Media Literacy Council of Singapore launches Better Internet Campaign

Source: Media Literacy Council. From left: Chong Ee Jay, Manager of TOUCH Family Services and a member of the Media Literacy Council, a former victim of cyberbullying who subsequently cyberbullied in retaliation; Tan Chee Wee, Executive Director, Media Literacy Council, and Lock Wai Han, Chairman, Media Literacy Council.

Singapore's Media Literacy Council (MLC) recently celebrated Safer Internet Day (SID) on February 7 with the launch of the Better Internet Campaign. The campaign will run till 31 May 2017, focusing on current cyber wellness issues of cyberbullying, discernment and excessive screen time. 

The MLC partners industry, community and government to champion and develop public education and awareness programmes relating to media literacy and cyber wellness. The council has spearheaded the campaign for the fourth time since Singapore’s participation in the global initiative in 2013. This year ,campaign activities include a series of on-ground engagements and broadcasts on mainstream and social media to bring more awareness and discussions about various issues around the areas of focus.

MLC has adopted the campaign tagline Do What’s Right Online, Be the Change for a Better Internet. A showcase of real-life stories profiling a diverse range of individuals who have personally experienced cyber-wellness issues (including students, educators, counsellors, perpetrators and victims will also be available at the campaign website. A series of social experiments covering these issues will further be conducted to generate awareness, conversations and reflections on the issues.

Lock Wai Han, Chairman of the Media Literacy Council, said: “The Internet and mobile devices have become an integral part of our lives, especially among our young people. It is therefore critical to encourage our youths to be positive online, while giving them the resilience, knowledge and support they need to navigate online risks. With the proliferation of news sources online, we need to be discerning to distinguish between falsehood and the truth, to avoid falling prey to scams and fake news.” 

Chong Ee Jay – Manager, TOUCH Family Services, and Member, Media Literacy Council, a former victim of cyberbullying who subsequently bullied back in retaliation, said that online interactions should be governed by sensitivity to others. "Basically, it is a question about good manners, and what is acceptable between family and close friends. Some remarks can be hurtful and we must be mindful about this, especially when it is a sensitive subject of say, how a person looks, his/her size, etc. This applies whether online or offline," he commented.

That said, cyberbullying is even more of a problem compared to face-to-face bullying for several reasons, noted Chong. "The cloak of anonymity online often creates an enhanced false sense of security or empowerment which results in users often becoming seemingly bolder or adventurous online to do things which they often may not dare or be willing to try out in real life.," he explained. "Cyberbullying is one clear example where bullies resort to hiding behind their keyboards to make hurtful comments rather than resolving the matter in person. That's why often in cyber bullying cases, anyone can be the bully."

If someone is being cyberbullied, creating a supportive environment is essential. "Often many are hurt by the comments. However not all victimised cases end up depressed or in a despondent state. Some whose personalities are more resilient, or those who have better management of their emotions and have healthy social support from friends and family, tend to cope much better in the face of cyber bullying," said Chong.

Chong also advises against running away from it all through deleting social media accounts, for example. "Running away would not solve the problem. In fact more often than not, it sends the message to the bully (or bullies) that he/she/they have 'succeeded'. An alternative proposition would be to block or delete the bullies from your social media friends' list. Minimise possible social contact with the bully until you are better able to manage your emotions," he said.

Getting a respected third party to offer a balanced perspective can also help, as it did in Chong's case. "Our teacher/counsellor stepped in and reasoned with the both of us who were involved in the matter. I realised that by retaliating (against) the cyberbully, I became a bully myself. Both of us then realised the value of our friendship and how silly the whole matter had become as our ‘battle’ was in full view of our other friends, too. We stopped hitting out at each other via the Internet after that. We remain friends till today," he shared.

"As adults, resolve it face to face and talk it out, or seek help from professional Counsellors or even Family Centres like TOUCH Family Services. As some of the bullying incidents may happen in school, it would be important for parents to teach their young to inform and seek advice from school leaders such as teachers and counsellors who would provide emotional support as well as keep a look out for the students in school. It would also be important for students to share the incident with parents and allow them to better understand what the students are facing as well as provide advice, and if required, to make reports to the school together with the student."

Chong also said that the law can be called in for more serious cases. "In severe harassment cases which involves offensive messages are defamatory or criminal intimidation*, a police report can be lodged," he added.

SID is a public awareness initiative started in 2004 by the Insafe Network, a network of Awareness Centres funded under the Safer Internet Programme of the European Commission. The SID takes place on the second Tuesday of February every year and seeks to promote safe and positive use of digital technology, especially amongst children and young people. This year’s global theme is Be the Change: Unite for a Better Internet which emphasises the importance of collaboration and unity.

Interested?

Find out more about Chong's cyberbullying experience, and those of others

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post about Microsoft's commemoration of Safer Internet Day with the Digital Civility Index

*A definition provided by Chong for criminal intimidation runs: "Whoever threatens another with any injury to his or her person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any act which he or she is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which that person is legally entitled to do, as the means of avoiding the execution of such threat, commits criminal intimidation." More on the law

KKBOX launches Cpop campaign on Twitter

Source: Twitter. Screenshot of Tia Ray's tweet.

 

 

Twitter and KKBOX, the Asian music streaming brand, are working to expand the appreciation of Chinese pop music, or Cpop (#Cpop), to a global audience.

KKBOX is creating #OnlyOnTwitter Cpop content on their official Twitter account (@KKBOX), including weekly live Twitter Q&A interviews with Cpop artists, autographed video clips from Cpop musicians and producers using Twitter's Challenger app, regular #KKvote contests to engage overseas Cpop fans, and live broadcasting of Cpop concerts and the annual KKBOX music awards via Periscope (@KKBOXTW) to the world.

With the #LoveCpop campaign from now, Cpop artists are showing support to KKBOX to bring Chinese-language music to the world. An increasing number of Cpop artists such as Jam Hsiao (@JamHsiao0330), Z-Chen (@zchen0508), May Day (@Mayday_EN), IO Band (@ioband), Tia Ray (@tiaraymusic), Vanness Wu (@VanNessVanWu), Stefanie Sun (@Stefsunyanzi), Kelly Lin (@kellyhlin), JJ Lin (@JJ_Lin), GEM (@GEMoving), Shung Xiao Yu (@ShungXiaoyu), Coco Lee (@cocolee117), and Erika Liu (@ErikaLiu0314) are already on Twitter to amplify their music to the world.

Catherine Chien, Marketing VP of KKBOX, said: "KKBOX offers the most comprehensive Asia-pop music library. This year, KKBOX's tracks have grown from 20 million to 25 million. Also, over 2,500 artists and celebrities are longtime supporters of KKBOX. With Twitter as our social media partner, we will co-create exclusive content on Twitter for Cpop fans and artists to share their music appreciation with the world through the live communications platform."

Margot Ling, Head of Media Partnerships of Twitter Greater China, said: "We want to bring more Chinese-language content to Twitter to make our global communications platform the live connection to Chinese culture for our users around the world. Music is something that everyone can appreciate and our KKBOX collaboration is a new and exciting way to promote Cpop to the world through real-time interactions and live conversations on our platform.

"We're thrilled that KKBOX, one of Asia's top music streaming service platforms, will regularly create unique Twitter content with established and emerging Cpop artists, as well as during music concerts and award shows."

Cpop artists' video Tweets for their global fans:

Lala Hsu - the Taiwanese singer-songwriter who won the Best New Artist award at the 2010 Golden Melody Awards and was crowned the champion for Taiwan's singing competition One Million Star.

A-Lin - the aboriginal Taiwanese pop singer A-Lin has the title A Born Diva. She has won numerous music awards and is extremely popular within the Mandarin-speaking world.

Yoga Lin - the singer's debut album in 2008, Mystery Guest, topped all the major musical and radio charts in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and mainland China.

Tia Ray - the Cpop-R&B-Soul-Jazz singer-song-writer from Hunan Province of Mainland China was the winner of The Best Stage Performance Award and Outstanding Singer Award at the 2015 Global Chinese Music Awards Ceremony.

Finn Liu - the multiple music contest champion jazzy-Cpop singer from Heilongjiang Province of Mainland China was voted the Best Newcomer of the Guangzhou Music Chart Awards 2015.

Jam Hsiao - Jam was the winner of the 2015 Ten Outstanding Young Persons in Taiwan.

Cpop artists also answered fan questions in Twitter Challenger video messages:

Derrick Hoh - the Singaporean idol singer gained nationwide recognition after emerging as the second runner up in Channel U's Project SuperStar in 2005.

GJ - the music award-winning Shanghai-born Chinese Australian won the Best New Singer-song-writer Music Radio China Top Music Award.

Interested?

Follow @KKBOX on Twitter and @KKBOXTW on Periscope to enjoy the livecast behind-the-scenes action and song highlights of all Cpop concerts hosted by KKBOX in Taipei and Hong Kong this year.

June 5 - Jason Chan x Phil Lam Live features the two Canadian-Hong Kong Cpop singers
June 17 - Binghem Yeh x Shennio Lin Live brings two Taiwanese singers together

GMC gets on Instagram to show PanoGrams and #GMCprecision

Source: GMC.

GMC has introduced #GMCprecision, a new hashtag to go with its Instagram-based panoramic photography campaign.

The month-long campaign, launched in the US on May 22, illustrates the attention to detail in its vehicles. GMC is one of the first automotive brands to create “PanoGrams” via the Instagram Carousel format that debuted earlier this year. It allows consumers to swipe through a series of photos in a single ad, similar to the way a traditional magazine publishes a multi-page spread of a single image. PanoGrams showcase a series of photos within the carousel that stitch into one panoramic image, with an added link to GMC's website for additional information.

Instagram/Facebook’s Creative Shop team worked closely with GMC to identify, select and photograph the #GMCprecision venues. They include a wind farm – viewed from a GMC Sierra Denali pickup and made to look infinite because of how the photographer captured the towering turbines against clouds and filtered sunlight – and a private residence in southern California. The GMC Yukon Denali and Terrain Denali are featured in the architecture treatment.

“We chose Instagram because of its successful track record of creating communities of discerning photography enthusiasts who can rally around a brand,” said Duncan Aldred, US VP, GMC. “Highlighting the precision of our vehicles within the context of beautiful photography helps us connect with consumers who embrace precision in all aspects of their lives.”

GMC will integrate its PanoGrams and companion content into the brand’s other digital media channels, such as Facebook.

“GMC’s PanoGrams are an incredibly creative and beautiful use of Instagram’s Carousel format,” said Michelle Morris, Group Director, Auto, Facebook & Instagram. “Instagram is all about capturing striking moments, and combining the interiors of their new Sierra with breathtaking exteriors is an excellent way to call attention to GMC’s great vehicles.”

The #GMCprecision social play is part of GMC’s Precision campaign, which launched in the US with television ads in March. GMC said that through May 31, GMC sales have been up 15% year over year as more customers shift to trucks, crossovers and SUVs. This uptake is partially attributed to the campaign.

Kuwait Finance House launches Bunyani financing campaign for finishing works

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has launched a new campaign themed Bunyani... from skeleton structure to delivery for finance owners of residential, investment and industrial plots of land. The campaign will assist them to have construction such as finishing works, maintenance and restoration done.

Deputy General Manager Commercial Services at KFH, Ahmad Al-Khaled, said that the campaign grants clients streamlined financing facilities that include up to KD70,000 financing, a 15-year credit period, and a 12-month maturity period for the first installment, and a marginal profit rate.

He added that Bunyani... from skeleton structure to delivery campaign comes as part of KFH’s efforts to underline its role in serving clients and meeting their needs. 

Al-Khaled explained that the campaign, that lasts until January 20 2015, caters for clients' requirements in installment financing to buy finishing works supplies such as air conditioning, aluminum, lifts, and interior design in cooperation with the construction materials companies in Kuwait. 

Accor's third hotel in Bengaluru is #bangalorelovin

Ibis, the international Accor hotel brand, has launched its third hotel in Bengaluru, India together with the #bangalorelovin campaign to engage people's love for the city of Bangalore. 

Source: Accor.

JB Singh, President & CEO, InterGlobe Hotels, said: “Bangalore as a city truly defines a cosmopolitan existence. The ibis property at Bengaluru City Centre is the extension of a cosmopolitan atmosphere that perfectly balances the needs of corporate and leisure travelers. Today, it’s all about providing service excellence at an affordable cost, irrespective of the category and we are excited about providing a memorable experience to our guests.”

Firoz Jangaria, General Manager, ibis Bengaluru City Centre said: “By providing quality accommodation for those who are looking for an economy hotel with international standards and with easy access to the city’s main attractions, ibis Bengaluru City Centre is a great new asset to the city centre. The#bangalorelovin campaign will reaffirm that ibis Bengaluru City Centre is determined to make a lasting impression and further build an emotional connection with the people to celebrate this vibrant city. ”

The ibis Bengaluru City Centre is the eleventh ibis to open in India, and 39 km from Kempegowda International Airport. With 173 guest rooms, and easy access to the Bangalore City railway station and Majestic bus station, this new hotel is ideal for business travellers looking for comfortable accommodation in the city. 

Rooms include a flat screen TV, free Wi-Fi and broadband Internet access. The bedrooms are built around the signature Sweet Bed by ibis, tailored around the way customers use beds and local habits worldwide.

Spice It, the signature multi-cuisine restaurant presents a casual dining space with the best of Indian, Oriental and European cuisine, offering a choice of buffet or a la carte. With the "You Create, We Cook" concept, guests can explore their culinary skills whilst dining in an interactive kitchen environment. The restaurant also offers guests a pleasant al fresco dining experience on the open terrace. 

The hotel has two meeting rooms and one board room. The board room is situated at the lobby level, Wi-Fi enabled, equipped with a projector screen and an LCD TV. Other features of the hotel include a fitness centre, free Wi-Fi and currency exchange facilities.

The #bangalorelovin campaign has been kickstarted in conjunction with the launch, beginning with a musical video about the city of Bangalore. 

Creating a successful email campaign

Want your marketing emails read? Then make sure it is all about the customer, says GetResponse, a provider of online marketing tools.

The top three things companies have to consider for a successful email marketing campaign, according to GetResponse CEO Simon Grabowski are:

Subscribers’ activity

"Check past history of ‘opens’ and ‘clicks’ to understand what your subscribers are interested in, how often they access their inbox and what time do they actively engage with your emails," he said. 

Subscribers’ device preferences

"Currently more than 40% of emails are deleted because of the incorrect display of content on mobile devices," Grabowski shared. "Find out which devices they use to engage with your emails as content for mobile and desktop has to be tweaked accordingly."

Responsive email systems

"Autoresponders should be customised to match your subscribers’ preference to increase the relevance of your outreach," he added.

"Emails of news and offers which do not cater to the preferences along with the presentation and time it was sent risk being irrelevant," he warned. 

Source: GetResponse.
Grabowski.

The company is currently focusing on Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as the initial countries for building a local presence in Asia.

"The EU and US markets are not developing as rapidly, while there is still room for email marketing to grow in Asia with consumer groups here being more willing to experiment with new solutions and technologies,” he said. 

"This region is also the fastest growing technology market globally but there is a lack of regional email and online marketing solutions. Email also goes hand-in-hand with digital and mobile marketing although small organisations may not have the budget for digital and mobile options. As such, we still think there’s a need for a comprehensive email marketing service such as GetResponse,” he said.

Besides email automation, GetResponse offer complementary marketing strategies and channels such as social media integration, landing pages and stock photos which can be customised for marketing campaigns.

The Landing Page Creator 2.0 software, for example, helps GetResponse clients create promotional landing pages and mini-sites, and can also collect data from potential subscribers. “This helps online marketers and SMEs here to create effective and comprehensive lists of information for their marketing campaigns,” Grabowski said.

For US$15 a month, small businesses are given access to fully-automated marketing tools, while the GetResponse Enterprise version is for companies with more advanced email marketing strategies.

But what about email spam? “All of our subscribers are required to comply with our anti-spam policy which prohibits users from sending out unsolicited emails,” Grabowski said. “We also participate in industry initiatives to promote responsible, permission-based email marketing.”

Grabowski added that every message sent from a GetResponse account contains a link to unsubscribe which cannot be removed. “If a subscriber opts out, the link will automatically update the mailing list to take them out of future mailings,” he said.

Which foods are the most paisa vasool? ING Vysya Bank reveals all

Source: ING Vysya Bank.

As part of a digital marketing campaign, Facebook fans of ING Vysya Bank have shared some interesting insights on what foods are considered value-for-money for Indian foodies. 

In this first-of-its-kind campaign, around 14,000 netizens were asked the value of food items across different meals. Across each category that covered breakfast, lunch, beverages, snacks, dinner and dessert, people voted for the most "paisa vasool" (value for money) food from five choices provided. For instance, nimbu pani was voted the most preferred beverage while idli - sambhar was the most "paisa vasool" breakfast. Similarly, vada pav and gulab jamun emerged as value-for-money food.

The campaign, that showcased the value of money and savings, also offered interesting prizes to participants. The bank has been consistently engaging with its social media fans and customers through various contests and polls. It recently concluded the 'Master Save' campaign which lasted for a month, receiving over 40,000 likes on Facebook and over 5,000 followers on Twitter.

APAC well-represented in Warc's top 100 marketing campaigns

Marketing intelligence service Warc has launched the inaugural list of Warc 100, a global ranking of marketing campaigns based on performance in effectiveness and strategy competitions.

More than 30 entries were from the Asia Pacific region, and one from the UAE. Australia was the second most-represented country in the Warc 100 after the US with 11 entries.

Campaigns from the Asia Pacific region in the top 10 (Title / Brand / Agency / Market) include:

Source: It's more fun in the Philippines website.

3. 'It's More Fun in the Philippines' / Philippines Department of Tourism / BBDO Guerrero / Philippines

5. 'Overstay Checkout' / Art Series Hotels / Naked Communications / Australia

7. 'Smoking Kid' / Thai Health Promotion Foundation / Ogilvy & Mather / Thailand

8. 'Old Parts for New' / ORBIS International / Ogilvy & Mather / Hong Kong

10. 'Car Creation' / NRMA Insurance / Whybin\TBWA / Australia 

'Fakka', an Egyptian campaign for Vodafone by JWT Cairo, topped the benchmark for commercial creativity that drives business performance or changes consumer behaviour. Vodafone introduced Micro Credit Recharge Cards for low-income Egyptians, and developed a new distribution channel by turning the cards into a form of low-denomination currency that could be used by shopkeepers in place of small change.

"The growing number of effectiveness and strategy awards around the world shows how important it is to prove marketing can make a difference," said Louise Ainsworth, CEO of Warc. "The Warc 100 will rank the best of the best. It will help brands and agencies keep up to date with strategies that have a commercial impact, and to benchmark their own performance against their peers."

Speaking about 'It's More Fun in the Philippines', the top-ranked campaign from Asia-Pacific, Tony Harris, CEO, BBDO Guerrero, commented: "Tourism has been called 'the people's business' and the success of 'It's More Fun In The Philippines' has come about because it used the connectivity of Filipinos to spotlight the country on a global stage. We are hugely proud that this has been recognised as the 'smartest' campaign in Asia - for us, our client and of course, the nation".

*The Warc 100 has been developed to reflect the growing importance of strategic thinking and measurement rigour in marketing. It will showcase the best work, and will help raise awareness of the leading cases. To compile the rankings, Warc tracked more than 1,700 winners in 75 different competitions. It assigned points based on the awards won (for example, Gold, Silver or Bronze), then weighted those points based on the competition's rigour and prestige in the global industry. Warc has developed a proprietary methodology to weight competitions in consultation with Professor Douglas West, Professor of Marketing at King's College London. More details of the methodology are available on the Prize website.

Emirates' amazing video of football mega stars makes marketing gold

Emirates, the airline, has created a global campaign leveraging football on the back of the World Cup in Brazil this June. "Watch the moment when two football legends meet in the Emirates A380 Onboard Lounge," invites an eDM sent to its customers.

The campaign features a video of football stars Pelé and Cristiano Ronaldo, Emirates' new Global Ambassadors within an Emirates A380 plane, and asks email recipients to share and comment on social media with the #AllTimeGreats hashtag.

Businesses thinking of working with celebrities could borrow from the Emirates campaign. The campaign recipe is one which is likely to go viral. Emirates has managed to have two mega sports celebrities on its turf, playing out a story that weaves past and present realities, potential and luxury, opportunities found and lost, all at the same time. It'll be interesting to see what the #AllTimeGreats discussion is like.