We Are Social Asia Tuesday Tune-Up #191

News
tobias.cragg

South East Asian haze floods social media
As smoky air drifts across the region, users from Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia have vented their frustration on Facebook and Twitter. In Singapore, many closely follow the government’s air monitoring index, the PSI, to note the safety of outdoor activity and whether or not it’s time to don the ubiquitous safety mask. Some Twitter users such as radio personality Joakim Gomez have attempted to find a particulate of humour in the cloud of frustration.

In Indonesia, the hashtag #masihmelawanasap, translated as ‘Still fighting the haze’, expresses a sentiment that effective strategies and solutions to combatting future outbreaks of the heavy smog have yet to be outlined.

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While the debate between those who actually burn the forests and those companies who facilitate the burn are as consistent as the haze itself, a campaign by the World Wildlife Fund, incorporating both online and out-of-home efforts is reminding Singaporean consumers that ‘We Breathe What We Buy’.  A beautiful, if haunting, re-imagination of everyday items as burning forests, hits the point home.

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Some were able to find the lighter side of the pollution and used their digital imagery skills to Photoshop monsters into Singapore’s hazy skyline.

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Instagram rolls out highly anticipated full-funnel ad solution
Instagram, the US’ second largest ad platform behind Facebook, is enabling advertisers to launch ads, implementing Facebook’s ad management technology. Instagram has 300 million active users worldwide, and the advertising capabilities will be available in more than 30 countries. These countries include Hong Kong, Indonesia, India and New Zealand, where brands such as (@intel_indonesia) and Air New Zealand (@airnz) will be the first to test these ads out.

The platform has also introduced ‘Marquee’, which allows advertisers to up their real-time Instagram offering by ‘owning a moment’ – good news for those launching products or involved in live events.

 

Facebook Improves Pages
The money-making machine that is Facebook is at it again, but this time it’s helping you, marketers. The platform has announced an upgrade to allow the 45 million companies – from global brands to local businesses – with Pages to improve their virtual storefront on the platform. The new tabbed mobile layout allows companies to list their services, as well as letting users “Shop” using Facebook’s Shopify-powered Buy Button without even having to leave the platform. It’s another sensible move by Facebook to prove direct value to brands of any size on the platform.
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Brands Beware: ‘Zombie Fans’ are Quietly Lurking
The apocalypse is here… ‘Zombie Fans’ are out to get you. If you’re not sure what “Zombie fans” are, it’s the name given to fake followers lurking around on Chinese social media platforms, and is proving an issue for marketers trying to reach genuine audiences. As We Are Social’s Shanghai managing director, Pete Lin, told Ad Age, brands with little experience in China should be cautious, especially when agencies promise remarkable results at low prices:

The only purpose of using fake WeChat fans is for unscrupulous agencies to dupe their clients, as in, ‘the campaign is working, look at all these fans you got’.

Tut tut.

Ambitious Millennials use Tinder for Business Networking Dates
Millenials are now swiping right for their next entrepreneurial pursuit. Tinder has teamed up with Forbes to create a ‘speed networking’ app — connecting an affluent community who have already ‘made it’. It’s currently limited to Forbes’ 30 under 30 community, but I expect my invite is in the post.

Jim Beam Targets Millennials Through Snapchat
Some alcohol brands might consider Snapchat a risky place to play, but not Jim Beam. To ensure its ads are only shown to those old enough to purchase a ‘bevvy’, they’re served based on a user’s birthday, which is required to create an account. Later this month, the ads will be visible in both Oktoberfest and Mid-Autumn Festival Live Stories as well as a week-long series that explores Hawaii. Jim Beam intends to broadcast the ads to a wide group of interests, achieving the biggest reach among legal drinkers. But remember guys – no screenshots.

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Brands and their Critics Slated for 9/11 Tweets
 Many would say that a tragedy is not a suitable tweeting opportunity. Some might argue it’s a mark of respect. But true to form, on the anniversary of 9/11 this year, brands started tweeting using the #NeverForget hashtag. And, predictably, critics waded in to tell them just how inappropriate it all was. But as this article from Adweek points out, there may now be even more (arguably opportunistic) tweets criticising the brands, than brand tweets themselves. Confused? I don’t blame you. Here’s a compilation of both so you can see for yourself.