of Mindshare APAC.

Speaking on the new appointments, McRae said, “Shankar, Ashish and Preeti boast excellent track records driving Good Growth and award-winning innovation across APAC. These are some of our brightest talents whose intimate knowledge of the region and deep domain expertise set them apart as forerunners in the ad tech industry. I’m confident they will continue to deliver exemplary work for our clients in their new roles.”

Vietnam – Vietnam’s digital investment platform, Finhay, has secured a US$25m Series B round co-led by Openspace Ventures and VIG. The round also counts Insignia, TVS, Headline,TNBAura, and IVC, amongst those who participated. 

Alongside this fundraising, Finhay has bolstered its market-leading position with the acquisition of a securities brokerage, making it the only licensed digital investment platform in Vietnam. The new capital will be used to invest in strategic business expansion, talent acquisition, and technology development.

Finhay aims to provide Vietnamese consumers with easy and convenient digital access to financial services. With a youthful and ambitious population now looking to invest, the market holds significant promise and Finhay has been able to capture users seeking to capitalise on this opportunity – amassing more than 2.7 million registered users. In 2021 alone, it gained 150% more users, buoyed by the release of four new products, namely cash-wrapped accounts with CIMB, gold trading, a 12-month saving product, and stock trading.

Huy Nghiem, CEO and founder of Finhay, commented that they are thrilled to welcome Openspace, VIG and other investors, and look forward to how their funding and understanding of Southeast Asian fintechs help accelerate Finhay’s growth.

“A large number of people are now looking for ways to start investing – often for the first time, and we are exploring different ways to enable them. It’s such an important inflection point,” said Nghiem.

Meanwhile, Jessica Huang Pouleur, partner at Openspace, said, “Finhay is already emerging as the clear frontrunner in Vietnam’s booming investment space. We believe a massive opportunity exists in Vietnam, which has an enterprising population hungry for the chance to invest smartly. Finhay’s recent developments have paved the way for continued growth as a broader wealth creation platform. We are thrilled to partner with Huy and the relentless Finhay team in their mission.”

Singapore — Entravision MediaDonuts, a digital marketing performance and branding solutions platform in Asia-Pacific, has signed a partnership agreement with Carousell Media Group for Carousell in the Philippines and Cho Tot in Vietnam, as their official reseller.

Via the collaboration, brands can advertise on premium real estate in Carousell’s e-commerce space while leveraging its advanced contextual and audience targeting capabilities. Carousell Media Group has a database of 58 million registered users across Greater Southeast Asia through their different platforms namely Carousell, Mudah.my, Cho Tot, OneKyat, Ox Street, and Refash. Additionally, millennials comprise 70% of this targeted group of highly engaged consumers with buying intent.

Moreover, advertisers can leverage Connect, Carousell Media Group’s off-platform solution, to engage consumers across the open internet through millions of other publishers across mobile and web app inventories. Powered by The Trade Desk technology, an independent DSP, this feature allows brands to target and retarget users throughout their buying journey.

JJ Eastwood, MD of Carousell Media Group, said, “As we scale our media offering in the Philippines, we are excited to partner with Entravision MediaDonuts to connect advertisers with passionate communities and sustainability-conscious shoppers.”

Meanwhile, Pieter-Jan de Kroon, CEO of Entravision MediaDonuts, noted, “The Philippine internet economy has reached US$17b, and is expected to grow to US$40b by 2025. Entravision MediaDonuts is in the Philippines to provide on-ground support to all marketers expecting the best-in-class solutions for their digital media campaigns.”

On the partnership with Carousell Media Group, de Kroon shared, “We are very excited to represent Carousell in the Philippines, which will help advertisers achieve superior performance at scale. The digital media landscape is evolving fast in the Philippines and we’re seeing a very interesting opportunity, especially in the e-commerce space.”

Vietnam – GroupM, a WPP media investment group, has elevated media agency veteran Nitin Kumar to the role of chief investment officer at GroupM Vietnam. Kumar will be based in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and will assume the position on 1st July 2022, taking over the reins previously held by Huyen Trinh.

Formerly the Principal Partner of Products at GroupM Indonesia, Kumar has spent more than one and a half decades immersed in the media and marketing industry. From client leadership to trading, investment, general management and most recently, products development, Nitin accumulated a wealth of experience across key remits at the world’s biggest media investment company including significant tenures at GroupM agencies – Wavemaker and Mediacom.

Nitin has worked with a star-studded roster of clients including P&G, Heinz, Coca-Cola, Wipro, Airtel, Del Monte and many other brands across India, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Nitin will report to both Himanshu Shekhar, CEO of GroupM Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam as well as Anita Munro, GroupM’s chief investment officer for Southeast and North Asia, who also chairs the APAC Investment Committee.

Commenting on his appointment, Kumar said, “I am thrilled to join GroupM Vietnam whose roster of local and global advertisers makes for an eyewatering portfolio. Together with my investment team, I look forward to leaning into our local and regional partners to create differentiated and market-leading advantage for brands. We will help our clients unlock even more premium content, data, and first-look rights as well as offer beta testing and priority access to premium inventories.”

Himanshu Shekhar, CEO of GroupM Indonesia, Thailand & Vietnam, shared, “Nitin’s all-round expertise in media strategy, planning, negotiations, trading and product development makes him a highly valuable leader to drive our investment vision and roadmap for Vietnam. This is one of the fastest-growing markets in Southeast Asia with latent potential, and I’m confident that with Nitin’s entrepreneurial skills and commercial acumen, he will be able to lead the team to extract maximum value for our clients in a rapidly evolving digital media ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, Anita Munro, chair of GroupM’s APAC Investment Committee, said, “GroupM Vietnam has built a strong investment legacy that will be further advanced with Nitin at the helm. As he focuses on enhancing the partnerships in-market and augmenting our investment capabilities across all channels, our clients will be able to enjoy far-reaching value.”

Munro added, “In partnership with our regional investment team, Nitin will lead the delivery of GroupM’s Responsible Investment Framework in Vietnam that entails building a diverse, sustainable and high-quality media ecosystem that our clients can invest in confidently now and in future.”