Alipay and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) have deepened their strategic partnership to enhance the travel experience of Chinese visitors with the launch of a new RWS mini-program available on the Alipay mobile application platform – the first of its kind in Singapore. RWS is also the first integrated resort outside of China to offer a mini-program through Alipay.

A new technology trend and marketing model allows Alipay users to make dining reservations, enjoy dining discounts and directly purchase discounted tickets to attractions such as Universal Studios Singapore, S.E.A. Aquarium, The Maritime Experiential Museum and Adventure Cove Waterpark, all located at the lifestyle destination resort. It enables RWS to reach out and market to users currently on the Alipay mobile app platform that has served so far, together with its global e-wallet partners, over 1 billion users worldwide. The in-app map also provides a quick overview to help visitors explore the integrated resort. Regular updates about exclusive RWS and Alipay campaigns are also provided with seasonal promotions rolled out to ensure visitors get the most value out of their visit. One notable example is the Chinese New Year campaign launched on 25 January 2019, giving users up to RMB 720 worth of red packets and RWS coupons. New features will be gradually added to improve the visitor experience at RWS. All offers and features will be exclusive to the RWS mini-program only and not accessible through Alipay’s platform or RWS website.

Users can access the mini-program by either scanning the Alipay mini-program QR code displayed at strategic locations across RWS, or do a keyword search for “rwsentosa”, or “圣淘沙名胜世界”, “名胜世界” on the Alipay app.

REDHILL has welcomed three new senior hires to its team in the last few months as part of its efforts to expand across Southeast Asia. Julie Pham has been appointed as REDHILL’s first Managing Director of Vietnam, whilst Amanda Chong and Joslynn Ong joined the Malaysia office as Directors.

Julie leads REDHILL’s Vietnam operations with her extensive experience at leading US tech firms. She previously held the position of Worldwide Developer Relations Specialist at Apple Inc., and prior to that Partner Monetization Support Specialist at YouTube.

Amanda and Joslynn also bring a lot to the table – joining the Malaysia office with a combined forty years of experience in the fields of marketing, branding and communications.

REDHILL has also promoted members of its Singapore team as recognition for their outstanding leadership and contribution to the company. Pranav Rastogi and Marienelle Castelino have been appointed Deputy Managing Directors, whilst Tavy Cussinel has been appointed Senior Director, Luxury & Lifestyle.

REDHILL is a Singapore owned and headquartered independent agency that currently operates in 14 cities across 11 countries with a team of 70. Regional clients include General Mills, EXPO 2020, FWD, FinLab, Neuron Mobility, Carro, Emirates, Pomelo, Jungle Ventures, the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and several others.

The AI-powered social media marketing platform Socialbakers announced its integration with industry-leading Single-Sign-On (SSO) providers Okta, OneLogin, Google and Microsoft.

The integration will provide marketers with a seamless connection between the Socialbakers platform and their preferred SSO provider, while increasing IT security and controls across the enterprise.

Today, enterprise collaboration is happening not only across teams but also across devices, platforms and services. The SSO process enables access to multiple applications with a single login, simplifying the lives of users, enabling greater collaboration and providing increased security and compliance for IT organizations. The opportunity to take advantage of these benefits is a natural extension of the Socialbakers platform, which provides collaborative social media marketing capabilities for thousands of enterprise brands.

EditShare®, a technology leader in intelligent scale-out storage, AQC and media management solutions, announced that business development expert Sundeep Menon has joined EditShare as the Sales Director for South East Asia. A skilled media enterprise strategist, Menon will be responsible for defining the business development strategy across all sectors of Media and Entertainment, supporting EditShare market expansion which saw more than 30% growth in 2018.

Menon comes to EditShare with a proven track record of driving tier one media companies to reach new pinnacles of growth. His 20-year career in media technology includes business development leadership positions at Avid Technology, Primestream and Apple as well as working in a technical position at Real Image.

RTL Group, the parent company of SpotX, acquired the UK-based video technology company Yospace. The transaction is expected to close 1 February 2019.

Yospace has developed one of the most advanced technologies for Server-Side Dynamic Ad Insertion (SSDAI) which allows the replacement of existing commercials from a broadcast stream with more targeted, personalized advertising. SSDAI is expected to become the de facto standard to seamlessly serve advertising spots in premium streaming environments. In essence, the groundbreaking Yospace technology delivers the right advertising, at the right time, according to the rules established by the media owners. The Yospace technology currently serves major media owners throughout Europe, the United States and Asia.

Yospace focuses on the premium streaming segment which is also the fastest growing and most significant market for RTL Group’s global ad-tech company SpotX. This market segment includes video on demand (VOD) and live video that is streamed to any internet-connected device. As a result, the acquisition of Yospace complements RTL Group’s ad-tech stack by ensuring a key technology that can win, retain and scale premium media clients, including RTL Group’s broadcasters and streaming services.

RTL Group will pay up to USD 33 million before cash and debt adjustments in connection with the full acquisition of Yospace, including upfront and performance related components. Under the terms of the transaction, RTL Group will appoint three of five members to the Board of Yospace. Yospace CEO Tim Sewell and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) David Springall will continue to manage the day-to-day operations of the company, reporting to its Board.

The APAC Effie Awards has named Publicis Groupe’s Jonathan Akwue and Fuji Xerox’s Susie Wong as Heads of Jury for the APAC Effie Awards 2019.

Jonathan is an Executive Vice President at Publicis Groupe based in Singapore. His current role is focused on implementing a truly integrated multi-agency Publicis model across the Asia Pacific region. With over 20 years of multi-disciplinary experience, his career spans design, advertising, social media, digital strategy, data driven marketing and media.

Prior to his current role, he was Managing Partner at Digitas and the CEO of Lost Boys, an award-winning creative content agency in London. While in the UK, he played a key role in designing the ground-breaking Government Digital Service (GDS). He went on to launch Moment Studio, an agile creative newsroom that produced real-time social content for brands. Jonathan has worked with leading brands including Microsoft, Unilever, Rolls Royce, Sky, UBS, and Samsung.

A frequent industry speaker and commentator, in 2017, Jonathan received a Legacy Award for his contribution to the Media Industry. He was also acknowledged by the Financial Times as the UK’s 3rd most influential ethnic minority person in technology in 2018, in recognition of his efforts to champion diversity and inclusion. Having judged the UK Effie Awards since 2016, he passionately believes that marketing should be judged by its effectiveness.

As Fuji Xerox Singapore’s Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, Susie Wong is responsible for driving profitable market share and mindshare through helping customers in their transformational journey, from document to digital intelligence. Her new charter includes Customer Experience, Field & Digital Marketing, Brand & Product Management, and e-commerce strategies. Susie is recognized for championing technologies that create personalized customer experiences at scale. She brings to Fuji Xerox data-driven, customer-centric marketing, and leadership experience that create a real and lasting impact for brands. Prior to Fuji Xerox, Susie was the Director of Performance & Programmatic Marketing with IBM Asia Pacific. She took on a multitude of regional and global responsibilities in her IBM tenure which included heading the ASEAN Marketing Strategy & Communications, leading integrated marketing & Communications for ASEAN and South Asia & communications and developing brand strategies for IBM’s growth markets. In these roles, her teams have clinched numerous local & global industry awards. Throughout her career, Susie has thrived in diverse industries, led marketing transformation and built marketing capabilities both large and small.

The APAC Effie Awards spotlight marketing Ideas that work and recognize all forms of marketing communications that contribute to a brand’s success.

The remaining Heads of Jury and the full jury line-up of judges will be announced progressively. To view the first group of judges, visit www.apaceffie.com.

Universal Music Group (UMG) announced a series of executive management appointments within Greater China and throughout the Asia region, effective immediately. These additions signal a significant expansion of UMG’s finance, marketing and public policy infrastructure in Asia to maximize creative and commercial opportunities across these markets.

Aaron Wang has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer for Greater China and will oversee all financial operations within Greater China. He will be based in Beijing and report to Sunny Chang, Chairman & CEO, UMG Greater China and Boyd Muir, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and President of Operations for Universal Music Group. A highly skilled and experienced Financial executive, Wang joins the team in Greater China from Sony Pictures Entertainment, where he held the position of CFO, Greater China. He previously held positions at Yake Trading Co., Sequel AG (A Timex Company) & American Express.

In addition, Tracy Mu has been appointed as Finance Director, Universal Music China. Mu will report to Wang and Garand Wu, Managing Director, Universal Music China and joins UMG from international technology company Dolby Industries, where she spent 11 years, most recently as Finance Manager, APAC.

Yvonne Yuen has been appointed as SVP, Marketing, Greater China. She previously held the position of SVP, International Marketing for UMG in South East Asia and will continue to be based in Hong Kong. An accomplished music marketing executive, she brings significant experience working with both domestic and international artists throughout the region and will report to Sunny Chang. Prior to joining UMG in 2005, Yuen held the position of VP, Marketing, Sony Music Asia and roles at Warner Music and Arena Group in Hong Kong.

In addition, Elvin Eng, who currently holds the position of VP, Finance for UMG, Asia Region has been promoted to CFO, UMG, South East Asia region, reporting to Muir. Eng will oversee the finance operations and strategy for South East Asian markets including Korea and will be based in Singapore.

UMG also announced the appointment of highly respected industry executive Ang Kwee Tiang (aka KT Ang) to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Asia Public Policy. Ang joins UMG from IFPI, the global trade body for recorded music, where he has served as Regional Director, Asia Pacific since 2013. With more than 25 years of music industry experience throughout Asia, Ang has been intimately involved in the development of public policy affecting music, including the enactments of copyright laws and their enforcement, anti-piracy efforts and the establishment of more than a dozen copyright collection societies for creators, publishers and producers in the region. Through his directorships on the respective boards of these organizations, he has also worked on implementing globally accepted standards of governance. Ang, who is an attorney by training, has also previously worked as the regional director, Asia Pacific for CISAC. Reporting to UMG’s Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, Eric Berman, Ang will work closely with Granite and the regional executive teams to ensure that UMG is leading the conversation to help create and sustain a robust and effective copyright framework to support a sustainable ecosystem for artists, creators and industry throughout the region. Based in Hong Kong, he will work across all markets throughout the region, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, India, Japan and Vietnam.