GrabAds and Tomato Interactive partner up to support Chinese brands in SEA

Grab's advertising arm GrabAds has partnered with Tomato Interactive, a subsidiary of global influencer and integrated marketing agency BlueMedia, to support China’s top brands in gaining a stronger presence in Southeast Asia.  

This marks GrabAds’ first partnership with a global marketing agency in the Greater China region. The partnership started in September 2023. 

Under the partnership, Tomato Interactive’s clients will be able to leverage GrabAds’ full-funnel retail media capabilities and reach high-value users within the Grab super app ecosystem across Southeast Asia.  

Furthermore, brands working with Tomato Interactive can access rich, hyperlocal first-party data based on the actual purchase behaviour of high-value consumers in Southeast Asia.  

The strength of Grab’s retail media network will help Tomato Interactive’s clients to drive better brand awareness, and engagement across the consumer funnel. 

Jiao Li, general manager of Tomato Interactive and vice president of BlueMedia, said: “As a leading super app in the region, Grab knows Southeast Asia best. Our partnership comes very timely, as we see keen interest from our clients across travel, lifestyle and technology looking to expand and grow their brand within Southeast Asia’s growing and digitally-savvy consumers.” 

“We believe that GrabAds’ retail media network capabilities - whether access to first-party insights or Grab’s end-to-end ecosystem, will allow us to support our clients better across their marketing needs,” Li added. 

Meanwhile, Dave Yang, regional head of sales and GTM at GrabAds, added, “We're thrilled to embark on this journey with Tomato Interactive. We’re confident that our tie-up will support their clients in gaining better awareness and brand building in Southeast Asia. This is also a milestone for GrabAds, as we expand our reach to brands in the Greater China region through Tomato Interactive’s strong network of clients.”  

Back in July, GrabAds partnered with MediaBank, a Japanese digital marketing solution provider, to bring its tourism campaign into Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Designed for the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA), the campaign aimed to create awareness for travellers in Southeast Asia to ‘Discover Another Side of Japan’, going beyond the traditional tourist spots.

The campaign was featured in the Grab app and across the Grab fleet, using various online and offline touchpoints, including in-app ads, branded challenges, and fleet activation.

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