Tag: Wunderman Thompson

Singapore – Despite many countries worldwide easing up on normal life disrupted by the global pandemic, there is still a large fraction of shoppers worldwide who now hesitate to shop in-store, a new report from Wunderman Thompson Commerce shows.

According to the report, 49% of APAC shoppers are now hesitant to shop in physical stores, suggesting a transition to shop through online channels.

Looking at specific markets, nearly three quarters (72%) of shoppers in India are experiencing this fear, followed by Thailand (62%), China (55%) and Indonesia (51%) – while Japan and Australia are more open to the idea (30% and 22% respectively).

Meanwhile, on a global scale, nearly three-quarters of shoppers say that online shopping came to their rescue in 2020, with Thailand at the top of the global ranking having 94% of consumers agreeing to the sentiment. Looking ahead, three-quarters of global shoppers (73%) say e-commerce would be more important to them in 2021.

In terms of frequency of shopping online, marketplaces other than Amazon account for a third (33%) of all purchases, led by Japan at 45% and Thailand coming in at 41%. 

It has been noted in the report that Amazon’s reputation on pricing is comparatively poor in Asia – just 20% of shoppers say it provides the best value, compared to 48% who identify the other marketplaces as being best: e-commerce platforms Tmall, Taobao, and Lazada.

“As we look beyond 2021, we know this channel shift from physical to digital channels is not only accelerating but will be the primary channel for retail purchasing in future. We see consumers turn to local and regional marketplaces as they take on global players like Amazon, an abundance of businesses switching to D2C offerings, and Asian consumers leading the way when engaging in new channels such as social and live commerce,” said Kaythaya Maw, chief technology officer at Wunderman Thompson APAC.

Despite these moves towards online shopping channels, there still remains hope for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands handled by retailers. Over one quarter (29%) of shoppers in China said they have used branded direct-to-consumer sites as a source of inspiration, putting the channel third behind dominant marketplaces like Taobao and Tmall, and social media.

Nevertheless, the demand within these online retailers are surging, as APAC shoppers now demand the most from digital retailers, saying they want better products, services, and experiences online, with Thailand shoppers agreeing with the statement at 94.8%, closely followed by China and Indonesia at 89% and India at 86%.

A big finding from this year’s survey is that 44% of all global consumers the report spoke to say they have bought from a social platform. In Asia, buying directly through social media is already clearly a well-established trend, led by Thailand where 74% of consumers said they had purchased from a social platform, followed by Indonesia and China at 69%. 

Speaking about the insights, Justin Peyton, chief transformation and strategy officer at Wunderman Thompson APAC, notes that with the heightened interest in online shopping, one should refrain from the use of the term ‘e-commerce’ since the term online shopping has now expanded beyond the borders of e-commerce platforms.

He added that with the growth of sales that we have seen in the recent past, and the fact that it is becoming the channel of choice, digital transactions have become a hygiene element that brands are expected to support as part of the overall commerce ecosystem.

“What’s more interesting is how commerce is fragmented across owned platforms, social platforms, conversational platforms, and marketplaces. With this diversity, brands must focus on where they can not only gain visibility but demonstrate their products in ways that are most likely to influence consumer choice,” Peyton stated.

Meanwhile, Maw added, “With the largest representation from Asia-Pacific taking part in this year’s report, we hope to provide businesses with vital insights to formulate effective strategies and respond to how consumers are shopping in this current environment, and how they will shop in future.”

Singapore – Unilever’s body wash brand Lux has rolled out a new campaign to assess various brands’ fragrance staying power by bringing in a ‘smell expert’, as part of the relaunching of its new and improved Lux Magical Spell body wash. 

In this latest campaign, which was created in collaboration with global creative and CRM agency Wunderman Thompson, Lux invited renowned smell expert Laurine Sautour, putting her on a blind test to memorize all the notes from six popular body washes, including Lux Magical Spell. 

The test goes, six women each showered with a different body wash and were called in to see if the fragrances are still detectable on their skin after 24 hours. Interestingly, Sautour only picked one scent that stands out from the six women, identifying it to be the Lux Magical Spell, asserting the brand’s 24-hour staying power.

Sharing her experience, Sautour said, “It was an opportunity to show people what smell experts do, and to create a deeper consciousness of the ability of scents to shape experiences and personalities.”

Meanwhile, Swarnim Bharadwaj, the global brand director at Lux, commented, “With our great collaboration with Wunderman Thompson, we were able to come up with this concept of using a ‘smell expert’ to highlight the superiority of our fragrances in a novel, interesting way.”

Wunderman Thompson’s Creative Director Savio Fonseca commented that they are always thinking of new ways to enhance and showcase Lux’s product experience. 

“To bring out the uniqueness of our latest 24-hour long-lasting fragrance claim, we created an unusual and surprising demonstration involving a super smeller,” said Fonseca.

The new campaign is already running on digital and e-commerce platforms in China.

Hong Kong – Global creative and CRM agency Wunderman Thompson has appointed Sheungyan ‘Mayan’ Lo, the current head of its APAC unit’s creative team, to be its new chief creative officer in Hong Kong.

Lo has been at the helm of the APAC creative team for more than two decades and will continue to be heavily involved in client work and support the creative team and leadership in the Greater China offices and beyond.

With Lo’s guidance, the APAC unit has been recognized at some of the industry’s best shows including Japan’s AI Manga for KIOXIA and Thailand’s Stay Home Miles Exchange for Thai Airways. 

In addition, his work has received accolades worldwide at award-giving bodies such as Cannes, One Show, and D&AD, as well as Clio, and LIA, among others. Lo has also been regularly invited to be on the other side – as a jury panel to help decide which among the entries are award-winning pieces of work. 

As part of the new role, Lo will be leading the Hong Kong creative department.

Commenting on his appointment, Lo said, “I am delighted to go back home. And I am even more excited to work closely with all the talents in my home market.”

Meanwhile, Matt Parry, the managing director at Wunderman Thompson Hong Kong, vouched for Lo, looking to him as one of the most respected creative leaders in Asia. 

“He has an incredible track record of delivering outstanding creative solutions for some of the most iconic brands in this region. I could not be more excited that Mayan is returning home,” said Parry.

Lo’s appointment coincides with the departure of Carlos Camacho, executive creative director, who is moving to the Amsterdam team.

Perth, Australia – To better represent the University’s vision towards a vision of a modern institution ready for the future, Murdoch University has unveiled its newest brand identity, created in partnership with marketing communications company Wunderman Thompson.

The new brand identity, according to Murdoch University Vice Chancellor Eeva Leinonen, supports the University’s vision to be recognized as a world-changing University by Western Australians, and national and international communities.

“We are a university of free thinkers, it is the foundation of everything we do, and our updated branding epitomizes this. This program builds upon Murdoch’s existing brand with an updated identity that reflects Murdoch as a modern university for the future,” Leinonen stated.

Meanwhile, Gary Smith, chancellor at Murdoch University, commented that the new brand identity was created with an ethos to challenge the traditional approach and embrace new ways of thinking.

“We are proud of our heritage, and while we respect our past, we must always look to the future – from our learning and teaching, to our built environment and research endeavours. The Murdoch University brand is more than a logo and free thinking is more than our slogan. It represents opening doors to an education for more people, teaching beyond the classroom walls and lighting the fire of curiosity in our students,” Smith explained.

The brand identity revamp is released as the University approaches its 50th anniversary. At the same time, Murdoch University has also uploaded a video showcasing the new brand identity to various students, faculty members and stakeholders of the University.

Neil Cullingford, director of marketing and communications at Murdoch University, said, “Our brand has always been built on the idea of free thinking, and in that spirit our visual identity needed to evolve to signal our future focus and global outlook. With free thinking being more relevant than ever, we challenged Wunderman Thompson to create an identity to carry Murdoch into the next 50 years and beyond.”

Meanwhile, Doni Savvides, partner at Wunderman Thompson, commented, “The new identity is a testament to the valuable partnership we’ve built over several years. It’s a demonstration of Murdoch’s core foundations and a commitment to being a progressive university. Aligning the visual brand narrative to free thinking has been a creative collaboration that the Wunderman Thompson team have felt privileged to be a part of.”

Australia – Creative and CRM agency Wunderman Thompson in Australia has announced the elevation of Melbourne team’s General Manager Nick Muncaster, to now assume the role of managing director for the unit.

Prior to joining Wunderman Thompson in 2019, Muncaster has held multiple leadership roles at several advertising agencies, including Ogilvy and Havas Creative in Sydney and Melbourne. He has also worked with brands within retail, telco, finance, and automotive, as well as extensive partnerships with the State and Federal Government, among others.

In his new role, Muncaster will be leading the brand’s vision for the Melbourne office, continuing to build a high-performing culture for talent and drive strategic growth for clients.

Commenting on his appointment, Muncaster said that he is excited by the opportunity and humbled by the support from the agency’s talented team and ambitious clients. 

“I’m looking forward to my next chapter within this dynamic industry and business. I am proud of our continued momentum at Wunderman Thompson and look forward to continuing to inspire growth across our client’s business in 2021,” said Muncaster.

Meanwhile, CEO of Wunderman Thompson ANZ, Lee Leggett, commented that they have met many talented and ambitious people in their ‘extensive search’ for a new managing director, and that the final decision to appoint internally is a testament to Nick’s strong leadership of its Melbourne team and clients for the past six years.

“For anyone who has worked alongside Nick, you will know for yourself how talented he is. Our Melbourne office is in great hands,” said Leggett.