Our agenda hits on key trends across 3 main themes. Click the buttons below to see the full agenda for November 1st and November 2nd.
PLENARY STAGE: THE FUTURE CONSUMER & AI
STAGE 1: ECOMMERCE & RETAIL
STAGE 2: MARKETING INNOVATION
09.25 SGT
PLENARY MC: Natalie Nasr, General Manager & Head of Business Development, FUTR GROUP
09.30 SGT
Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, Chief Marketing & Digital Officer for L’Oréal in SAPMENA brings his experience of brand building from across the world to the future of our region with the power of BeautyTech from L’Oréal, the world’s #1 beauty company.
In a world of multiple voices and multiple channels how does this incredible organisation navigate its portfolio of brands to inspire consumers about the future of beauty? BeautyTech is the combination of technology, data and a unique understanding of the beauty consumer to create engaging experiences whilst building on the fundamentals of marketing. Driven by insight and research, fuelled by some of the world’s biggest beauty brands – we’ll see what makes beauty the place to be.
KEYNOTE
Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, Chief Marketing & Digital Officer, SAPMENA, L’OREAL
09.50 SGT
In a recent CMO Council poll, an overwhelming 84% of marketing leaders recognize Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) as pivotal leaders in shaping organizational strategy, ensuring adherence, and effectively communicating the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) mandate. They no longer view CMOs as mere team members or sideline observers. In this session Vivek will delve into the following key areas:
1. Understanding the Evolving Landscape of the Climate Crisis: Gain insights into the emerging dimensions of the climate crisis, and how it impacts organizations and your customers.
2. Case Study: Discover how proactive engagement with policymakers, businesses, and communities can drive meaningful climate action.
3. Path to Ethical Marketing: Vivek will share some tips for marketers on how to steer clear of the pitfalls of greenwashing, ensuring that marketing efforts align with genuine sustainability initiatives.
KEYNOTE
Vivek Kumar, Chief Marketing, Communications and Fundraising Officer, WWF
10.10 SGT
Gone are the days of the nuclear family and its predictable spending habits. Meet the future consumer: multifarious, scrupulous, and transitory. Global economic and environmental issues affect customers’ expectations of the brands and retailers they interact with and their spending habits. According to Inside Retail, purpose-driven consumers are expecting greater commitment from brands on sustainability (Asian Retail Outlook 2023) and, increasingly, governmental legislations will ensure brands’ and retailers’ sustainability strategy is about more than just words. Don’t miss the opening panel at FUTR Asia to learn about:
– the impact of COVID, cost-of-living crisis and climate change on purchasing behaviours and future spending of Gen Z & Generation Alpha
– shifts in consumer expectations of brands and retailers and mindset around their own consumption in relation to their environmental footprint
– strategies from brands and retailers in anticipating these changes such as incorporating brand activism, building purpose driven brands and avoiding greenwashing
PANEL
Travin Singh, Founder & CEO, LESS & CO.
Vidmay Naini, General Manager, Global Emerging Markets, EBAY
Bharati Balakrishnan, Country Head & Director, SEA & IN, SHOPIFY
MODERATOR: Nicole van der Elst Desai, Chair, Sustainability Steering Committee, SINGAPORE FASHION COUNCIL
10.50 SGT
TRACK CHAIR:
Christophe Bacon, Founder & Managing Partner, OMNISTRADA
TRACK CHAIR:
Maneesh Sah, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, RAVE MARKETING PARTNERS
11:30 SGT
The last few years have altered consumer habits, bringing significant changes to global commerce as more people shop online. However, while these changes have presented growth opportunities, industry data shows that the global average conversion rate has remained flat throughout the pandemic. Today, Google aims to assist businesses in rethinking how to unlock the full value of commerce traffic through a low-risk, low-investment business model using ad monetization.
PRESENTATION
Zeal Tai, Regional Business Development Lead, GOOGLE
In the world of community building, Soulflower brings an innovative segment that co-relates personality traits and shopping trends mirroring respective Zodiac signs.
Amit Sarda simplifies a unique case study on Data analytics using Star Signs to study consumer behaviour across platforms (Online and offline). This gives a different approach to marketing products in the existing cluttered space paves the way for new marketing opportunities to target the right people and gives insights to connect with them on a more personal front.
PRESENTATION
Amit Sarda, Managing Director, Soulflower
11:50 SGT
Delve into the dynamic landscape of e-commerce with us as we offer insights on harnessing the power of globalisation, automation and unified customer experience paving the way for seamless expansion into global markets. Explore how automation optimises operational efficiency and learn how to provide a cohesive and satisfying user journey for your customers in this ever-evolving industry.
PRESENTATION
Bharati Balakrishnan, Country Head & Director, SEA & IN, SHOPIFY
As marketers, we’re accustomed to looking outward – toward trends, competitors, and customers. In our fast-paced business environment, it’s easy for brands to lose sight of their core identities. The constant pressure to adapt and respond to external forces pulls attention away from the values, purpose, and vision at a brand’s center. In this talk, we’ll reimagine the role brands can play in forging a better future – if they have the courage to look within.
PRESENTATION
Tina Mulqueen, CMO, LIVELY WORLDWIDE
12:10 SGT
Delivery aggregators and third-party ecommerce platforms are revolutionising traditional trade across Asia. Traditional warungs otherwise known as ‘mom-and-pop’ shops are benefiting from the scale and buying power these platforms provide, reducing transaction costs and driving down wholesale prices. Initiatives such as the government of India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a free to use open-source digital commerce platform, are poised to further democratise ecommerce. This government run platform will make it free for small businesses to sell their products and allows users to make fee free payments to their suppliers. This panel examines the effect technology will have on retail strategies within the APAC region.
PANEL
Andrew Hill, Digital Acceleration Director, COCA COLA
Caesario Parlindungan, VP FMCG & Fresh, MITRA BUKALAPAK
Aniruddha Rotiwar, Director eCommerce APAC, HP
MODERATOR: Christophe Bacon, Founder & Managing Partner, OMNISTRADA
A counter cultural reaction to ‘mega-influencer’ flex and their lack of authenticity, or perhaps a result of the cost of living crisis or a genuine response against consumerism: de-influencing, when people take to social media and urge their followers not to buy certain goods, seems to be the latest trend making its way across social media marketing and is urging brands and retailers to change their approach to influencer marketing and social media engagement. Join this discussion to learn: – Where is influencer marketing currently and where is it headed? – Dealing with the rise of de-influencer marketing – Building longevity and brand safety into your campaign.
PANEL
Christian Kwok, CEO, I’VRE
Amy Lee Cowey-Small, Global Brand Director, COCO & EVE
Nikhil Rao, VP Marketing, MONDELEZ
Max Verrier, Regional Head of Business and Operations, NARRATORS
MODERATOR: Patricia Malay, Client Services Director, BUD COMMUNICATIONS
12.50 SGT
14.00 SGT
As shoppers return to the high street and the cost of digital customer acquisition is rising, digital-first online brands must diversify their channel strategy to safeguard growth. Meanwhile the luxury segment is moving away from wholesalers and is investing in online DTC and third-party retailers. In this fireside chat the panel will discuss their approach to omnichannel strategies in a post covid world.
FIRESIDE CHAT
Kegan Tan, Director, CRAZYBADMAN.COM E-commerce & Vending Retailer (Sports + Health)
MODERATOR: Tina Mulqueen, CMO, LIVELY WORLDWIDE
As marketers we have the power and resources to make a difference in the world we operate in. How can we enable communities to live, work and thrive with our superpower? How can we transform the business as well as the eco-system, and be marketing leaders that drive commercial outcomes while being a force for good…
PRESENTATION
Ian Tan, VP Marketing, PROPERTY GURU
14.20 SGT
APAC marketing and ecommerce managers today face the difficult challenge of managing multiple stores across a diverse range of ecommerce platforms and geographies; all with different rules for engagement and customer portfolios. With such a fragmented landscape and against a backdrop of margin constraints, this presentation outlines how brands can consistently achieve compelling high quality experiences to customers, while taking into account local dynamics.
PRESENTATION
Jasper Knoben, Group CEO, FLYWHEEL
PRESENTATION
Michelle Tenoudji, Global Business Development Director, CLICKR MEDIA
14.40 SGT
Retail is dead? Think again! As the growth curve of ecommerce is flattening, and the regions’ shoppers are returning to the mall, there remains a place for retail in the customers’ purchasing journey. In their 2023 Asia Pacific Retail Flash Survey, CBRE identifies a “solid appetite for more and better retail spaces” where 66% of respondents indicated plans to increase their number of stores, although advising caution to ensure cost are kept under control. This session examines how innovative strategies such as pop-up stores, select collabs, gallery-like curated experiences, or implementing technologies can be used to create unique experiences for your customer whilst keeping cost down.
PANEL
Richard Ruddy, President, Co-founder, NUGURU
Ngai Yuen Low, Chief Merchandise & Marketing Officer, AEON Co Malaysia Berhad
Irene Renée R. Funtanilla, AVP, Marketing and Customer Experience, MPT MOBILITY Corp.
MODERATOR: Sameer Mehta, Head of South East Asia, DSG Consumer Partners
Livestream shopping is well and truly here with social media platforms such as TikTok having more streams than streaming platforms such as Netflix. It is especially popular in SEA as nearly 60% of worldwide social network users are based in the region (eMarketer), and reportedly generating TikTok “over $1bn a month in gross media value in SEA alone” (The Drum). But how can brands and retailers tap into the billions of dollars of consumer spent on ‘shoppertainment’; what platforms are seeing most returns in the APAC market; how to keep audiences engaged, build trust, and avoid overselling; and how do we leverage media monitoring and analysis to measure success and brand reputation on social media? Join this session to find out!
PANEL
Marcus Yong, Vice President – Global Marketing, Strategy & Planning, KLOOK
Anna Rehermann, Head of Innovation Programs, ELEMENTAL CONCEPT
Om A. Bhatia, Head of Digital Revenue Growth, CHUBB
Andrew Nicholls, Managing Director, CARMA
MODERATOR: Amanda Yesionowski, Marketing Director, TECH IN ASIA
15.20 SGT
TRACK CHAIR: Nicole van der Elst Desai, Chair, Sustainability Steering Committee, SINGAPORE FASHION COUNCIL
16:00 SGT
Sustainability is the biggest challenge of our times. In this presentation, Rupen Desai, named by Forbes as one of the world’s most influential Marketers, provokes the need to move from extractive growth to a different value creation model, one where people, the planet and prosperity, all thrive together, never one at the cost of one another and talks about how a regenerative mindset could be the biggest opportunity of our time.
KEYNOTE
Rupen Desai, CMO and Venture Partner, UNA TERRA
16:20 SGT
In BOF’s ‘State of Fashion 2023’ report, sustainability was cited as the most important opportunity for the industry. Spotlighted in the report, designing out waste, reselling, repairing, and renting offer different, scalable strategies for brands to close the loop on textile waste while building customer loyalty and business models that communities enjoy. Globally, resale revenue is expected to grow to $47 billion by 2025, from $15 billion in 2022 — 11 times faster than apparel retail overall, albeit from a lower base (TBOF, State of Fashion 2023). Online resale channels are growing in popularity in China: a 2020 survey of Chinese consumers from UBS found that 72 percent of respondents had increased their purchases on luxury resale via online platforms, compared to 31 percent who had done so in 2018. Simultaneously, the clothes rental market is expected to reach $2.1 billion by 2025 (TBoF) and more than 40 percent of growth is expected to come from the APAC region. This panel discussion spotlights Singapore-based businesses who are APAC pioneers in this space, and explores how they’re scaling businesses which are making responsible, circular consumption easy, convenient and attractive.
PANEL
Vishal Salunkhe, Vice President & Head of Goods, CAROUSELL GROUP
Mild Karoon-ngampun, CEO, UPCYDE
Raena Lim, Co Founder and COO, STYLE THEORY
Jasmine Tuan, Co-founder, CLOOP
MODERATOR: Susannah Jaffer, Founder & CEO, ZERRIN