HUMAN Security, Inc., a cybersecurity company that protects organizations by disrupting digital fraud and abuse, just announced the release of its 2023 Enterprise Bot Fraud Benchmark Report. The annual report provides insights into automated attack trends across enterprise use cases, including account takeover, brute forcing, carding, credential stuffing, inventory hoarding, scalping and web scraping.
Google is making Google Play Protect’s security capabilities even more powerful with real-time scanning at the code-level to combat novel malicious apps. Google Play Protect will now recommend a real-time app scan when installing apps that have never been scanned before to help detect emerging threats.
SenseTime hosted a Tech Day event, sharing their strategic plan for advancing AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) development through the combination of "foundation models + large-scale computing" systems. The leading AI software company is focused on creating a better AI-empowered future through innovation and committed to advancing the state of the art in AI research, developing scalable and affordable AI software platforms that benefit businesses, people and society as a whole.
Akamai Technologies, Inc. announced entering into a definitive agreement to acquire Neosec, an API detection and response platform based on data and behavioral analytics.
Yahoo and purpose-led ad platform Good-Loop announced a global partnership offering carbon neutral private marketplace (PMP) media opportunities to advertisers to help them become more sustainable.
DigiCert released the results of a global study at its annual Trust Summit conference, exploring how organizations are addressing the post-quantum computing (PQC) threat and preparing for a safe post-quantum computing future.
Remote work, home office or hybrid work, have become the norm in today's business world and that most likely will stay that way. But the more employees work remotely, the greater the company's risk of falling victim to a cyberattack, making a sophisticated and multi-layered security concept the more essential for any company.
Microsoft introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot earlier this year, which will bring powerful new generative AI capabilities to apps millions of people use every day like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Teams and more.
Vigilance is urged during this 2023 Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as “AI generated scams enhance the threat to this year’s festive shoppers, as it’s revealed over 7 in 10 British people worry that AI will make it easier for criminals to commit online fraud” – NCSC.
But while AI scams like voice cloning, romance scams, and language mimicking are on the rise, “93% of the biggest spenders, millennials aged 24-35, plan to shop during this coming weekend. And they spend an average of $419.52 per person.” But with cyber security threats at an all-time high, how can shoppers and businesses stay cyber safe?
Here are our top tips for staying safe online, and the preventative measures that can be taken while shopping for your latest bargain.
Be Aware of Phishing & Quishing Attacks
SecurityHQ analysts have recently observed a significant increase in Business Email Compromise (BEC), regarding phishing attacks containing QR code (Quishing) and captchas for credentials harvesting. Quishing attacks usually occur via the scanning of a QR code. This technique involves tricking users into scanning a QR code using a mobile phone. The QR code then redirects the user to a phishing or fake website that aims to steal their credentials.
Read more about Quishing, and how to spot QR Code vulnerabilities, here.
Read the Small Print
If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. While Black Friday deals can offer huge discounts that are genuine, people still need to make money. Anything ridiculously cheap is a red flag.
What to look for:
It is worth checking the reputation score of retailers to determine if that retailer can be trusted.
A website with no company address, descriptions or specifications on items are all red flags. Look for the details. And do not base purchases solely off star ratings, as these can be fake.
Pop-ups that offer free electronics are obvious scams, containing malicious phishing links, and should be avoided at all costs.
Read the small print. Often cons are perfectly visible if you know what to look for. Like seeing a picture of a laptop being advertised, going to buy said laptop for a reduced rate without reading the small print, and receiving a literal picture of a laptop in the post. The devil is in the detail.
Use Reputable Websites/Companies
Tried and Tested – Using websites that are globally known is a good way to avoid any nasty surprises. Even if it is a couple of pounds more, it is worth knowing where your money is going and that your purchase will be tracked and delivered.
Use Antivirus Software that will warn you of potentially dangerous sites in search results as well.
Look For Suspicious Emails, as well as suspicious calls and text messages. Never click on a link you are unsure of, and never provide personal information over the phone. Read more on email security, here.
Stop, Look, Check, Pay
Secure Sockets Layers (SSL) are used to ensure data is encrypted before being transmitted across the web. It is also an indication that an organization has been verified. Keep an eye out for HTTPS in the address bar rather than HTTP, as this highlights a site uses SSL.
Make Sure the Website That You Intend to Shop on is Not a Copy of a legitimate one. Verify that the date and name of the organization are consistent with the site you are visiting. And look for typos in the URL. Your best bet it to go directly to the website yourself, and do not access it through links on other sites/emails.
When using public Wi-Fi, use a VPN as the most effective way to stay safe and so that hackers do not steal your personal data while you are on an unsecure network.
Check Your Bank Account
Use a credit card or payment method which offers protection (i.e., PayPal).
Check your accounts regularly for fraudulent activity.
Only provide enough details to complete your purchase (no extra details required)
Keep Your Passwords Safe & Don’t Use Default Credentials
Default credentials used by applications and appliances are often published on the internet. This can be a big problem. An attacker will typically first scan your network to see where they can move next. If an attacker was lucky enough to identify applications or appliances with default credentials enabled, it won’t take them long to hunt on the internet for these published credentials. Read how to detect default credentials, here.
Finally, keep your passwords safe. Read this blog on password protocols to learn more. Don’t let cyber scams ruin your festive fun this winter!
At its annual Think conference, IBM announced IBM watsonx, a new AI and data platform, planned to be released in July 2023, that will enable enterprises to scale and accelerate the impact of the most advanced AI with trusted data.
After years of steadily picking up steam, online learning is experiencing undeniable explosive growth. The market is racing toward $1 trillion, with the corporate e-learning space expected to skyrocket 250% in the coming years. As e-learning continues to expand beyond the walls of academia, another game-changing phenomenon is going mainstream in a big way: artificial intelligence (AI).
More than two-thirds (71%) of consumers think technology and digitalization are key in enabling them to live a more sustainable lifestyle, while over a third (33%) desire apps to provide clearer information on how to live sustainably across various aspects of life, according to an independent research report commissioned by Alibaba Group.
F5's latest Curve of Convenience 2023 report shows data security taking a back seat with APAC consumers, with an increased willingness to save and share personal payment data on multiple platforms.
At its Experience ‘24 conference, Medallia, Inc. announced four ground-breaking innovations that will fundamentally alter the way organizations can personalize customer and employee experience
New research commissioned by IBM found that about 42% of enterprise-scale organizations (over 1,000 employees) surveyed have AI actively in use in their businesses. Early adopters are leading the way,
Zendesk, Inc. today released its annual Customer Experience(CX) Trends Report, the findings of which signal a rapid transition towards intelligent CX. In this era, the shift to AI-driven service will
Vigilance is urged during this 2023 Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as “AI generated scams enhance the threat to this year’s festive shoppers, as it’s revealed over 7 in 10 British
Yahoo Advertising announced a new integration with Twilio Segment Customer Data Platform (CDP) to drive greater advertising reach and relevance, without relying on third-party cookies.
OMD has announced the appointment of media and marketing specialist Nathan Young to the position of Business Development & Marketing Director for OMD Australia.
Nathan joins OMD, from Authentic Entertainment (formally MCM Media) where he was General Manager Sales Operations and seeing the company double in size and extending its national footprint over the past 9 years working there. Nathan has more than 16 years of industry experience and started his media career with Universal McCann, where he reached the position of Investment Manager before leaving to join MCM Media.
Nathan will report to Peter Horgan and his appointment is effective from Thursday 5th March.
Das was previously working for Leo Burnett Vietnam, where he set up planning and led the agency to multiple wins at the Campaign Asia Agency of the Year Awards two years in a row, MMA, AMES and APPIES. He led the strategy for Pfizer’s launch of its Healthcare Portfolio, Canon’s first ever local campaign and other notably effective campaigns for Samsung, Tiger, P&G and VP Bank.
Prior to Leo Burnett Vietnam, Das spent 12 years of his professional career in India where he worked at Bates India, Reprise Media and Webchutney Studio. He names entrepreneurship, digital advertising and strategic planning as the key chapters of his career and the impetus that has enabled him to appreciate various dimensions of creativity.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc., a leading global provider of data center and colocation solutions, announced that its Portfolio Management division will be realigned under the company's Investment group, led by Chief Investment Officer Scott Peterson, effective immediately.
The company also announced that David Caron, currently Senior Vice President of Portfolio Management, will be stepping down from his role, effective March 13, 2015. In the meantime, he will work with Mr. Peterson to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities. Following this initial transition period, Mr. Caron will serve as a consultant to the company.
Ello, the ad-free social network, announced the appointment of Rene Alegria as the company’s new CMO.
Named as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Latinos by Hispanic Magazine among other honors, Alegria's life mission has been to transform the way diversity is leveraged in business, technology, and the media, aligning with Ello's manifesto to change the way a social network functions to promote creativity, innovative data transparency, and a personal sense of purpose.
This appointment comes on the heels of Ello's declaration as a Public Benefit Corporation, which makes it legally impossible under US law for investors to require Ello to ever show ads, sell user data, or sell the company to any buyer who would violate any of the listed conditions.
Ello launched a limited beta program on August 7, 2014 and will forever remain ad-free. The social network allows people to use real or anonymous identities while, at the same time, protecting users by requiring them to follow common-sense rules of conduct.
Prior to Ello, Rene founded and served as CEO for MAMIVERSE.com, a digital community devoted to entertaining, informing and empowering Hispanics across the U.S.A. and he will remain Executive Chairman of the board for MAMIVERSE.
Logo -http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150218/176455LOGO
Logicalis Group, the international IT solutions and managed services provider, announced that Mark Rogers steps into the role of Chief Executive Officer from 1st March 2015, the start of its financial year.
Mark joined Logicalis in 2003 and has held roles as Finance Director for Logicalis UK, then Chief Financial Officer - European Operations, before becoming President and Chief Operating Officer of Logicalis Group in March 2014, responsible for running the day-to-day business.
NetDocuments, the leader in cloud-based document and email management, announced that Paul Wyatt has joined the company to lead sales and business development across the Australian and Asia Pacific regions.
Mr. Wyatt brings 22 years' experience to NetDocuments with a background in case and matter management solutions within the United Kingdom and Australian legal and corporate marketplace, including 10 years with LexisNexis in a variety of customer facing roles including Business Development Manager, UK Partner Channel Manager, and Senior Solution Specialist.
Mr. Wyatt is a strategic hire for NetDocuments, as the company recently acquired the Decisiv Email technology and a Sydney-based team from Recommind, where Paul was formerly leading email and search solutions across the APAC region.
NetDocuments continues to accelerate its global growth, and just recently announced it will be opening datacentres in Australia to support the growing customer base, including a top 10 Australian firm.
Ubiquitome Limited, a developer of handheld, cloud connected genetic analysis devices, announced that Evangeline Gonzalez, has joined its Board of Directors.
Ubiquitome's Freedom4 is the first commercially available handheld, mobile device to offer gold standard real-time PCR performance wherever it is needed. The company recently established a partnership with Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) to develop the Ubiquitome Freedom4 real-time RT-PCR Ebola Virus Assay.
vGonzalez is currently the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Beckman Coulter, a Danaher company, responsible for facilitating growth and marketing strategy for the Diagnostics Division. She began her career at Pharmacia Biotech as a research associate, developing products for protein separation. She has worked in R&D, Product Marketing and Strategic Market & Business Development, holding various assignments of increasing responsibility at Genentech, Life Technologies and Advanced Cell Diagnostics. Gonzalez has a BA in chemistry, BS in biochemistry and an MBA in marketing/entrepreneurship from San Francisco State University.
Fitting in the palm of a hand, Ubiquitome's Freedom4 instrument operates on battery power alone for up to six hours and delivers gold-standard real-time PCR performance wherever needed. The platform runs using an iPhone or laptop computer, is housed in a rugged aluminum casing and features a solid state design that includes laser-based optical detection, which is widely recognized as offering the highest performance in real-time PCR.
Jesse Coulter, Co-Chief Creative Officer of CAA Marketing, a division of leading entertainment and sports agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), has been named the 2015 London International Awards (LIA) Branded Entertainment Jury President.
Introduced by LIA as a stand-alone category in 2014, Branded Entertainment awards creativity and the power of the idea across films, television programming, live events, audio, gaming and music videos that engage consumers by entertaining them, rather than through traditional advertising. LIA defines Branded Entertainment as an entertainment-based vehicle that is funded by and complementary to a brand's marketing strategy. Throughout his career, Coulter’s innovative approach to marketing has been recognized by major advertising and entertainment awards shows, garnering two Grand LIAs, in addition to five Cannes Lions Grand Prix, two Emmys, and an Annie, and his work for Chipotle was hailed as one of Advertising Age’s “Top 15 Campaigns of the Century.” In 2014, Coulter was recognized as the second-most-awarded Chief Creative Officer by Advertising Age and he was featured on Creativity’s 50 Most Creative People list for the second time in three years.
Genius Digital, the experts in audience analytics, announced that it has hired Giles Cottle as Director of Consumer Insight Products.
Effective immediately, Freesat’s former Head of Strategy will take overall responsibility for Genius Digital’s product portfolio, including strategic direction and development, positioning, pricing and business development.
With 10 years’ experience in the digital and broadcast industries, Cottle brings a wealth of knowledge to his new role at Genius Digital. During his time at Freesat, Giles was responsible for coordinating and shaping the development of the company’s business and finance strategy. Prior to this, he was a Principal Analyst at Informa, leading coverage of OTT, broadband content and connected devices. He also authored a number of market-leading reports and consulted for some of the world’s largest media and technology firms.
Along with managing the Genius Digital product portfolio, Cottle will be responsible for helping customers with post-sales strategy and analysis support.
WPP-owned global communications company, tenthavenue, has announced the appointment of Sudipto Roy as the CEO of Emerging Markets, covering Asia, Africa, Middle East and Turkey.
tenth avenue, established in 2011, helps brands cater for the connected consumer. Based on the four key pillars of data, content, technology and media, the company builds products and services that enable advertisers to create connected brand experiences.
Sudipto will lead tenth avenue across high growth established markets including mainland China, South East Asia, Hong Kong, South Africa, and drive tenth avenue's expansion into new markets, including Turkey, Middle East and Japan. Roy will be based out of Singapore and will begin his new tenure in the middle of April.
He has spent a significant part of his career in various leadership roles within Mindshare across India, APAC and Africa . These include Chief Client Officer, Chair of the Product, Service and Partnerships council, and as client lead for Unilever across APAC, Africa and Turkey, where he played a key role in global leadership of the account. In the last two years, he has spearheaded the partnership drive in Mindshare across diverse domains like Big Data, Mobility, Emerging Consumer marketing, Content and 'Word of Mouth' marketing, Marketing Data and Visualisation technologies, as well as orchestrating the creation of new products and revenue streams.
As parent to WPP's 'Connected Consumer' agencies, the tenth avenue agency family consists of market leaders and rising stars in their respective fields, including Kinetic, Aviator, Joule, Spafax, Candyspace, Forward and TMARC.
OMD announced the promotions of Thomas Hutley and Jeremy Clark.
Thomas Hutley has been promoted to Head of OMD Word, and Jeremy Clark is now Head of FUSE, OMD’s branded content and sponsorship division.
This news comes following the announcement that Helen Walker, previous Head of OMD Word & Fuse will be returning to the UK. Hutley and Clark will report to Mark Jarrett, and their new appointments are effective immediately.
Hutley and Clark; the previous co-Directors of Word, OMD’s social media division, were responsible for notable multi-award winning social campaigns such as V Energy Take Me to Future Music (x3 APMA awards 2014), and TAB Twitter Cup (Global Festival of Media & APMA Awards 2014).
Over the past two years, they have grown OMD Word to a team of 11 specialists, developing social strategy, community management and social campaign management across clients that include; McDonald’s Australia, Tourism Australia, PlayStation, Cisco, Clinique, Bose and Telstra.
Aspect Software, a leading provider of fully-integrated customer interaction management, workforce optimization, back-office and award-winning cloud solutions, announced the appointment of Alfred D. Lallana, Jr. as the Country Manager for the Philippines.
His appointment supports Aspect’s aggressive global expansion strategy that mandates a strong focus on emerging markets in Asia.
In his new role at Aspect, Lallana will lead its business programs in the Philippines, strengthen the company’s ties with regional and local channel partners, manage key product initiatives and drive overall sales.
With a career spanning 25 years, Lallana has previously held key leadership positions at Diversified Technology Solutions International and Electrical and Electronics Contracting Company. He brings with him invaluable insights into account sales management, strategic planning and business management and holds a Degree in Electronics & Communications Engineering from Saint Louis University in the Philippines..
NetSuite Inc., the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials/ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites, announced that it has appointed Lee Thompson as its Senior Vice President and GM, Asia Pacific & Japan.
In this role, Thompson will be charged with heading up NetSuite’s sales operations and building a world-class sales organisation across the entire Asia Pacific and Japan region, taking NetSuite’s strong footprint and more than 1,000 employees in the region to another level.
Thompson brings more than 20 years of sales leadership experience to NetSuite, working for high tech companies including TechnologyOne, Oracle and Salesforce.com.
Before joining NetSuite, Thompson was Operating Officer at TechnologyOne. Prior to TechnologyOne, he was Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales at Salesforce Asia Pacific, where he was responsible for delivering a regional compound annual growth rate in sales, in excess of 30% year-over-year during his tenure at the company. Before that, he spent 12 years at Oracle and held senior managerial positions at Borland, Artisoft and Pilot Software, working in the UK, Sweden, Australia, Canada and Singapore.
Besides expanding its regional executive leadership team, NetSuite is opening its new Asia headquarters that will help build on the more than 1,000 NetSuite employees already in the region. The new NetSuite Asia headquarters are located in the heart of Singapore’s downtown Raffles Place business district.
Further, the company is adding channel partners from across the region, all to better serve the needs of local, regional and multinational companies doing business in Asia and seeking to benefit from the transformational capabilities of NetSuite’s single unified cloud software platform.
NetSuite Asia is headed up by long-time finance and commerce executive Reginald Singh, who joined the company in January 2014 as Vice President and General Manager, NetSuite Asia. Singh was previously Global Chief Financial Officer of Knowledge Universe, a worldwide global education company, where he was responsible for all financial, administrative and risk management operations of the organisation. While at Knowledge Universe, Singh oversaw the successful deployment of NetSuite OneWorld, which saw the organisation reduce ongoing systems cost by 70%. Prior to Knowledge Universe, Singh, a New Zealand qualified CPA, held strategic financial management roles at Procter & Gamble and The Gillette Company.
Dr. Elaine Rodrigo, Global Director, Consumer Insights & Strategy of Mondelēz International is leading the 2015 Data & Analytics and eCommerce jury panel for the Asian Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy (AMES) Awards.
“I’m thrilled to be re-invited to serve as jury president again in 2015. 2014 was the inaugural year for the Data & Analytics category, and the rest of jury panel and I were most impressed with the quality of the entries submitted. Big Data, and the area of analytics in the media space are topics on many companies’ minds these days. The areas of ROI measurement, digital and mobile are of particular interest. I hope to see even more entries in 2015, and look forward to hearing about new innovative approaches from our entrants”, she said.
The jury panel consists of:
• Alex Misseri, SVP - Head of Retail and Commerce, APAC, Razorfish
The Integer Group, a leading global promotional, retail, and shopper marketing agency, has appointed David Battrick as Group Director of Digitail, and Balind Sieber as Director of Digital Creative, both out of Integer's Denver office.
Digitail is a digital department and service offering at Integer that focuses on promotional retail and commerce solutions in and around the convergence of digital and retail. Integer currently provides digital shopper marketing services to many clients including P&G, Kellogg Company and MillerCoors by creating everything from Amazon storefronts to innovative technology in retail that customizes a shopper's experience. Integer focuses on creating an overall seamless commerce experience among all retail touch points rather than fragmented communication in different channels or on different devices. The addition of both Battrick and Sieber brings a diverse digital perspective that enhances Integer's Digitail practice and positions them as the digital leader in shopper marketing as the physical and digital retail worlds continue blurring.
Previously, Battrick worked on blue chip clients including Royal Mail, Iron Mountain, P&G and T-Mobile at Proximity London where he was Digital Board Account Director. Prior to that, he was a Senior Digital Account Director at Targetbase Claydon Heeley in London. His more than 13 years of experience also includes positions at agencies JWT and PRISM. An awarded digital leader, Battrick has managed the development of work for such notable brands as Unilever, Kraft Foods, McCain Foods, Ferrari & Ducati, DeVere Golf UK and The Queens Award.
Sieber comes to Integer from ATTIK where he was the Digital Creative Director. Prior to that, Sieber was a Creative Director at RED. As an award-winning art director, Sieber has worked on brands such as Scion, Lionsgate, Microsoft, BMW, CNN and Disney.
Coupons.com Incorporated, leader in digital coupons, announced that Steve Horowitz, Vice President of Engineering at Snapchat and former Chief Technology Officer at Coupons.com, has been elected to the Board of Directors, effective in June 2015.
Before joining Snapchat last month, Horowitz was Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Motorola Mobility, where he led global software engineering and was responsible for Motorola's software strategy and products. Prior to working at Coupons.com, Horowitz led the Android engineering team at Google. Steve has also held key leadership roles at Microsoft and Apple. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Social & Mobile Agency KRDS Singapore has teamed up with Unilever’s ice cream brand Wall’s in Indonesia to launch “Taste Joy”, the very first Facebook application endowed with smile detection technology. Over 100 000 smiles have already been generated through the experience so far.
“Taste Joy” encourages Indonesians to spread joy by allowing them to create their own personalised happy videos using the “Joy Counter”, a smile detection technology.
The app, which will run until the end of March, tracks the number of smiles on each photo uploaded either on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook using the #TasteJoy hashtag. It then enables users to see how happy they are on an instantly generated video, based on the total number of smiles seen on all their photos. The video is then ready to be shared with their friends and family on social media, bringing joy all over the users’ timelines.
KRDS, founded in 2008 in Paris, has been part of Facebook’s Preferred Marketing Developer Programme since its launch in Europe in 2010. At the 2013 “Facebook Innovation Competition”, KRDS was the only non-American contestant to have won among the 260 agencies.
Lenovo announced the appointment of Roderick Lappin as president of Lenovo’s Asia-Pacific region, effective April 1, 2015,
reuniting its Asia-Pacific Emerging Markets (APEM) and Asia-Pacific Mature Markets (APMM) businesses into a single unit. The company is in the process of transforming its business to maintain its successful trajectory as the #1 PC vendor in the world. As a result, the company has decided to bring together the APEM and APMM regions, promoting Lappin, and also promoting Ken Wong, to vice president of Strategy and Planning.
With the consolidated Asia-Pacific business, Lenovo will have the scale and efficiency to operate more effectively in this highly competitive and dynamic market. Lenovo’s recent launch of smartphones and other consumer devices in the region shows the company is poised to make Asia-Pacific a growth engine in the enterprise and consumer technology market.
Lappin has been a driver of success across the current Lenovo APMM business, leading the company to become the PC sales leader in Japan and facilitating the successful launch of the consumer business in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). Currently based in Japan, Lappin intends to stay in Tokyo where he will run the Asia-Pacific business and will remain the President of NEC Lenovo Japan Group. He will continue to lead the Japan and ANZ business and will report to Gianfranco Lanci, Lenovo’s chief operating officer and executive senior vice president.
Lappin joined Lenovo Singapore in February 2007 as Vice President of Relationship Business for the Asia Pacific Region that included Japan. Since his appointment as President of Lenovo Japan on October 1, 2008, Rod has successfully led the Japan business to continuously outperform the market while cultivating a great company culture. Adding to his role as President of Lenovo Japan, Rod has assumed the role of President of NEC Lenovo Japan Group, a highly successful joint venture with NEC Corp, where its market share climbed to a record high of 29.1%, solidifying the company’s #1 position in the Japan market. With its record-breaking profit contribution, Japan has remained a significant profit engine for Lenovo throughout his tenure. His role has expanded to include ANZ when the company divided the Asia Pacific region into emerging and mature markets in April 2014. In ANZ, Lappin oversaw the recent successful launch of the region’s consumer retail business, achieving a consumer notebook PC market share from 0% to 8.9% in just three months.
Originally from Australia, Lappin holds a degree from Macquarie University’s Graduate School of Business.
Commenting on this year’s appointments, Andrea Hayes, Festivals Director, says, “The AMES juries play a vital part in showcasing the best in effective brand communications in the region, and we are delighted and privileged to have so many of the region’s leading names in marketing communications to participate in our juries. They ensure that AMES remains the biggest and most robust effectiveness awards in Asia Pacific.”
James Thompson, Managing Director of Diageo Global Reserve, will lead the Effectiveness jury while Jayant Murty, Asia Pacific Director of Strategy, Media and Integrated Marketing for Intel, takes the helm of the Digital Strategy jury.
Effectiveness Jury
James Thompson, Managing Director of Diageo Global Reserve - PRESIDENT
Annabel Venner, Global Brand Director, Hiscox
Ashutosh Srivastava, Chairman and CEO, APAC, Russia & Emerging Markets, Mindshare
Basker Rangachari, Global Head of Brand & Retail Marketing, Standard Chartered Bank
Charles Cadell, President, Asia Pacific, McCann Worldgroup
Cheuk Chiang, CEO, APAC Omnicom Media Group Asia Pacific
Chris Thomas, Chairman and CEO of BBDO Asia, Middle East and Africa, Chairman of Proximity Worldwide, BBDO/Proximity
Christine Xu, Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald's China
CS Park, President and Head of South East Asia, Cheil Worldwide
David Brain, CEO, APAC & MEA, Edelman
David Mayo, CEO, Bates CHI & Partners Asia
Dick van Motman, Chairman & CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network/Southeast Asia
Gerry Boyle, Global Managing Partner and Chairman - Asia Pacific, ZenithOptimedia
Harpreet Singh Tibb, Director of Marketing, India & South Asia Kellogg
John Zeigler, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, DDB Group Asia Pacific
Keith Smith, President, International, TBWA Group
Kristian Barnes, CEO APAC, Vizeum
Lou Dela Pena, Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Singapore
Matthew Godfrey, President – Asia, Y&R
Nirvik Singh, Chairman & CEO, Asia Pacific, Grey Group
Paul Groves, Group Chief Marketing Officer, AIA Group
Paul Heath, Chairman & CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific
Rob Campbell, Regional Head of Planning, Wieden + Kennedy
Rupen Desai, Regional President, Lowe and Partners
Sean O'Brien, CEO, Asia Pacific, Carat
Stephen Li, CEO, Asia Pacific, MEC
Steve Blakeman, CEO, Asia Pacific, OMD
Susana Tsui, CEO, Asia Pacific, PHD
Sven Huberts, Regional Managing Director, Isobar APAC
Vikas Gupta, Global Brand Vice President, Unilever Asia
Vishnu Mohan, CEO Asia Pacific, Havas Media Asia Pacific
Digital Strategy Jury
Jayant Murty, Asia Pacific Director of Strategy, Media and Integrated Marketing, Intel - PRESIDENT
Arvind Sethumadhavan, Chief Innovation Officer, Asia Pacific, Dentsu Aegis Network
David Brown, Regional ECD, R/GA
Dinesh Sandhu, Regional Director of Strategic Planning & Integrated Media, Hakuhodo Communications Asia
Dougbong Kim, Director, Global Digital Marketing, Cheil Worldwide
Eddie Wong, Chief Creative Officer, Innocean
Eric Leong, Planning Director, Grey Group Hong Kong
Eve Lo, Principal of Brand Strategy, Isobar China Group
Ginger Zhu, Senior Digital Marketing Director, Nike Greater China
Stephen Drummond, Senior Director Integrated Marketing and Communications, Coca-Cola China
Suchitra Viswanathan ,Manager - Digital Marketing and Social Media, Hewlett Packard Asia Pacific
Sunny Hermano, Director of Business Development & Integration SEA, Havas Worldwide
Sunshine Farzan, Vice President, Head of Marketing, Metlife Hong Kong
Thomas Crampton, Global Managing Director, Social@Ogilvy
Tina Chao, Marketing Director, Hong Kong Tourism Board
Tripti Lochan, CEO, VML Qais
Entries are now being accepted in five sections - celebrating Effectiveness, Media Strategy, Digital Strategy, Data and Analytics and a newly added section for e-Commerce this year - with a submission deadline of 6 March 2015.
Vikas Gulati joined Opera Mediaworks in November 2014 as Managing Director for Asia.
He is responsible for building and scaling the revenue and operations, enhancing the platform capabilities and strengthening the position in mobile advertising ecosystem. He is driving the network and relationship with advertisers, premium publishers, developers and strategic partnerships in APAC.
Vikas is an established business leader with 16 years of experience and a proven track record of building and scaling up digital media, mobile & ad-tech startups in Asia. Until recently, he was Vice President for Vserv (mobile advertising exchange) and built its SE Asia business, driving all aspects of business, strategy & operations. In 2008, he set up the Asia business for Sprice - a leading online travel search and display network, now part of Travelport. He has held various leadership roles at ZenithOptimedia/Publicis, managing top accounts such as Procter & Gamble, Asia Pacific Breweries, LVMH, ESPN and LG, among many others.
Vikas is based in Singapore and is a post-graduate from the Times School of Marketing (India). He is extremely passionate about building business, emerging markets, technology and innovation, and is an active angel/seed investor in startups in SE Asia.
RHT ARC Comms & Relations Pte Ltd announces the appointment of two of Singapore’s leading media professionals, Mr. P.N. Balji and Mr. Woon Tai Ho, as senior media consultants to the firm.
As senior consultants, Mr. Balji and Mr. Woon will be instrumental in advising the firm’s clients on issues related to public relations, reputation management, media engagement, thought leadership, and crisis scenario planning and management. The two bring extensive media experience to RHT Comms & Relations, having each played major roles in the founding and expansion of landmark media institutions in Singapore.
Senior Consultant Mr. P.N. Balji brings over four decades of journalistic experience to the position and is one of Singapore’s most accomplished and recognized media personalities. Having worked in journalism in Singapore since 1970, Mr. Balji played a vital role in the launch of two of Singapore’s leading daily newspapers, The New Paper and Today, of which he served as its Chief Executive Officer cum Editor-in-Chief. He has been a leading media personality and is much sought after to provide insights on the changing media scene in Singapore and its impact on consumers of news. Mr. Balji is currently an editor of the digital newspaper The Independent Singapore, and is an active contributor for The Edge Review as well as Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post. He is also well-known in the public relations industry, having previously started two communications companies and provided consulting services to a wide range of government and private sector organisations.
Senior Media Consultant Mr. Woon Tai Ho brings with him a deep knowledge of traditional and digital media with first-hand media and marketing experience working across Asia, principally Southeast Asia, India and China. He is highly sought after for developing brand positioning and brand values, as well as designing media and marketing plans. He is best known for starting the Asian-wide news channel, Channel NewsAsia in 1999, and was an instrumental figure in the creation, production and marketing of award-winning broadcast channels, programmes and documentaries. He also served as CEO of MediaCorp News from 2004-2009.
Adobe announced that Vineet Sood, head of SMB Sales for India, is overseeing Southeast Asia as Director, SMB Sales India and SEA.
Sood joined Adobe from Symantec in 2011 and immediately played a role in helping redefine Adobe’s channel sales business in India to become the best performing team in the Asia Pacific region. He was named Asia Pacific Channel Person of the Year at Adobe’s World Wide Sales Conference in December.
Sood said the expansion of his role to take in Southeast Asia along with India was a great opportunity to continue the work he had begun.
Category: Apr–June 2023 - Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Marketing
HUMAN Security, Inc., a cybersecurity company that protects organizations by disrupting digital fraud and abuse, just announced the release of its 2023 Enterprise Bot Fraud Benchmark Report. The annual report provides insights into automated attack trends across enterprise use cases, including account takeover, brute forcing, carding, credential stuffing, inventory hoarding, scalping and web scraping.
Category: Apr–June 2023 - Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Marketing
Ogury, a global leader in personified advertising, commissioned IDC to conduct a global survey on 1,000 major brand and media agency executives to get their perspective and understanding of the future of digital advertising in a cookieless world.
Category: Apr–June 2023 - Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Marketing
Media placement and creative work hand in hand when it comes to effective advertising strategies. A new study by MAGNA Media Trials and Yahoo set out to understand the role that creative quality plays in ad effectiveness, and the elements that contribute to quality creative. Creative, the Performance Powerhouse found that while media placement helps marketers find consumers where they are, creative quality was responsible for 56% of purchase intent, illustrating the strong performance of both tactics as they work together. The study suggests that marketers can greatly benefit from making small improvements to their creative in order to optimize ad performance, while also driving brand quality and trust.
Category: Apr–June 2023 - Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Marketing
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, announced the release of Dalet Cut, the cloud-native, real-time, lightning-fast multimedia and multiplatform editor fully integrated within the Dalet ecosystem.
MediaBUZZ is the first ‘pure’ digital publisher in the region, making an impact in Asia Pacific since 2004. Designed to empower marketers in the vibrant, ever-changing electronic marketing environment, its publication Asian eMarketing covers the digital age and zooms in on the most valuable and indispensable tools of today’s marketers. Circulated weekly to more than 60,000 top management and marketing decision-makers, the useful and informative articles support e-marketers in finding a sound marketing strategy, vital for their growing business success.