Pomelo eyes marketing dollars with new integrated service Prism. for brands

Fashion brand Pomelo has launched Prism., a new service to attract brands across Southeast Asia to use Pomelo’s creative, tech and market capabilities. Prism. allows brands access to Pomelo’s pool of data collected from 40 million consumers all over Southeast Asia and offers brand-focused services such as "Tap.Try.Buy." - Pomelo’s in-app online-to-offline shopping feature. It also enables clients access to the brand’s eCommerce platform and physical stores in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. To date, global brands such as Urban Revivo and Levi's have jumped on to the new offering.

The service offers branding consultation, a full-service creative studio for content production, multichannel social media content localisation with a wide influencer and KOL network, and data-driven performance marketing solutions. The scope of Prism.’s offerings also extends to trading and merchandising, offering design, manufacturing and fabric sourcing services. This will enable brands to get industry insight on trend forecasting, product development, technical design, sizing and production. Moreover, the platform’s tech capabilities allow brand personalisation which permits optimal product discovery based on its proprietary machine learning which brands become more competitive in the online retail landscape.

David Jou, Pomelo’s chief executive officer, said: “With the knowledge and expertise we have acquired, it feels like the right time to scale our capabilities and build a community of omnichannel-savvy brands.” Jou also added that Pomelo's goal with Prism. is to turn the seismic impacts that industry has seen due to the pandemic, into an opportunity. 

"By providing this end-to-end service, we want to help brands scale with us and contribute to the growth of the fashion industry across Southeast Asia,” Jou said. 

According to a report done by Google and Temasek, despite the pandemic, the Southeast Asian digital fashion industry reported 22% growth in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and was valued at US$25 billion in 2020. Projections of the market predict that it will keep growing exponentially up to six times the size it is today, estimating its worth at US$100 billion. This highlights the scale of the potential that the fashion industry has to expand, and subsequently the landscape in which local and international brands can grow in with Prism.

Aside from this, Pomelo recently made the news in February this year for Pomelo its tie up with TikTok, to create a 13-piece collection. This was targeted at Millennials and Generation Z consumers across Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. The collaboration's theme centred on "Be bold be you". With the collection, Pomelo and TikTok look to empower young women to embrace their personal styles with positivity, by expressing themselves in a way that exudes creativity, confidence, and originality. Pomelo also looks to raise brand awareness to new audiences across the region by expanding its marketing visibility and exposure to TikTok’s platform. 

Separately in 2020, the Pomelo refreshed its logo, transitioning from brand to fashion and lifestyle platform. Cathriona Nolan, AVP of creative operations and branding then told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE then that the team started on the rebranding by thinking about how it wanted to be portrayed as a platform. With the release of the new logo then, Pomelo signified its want in remaining modern and minimal, true to the original Pomelo design aesthetic. At the same time, it also wanted its branding to reflect its strong community focus. Hence, it moved from bold extended typefaces and all caps, to a rounder, softer capitalised approach, which feels more conversational and inclusive.

Related articles: 
Pomelo goes on collaboration frenzy first with Grab and now TikTok
Pomelo refreshes branding as it 'transitions from brand to fashion platform'
Pomelo takes on Indonesia and Malaysia markets in bid to conquer SEA