SINGAPORE – Mentos is encouraging Singaporeans to “do their duty” and give a patriotic boost to Singapore’s population with the launch of a rap song to coincide with National Day next week.
A report by Accenture shows 72 per cent of marketers in China and 83 per cent in Singapore expect fundamental changes to the marketing function in the next five years – a larger proportion than in other markets, such as France, Germany and the UK.
JAKARTA – McCann Worldgroup has been selected to launch PHD-Pizza Hut Delivery across Indonesia following a four-way competitive pitch against JWT, Colman Handoko and De A Team.
JAKARTA – Ogilvy Indonesia has beefed up its social media capability with the appointment of digital specialist Patrick Searle as head of social.
SINGAPORE – Consumers in Indonesia and Malaysia have much higher expectations on brands to be socially responsible than their counterparts in the US and Western Europe, a global study has shown.
SINGAPORE – Brands have not taken advantage of mobile marketing opportunities, with mobile consumption continuing to far out-strip investment in mobile advertising, agencies have warned.
SINGAPORE - Telcos must focus marketing efforts in Southeast Asia, experts have urged, after research showed smartphone demand grew by 402 per cent in the Philippines since last year.
SINGAPORE – Y&R Singapore’s Jonny Lang has won Microsoft Advertising’s global competition to design a hypothetical digital creative or media plan for a brand.
JAKARTA – Bates Indonesia has bolstered its portfolio, winning accounts for energy drink Kratingdaeng and Unilever’s Rexona.
KUALA LUMPUR - Air Asia has stepped up its sponsorship of English Premier League team Queens Park Rangers (QPR), inking a deal to become the official playing kit sponsor and main club partner.
Richard Porter, head of global news at the corporation, says its standards of independence, objectivity and reliability will ensure its success in a changing media world.
SINGAPORE – Brands must seek authenticity and subtlety when choosing artists as brand advocates, and be patient as it can take three to five years to see real benefits, industry experts said on day two of Music Matters.
SINGAPORE - Industry experts on day two of Digital Matters 2012 in Singapore were keen to highlight the benefits of social media and digital advertising. But they also set out a number of lessons to be heeded before taking the plunge.
SINGAPORE - Branded entertainment must be a major focus, and brands also need to integrate content across multiple platforms and prioritise the second screen over connected TV, delegates at the Digital and Music Matters 2012 conference heard Tuesday.
YANGON - JWT has become the latest international agency network to move into Myanmar, signing an affiliation agreement with Mango Marketing in the newly opened market.
SINGAPORE – Singapore Tourism Board has concluded its full-service pitch, switching its creative business from BBH to JWT but retaining media and digital incumbents MEC and XM Asia.
ASIA-PACIFIC - Run-ins with regulators, bribery allegations and even criminal cases have seen pharma companies rethinking their marketing strategies.
ASIA-PACIFIC – Campaign Asia-Pacific will showcase 40 of the industry’s top women under 40, and is looking for your nominations.
The changing fortunes of top performers tell the tale of shifting consumer tastes and customer engagement in the early years of the Asian century.
SINGAPORE - Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort has appointed Jennifer Yong as its director of sales and marketing.
SINGAPORE – WPP’s digital media investment consultancy Media Innovation Group (MIG) has officially launched in Asia, headed by Innocean’s former business director James Welch.
As a recent entrant to the Indonesian market, Indian motorcycle brand TVS worked with MEC Indonesia and GroupM ESP Indonesia to raise awareness at the Jakarta Fair. Augmented reality was used to bring a touch of Bollywood to Indonesians and raise TVS' profile.
ASIA-PACIFIC – Maxus has become the first media network to run its global operations out of Asia, with Vikram Sakhuja appointed as its new global CEO, based in India.
JAKARTA –Indian automotive brand Tata Motors has selected McCann Worldgroup Indonesia to support its corporate launch campaign in the market.
SINGAPORE – The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) Singapore has revamped its guidelines to include digital editions of newspaper and magazine in circulation figures for the first time.
BANGKOK – Social media marketing agency Vocanic has increased its regional footprint with the launch of a shop in Bangkok.
SINGAPORE – Maxus has been crowned one of Asia’s best employers for its talent management and HR strategy at the third Asia’s Best Employer Brands awards.
ASIA-PACIFIC – 3M’s consumer and office eHub in Asia-Pacific has selected Wunderman as its preferred digital agency partner.
SINGAPORE – Y&R has held onto its creative account for telco M1, following an intensive closed-door review.
ASIA-PACIFIC – The level of interest in London 2012 is the highest of any sporting event in many Asia-Pacific markets, offering strong opportunities for sponsorship brands, a new research tool from MEC Access has shown.
HO CHI MINH - Local brand Huda Beer has appointed Stitch, Lowe Vietnam’s through-the-line division, for its creative duties following a competitive pitch.
SINGAPORE – Danone's baby nutrition division Dumex has appointed The Secret Little Agency to handle creative duties, replacing incumbent OgilvyAction.
JAKARTA – Omnicom Media Group is growing its capabilities in Indonesia with the official launch of PHD in Jakarta, headed by Rajat Basra.
SINGAPORE – Samsung Asia has appointed Dell’s Damien Cummings as its regional marketing director for digital and social media.
SINGAPORE – Last year saw the merger of Blue Interactive with three agencies globally to form WPP's global interactive network Possible Worldwide. Kenny Powar, formerly Blue Interactive group CEO and now APAC president for Possible Worldwide, talks about how it has all played out.
HO CHI MINH CITY - Independent digital marketing agency Notch Digital has launched a social media unit in a bid to mine the “huge opportunities” for social in the market.
ASIA-PACIFIC – OMG has inked a global partnership deal with independent digital advertising provider MediaMind, with the aim of increasing adoption of digital advertising for its clients.
HANOI – Vietnam Airlines has completed its global pitch, awarding its creative business to JWT and media account to MPG.
MELBOURNE - Digital agency Visual Jazz Isobar has launched global innovation unit NowLab in Australia in a bid to accelerate innovation through technology within the network.
HO CHI MINH CITY – Independent digital marketing agency Notch has appointed Nguyet Quang Nguyen as its account director.
Brands need to take stock of their content marketing initiatives and ensure they fit into the bigger business picture.
YANGON – The race to tap Myanmar’s newly liberalised telecommunications sector has intensified as major players Vodafone and China Mobile reveal plans to jointly bid for a licence in the market.
SINGAPORE – The opportunities for Singaporean businesses in China are on the rise as food scares and a lack of trust for domestic companies shifts consumer behaviour, according to research firm Mintel.
SINGAPORE – Changi Airport Group has selected JWT Singapore as its creative agency of record following a competitive pitch.
As the dynamics of healthcare change, brands need to define their selling points.
SINGAPORE – BBC World News and BBC.com are to launch a major repositioning exercise, rolling out the channel's most significant global marketing campaign amid increased competition for viewership and audiences.
SINGAPORE - PC manufacturer Lenovo has appointed We Are Social as its global social media agency of record, following a four-way competitive pitch.
ASIA-PACIFIC - Global media owner advertising revenues are expected to grow 3.1 per cent in 2013—1.4 per cent less than previously forecast, according to Magna Global.
SINGAPORE - Emerging markets in Asia like Malaysia and Vietnam will experience “explosive growth” in advertising during 2013, according to Magna Global’s latest predictions.
SINGAPORE – Singapore F&B brand owner Super Group has undergone a rebranding exercise, launching a new identity as it looks to enhance its global presence and elevate its position in Southeast Asia markets.
ASIA-PACIFIC - Asatsu-DK (ADK) and Maxus have formed an Asia-wide partnership to provide regional media planning and buying services for Japan-based clients.
SINGAPORE – Andy Greenaway is set to depart Saatchi & Saatchi to assume the role of executive creative director for Asia-Pacific at SapientNitro.
GLOBAL – Pharmaceutical company Merck is understood to be pitching its global media planning and buying account for its consumer health products.
MANILA - Puneet Arora has been appointed as CEO for GroupM Philippines, with Meckoy Quiogue set to depart to take on a role on the media owner side.
KUALA LUMPUR – Leading terrestrial television network Media Prima TV Network has appointed Y&R Malaysia as its agency-of-record, following a three-way pitch.
SINGAPORE – Publicis Groupe has acquired global mobile agency Monterosa in a bid to boost BBH’s profile in mobile marketing.
SINGAPORE - The BBC is set to expand its presence in Myanmar, with the launch three pay-TV channels in the market early next year.
JAKARTA – Chewing gum brand Happydent has created an upside-down chin-mouth talent show as part of its latest campaign in Indonesia.
SINGAPORE - The Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore Organising Committee has selected We Are Social to manage social media activity around its marathon event next month.
ASIA-PACIFIC – Havas Media’s Mobext has revealed its ambition to become a dominant player in mobile marketing, with the launch of a further two operations in Indonesia and Hong Kong.
ASIA-PACIFIC – Literary legend Charles Dickens would have almost certainly been a regular Twitter user, but even if he is not generating 140-character missives, the ad industry can still learn a great deal from his approach to storytelling.
ASIA-PACIFIC - Branded content is on everyone’s radar, but marketers will need to battle to stand out as well as work to manage the conflict with filmmakers who will “fight to their teeth” to protect content integrity.
ASIA-PACIFIC – The industry in Asia-Pacific is still a follower not a leader, with too few examples of world-class work coming from too few places, Group M president Dominic Proctor said in a hard-hitting address at Spikes Asia 2012 this morning.
ASIA-PACIFIC – Marketers should stop the song and dance act to ingratiate themselves with consumers and instead make them do something for the brand, Naked Communications founding partner Adam Ferrier has said.
ASIA-PACIFIC - Despite many attempts to welcome the “year of mobile”, the industry still doesn’t get mobile advertising. But telcos could soon be a “force to be reckoned with” as they make strong efforts to understand consumer habits on mobile devices.
BANGKOK – Industry experts predict significant growth in the mobile advertising and e-commerce sectors in Thailand after the long-awaited auction of 3G licences drew to a close on Tuesday.
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia Airlines has concluded its global media pitch, handing its planning and buying account to IPG Mediabrands.
JAKARTA – IPG Mediabrands has expanded its retail marketing and shopper insights consultancy, Shopper Sciences, across Asia with the launch of the service in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
SINGAPORE – Maxus has launched a global technology R&D division in Asia in a bid to kickstart the uptake of technology solutions among clients.
SINGAPORE – Bloomberg Television has launched its largest advertising campaign in the region in a bid to promote its expanded ASEAN coverage and new studio in Singapore.
SINGAPORE – Consumer confidence in many Southeast Asian markets has risen since last year, with the Philippines and Indonesia recording the highest year-on-year gains, according to Nielsen’s latest global survey.
ASIA-PACIFIC – Asia-Pacific consumers remain the world’s most optimistic despite Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan facing pressure from deteriorating global market conditions, a Nielsen Global survey reveals.
SINGAPORE – As he prepares to leave Singapore after 20 years, ad veteran John Kyriakou said the creativity that first put Singapore on the map has largely disappeared, but it's not too late to get it back.
SINGAPORE – Tiger Beer has appointed We Are Social to help develop its global social media strategy in a bid to further its online engagement with a new generation of drinkers.
HO CHI MINH CITY – The creative who brought home Indonesia’s first Cannes Gold Lion has been appointed as creative director for Bates Vietnam.
SINGAPORE - The Workforce Development Agency has appointed ZenithOptimedia, OMD Singapore and IPG Mediabrands' UM for its marketing and publicity campaigns.
JAKARTA – Maxus has won the Perfetti Van Melle confectionery business in Indonesia, following a four-way pitch.
NAYPYIDAW – Myanmar could become “one of the next rising stars in Asia” offering investment opportunities in “virtually all sectors” if reforms stay on track, the Asian Development Bank has said.
SINGAPORE - New Zealand-based dairy company Fonterra has launched a tender to review its media agency partnership across 10 markets.
SINGAPORE – Consumer confidence in Indonesia is showing “significant deterioration” while consumers in Malaysia and Thailand show increasing optimism, the latest MasterCard Worldwide survey shows.
SINGAPORE - XM Asia-Pacific has launched a Consumer Experience Lab that will use eye-tracking technology to better understand how Asian consumers absorb information on digital ads, websites and traditional media.
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian car manufacturer Perodua is to review its media business in a closed-door pitch this month.
GLOBAL – Garuda Indonesia has been selected as the official airline partner for English Premier League team Liverpool FC as part of its aim to become a global player in the aviation industry.
ASIA-PACIFIC – Former Omnicom Group Asia-Pacific chairman and CEO Michael Birkin is set to return to Asia to take on the chief marketing officer role for tech brand Acer.
TOKYO – Danone is believed to have called a review of its media planning and buying business in Japan.
SINGAPORE – Havas Media is to launch its mobile marketing brand Mobext in Singapore and Malaysia, headed by Michael de Souza.
YANGON - Just three months after announcing its intention to re-enter Myanmar, Coca-Cola has made its first product delivery in the market for more than 60 years.
SINGAPORE – Big name brands are making stronger efforts to use rich media as they look for deeper engagement with consumers, with experts suggesting 2012/13 will a be seminal year for the technology.
SINGAPORE – HBO Asia is making its first foray into original series, launching a prime-time, locally produced drama in collaboration with ABC TV.
SINGAPORE – Confectionery company Perfetti Van Melle has appointed BBH Asia Pacific on a project basis for its chewing gum brand Happydent White.
MANILA - Ogilvy & Mather Philippines has joined forces with below-the-line agency A+B Expedio Integrated Marketing Communications to form a joint venture company called OgilvyAction.
SINGAPORE – US companies are set to diversify some investments from China to ASEAN markets over the next two years as the region signals a “bright spot” in the global economy, a survey of senior executives shows.
GLOBAL – Global investment in digital advertising will overtake newspaper spending sooner than expected, with the switch expected this year rather than 2013, according to Carat’s latest spending forecast.
SINGAPORE – Charity Movember is launching its first official campaign in Singapore, appointing AKA Asia to promote the facial hair fundraiser.
SINGAPORE – Ivan Ng re-joined social media marketing agency Vocanic to take regional head of creative role as the agency chalks several new business wins across the region.
NAYPYIDAW – As the 2012 Olympic Games officially closes in London, brands are now eying the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar as a catalyst for long-term opportunities in the newly opened market.
ASIA-PACIFIC - Following a better-than-expected year, marketers are more optimistic, but will place greater emphasis on growing brand loyalty, integrated campaigns, ROI and overall effectiveness.
ASIA-PACIFIC - New Zealand-based dairy company Fonterra has further shortlisted agencies in its ongoing planning and buying media review.
SINGAPORE - It’s been a year of change for Sony Mobile as it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation, before pushing through a major restructure globally. Ola Lilja Molén, head of Southeast Asia markets at Sony Mobile, talks about the impact of moving closer to the parent company, as well as Samsung's recent success.
TOKYO – Digital agency AKQA has expanded into Japan, marking its first office launch in Asia following its acquisition by WPP earlier this year.