International Business Group (IBG) of Tencent, a leading provider of Internet value added services in China, announced today the roll-out of one-stop service advertising solutions. The ad solutions include options to build brand awareness and develop product familiarity, prior to the Chinese tourist’s visit to Singapore as well as in-market advertisements to target Chinese tourists while they are in the country.
Singapore saw 1.47 million visitors from the mainland in the first half of this year, up 55.2% from the same period last year, according to the Singapore Tourism Board. Chinese tourists accounted for nearly 18% of the visitors to Singapore during this period. Aware of the untapped spending potential of these tourists, the Singapore Retailers Association recently launched initiatives such as the Singapore Golden Week, timed to coincide with the national holidays in China.
“Singapore is well positioned to benefit from the surge in the number of Chinese tourists,” said Benny Ho, Senior Director of Business Development, Tencent. “Reaching out to Chinese tourists on platforms they are familiar with is the best approach for local businesses.”
Brands need to engage early in the Chinese customer journey in order to influence purchase decisions before they travel. Tencent’s one-stop service advertising platforms will help Singapore businesses raise awareness and increase engagement opportunities with the surging numbers of Chinese tourists, even before they depart China. Tencent’s suite of advertising solutions provides previously unavailable opportunities for Singapore advertisers, enabling brands to engage Chinese customers globally and to offer an easy all-in-one advertising hub and solution leveraging both domestic and international traffic.
Mobile advertising for mobile tourists
According to the eMarketer’s survey “WeChat in China” from June 2016, the top two leading social media sites/chatting apps among social media users in China are WeChat and Qzone – both Tencent products. With WeChat’s position as a leading social media platform in China, the roll-out of one-stop service advertising solutions would empower local businesses to unlock the untapped spending potential and better reach Chinese tourists. Additionally, Tencent’s International Advertising Solutions can be customised to fit specific brand objectives.
Tencent’s platforms continue to grow their influence with Chinese consumers. There are more than 806 million active users for both WeChat and Weixin today, and GlobalWebIndex (GWI), operator of the world’s largest study on digital consumer behaviours and trends, revealed that between the first half of 2015 and the first half of 2016, WeChat nearly doubled its usage rates in APAC outside of China. The leading mobile messaging app in China, Weixin connects users through its communication features with services and hardware through its open platform, including advertising, official accounts, and online to offline (O2O) payment. Mobile QQ, one of the most popular communication apps in China, and Mobile Qzone, a leading social networking site in China, and QQ Music, one of the most popular digital music platforms in China, will also provide the Chinese social platform gateway for advertisers in Singapore.
To address communications and business objectives, there will be WeChat representatives to assist merchants in Singapore. Tencent’s IBG will provide a one-stop service advertising solutions including media planning, creative designs, advanced user targeting, ad placement execution, bid optimisation, and reporting.
Tencent creates a robust ecosystem in China through these customised advertising solutions, unleashing the potential to reach high-spending Chinese consumers. Key advertising products include “WeChat Official Account Banner Ad”, which redirects users to an external URL through a single click, “WeChat Moments Ad”, unique native social feed style display ads for a non-disruptive experience and “Mobile Qzone Friend Newsfeed Ad” which manifests as either an article or a video and is shown in a similar format as friend posts. Thus far, Tencent has launched its International Advertising Solutions across, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan in Asia, excluding China.
IBG will not have an exclusive partner in Singapore and will welcome any local partners and resellers to support marketers and advertisers.
