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Mumbrella Asia Travel Marketing Summit – new speakers announced for next week’s event

A number of speakers have been added to the programme for the Mumbrella Asia Travel Marketing Summit, which will take place in Singapore on Tuesday (May 7).

First up, R3 principal consultant Elfrida Szeto has stepped up as moderator of the session titled ‘Product Placement and Destination Marketing: The Crazy Rich Asians Bounce for Singapore’. Added to that, PHD Singapore managing director Priya Jean Alexander will also join the discussion as a panel member.

Szeto has a wide array of clients in the travel space

It was the film that took the world by storm in 2018, thanks partly to the stunning Singapore backdrop. As a result, locations and brands in the Lion City – like the Marina Bay Sands hotel and Changi Airport – expected a huge marketing boost from their silver screen appearance.

A year on from its release, what are the outcomes for Singapore? Did the product placement work? Was it the destination marketing triumph the likes of the Singapore Tourism Board painted it to be?

Our panel of media and marketing speakers will look at the evidence. They include Nielsen customer insights leader Garick Kea, who worked previously for Isentia and BlackBerry, and the executive editor of Ink, Jalean Wong, as well as the progressive J. Walter Thompson Asia-Pacific director of the innovation group May Yee Chen.

Also joining them will be the entrepreneurial TripZilla founder and chief executive officer Winnie Tan.

Next, Happiness Saigon creative director Paul Busschau will join the panel session titled ‘The Next Iteration of Marcoms – Moving Beyond Traditional Formats to Immersive Engagement’.

Busschau works out of Vietnam

The days of putting out a press release to journalists and a traditional ad to consumers in order to spread the word about your product are long gone. Nowadays, marcoms professionals can use a wide array of mediums from influencers and programmatic to experiential and thought leadership.

But which is the most effective channel and why? How do we work smarter? And what does the next iteration look like for marcoms? All these questions and more will be debated in this lively panel discussion.

Among the panel members will be Vim & Vigour PR founder and managing director Lynda Williams, who has a number of travel clients in her company’s portfolio. Then there is Sinclair founder and chief executive officer Kiri Sinclair, winner of’ the ‘Agency Leader of the Year’ gong at the Mumbrella Asia Awards in 2018.

Also on the panel will be the investor and Travel Daily chief executive officer Brett Henry, plus ADK group chief creative officer Rob Sherlock.

Moderating this session will be the Mumbrella Asia editor Ravi Balakrishnan. He has covered the marketing, advertising and media industry for over two decades and was previously at Brand Equity in India before joining Mumbrella in 2018.

In addition, Coconuts Media founder and CEO Byron Perry will speak on the panel session ‘Do Influencers Really Have Influence and, if so, Which Ones Are Worth Your Ad Dollars?’.

Perry has his own views on influencers

For influencers have become a polarising topic in the last year, following incidents of fraud and fakery. Unilever has even halted work with influencers who buy followers, and other clients have followed that lead.

At the same token, surely there are positive stories to be told from brands which have seen the benefits of influencer campaigns? This panel will attempt to find out the truth so that you know where to put your ad dollars to get maximum bang for the buck.

Also from the media owner side, TheSmartLocal managing director Bryan Choo will join the debate. Add to that, the Singapore-based influencer Xin Lin Khaw plus the Kobe Global Technologies (award-winning influencer agency) founder and chief executive officer Evangeline Leong, and prominent influencer critic – and Right Hook Communications public relations director – Wesley Gunter.

Moderating proceedings will be Facebook head of agency for Asia-Pacific, Neil Stewart – a man who is known for being slightly sceptical about influencers. He makes up what promises to be a compelling line-up and a truly compelling debate.

Then we have Digitas chief media officer Charlie Newbery, who joins as moderator for the session ‘Brand-Building in a Digital age Ruled by Programmatic Advertising. Can It Be Done?’.

Newbery knows a thing or two about brand building

 

Some industry grandees have suggested that brand-building is no longer fashionable, having taken a back seat to programmatic in the digital age – when ad spends are under ever greater scrutiny.

But is that really true? Is it a black and white choice between spending on programmatic to get a short-term return and betting on a long-term play of traditional brand equity campaigns? This diverse industry expert panel will attempt to get to the heart of the matter, looking at the issue from all sides – including that of the client, agency and online travel agency.

Joining the line-up is Omnicom Media Group Asia-Pacific chief executive officer Tony Harradine, a man who has already made his mark at OMG since taking the hot seat earlier this year. Flying in from her San Francisco base to join us will be ADARA chief marketing officer Carolyn Corda – a Yale University graduate who previously worked for Accenture.

You will also hear from the Klook head of regional marketing for South East Asia and the Middle East Marcus Yong – who previously worked for Scoot and the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Plus Skyscanner senior director and head of growth for Asia Paul Whiteway will be onboard as will ex-Googler and investment banker turned travel blogger Mar Pages.

Finally, the final session of the day ‘Marketing to Outward Bound Tourists from China – Knowing the Fundamentals’ will be moderated by IPG Mediabrands APAC head of marketing and communications Naomi Michael. Providing further added value, CtrlShift CEO Dominic Powers will join the same panel discussion as a speaker.

Michael will moderate the final session

In 2017, Chinese tourists made 130 million trips abroad – spending an astounding US$115 billion; meaning China is now the highest spending nation when it comes to travelling.

But with cultural differences and language barriers to overcome, how exactly can travel brands outside of China tap into the country’s huge pool of tourists – who are just hungry for new experiences abroad?

Putting forward their insights will be our eclectic panel of speakers. They include Leverate Media Asia vice-president of consulting Meutia Adryana – winner of the ‘Under-30 Achiever of the Year’ category at the Mumbrella Asia Awards in 2018 – and CtrlShift CEO Dominic Powers. On top of that, also joining will be Quintessentially Singapore managing director Da Yu Au, as well as TripAdvisor commercial solutions and strategy manager Ethan Yeo and BeMyGuest founder and former chief executive officer Clement Wong – also vice-chairman of The Pacific Asia Travel Association.

During the one-day conference at One Farrer Hotel, there will also be a keynote speech by Cathay Pacific marketing chief Edward Bell and an in-depth question and answer session with Changi airport marcoms head Ivan Tan, as well as a keynote by Hilton Hotels comms guru Clare Woodford.

In addition, there will be expert speakers from Facebook, Expedia, Klook, Skyscanner, R3, TripZilla, Nielsen, the Travel Daily, Quintessentially and TripAdvisor – to name but a few.

Woodford will speak about Hilton’s 100-year brand journey

Now in its second year, the summit will bring together hundreds of leading travel industry players and a number of international speakers.

Other topics on the agenda include ‘Bleisure’: The trend of mixing business trips with leisure travel, halal tourism and the power of data in China.

Get your tickets here today for just AUD$399 before it is too late.

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