VMLY&R SG enhances commerce capabilities, hires 20 new staff

Global marketing agency VMLY&R Singapore has enhanced its commerce capabilities with the launch of a global commerce accelerator programme in partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

The commerce accelerator programme will be based in Singapore and is aimed at developing commerce and commercial advisory services for the agency’s international clients. It will bring to life three new commerce innovation projects, including IMPACT, an in-store touchpoint planning platform, OhMyCart, a disruptive path to eCommerce for small retailers and social sellers, and the agency’s own commercial growth advisory, a data driven commercial growth consultancy for incremental growth.

VMLY&R will also ramp up its team in Singapore by appointing over 20 new hires across a variety of roles in commerce research and innovation, including commercial consultants, commerce planners, data analysts and engineers, CRM specialists, cloud solution architects, and more. Each expertise area will be staffed by senior hires in Singapore, giving local talent the benefit of accelerated learning and exposure to other senior leaders within VMLY&R’s global network.

The evolution of VMLY&R commerce and the expansion of its customer experience and commerce capabilities have been a major part of the network’s considerable growth trajectory over the past two years, which saw revenues double and headcount triple.

Hari Ramanathan (pictured), chief executive officer, VMLY&R South and Southeast Asia and Japan said, “Commerce is an integral part of our key service offerings. We believe that accelerating growth across not only the more traditional commerce channels that agencies have worked on, but expanding through commercial growth advisory and commercial marketing, are key to converting an entire consumer journey at the point of sale, ensuring we not only have influence to get people there but to complete the transaction as well. Anchoring the program in Singapore will allow us to enhance our capabilities quicker and at scale and help Singapore remain at the forefront of the commerce evolution.”

Junie Fo, vice president and head, commercial and professional services, EDB, said, “We are delighted to have VMLY&R launch their global commerce accelerator programme in Singapore, which will unlock new value for brands and create new opportunities for advertising and marketing talent. VMLY&R’s new offering will further strengthen Singapore’s position as an innovative global marketing hub.”

The announcement follows news of VMLY&R’s global union with VMLY&R COMMERCE (previously Geometry) and the elevation of Nick Pan to chief commerce and strategy officer, VMLY&R Asia, as part of the agency’s commitment to commerce as a continued catalyst for growth. Pan will lead VMLY&R’s commerce accelerator programme in Singapore, working closely with global VMLY&R commerce CEO Beth Ann Kaminkow.

Kaminkow said, “Our ethos of creating connected brands is all about starting with commerce-led strategy, leveraging brand experience (BX) and customer experience (CX) to drive business growth and commercial outcomes for brands. We are excited to ramp up our commerce capabilities by growing our team in Singapore, bringing our commerce innovation projects to life for our clients in Singapore and beyond.”

“This announcement positions Singapore at the forefront of commerce for Asia, nurturing talent via our network and supporting them to deliver innovative solutions to our clients on a global scale. With Pan at the helm, driving these new approaches, we will look for ways to scale across Asia and the globe to drive results for clients."

Earlier this month, VMLY&R has also expanded through another partnership with Shanghai-based technology firm, Loncus Network Technology Company, for the creation of a new technology hub to support the agency’s growing experience and technology work with global and regional clients. 

The new technology development centre opened in July 2022 and is already servicing the agency’s network clients across the Asia-Pacific region, including Caltex, Ford and LeonCycle. Based in Nanjing, China, the new hub will allow Loncus to ramp up its services, offering through positions spanning CX development, maintenance, and publishing to further support clients.

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