Manila, Philippines – The Philippine arm of fashion and lifestyle e-commerce ZALORA has partnered with RCBC Bankard Services Corporation, the credit card arm of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), to launch the ZALORA Credit Card.
The fashion and lifestyle credit card rewards customers every time they shop on ZALORA, and also promises to give rewards to transactions made outside the platform.
A 6% cashback will be granted when shopping on ZALORA, while a 2% ZALORA cashback can be earned for all online expenditures on other websites or apps.
Of the launch, Paulo Campos III, ZALORA Philippines’ co-founder and CEO, said it is its biggest to date.
“We are very proud to join hands with RCBC on this landmark initiative. We are entering the fourth quarter not only with bigger and better 11.11 and 12.12 mega sales to look forward to, but also the first credit card dedicated to elevating our consumers’ fashion and lifestyle shopping experience,” said Campos.
Regardless of the platform, ZALORA Credit Card holders will receive 1 reward point for every P50 spent on all purchases. The accumulated reward points can be spent on a variety of products at ZALORA which range from wardrobe and home essentials to luxurious gifts.
As a welcome gift, new cardholders will be receiving a P5,000 ZALORA cashback, as well as an annual ZALORA Now subscription for free express shipping, which will be valid for 365 days. As a Mastercard Titanium card, availing of the fashion and lifestyle credit card will come with no annual fee for the first year, where a P4,000 principal will apply for subsequent years.
Upon approval, cardholders will be issued a separate virtual credit card. Being a cardholder will also be coming with exclusive ZALORA perks such as priority access to brand launches and mega sale events, and exclusive discounts from top local and international brands on ZALORA that can be redeemed on top of the ZALORA Credit Card rewards.
ZALORA said the launch of the credit card comes against the backdrop of the ongoing pandemic, where a number of Filipinos are shopping online for the first time as everyone continues to stay home. ZALORA aims to leverage the emerging online shopping behavior in strengthening its consumer loyalty.
“This strategic partnership is very timely given the growing e-commerce industry and the improving economic outlook in the Philippines. Together with ZALORA and Mastercard, we are delighted to be ushering a more dynamic, superbly rewarding, and secure payment experience that complements our customers’ evolving lifestyle,” said Arniel Ong, president & CEO of RCBC Bankard.
Meanwhile, Simon Calasanz, Mastercard Philippines’ country manager, commented, “As more Filipinos adopt cashless digital payments to enable how they live and work, it is critical that Mastercard together with partners like ZALORA and RCBC Bankard continue to bring digital-first user experiences to market.”
He adds, “The ZALORA co-brand card brings many firsts to market, and Mastercard is excited to play a role in this priceless partnership.”
The ZALORA Credit Card also boasts a connected smart shopping experience, as well as a commitment to sustainability.
To make it easier for consumers to analyze their expenditures, holders of the credit card will be able to view categorized summaries of their transactions, to turn monthly credit statements into convenient and insightful budgeting tools.
Customers will be able to monitor their expenditures via an SMS alert on transactions based on parameters that they can define and personalize according to their list of expenses, encompassing factors like monthly budgets and supplementary card transactions.
In addition, the ZALORA Credit Card has been made with sustainable materials, specifically with 84% bio-sourced polylactic acid (PLA) derived from non-edible corn. Supplied by EMV chip manufacturer, Thales, the unique and eco-friendly material is expected to set a precedent for a wider shift towards sustainability in the local banking sector.
Customers can now apply for the ZALORA Credit Card at its website.
Singapore – E-commerce fashion brand ZALORA has signed an inaugural content-commerce partnership deal with media company Mediacorp, to offer consumers an enhanced shopping experience for its annual Big Fashion Sale event, which will run from 24 to 30 June 2021.
The partnership will see Mediacorp creating engaging content that caters to the evolving purchasing preferences of ZALORA’s online consumers, enabling both companies to diversify and reach new customer bases.
Mediacorp will be offering three specially created Work from Home-themed episodes of Hush, a podcast series that features the familiar voices from Mediacorp DJs Hazelle Teo from YES 933 radio station, Germaine Tan from 987 radio station, and Azura Goh from Ria 897 radio station. The series will be available on meLISTEN, YouTube, and Spotify, as well as Apple Podcast.
In addition, ZALORA shoppers can join guessing games in the lead-up to the Big Fashion Sale on Mediacorp radio stations, with DJs doling out ZALORA gift cards to winning participants.
ZALORA’s Chief Marketing Officer Jo Bjordal shared that they are pleased to celebrate another year of the ZALORA Big Fashion Sale by bringing the best brands to their customers, across different categories spanning fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.
“We supersized this year’s Big Fashion Sale with a wider assortment and bigger brand deals to give everyone a great shopping experience,” said Bjordal.
Meanwhile, Parminder Singh, the chief commercial and digital officer of Mediacorp, commented that they are glad to partner with ZALORA to provide greater value for consumers using the strength of their engaging content and expansive network.
“This collaboration builds on Mediacorp’s proven track record in driving commerce using innovative content solutions. We hope to leverage our partnership-based business model to deliver results for more like-minded clients, as we work together to strengthen the economic engine of the country,” said Singh.
Last month, ZALORA entered the Top 5 stories of MARKETECH APAC where Chris Daguimol, Zalora’s group director and head of corporate communications, shared that Zalora has always been big in content production.
ZALORA entered the top stories for its launch on its first-ever fashion and lifestyle podcast in Southeast Asia, ‘Zalora Talks’.
This month of May, the region of Southeast Asia took the reigns, with four out of five stories coming from the region, with one global brand entering the list. This month is all about the area of producing fresh content and platforms.
One live streaming platform launched a new feature that would see the replication of physical ‘live events’, while another brand, top e-commerce in fashion and lifestyle, is jumping on the trend of podcasts but with a novel take.
The end of Ramadan or the celebration of Hari Raya was commemorated by Muslims throughout the world this month, with one brand coming out on the top with its sentimental and touching Hari Raya short film.
Meanwhile, in the area of content regulation, we also saw a new leadership being announced that marks a new era of regulating content in one SEA country. Last but not the least, readers were hooked on the story of the pilot episode of MARKETECH Spotlight where we gave the seat to global CMS provider Magnolia.
The top stories were sourced from Google Analytics from the period of 16 April to 15 May. Take a look.
Entering in our Top 5 stories for May is fashion and lifestyle e-commerce Zalora in Southeast Asia. While fashion is a realm that’s highly visual and not often ‘talked’ about through conversations alone, Zalora aims to break the norm through the launch of its podcast, ’Zalora Talks’ on Spotify, the first-ever fashion and lifestyle podcast in Asia.
While Chris Daguimol, Zalora’s group director and head of corporate communications, agrees to this, he said that in today’s time, Fashion has evolved into becoming a platform to raise pertinent social issues such as sustainability.
“Right now, we actually have people who are big in sustainability. It’s a healthy kind of conversation, and I think this is the right time to start being part of that conversation, and Zalora’s very proud to be part of that initiative and conversation and to have all this put out there as a Southeast Asian point of view, and with [matters] that resonate with consumers in Southeast Asia,” said Daguimol in a MARKETECH APAC interview.
Daguimol said that the United States remains the main fashion hub and that conversations on fashion often revolve around the western point of view. With ‘Zalora Talks’, the e-commerce aims to make the Southeast Asian voice be heard, which boasts a fashion and lifestyle culture that’s rich and vibrant as any other.
The series was launched on 4 May and currently has five episodes. The series, which is made to comprise two seasons, is hosted by Amy Yasmine, the former editor of Harper’s Bazaar Malaysia, and will have six episodes for each season. The series brings together industry experts, brand partners, and fashion and lifestyle key opinion leaders from countries all over Southeast Asia.
For the pilot episode of MARKETECH Spotlight, our deep dive into organizations and companies that have recently achieved an industry milestone, we featured global tech company and CMS provider Magnolia.
Magnolia which has presence in Europe and APAC, and headquartered in Switzerland, has recently entered the leading list of top tech providers in the world: Global advisory Gartner’s Magic Quadrant. The report method uses a quadrant to identify the top-performing tech systems in the world, and Magnolia was recently identified as a ‘niche player’ for its digital experience platform (DXP) Magnolia DX Core.
In the episode, we conversed with Magnolia’s General Manager for APAC Don Lee, who aside from sharing the company’s response to Gartner’s report, also gave informative insights to companies that are looking to adopt a digital experience platform themselves.
Among the tips he shared are: focusing on the facet of digital experience that one wants to succeed in and building a modular and organic DXP for faster DX development. Learn more about his insights here.
Even over a year of the pandemic, most nations in the world are still grappling with lockdowns, with countries even dealing with new waves of the virus. With this, in-person interactions are still far from reality.
Local and emerging top live streaming platform in the Philippines, kumu, has recently responded to this call, coming up with a new feature for Filipinos that aims to replicate real-life ‘live events’.
With the new kumu ‘live events’, kumu aims to provide the biggest virtual stage in the country to offer its viewers live concert experiences, festivals, and parties from the comfort of their own homes. To give that full ‘live show’ experience, kumu will be enabling features that model the physical version that we all have come to enjoy such as post-show engagement with the artists. in contrast to the standard Kumu live stream shows that are open to public viewing, live events will be ticketed and gated.
Speaking with MARKETECH APAC,Mariel Bitanga, head of kumu Live Events, shared that aside from the benefit of the users and viewers, the new feature is very much for its performers and top streamers in the platform, making possible the opportunity to have a special type of production for their fans.
“Kumu is a fast-growing app and platform, and we wanted as a company to have an offering other than the usual app features that we wanted to have a platform on the web. Kumu Live is actually not just events, it actually has gaming, and you could actually live streams there,” said Bitanga
As a Muslim-wide country, Malaysia has been all spirits for the month of May as it approached the celebration of the end of Ramadan, Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Different brands and companies came in solidarity with Muslims in the country, showcasing each of their creative campaigns that all echoed the importance of making time for family even amid one of the most difficult times for social connections.
One particular campaign stood out and entered the top 5 stories this month – the Hari Raya short film of professional cleaning tools and equipment supplier, Kärcher Malaysia.
The brand took quite a different turn on its theme on family, using ‘memories’ as the element to bring the message that when members come together to bond, old memories are sometimes sidelined. The narrative revolves around a son who wishes to sell the family house but is contested by his parents as it holds lots of precious memories. As they clean and prepare the house for sale, Zack, the son, realizes his parents are right all along.
The campaign was spearheaded by social agency Kingdom Digital together with Untitled Films.
In a conversation with Kingdom Digital’s head for account servicing Lui Xiao Yee, she shared that through the film, they wanted to show that not everything old is bad and that not everything old should be thrown away.
“As we all know Karcher sells professional cleaning products, basically cleaning equipment and tools. We thought that it’s really relevant for the brand as well as the end consumer to tap into this spring cleaning kind of tradition,’ she said.
For our top 1 story for the month of May, we have another news from Malaysia. The country’s independent self-regulatory body, The Content Forum, has recently elected Astro Radio’s CEO Kenny Ong to be its new chairman.
The Communications and Multimedia Content Forum, or simply The Content Forum, is made up of various organizations representing the communications and multimedia industry. It governs content by self-regulation in line with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Content Code – a set of rules that are applied to all content in the networked medium such as radio, television, audio text, and internet content from the country, as well as electronic boards, and public transport, among others.
The appointment will see Ong assuming the position for a two-year term, succeeding outgoing chairman Y.Bhg. Dato’ Khairul Anwar Salleh, the CEO of Media Prima Television Networks. In his new role, Ong will be bringing over 25 years of knowledge and experience across different industries to lead the council that sets the agenda on building a strong and agile self-regulatory framework for the communications and multimedia content industry. Together with members of the council, he is charged with executing strategies to achieve the vision of the Content Forum, which includes facilitating self-regulation and establishing best practices necessary for the growth of the content industry and the protection of its consumers.
When we caught up with Kenny to tell us more about the role, he said that the change in leadership will give The Content Forum a fresh start with new ideas and a new agenda. He further shared that one of the priorities of the forum would be the revamp of the content code.
“Getting a revamp will be important because of the new changes that are in the market when we talk about content. When it was first set up many years ago, the definition of content is different from what we have now, when we talk about broadcasters, when we talk about media and a lot of things coming [out] online. We need to revamp the content code to make sure that it takes care of the current situation and what we foresee for the next couple of years,” he said.
Watch our live interviews with the newsmakers themselves on the latest episode of MARKETECH APAC Reports, live on our YouTube channel.
This is in collaboration with Malaysia-based media company The Full Frontal.
Singapore – E-commerce fashion brand Zalora has launched ‘Zalora Talks’, the first of its kind podcast series in Asia that centers around the latest trends in the fashion and lifestyle industry.
Comprising two seasons annually, the platform said ‘Zalora Talks’ is part of the company’s plan to boost its content marketing strategy this year.
The series will be hosted by Amy Yasmine, the former editor of Harper’s Bazaar Malaysia and will have six episodes making up each season with a 45-minute run time. The series aims to bring together industry experts, brand partners, and fashion and lifestyle key opinion leaders to discuss trending issues around lifestyle, health and wellness, and fashion and beauty, as well as current events like the new realities of celebrating Eid al-Fitr during the pandemic.
The series will feature celebrity guest appearances from personalities like Filipino celebrity stylist Laureen Uy, Singapore-based TV host and entrepreneur Yumika Hoskin, and Malaysia’s model and influencer Natalie Prabha, as well as Singapore’s national swimmer Kimberley Chan, and founder of Wanderlust & Co. Jenn Low from Malaysia.
Over the past year, the brand has been embracing new digital marketing formats, from introducing workout sessions via Instagram Live with gym partners as part of the #SaturdaySweat campaign to in-house editorial productions like digital magazine covers.
The launch of the podcast series is the latest milestone in the company’s increased investment into native content development and comes off the back of the recent launch of Zalora’s industry webinar series, which is broadcasted quarterly on platforms such as LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook. Further, Zalora said that its newly launched podcast series is a way to introduce the podcasting format to the industry, which has itself seen a surge in search interest and activity since the onset of the pandemic last year.
CEO of Zalora Group Gunjan Soni said that as consumers continue to accelerate their migration to the online space, they have noticed the increasing demand for new forms of engagement.
She further shared that with consumers fatigued with Zoom and video conferencing over the last year of pandemic, audio has become the refreshing new choice of medium, and that they are excited to tap on the guests’ diverse areas of expertise and foster community-driven conversations.
“Being a vertical specialist in fashion and lifestyle, Zalora has always invested in being a leader in content marketing in the e-commerce industry, and we will continue to add more innovative formats through the year while maintaining our high bar on quality,” said Gunjan.
A new episode of Zalora Talks is available on Spotify every week.
Melbourne, Australia – Supply chain consultancy TM Insight is expanding its executive line by hiring three former e-commerce executives as part of TM Insight’s new e-commerce and digital team.
The executives are namely Nicole Scherholz Cipolla (middle of the banner picture) from the Global Fashion Group, Jan Becker(left of the banner picture) from e-retailer Zalora, and Mitch Bittermann(right of the banner picture) from fashion brand Adidas.
Cipolla and Becker will join TM Insight as executive directors of e-commerce, based in Australia while Bittermann joins the company as the executive vice president of e-commerce for TM Insight Asia, based in Singapore.
Prior to their key positions at TM Insight, Cipolla had served as the group senior strategy director at Global Fashion Group and Zalora Philippines’ chief commercial officer, while Becker is a former director of brand marketing and consumer strategy at Zalora and also the vice president of marketing at Thai-based retail conglomerate Central Group Online. Meanwhile, Bittermann served as the director of e-commerce at Adidas Southeast Asia.
“Consumers expect a smooth, frictionless, and convenient digital experience, and if they don’t get it from a retailer they will switch to a competitor in a matter of seconds. I’m excited to bring to TM Insight my extensive experience in developing profitable e-commerce businesses and help our clients reimagine what success looks like in the digital age,” stated Cipolla.
Asked about his new executive position, Becker said, “Nicole, Mitch and I have built and scaled major e-commerce and omnichannel businesses across Europe and Southeast Asia. We understand best practice and now, as part of TM Insight, we can assist clients with their holistic strategy, commercial offering, digital merchandising and marketing, right through to their supply chain and fulfilment solutions.”
On the other hand, Bittermann stated, “Having e-commerce as a small subsection of your retail strategy doesn’t cut it anymore – retailers need to create a holistic e-commerce, retail, and supply chain strategy. Now with TM Insight’s new e-commerce and digital offering matched with the business’ existing supply chain expertise, we can provide a full end-to-end solution. This will be a gamechanger in the industry, which I’m incredibly excited to be a part of.”
The new executives will lead the company’s e-commerce and digital offering across the Asia-Pacific region, working with TM Insight’s broader supply chain and property consulting business to provide businesses a true end-to-end service offering in their retail and supply chain transformations.
Travis Erridge, CEO of TM Insight said, “Our clients have experienced incredible acceleration in e-commerce growth, with global online retail expected to reach up to US $10 trillion by 2023. With this growth, e-commerce is now a crucial component in a retailer’s business strategy that defines its supply chain and property solutions.”
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