ShopBack searches for SG marketing lead, acquires buy now pay later firm hoolah

Cashback reward app ShopBack has launched a search for a head of marketing in Singapore, who will be responsible for demand growth and user development funnels on both existing and new business initiatives within ShopBack Singapore. According to the job post on LinkedIn, the opening comes as ShopBack looks to expand its team across the APAC region. 

According to the job description, some of the expected responsibilities of a marketing head include developing a comprehensive and aligned strategic marketing plan to drive awareness, customer acquisition, growth, and retention; as well as evaluating and reporting on campaign performance to relevant stakeholders, including providing regular management reporting to inform the organisation’s performances.

The marketing head will also devise, implement and be accountable for marketing strategies and executions to drive the highest ROI on user acquisition, growth and retention across marketing channels, including CRM, social media, digital and content marketing, key opinion leaders and advocates, PR, communications, advertising, and any other form of online and offline promotions.

Additionally, the selected candidate will provide leadership, coaching and direction to the marketing team. The selected candidate must also ensure members of the team are well briefed, supported, work as effective members of the wider team, and deliver on their objectives.

Other duties include managing marketing budgets, providing accurate ROI forecasting and appropriate investments, using reports and data to derive actionable insights, present meaningful analysis, and recommending impactful initiatives and optimisations.

To qualify, the selected candidate will need to have eight to 10 years of experience in integrated marketing strategy and working in a team management role, and preferably have experience working in eCommerce, B2C marketing, social media, and start-ups as well. Additionally, the candidate must also have commercial acumen, budget management, and reporting experiences; along with an excellent track record of creating and implementing successful creative marketing campaigns, including all elements of the marketing mix. 

The candidate should also have strong data analysis skills and be able to use both quantitative and qualitative means to map strategy, decisions, product iterations and roadmap prioritisation. At the same time, the candidate should have a creative instinct, both in developing campaigns and in constantly evaluating how ShopBack works in order to improve processes.

ShopBack is also looking for someone who is a structured thinker who can break big, ambiguous challenges down into discrete, solvable problems. The candidate would also have leadership and team management skills to achieve outstanding results; quipped with strong interpersonal and effective communication skills to be able to build relationships and communicate effectively at all levels, internally and externally. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to ShopBack for additional information about the head of marketing role in Singapore.

Separately, ShopBack's marketing team in Malaysia is currently led by Emily Tan, as confirmed to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE by the company's spokesperson. A quick search on LinkedIn revealed that she joined the company in September this year.

At the same time, the company has acquired buy now pay later (BNPL) brand hoolah as part of its efforts to drive US$3.5 billion in sales this year. ShopBack said the acquisition will transform the shopping experience for shoppers, and provide a one-stop solution for demand generation and user engagement for merchants across the APAC region. ShopBack's spokesperson said that it made the acquisition in cash and stock, but declined to disclose the monetary value of the acquisition.

The acquisition will see ShopBack further enhance its suite of shopping tools and rewards by offering shoppers a responsible, convenient, and flexible payment option at checkout. Meanwhile, hoolah will be able to accelerate its growth through ShopBack, which allows the BNPL player to extend its offerings to over 8,000 merchants and 30 million shoppers across several APAC markets.

Henry Chan, co-founder and CEO of ShopBack, said that it sees significant synergies between ShopBack’s and hoolah’s product lines and that together, they unlock value by providing a broader platform of new capabilities and services for shoppers and merchants alike. "Shoppers get the best deals and rewards, and more flexible payment options, on a single platform. Merchant partners can access a large pool of high-intent shoppers, and achieve higher conversions and basket sizes. Our best-in-class technology and rich transaction data will enable us to further accelerate the development of the BNPL sector across the Asia-Pacific," he added.

Both teams will continue to operate independently in the coming months and all existing product features on both the Shopback and hoolah platforms will remain available to shoppers and merchants in the near term. "The hoolah team will be onboarded into the ShopBack Group and continue building a great BNPL experience for shoppers and merchants alike," the spokesperson added.

Arvin Singh, co-founder and CEO of hoolah, said that hoolah and ShopBack coming together is a natural fit given their similarities in exceptional brand recognition, user demographics and an aligned vision of placing the customer at the heart of everything. “hoolah’s deep experience in BNPL, complemented by ShopBack’s stature as the leading rewards and discovery platform, marks an incredible opportunity to boost and support growth for merchants across the APAC region," he added. 

Launched in Singapore in 2018, hoolah is a BNPL player in Southeast Asia that allows shoppers to pay for their purchases in three interest-free instalments. It currently works with over 2,000 online and in-store merchants in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. 

Separately, Shopback received flak from netizens after it launched its Bollywood-themed ad in April this year, which was deemed somewhat culturally inappropriate. The ad saw a group of dancers led by social media influencer Kevin Tristan wearing Indian ethnic outfits, dancing to Bollywood-inspired music while singing the lyrics "ShopBack pays me to shop". 

ShopBack later issued an apology in a TikTok post, which said: "We sincerely apologise for the TikTok Ad released on 1 April 2021 which might have caused feelings of confusion and frustration, amongst other emotions, within our community. The music video (from props to costumes, music, dance and set) drew inspiration from various cultures of Singapore and aimed to bring generations together. It also hoped to blend kampung spirit and modernity."

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