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zMessenger, the
multiple-award winning full service digital
marketing agency in Sri Lanka, has entered into
a partnership with Japanese veteran Advertising Agency Network – Chuo Senko – to expand its Digital Marketing Technology and Services into the ASEAN region. The agreement for this partnership was signed recently at the zMessenger’s Head Office in Colombo 02.
With the inking of the
agreement, zMessenger will be able to take its novel stack of MarTech (MarketingTech) platforms involving AI-driven Programmatic Ad
buying, Virtual Reality and IoT Solutions to the regional level by collaborating with Chuo Senko as they pitch 360-degree solutions to companies in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand Cambodia, Myanmar
and Japan.
Expressing their views about the partnership,
zMessenger’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jayomi Lokuliyana and Chuo Senko (Indonesia) President Director Takeshi Hompo, elaborated on how both firms will be facing new challenges while
managing expectations. Following are excerpts of an interview:
Q: Tell us about the background of your companies.
Lokuliyana: zMessenger is an award-winning full service digital marketing agency in Sri Lanka. Through this partnership, we will combine our 14 years of experience in the creation and execution of dynamic mobile and digital campaign strategies with cutting-edge MarTech involving Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT and Virtual Reality to create extraordinary platforms to deliver world-leading brand experiences that are digitally led, data-driven and multi-channel.
At zMessenger, we have built a reputation for our innovative approach and commitment in transforming the digital marketing landscape of Sri Lanka, empowering local organizations to keep up with the rapid pace of evolution witnessed around the world. We leverage efficient and innovative digital expertise to create cutting-edge IT-enabled business solutions and mobile strategies across a vast range of industries that includes banking and finance, FMCG, manufacturing, real-estate, mass media, government and aviation.
Hompo: Established in Japan in 1957, Chuo Senko is a global advertising agency network spread across several ASEAN countries including Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Myanmar. At Chuo Senko, we provide 360-degree marketing services which covers research, strategic planning, creative development, media buying, event planning and operation, digital and CI design and retail shop development. We have decades of experience in creative advertising with a client portfolio that includes global brands such as Honda, Hitachi and Aeon-Tokyo Department Store. All of them are in digital acceleration drive to cater to its growing client digital demands. With this exciting zMessenger partnership, Chuo Senko gets access to expertise and experience of an outstandingly innovative digital marketing firm in the Asian region.
Q: What is the objective of this partnership?
Lokuliyana: In keeping with our 2017 theme of ‘Going for Greatness’- #G4G, we decided to map out a route to expand our expertise in the international stage by tying up with a leading agency network. While Chuo Senko is a veteran in the advertising field and zMessenger being a new generation digital capability partner, I would say it’s a perfect combination. Together, I am confident that we will be able to supplement each other’s synergies and come up with world-class innovative solutions and applications for their clientele, most of whom are large global brands. In a nutshell, this tie-up is about combining the cultural influence, core values of innovation and deep consumer insights of zMessenger with the global calibre of Chuo Senko, which gives us access to the global stage for Digital Innovation.
Hompo: Today’s advertising business requires hybrid solutions as clients demand a mix of traditional media as well as digital and mobile marketing. With our decades of experience, we are very solid in carrying out campaigns for traditional media but we are temporarily short-on the expertise of digital and mobile media. Thanks to our tie-up with zMessenger, we are now fully-geared to break down barriers and provide an effective hybrid solution that I am sure will have tremendous success with our clientele.
Q: What would this partnership mean to your current and future Sri Lankan clients?
Lokuliyana: With Chuo Senko’s expertise in the creative domain and their exposure in handling large brands, we are at confident that we can transfer these strengths even into the digital space. This will enable us to act as a full service agency to Sri Lankan clients so that we are in a strong position to provide integrated solutions that includes both digital and mass media campaigns. We are a company that is constantly trying to advise the client to invest more in the digital space due to the numerous benefits that it provides and with these new-found capabilities we believe it will be easier for us to break into certain accounts and industries with full 360-degree solutions when it comes to marketing communications.
Q: Can you give us some examples of the innovative solutions launched by zMessenger?
Lokuliyana: zMessenger has always taken steps to create digital consumer experiences as a competitive advantage for our clients using innovation and design. We have successfully introduced Virtual Reality to sectors such as real-estate and brand communications to merge the physical and digital experiences.
With years of learning and experience in the digital space, zMessenger created a MarTech platform with AI that help to automate Omni-channel advertising named ‘AdZudio’ which aims to deliver single point solution for brand marketers and agencies to conduct ROI-driven campaigns across multitude of digital channels.
Using data driven content marketing platforms, we have done value addition to consumer journeys. For example, we launched content driven commerce enabled platforms for large FMCG players paving way to create digital engagement and digital business.
Not only have we focused our innovations to savvy high-tech consumers but we have also reached out to the masses where everyday services could be enabled via simple legacy technologies. Our recent move to make paper-based lotteries to go via mobile is a good example of how we bring innovation to every sector.
There are a lot of innovative products in the pipeline. We will be soon showcasing our patented IoT broadcasting platform and several digital transformation services in healthcare, entertainment and learning.
Q: What are the local and international awards won by zMessenger?
Lokuliyana: Since inception, zMessenger has been awarded numerous accolades for our innovative solutions. Our leadership in the industry has been independently validated at numerous award shows. On the international stage, we are proud to have been a ‘Commended Medalist’ at the GSM Awards – Cannes and a Finalist of them Billionth Awards South Asia. Most recently, we were presented with the ‘Best Digital Marketing and Social Media Company South Asia’ award at the South Asian Partnership Summit (SAPS) and Business Awards. At the national level, we have been nominated the winner of the ‘Most innovative brand’ by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) and won the eSwabhimani Awards. On a personal level, I am proud to have won “Best Female Entrepreneur in South Asia” by South Asian Business Partnership Awards.
Q: What are the future plans and expectations of both companies?
Lokuliyana: Looking ahead, together we are planning to develop not only the service angle but also introduce digital marketing enabled products to Sri Lanka and ASEAN countries that would move away from services to product-driven revenues which are a revenue source. It is said that a CMO will spend more money on tech than the CIO of the company. Given this future scenario, it’s not only creative services but also digital products that we would cater and provide for these clients because what is clear is that every business entity – be it a pharmaceutical, a bank or even an airline - is now becoming a software business. In that space, you could consider IT would drive large amounts of budget irrespective of the division. Therefore, this timely venture will create synergies for clients of both firms and will pave the way for both entities to capture larger markets.
Hompo: Using zMessenger’s expertise, we can now meet the digital marketing demands of our clients. This will give us a definite edge in all seven countries that we operate in as now we can offer a ‘total package’ to them – outstanding campaigns for traditional media together with world-class digital and mobile media campaigns. With the demand for digital on the increase across the board, we envisage a very positive future for both companies through this partnership.
