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All posts for the month October, 2013
Sam Ahmed has been appointed Group Head, Marketing, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA), effective October 14, 2013. Based in Singapore, Ahmed is responsible for the management of the region’s marketing teams, and to ensure that the company’s brand positioning is executed effectively. He will also oversee the development of strategies and campaigns for MasterCard’s advertising, sponsorships, promotions, as well as digital and consumer marketing initiatives across APMEA.
Most recently, Ahmed served as Vice President, Marketing & Category, at Starbucks Coffee Asia Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, he was a key member of the Starbucks Asia Pacific Leadership Team, which oversees more than 1,600 stores (wholly owned or country joint ventures) across 14 markets. He was instrumental in restructuring Starbuck’s Asia Pacific digital engagement strategy, which led to a 42% increase in engagement and doubling Starbucks’ Facebook fan base in the region to over 5 million.
Prior to Starbucks, he served on Kraft Foods’ Global Beverage Team as Director of the Beverages Division, Asia Pacific, where he managed the regional beverage executive team and successfully led the growth in both market share and regional sales of various Asia Pacific beverage brands
New strategies to capture and retain viewers, while increasing advertisement potential, were key areas of focus at CASBAA 2013 in Hong Kong. Global and Asian industry leaders joined media personalities to examine successful strategies and techniques.
“CASBAA’s commitment to promoting the effectiveness of multichannel TV as a marketing tool and raising the industry profile among advertisers was in full force, with several panels focusing on branded content, audience measurement and the value of partnerships,” Marcel Fenez, Chairman, CEO.
Many participants agreed that local relevancy was crucial in Asia. Peter Giakoumelos, VP, Advertising Sales, Discovery Network Asia Pacific, advised not to restrict content delivery to a few platforms: “Today, the media landscape is diverse and redefined. All we have done is to satisfy curiosity, and provide the highest quality content that entertains, engages and enlightens.”
Use of branded content is also gaining traction in Asia. Kar-Tai Koh, Global Brand Manager, Shell Advance Motorcycle, noted that branded content helps to create a bond between the brand and the target audience. Commenting on the Freedom Riders Asia series, he noted: “We wanted Shell to develop a bond with the biking community. And the bikers wanted to see, hear, and be part of it.” However, participants also highlighted looming challenges. “The biggest challenge that we have is to create interesting and engaging content, and deliver the client’s messages to the customers at the same time,” Mike Rich, CEO, Content (APAC), GroupM.
Measuring pay TV effectiveness was another hot topic during the Convention. Although this debate has been raging for years, participants noted that the alternative measurement system, Return Path Data (RPD), is showing promise. “RPD provides data and information for the niche channels among different segments,” Henry Robles, Research Director, Audience Research & Analysis, NBCUniversal. Nick Burfitt, Global Director, Kantar Media Audiences, who observed that RPD is becoming widespread, noted: “It can fill some of the gaps among the traditional [measurement] methods and provide solutions.”
When questioned on the importance of satellite transmission given the growth and penetration of terrestrial broadband, panellists highlighted that for “small and advanced” areas like Hong Kong this hold true, but not for wide geographies like Thailand and Malaysia, which has areas where terrestrial broadband is not available everywhere
For more information, please visit http://www.casbaaconvention.com
BBC Global News announced a new partnership with Twitter Amplify, the broadcast network service’s innovative video promotion tool. BBC Global News provides the global Twitter community timely in-Tweet video clips that complement its global news-gathering operations. This partnership offers BBC Global News and its future brand partners an integrated cross-platform tool to reach new audiences on Twitter.
BBC Global News operates BBC World Service radio, BBC World News television and bbc.com/newsoutside the UK.
“What makes this partnership exciting is the amazing content Twitter users will get from BBC Global News, no matter where they are in the world,” Glenn Brown, Senior Director of Twitter Amplify. “We look forward to working with BBC Global News to bring these programmes to market.”
In April, BBC America signed a similar deal with Twitter Amplify to offer the first in-Tweet branded video synced to hit series Top Gear.
Adrian Heng and Smitha Virik to drive agency growth and enhance management capabilities
Bite drives towards greater growth in the Asia Pacific region, with two senior executive hires for its Singapore operations: Adrian Heng and Smitha Virik, general manager and director, respectively.
Adrian, a seasoned senior communications and marketing counsellor with almost 20 years’ branding and communications experience in Singapore and around Asia, has worked in both consultancy and in-house positions across different sectors. Previously at Hill & Knowlton, he led three different practices (Digital, Crisis & Risk Management and Technology). As General Manager of Bite Singapore, Adrian spearheads the agency’s growth with counsel and strategic insight. He will also further develop digital engagement models for clients, helping integrate communications for today’s 360 degree consumer engagement.
Smitha brings an extensive understanding of developing integrated marketing communications, media relations and social media campaigns. She has 9 years’ experience across in-house and agency roles, having worked on FMCG, consumer lifestyle, technology, luxury, aviation, enterprise and corporate clients. Smitha leads the Singapore client servicing team in building and implementing creative and effective communications for consumer and enterprise clients. As a key client relationships leader, she will ensure superior counsel and service by the team for clients in Singapore and in the region.
The appointments also come as James Park departs Bite Singapore to pursue new career directions. Over the past two years, James made significant contribution to the Singapore office as a key “hub of Asia” for client services and innovation.
Bite was recently named Mid-size Consultancy of the Year at Campaign Asia’s PRWeek Awards and Asia-Pacific Technology Consultancy of the Year by communications industry authority, The Holmes Report.
Originally Posted on http://mediaowners.wordpress.com/
The Chaplin’s – Cakes with Sincerity
Photo: A Customized “Minions” Cake from The Chaplin’s.
15th October 2013, Singapore – Recently, a bakery have been making waves among foodies & food bloggers and I wonder what is it about this baker that had so many people talking about them. After a quick check with a few fellow bloggers, I gathered that this bake shop produces cakes & pastries of excellent quality and importantly, they are creative & sincere people who places priority in baking with a heart. They are The Chaplin’s.
Photo: Every Cake from The Chaplin’s is a piece of art.
Lead by their fame and guided by my curiosity, I managed to laid my hands on their highly famed Sweet Potato Pandan Cake & the Almond Banana Cake .
The Sweet Potato Pandan Cake is unique, very unique. It’s an unexpected marriage between the pandan cake & the sweet potato. The cake is moist and instantly melts in my mouth and the chewable generous bits of sweet potato simply completes the experience. It just make me wanting to have another and another. Strictly speaking, this is one of the best evolution of traditional cakes. The good old pandan cake when paired with the sweet potato, it blends off seamlessly like the 2 had known each other for the longest time. This cake is well controlled in terms of overall texture, the clever ratio of ingredients , not too sweet, feels like a “Full-Bodied” cake and everything is just perfect in my view.
Photo: The Sweet Potato Pandan Cake, A Must-try Cake from The Chaplin’s.
The Almond Banana Cake is a marvel. Topped with Almond Flakes, this super fragrant cake from The Chaplin’s again challenges traditional recipes with a new “feel” to it. Looks like an ordinary banana cake, the magic is revealed when one takes an innocent bite and expecting to taste the usual but greeted with many surprises. The sweet fragrant taste of banana seems to linger longer than other banana cakes that I had ever ate in my whole life and the cake is not dry to the mouth. It is slightly less moist than the Sweet Potato Pandan Cake, but much wetter on the mouth than most banana cakes you can find elsewhere. What surprised me most is when my wife and Mother-in-law started to eat banana cake after they had tasted what I had bought from The Chaplin’s. (They avoided banana cakes all their life only to start savouring after they tasted the version from The Chaplin’s.)
I decided to write to The Chaplin’s to compliment on their excellent cakes but ended up interviewing them. I had a great chat with the team from The Chaplin’s and below is a little extracts from our conversation.
Photo: The Chaplin’s offers a wide variety of cakes.
Editor: How did The Chaplin’s started?
The Chaplin’s: It all started when our Co-Founder Miss. Maggie Teo discovered her passion for baking 3 years ago. She quit her then civil position from the Government sector after she graduated from a part time Baking Diploma at Cerealtech School of Baking Technology. She joined a bakery shortly to gain practical experience. It was then, she decided to take a step further and started The Chaplin’s where she now bakes & sells to her peers and relatives.
Editor: What was the inspiration factors behind the excellent recipes?
The Chaplin’s: Co-Founder Maggie grew up in a 3-generation family and she firmly believes that all sweet treats can be enjoyed by everyone & anyone. She had seen how her elder relatives are always concerned about the sugar level in most pastries & cake. Using this as an inspiration source, she tweaks with her recipes and hope that she can change this perception of her relatives with her cakes so that everyone in her family can enjoy cakes & pastries healthily without guilt.
Photo: Every Detail is well taken care of – only possible with sincerity.
Editor: Wow! That’s an amazing feat! So the main objective of The Chaplin’s is?
The Chaplin’s: At The Chaplin’s, we aim to provide high quality cakes & pastries baked with sincerity for people of all age group. We take special care to maintain our consistency from choosing the best ingredients to the final delivery just to ensure that anyone can enjoy our products. We hope to bring a smile to everyone who tasted our cakes & pastries.
Editor: It sounded easy but certainly not easy to do it. At the moment, what are the other excellent cakes that are on your menu?
The Chaplin’s: Under our “Traditional Cakes with a twist”, we have the Sweet Potato Pandan Cake and the Banana Cake with Almond Flakes which you had tasted. Next to be launched into this category will be Longan Wolfberry Cake. As for “Cakes for All Occasion”, currently we have the Devil’s Food Cake (Rich Chocolate), Carrot Cake, Coffee Walnut Cake and Summer Citrus (a white chocolate mousse cake with mixed summer fruits fillings). We also offers customised fondant cakes – self made fondants that are used for our products that ranges from cup cakes to multi-tiered cakes. All customised orders are pre-discussed with the customer to understand their needs and we design and create the cake specially just for them.
Photo: Summer Citrus – A rush of freshness!
Editor: That’s a decent menu inventory! So among the list that you had mentioned earlier, which are the top 3 selling cakes?
The Chaplin’s: Our Top 3 selling cakes has to be the Sweet Potato Pandan Cake which is one of a kind in the market. Next will be our Rainbowful Cake which is an instant hit amongst the younger generation. Lastly, the Devil’s Food Cake which uses high quality Belgium chocolate that leaves everyone craving for more!
Editor: There are a couple of pretty well-established online bake shops / blog shops, what makes The Chaplin’s different from the rest?
The Chaplin’s: We believe in balance. Instead of focusing on the outlook of the product & packaging, The Chaplin’s believes that there should be a delicate balance on both the taste and the appearance of the products. Such is our working believes & values or should I say formula, to distinct The Chaplin’s from the competition.
Photo: Cup Cakes for Every Occasion!
Editor: Sounds like you guys are on the right track! So what’s your future plan for The Chaplin’s?
The Chaplin’s: We hope to eventually expand our business and supply to events, cafes and restaurants.
Editor: Thank you for your time and I wish you guys success!
The Chaplin’s: Thank you!
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About The Chaplin’s
The Chaplin’s aims to be the choice bakery for high quality cakes & pastries – baked with sincerity for everyone.
Providing choices like traditional favorites like Almond Banana Bread (Banana Cake as the west calls it) or the highly popular Sweet Potato Pandan Cake, The Chaplin’s offers an array of superb cake choices for every occasion to customized cakes (on request).
As a young bakery, the Pastry Chefs at The Chaplin’s promises consistancy for every product on the menu while maintaining the strictest quality control, this is a promise. The Chaplin’s cater supplies to events like parties, celebrations, weddings etc and is also available to supply to restaurants & cafes.
Contact The Chaplin’s at:
Tel: +65 92717299 (RoseMary)
Email: ask@thechaplin.co
Facebook: facebook.com/thechaplinssg
Instagram: the_chaplins
Mother Teresa once said, “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”
Themed “It’s the little things” the President’s Star Charity (PSC) 2013 draws inspiration from Mother Teresa to encourage Singaporeans to get involved and do their part in helping the less fortunate. Whether it’s time, in kind or donations, big or small, every contribution we make is like a drop in the ocean which adds up to mean everything to someone in need.
The PSC 2013 was telecast ‘live’ on Channel 5 on Sunday, 20 October from 7.30pm to 10pm. The two-and-a-half hour entertainment extravaganza in MediaCorp’s TV theatre featured an exciting line-up. This year’s show cast the spotlight on two courageous individuals. In 2012, ex-national shooter Aishah Samad and Navy regular serviceman Jason Chee were struck by personal catastrophes. Jason lost both legs, his left arm and three right fingers in a ship accident, while Aishah was forced to amputate all her limbs after contracting a near-fatal bacterial infection. Within a year, the two friends picked themselves up and returned to sports to aid and complete their healing. Be encouraged by what ‘little things’ you can do to make a difference.
President Tony Tan Keng Yam, “The President’s Star Charity show is an annual highlight of the President’s Challenge that has always received immense support from Singaporeans. This year, another 55 selected beneficiaries will benefit from the funds raised through the President’s Challenge. Beyond fund-raising,the two initiatives started in 2012 to promote volunteerism and social enterprises through the President’s Challenge have gained momentum in encouraging Singaporeans to also give of their time, skills and enterprise for social causes. I hope that Singaporeans will continue to contribute generously to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate among us, and make Singapore a better place for everyone.”
Mr Chang Long Jong, Deputy CEO, MediaCorp “The President’s Star Charity is MediaCorp’s contribution to the President’s Challenge. Into its 20th year, we are very proud to produce and telecast the show to help raise awareness of many courageous and magnanimous individuals from the beneficiaries, and to give television viewers an opportunity to open their hearts to give generously and volunteer for these worthy causes.”
Final Donation Figures Tally for President’s Star Charity 2013 as of Sunday, 20 October. $5,092,720.
The repeat telecast will be on Sunday 26 October on Channel 5, 4pm to 6.30pm. Donation telepolls will close on 26 October at midnight.
PricePanda has launched its App in Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. Available for all Android phones, the new App enables users to find best offers for several thousand products and electronic gadgets on the go.
The free PricePanda App in brief:
– Compares prices for thousands of products to find the best deals on the go
– Visits shops websites or calls them directly from within the app
– Searches for offers by entering the product name
– Discovers top products and swiping through them
– Browsing through dozens of categories and finding new products
– Ordering on the go, getting the product(s) delivered to your doorstep
– Fast and intuitive navigation
M-Commerce is exploding in South East Asia – the number of users who access the internet via their phones is growing rapidly and leapfrogging traditional desktop users. According to Nielsen’s report “Decoding the Asian Mobile Consumer” markets such as Singapore (87%) and Malaysia (80%) already have higher smartphone penetration rates than the German smartphone market (62%). In SEA alone, smartphone owners spent an average of more than three hours per day on their smartphones.
As this growth gains momentum, mobile commerce plays an increasingly critical role in shaping the future of retail.
The BIG Question is : What about the rest of us on Apple smartphones?
Ben & Jerry Flips on an Upside Down Bus!
This October, Ben & Jerry launch their newest flavour, Couch Potato, upside down on SMRT buses, with an eye-popping, saliva-dripping, head-turning effect! The 13-week inaugural campaign on SMRT buses showcases the new flavour’s wacky combination of vanilla ice cream, salty caramel swirl and chocolate coated potato chips, creatively executed on an upside down bus format.
Unilever’s campaign launching Ben & Jerry’s latest yummy flavour runs till 31 December on SMRT’s wholly painted buses.
Omnicom Media Group Thailand has appointed Rochelle Chhaya Head of Digital with immediate effect. In her new role, Rochelle works closely with the senior leadership team to strengthen, drive and lead the digital portfolio for Thailand, delivering best-in-class online initiatives to ensure that Omnicom Media Group is at the forefront of technological and media changes.
Commenting on the appointment, Clint Easthorpe, CEO Omnicom Media Group Thailand, “As the media landscape continues to change at a dramatic pace, technology-led innovation is crucial for the future of our business. The onus is now on agencies and media owners to develop approaches that work across platforms, whilst demonstrating to all stakeholders the true value that they add. Rochelle’s role is not only as a key contributor in shaping and strengthening the value- proposition of our already established team, but also in bringing proven international excellence that enhances our overall network. We are delighted to welcome her back to Omnicom Media Group.”
Rochelle Chhaya, “Omnicom Media Group and its brands are held in high regard in Thailand. I look forward to helping the team build that reputation by driving and growing its digital offering. I am thrilled to be part of an enthusiastic team that delivers innovative work for an amazing group of clients.”
AD-LIBRARY SINGAPORE 