The less bumpy way to ride e-commerce = Rakuten (Seite 192)

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Shopping-Marathon at Rakuten Ichiba

https://www.roomie.jp/2023/01/954263/?lang=en

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Rakuten is an important owner of Carousell

Retail media is the fastest-growing and most dynamic ad marketplace worldwide, behind search and social. It is considered the third wave of digital advertising. We look at some top retail media networks on offer in Southeast Asia.

18 hours ago

Carousell Media Group, the retail media network of secondary marketplace Carousell Group, launched Shopping Ads in 2022 to support brands in acquiring new customers and increasing sales. Carousell hopes Shopping Ads will give consumers the most relevant ads possible through an optimised product feed triggered by the consumer's search queries on Carousell's marketplaces. Carousell claims this will be an efficient and effective way for advertisers to boost traffic to their ecommerce stores and increase sales.

JJ Eastwood, the managing director at Carousell Media Group, points out that because the digital advertising industry has shifted away from third-party identifiers toward a privacy-driven approach, almost every marketer now has a first-party data strategy. This shift has prompted them to allocate more budget to campaigns that drive traffic back to their apps and websites, as this is how they collect first-party data with consent from consumers. "As more consumers shop online, they expect relevant, helpful, and informative ads. We use a brand's product feed triggered by consumers' search queries to achieve this, allowing consumers to discover new prod are directly related to what they are looking for," Eastwood explains to Campaign Asia-Pacific. "Each Shopping Ad is informative and includes an image, product title, price, and brand name - all the essential ingredients of shoppable moments". According to Eastwood, Shopping Ads utilises a product feed to serve only in-stock items to consumers. In addition, as the transaction takes place on the brand's website, this allows their sales teams to track inventory levels in real-time.

A core component of Shopping Ads is the closed-loop measurement from Carousell's marketplaces back to the brand's website. In addition, the platforms provide brands with the keywords behind each click, giving them consumer intent data that can help guide their other marketing initiatives. "Advertisers can gain insights from Shopping Ads in real-time through an Application Programming Interface or Comma Separated Values file. The key is to connect this data with data across all sources to give them a holistic understanding of consumer trends," says Eastwood. "For example, suppose a brand notices consumers opt for items made from sustainable materials. In that case, the entire company can change their media investments, raw material procurement and supply chain management."

A core component of Shopping Ads is the closed-loop measurement from Carousell's marketplaces back to the brand's website. In addition, the platforms provide brands with the keywords behind each click, giving them consumer intent data that can help guide their other marketing initiatives. "Advertisers can gain insights from Shopping Ads in real-time through an Application Programming Interface or Comma Separated Values file. The key is to connect this data with data across all sources to give them a holistic understanding of consumer trends," says Eastwood. "For example, suppose a brand notices consumers opt for items made from sustainable materials. In that case, the entire company can change their media investments, raw material procurement and supply chain management."

Read more at: https://www-campaignasia-com.translate.goog/article/grab-fairprice-foodpanda-carousell-inside-the-retail-media-networks-on-offer/482928?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=de&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=sc

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Rakuten Viber soars past superapp status with major global updates

January, 24, 2023

Viber introduces Business Inbox and a Commercial Account to help improve customer experience and increase brand visibility

Rakuten Viber, the global leader in private and secure messaging and voice-based communication, announces two major launches worldwide as a new stage in the evolution of brand-user interaction on the app. The new offerings include a Business Inbox and a searchable Commercial Account, which will become the next step in Viber’s long-term superapp strategy.

According to research reports, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 82% of organizations plan to implement a value enhancement strategy to deliver a better customer value through services. With both users and businesses in mind, Viber’s updates are a step toward providing a better customer experience and brand engagement.

Aiming to enhance brand-user communication, Viber introduces Business Inbox globally – a dedicated space for brand-user interactions, accessible directly from an individual’s regular Chats screen. The feature allows for all business messages from official brand accounts to be stored and organized in one folder (such as a bank notification, an order confirmation from a delivery service, a special offer from a store, etc.).

Another step towards better customer experience is a new Commercial Account, where users will be able to discover all of the ways to engage with a brand in just one place. It will host all business information, services, and Chats on Viber under a single searchable business entity:

• Users can search for these accounts (businesses) proactively by typing the name of the business into Viber's main search bar.

• Search results will be grouped under the new "Businesses" section.

• Users who enter a Commercial Account will see the brand's title, logo, verification badge, description, contact information, and communication channels available on Viber. The account can also be forwarded to others, increasing brand visibility.

• Brands will be able to add up to three addresses, a website, a phone number, and a description of up to 1000 characters to make sure users can find all the information they are looking for.

“This milestone update is Viber's next step as a superapp that acts as a convenient one-stop-shop for all brand-user communications and interactions. It will be the foundation for other superapp features we will gradually introduce to increase the value of the app to the user and expand ways in which brands can connect with their audience,” says Ofir Eyal, CEO of Rakuten Viber. “More features, more services, and more channels of communication equals more value for users and brands, in fewer steps.”

The two features will be available globally starting January 23, 2023.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RakutenUndervalued/comments/10l1wav…

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Rakuten Symphony Wins Gold for Network Virtualisation Innovation of the Year

Juniper Research has announced the 2023 winners of the Future Digital Awards for Telco Innovation, which recognise the most innovative and disruptive telecommunications solutions operating across numerous areas including: CPaaS, mobile security, 5G and roaming.

BY PAUL SKELDON ON 25 JANUARY 2023

Rakuten Symphony Wins Gold for Network Virtualisation Innovation of the Year

“I am delighted to see Rakuten Symphony Symworld Cloud recognised for our innovation in network virtualisation. We have long understood the importance of network virtualisation, especially for the telecommunications industry. Our hyper-converged cloud-native platform Symworld Cloud runs both CNFs (Containerised Network Functions) and VNFs (Virtualised Network Functions), delivering enormous efficiencies to telecom operators. The benefits of this innovative platform are proven at scale in production with Rakuten Mobile, through significant CAPEX and OPEX savings, operational simplicity, accelerated deployments and more.” – Partha Seetala, President – Cloud BU, Rakuten Symphony

https://www.reddit.com/r/RakutenUndervalued/comments/10kwusv…

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CMO Geoff Hollingworth on the power of Rakuten Symphony Service Assurance

As the telecom industry embraces cloud based operations, which separate hardware and software supply chains, MNOs are facing the challenge of monitoring and managing the dynamic operation of software placement, deployment and redeployment in their networks. Rakuten Symphony CMO Geoff Hollingworth explains how operators can adopt a new approach to monitoring their network that unlocks the true potential of 5G SA. Rakuten Symphony has introduced cloud-native Service Assurance to provide real-time network insight for mobile operators so they can better understand and react to traffic patterns in their network.

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How can Rakuten Symphony help connect the unconnected

January 25, 2023

Rakuten Symphony can help connect the unconnected by providing a secure and unified communication platform for remote teams. It enables real-time collaboration and communication between people from different teams and locations. This allows users to share documents, audio and video messages, and hold virtual meetings. It also provides tools to keep track of tasks, projects and conversations. This can help people stay connected and work more efficiently.

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1&1 Versatel übernimmt Glasfaser-Stadtnetze von BT in Deutschland

VON ANDRÉ WESTPHAL JAN 23, 2023

1&1 Versatel übernimmt nach eigenen Angaben die Glasfaser-Stadtnetze von BT in Deutschland. Betroffen sind dadurch vier Netze von BT – in München, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf und Stuttgart mit insgesamt 1.590 km Länge. Deutschlandweit profitieren nach Angaben des Anbieters bereits Firmen und Behörden in mehr als 300 Städten von den Services.

https://stadt-bremerhaven.de/11-versatel-uebernimmt-glasfase…

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Up to 30 times the points! Limited to Rakuten Mobile members

Up to 30 times the points! Limited to Rakuten Mobile members, Rakuten “Show!t” will sell electric kickboard sets from 20:00 on January 24th, and non-members will also receive up to 20 times the points and participate in the Raku ten shopping marathon.

JANUARY 24, 2023 REHOW

Rakuten Ichiba “Show!t” will run from January 24 (Tuesday) 20:00 to January 28 (Saturday) 01:59 at the shopping marathon, and Rakuten Mobile members can earn up to 30 points by purchasing an electric kickboard. Double gifts, even non-members will receive up to 20 times the points. In addition, if you purchase an electric kickboard, you will receive a helmet, bicycle bag, and waterproof bag worth 12,000 yen. We will sell a great value MEISTER.F electric kickboard set that accumulates points. Let’s start a new movement style using an electric kickboard at this opportunity where you can get the items you need for public road driving at once.


https://re-how.net/2023/01/up-to-30-times-the-points-limited…

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Empathy with Rakuten Group’s Company Philosophy: Interview with Junli from Taiwan

Empathy with Rakuten Group’s Company Philosophy: Interview with Junli from Taiwan

2023-01-24

Junli studied in the international environment of Kyoto University while also experiencing traditional Japanese culture, deepened his field of expertise, and then advanced from University of Tsukuba to Rakuten Group.
Joined Rakuten Group mid-career in June 2022
Data Scientist in Data Intelligence Office, Platform Solution Section, Travel Development Department
Origin… Taiwan

To Kyoto University, to study computer science
――Can you start by introducing yourself?
I’m Junli from Taiwan, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world.Recently, we faced another new challenge of Covid-19, so I hope that it will settle down soon.
I often take walks with my family in nearby parks on my days off.We’d love to go on an exciting trip sometime soon!

――What brought you to Japan?
I graduated from Kyoto University with a PhD in computer science, and then found a job in Japan.The reason why I studied at Kyoto University was because I wanted to learn computer science from a professor at Kyoto University who was well known in database and information retrieval.
Studying in Kyoto University’s international environment was also attractive to me.
Outside of the university, Kyoto is a place where you can experience traditional Japanese culture.I was able to receive a lot of good stimulation in my daily life.

――Please tell us about your previous job.
Before joining Rakuten Group, I participated in a project to create creative content using AI as a postdoctoral researcher at the Digital Nature Laboratory led by Associate Professor Yoichi Ochiai of University of Tsukuba.
In this project, we developed AI to create Japanese novels and AI to create illustrative images from textual descriptions.It was very impressive to see how students and researchers collaborated with each other in research and development.

Deciding factors to join Rakuten Group: company philosophy and balance between work and family life
――Why did you decide to join Rakuten?
The vision, philosophy, and culture of Rakuten Group were key factors.
I appreciate Rakuten Group’s company philosophy, which is not only to create valuable services for customers, but also to contribute to sustainability in Japan and the world.
Another factor in my decision to join was the fact that it has a solid foundation as a business, so I can work here for the long term, and it is easy to balance work and family life.

――Where were you assigned to after joining?
I was assigned to the Data Intelligence Office of Rakuten Travel, where I work now as a Data Scientist.Our team is international, with not only Japanese members but Chinese and Indian members as well.

――Please tell us about your current work.
Our team’s goal is to use past big data to price hotels in a way that can maximize Rakuten Travel’s profit.To realize this, we are currently developing a system that is best for both our customers, the hotel side and user side.
However, this project has only just begun. First, we are working on a calculation logic to optimize hotel prices based on big data.

――Do you have any episodes of when you were a newcomer?
When I first joined the team, I was impressed by the greetings of my team manager (Uesugi-san) “Let’s make a big profit for Rakuten Travel by developing technologies and analyzing data!”
Our team also includes members who are strong in machine learning and mathematical optimization theory, members who are knowledgeable in marketing optimization such as advertising and coupons, and members who are experts in engineering, which enriches the daily work and conversations.

Enhance both work and family life with own expertise and new personal connections
――Please tell us about your future visions.
I’d like to utilize my technical expertise in contributing to the growth of Rakuten Group’s business.For me personally, I would like to build personal connections to fulfill my career at Rakuten Group as well as my life in Japan with my lovely family.
In the future, I would also like to share the data analysis technology I have learned in my current team, Rakuten Travel, with the new talents of the young generation, and deliver the visions, spirit, and culture of Rakuten Group to Japan and global society.

https://commerce-engineer.rakuten.careers/entry/en/workstyle/0006

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Expect influencers to be an essential publisher type in a post-cookie world

Affiliate marketing no longer needs to exist in a silo. With no shortage of challenges edging their way into businesses spanning many sectors, Nick chatted with Hello Partner about how utilising the tools we have around us, and expanding our horizons across the entire partnerships sphere can make our industry come out on top in a post-cookie world.

Rakuten Advertising is constantly looking to push the envelope and expand the horizons of what affiliate marketing can do for marketers and overall performance. This year, we have recognised that this is not just exclusive to the affiliate space for you, as you joined us at the Influencer Marketing Show as a headline partner. What is it that is exciting you about the influencer space?

To drive maximum growth, every affiliate marketer must look ahead to understand how their category and customers will evolve. The influencer space is growing at such a rapid pace that there’s so much to be excited about. When it comes to affiliate, influencers are an increasingly important publisher category for advertisers, and we’re only going to continue to see that trend grow.

Influencers have taken the authenticity and the contextual relevance of affiliate and brought it to a whole new level. Audiences relate to influencers as individuals. They see themselves in and even look up to influencers, creating a deep and strong bond that simply cannot be replicated with other publisher types. With the inevitable removal of the third-party cookie, advertisers will look to affiliate as a way to target and connect with their audiences contextually. I expect influencers to be an essential publisher type in a post-cookie world.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RakutenUndervalued/comments/10jmu3g…