McCann Content Studios makes SEA entry

McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia is launching McCann Content Studios, a culture-first editorial and entertainment studio focused on creating content, experiences and conversations that move at the speed of social, it said in a statement. 

Operating out of both Singapore and Bangkok, McCann Content Studios will house the network’s social, editorial and influencer strategy capabilities; social creative ideation and content creation; in-house end-to-end production and post-production, social audience and connection strategies and activation; influencer content co-creation and production; and performance measurement and optimisation. 

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It combines full-service social and creator strategy and execution into a single entity, and offers tailored end to end solutions to clients, tapping into rich and nuanced regional knowledge, while accessing the scale and power of the global McCann Content Studio network.

McCann Content Studios will use tools such as Trend>>Content, social voice mapping and CreatorIQ to help jack into culture and create content and conversations at scale.

Trend>>Content is a trend-based intelligence and ideation strategic operating system that will enable the studio to spot and jack social and cultural trends in real time to create content across four dimensions of social behaviour, generating dialogue or disruption.

Social voice mapping is an AI-enabled tool that will be able to identify an ownable brand voice to guide always-on content optimisation across clients’ social touchpoints.

CreatorIQ on the other hand is an end-to-end influencer and creator management platform for real-time co-creativity at scale, currently activated across all IPG agencies.

Since its launch in Singapore, McCann Content Studios has already worked with the Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group to assure families in Singapore of support through the ‘Made for Families’ initiative.

McCann Content Studios has also been awarded the social media management and content creation duties by GovTech, as well as leading social content strategy efforts for Microsoft, and supporting social duties for McCann Worldgroup Singapore’s existing clientele, it said. 

In Thailand, McCann Content Studios was instrumental in the agency’s recent win of L’Oreal Paris across growing digital, social media and influencer capabilities, and has also been deployed on the agency’s Red Bull (TCP) business.

“In an increasingly complex environment, where brands are looking for ever more sophisticated solutions across influencer, commerce and content, McCann Content Studios represents a consolidated offering that enables us to continue to provide best-in-class services for our clients", said Nicholas Handel, president, McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia and regional managing director, MRM Asia Pacific.

Leading McCann Content Studios Singapore is Fathrul Fazakir, general manager of McCann Worldgroup Singapore and practice lead of McCann Worldgroup Public Sector Practice, who acts as client services lead for the Studio as well as Liza Lorenzo who has been appointed social lead of McCann Content Studios.

Joining McCann Singapore in 2018 as regional senior account director, Fazakir subsequently became the regional group account director in 2019 before his current appointment in 2020.

With more than 16 years of experience in integrating marketing communications, including driving social-first creativity for local public sector organisations and brands such as Microsoft and Unilever, Fazakir was previously a regional account director at Gyro from 2016 to 2018 and senior account manager at DDB Group Singapore from 2014 to 2016.

Liza Marie Lorenzo on the other hand first joined McCann Worldgroup in 2014 as senior social manager and was promoted to social management director in 2015.

Lorenzo was later appointed the social management director and head of Nestle Social in 2017 and promoted to mapping director in 2019 prior to her current position. Lorenzo first joined the industry in 2014 as a graphic artist at Young & Rubicam.

Leading McCann Content Studios Thailand is Sukit Kittinuntakul, general manager, McCann Worldgroup Bangkok and Napatrapee Pitaknarongporn, associate social director.

Kittinuntakul previously held the position of general manager at MRM since 2020 before his current appointment. Prior to this, Kittinuntakul held the position of senior account director from 2014 to 2016 and business director from 2016 to 2018 before being appointed deputy general manager from 2018 to 2020.

Kittinuntakul founded MODELISMO in 2014, leading as business manager till 2017. He was also the co-founder and partner of 7th LINING from 2013 to 2017. Kittinuntakul other experiences include exchange planning supervisor at Mindshare, engagement planning supervisor at McCann Worldgroup, media planner at GroupM and web executive at MSN.

Napatrapee Pitaknarongporn was previously associate account director and associate social director at MRM since January this year before his current position at McCann Content Studios Thailand.

Prior to this, he held the position of senior account manager from and was the account manager for two years from 2021 to 2022. He first joined MRM in 2017 as an account executive before being promoted to senior account executive in 2019.

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