Hashmeta expands into Vietnam, targets beauty industry

Singapore-based digital marketing agency Hashmeta has opened a new office in Vietnam to serve companies that are expanding their markets beyond Singapore. In a statement to Marketing, Hashmeta's spokesperson said the Vietnam team will prioritise bringing in global clients and helping local clients within the beauty industry. The agency also looks to build up more local case studies and success stories through SEO and content marketing.

The spokesperson added that the team in Vietnam currently has seven people, and is working to support regional projects and tech operation that support Singapore’s clients. He also said the same team runs the Vietnam operations of Hashmeta's influencer marketplace StarNgage. Bill Lam, director of StarNgage will be leading Hashmeta's Vietnam team. Lam (pictured centre) was previously the affiliate marketing manager at mobile services provider Allterco, and has worked at TripAdvisor as a Vietnam business listing consultant while living in Singapore for eight years. 

Hashmeta will be competing with regional full service digital agencies that have operations in Southeast Asia (SEA), and top local agencies in Vietnam that have full service capabilities. Hashmeta's spokesperson said the agency differentiates itself with its strong experience in B2C and B2B marketing within the beauty industry, and will also be setting up a new social-commerce marketing arm in Vietnam which will focus on KOLs and KOCs (key opinion customers), targeting the beauty industry as well.

According to him, Hashmeta chose to expand into Vietnam because of the cost-effectiveness, friendly government policies to encourage tech-startups and digital transformation companies, and a ready pool of tech talents. Hashmeta also chose Vietnam as it sees the potential to sustain GDP growth, given that Vietnam's GDP is growing steadily. Additionally, Vietnam is Hashmeta's tech operation centre for website development and gamification.

Terrence Ngu, founder and CEO of Hashmeta, said the agency aims to be the preferred digital marketing partners for its clients in SEA- instead of just Singapore- in the next three to five years. “Big clients have a tendency to go beyond the Singapore market and we would like to continue to support them and be their local partner for those countries we are in," he added.

“Hashmeta Vietnam aims to become an entry point for any foreign brands wishing to expand their business in Vietnam by providing all-stop solutions from effective digital marketing, website-building to e-commerce and social commerce solutions," Lam said.

Last October, Hashmeta launched its office in China which supports the product research and development team for both StarNgage and its recently-acquired fashion aggregator ShopperBoard. Hashmeta is also offering its SEA marketing service to China clients. The agency has worked with tech company ByteDance for its overseas expansion in SEA for Vigo Video and TikTok through StarNgage. Additionally, in the same month, Hashmeta was appointed by Belgian chocolatier GODIVA Singapore to be its digital marketing agency. It was tasked to manage social media duties for six months with the option to extend for a year. The job scope covers social media content creation, community management and analytics. Hashmeta is responsible for increasing brand engagement and awareness for Godiva in Singapore. The appointment was made without a pitch.

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