Group Digital Life
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Group Digital Life Increasing digitisation, the behavioural changes and technology driving it, continues to weigh on businesses looking to find their feet in the new normal. Leveraging our growing digital capabilities, we help marketers better engage their audiences online, and companies marshal huge volumes of data to distil insights that sharpen their business. As digital rewards first movers and superfast followers, we continue to scout the world for the most innovative start-ups and technologies to invest in. It’s all part of our plan to build on our digital strategy by staying at the leading edge of the digital revolution. 55 Singapore Telecommunications Limited | Annual Report 2018 56 Group Digital Life The digital revolution has dramatically changed the way we communicate and consume media, with everything we do now revolving around our mobile devices. This presents a huge opportunity for us to harness our core telecommunications assets and nurture our existing portfolio of digital businesses in digital marketing, advanced data analytics and over-the-top video to win in the digital economy. Our corporate venture arm Singtel Innov8 continues to invest in innovative start-ups that help drive our digital transformation. AMOBEE EXPANDS ASIAN first time since Singtel acquired it. HOOQ now offers access to more FOOTPRINT Leveraging synergies from the than 35,000 hours of affordable As traditional advertising increasingly acquisition of the Turn platform, it Hollywood and local content to shifts to online channels and devices, offers customers new programmatic our customers across Indonesia, global digital ad spend is expected solutions to improve the effectiveness India, the Philippines, Thailand and to almost double to US$427 billion of their campaigns. Amobee won Singapore. It continues to innovate by 2022 from about US$232 billion more accolades, including the Gold its business and will launch its in 2017, according to research firm Stevie Award for the Marketing free-to-air live TV streaming service eMarketer. This growth will be driven Campaign of the Year for the Travel/ this year to bring users onto the primarily by demand from digital Tourism/Destination industry at the HOOQ platform and complement advertisers in Asia Pacific. To capture 2017 American Business Awards for its premium offerings. such opportunities, Amobee is its work on Airbnb’s “Live There” expanding its footprint across global digital campaign. HOOQ will also continue to focus the region. on producing and licensing local HOOQ AND DATASPARK GAIN original content across Southeast In the past year, Amobee has made TRACTION Asia to pull local audiences. It significant progress, delivering Our video streaming service currently has about 20 projects robust revenue growth and positive HOOQ and advanced analytics arm in the pipeline. Among HOOQ’s EBITDA for the full year for the DataSpark are both gaining traction. recent local productions were 57 Indonesian filmmaker Mouly Surya’s In Australia, DataSpark recently that uses deception technology “Marlina The Murderer In Four Acts” conducted a mobility study on to protect IT networks. and romantic comedy “Kita Kita,” popular suburbs frequented by the highest-grossing Philippine tourists, enabling advertisers to In March, Innov8 and NUS' independent film for 2017. HOOQ create campaigns targeted at entrepreneurial arm launched has won exclusive broadcast rights the travel market. the Innovation Cyber Security to air two original TV series “The Ecosystem at Block 71 (ICE71), Oath” and “Carter” which were INNOV8 DRIVES TECH Singapore’s first integrated regional produced by Sony Pictures. INNOVATION cyber security hub that aims to Our success hinges on continued accelerate and support early DataSpark has been scaling innovation. To stay ahead of the stage and growing start-ups, its business across the region, curve, Innov8 has been investing entrepreneurs and academics offering a suite of data analytics in pioneering technologies. from around the world. solutions to industries ranging from Since 2010, Innov8 has invested telecommunications, transportation, in over 70 companies globally ICE71 is the latest collaboration retail and marketing to urban across industries such as cyber between Singtel Innov8 and NUS planning. DataSpark’s mobility security, digital marketing and data since establishing the BLOCK71 intelligence platform which analyses analytics. This year, Innov8 made initiative in Singapore in 2011 to people’s data consumption patterns a series of investments including provide start-ups access to the and movement around high traffic the acquisition of stakes in Myriota, resources they need to bring their areas is helping mobile operators a maker of nanosatellites that are solutions to market. The partners in Singapore, Australia, Thailand, used for IoT connectivity; AirSpace also set up BLOCK71 in San Francisco the Philippines and Indonesia Systems Inc, a manufacturer of three years ago. Last year, Innov8 optimise their network investments drone defence systems; Qubole, established its presence in Beijing by allowing carriers to deploy which provides software that to tap into potential opportunities cellular capacity where the automates data analytics; and in China’s technology industry. bandwidth is most needed. Attivo, a cyber security company Singapore Telecommunications Limited | Annual Report 2018 58 The CEO Conversation Nurturing the green shoots of digital innovation Six years into its digital transformation journey, Singtel is beginning to see green shoots from its digital investments. Group Digital Life CEO Samba Natarajan discusses the business unit’s achievements and next stage of growth. What are the key milestones in growth in digital advertising, and movement around high-traffic Singtel’s digital transformation Amobee has made significant areas to plan mobile network journey? progress, with revenues exceeding investments more effectively. S$1.1 billion and EBITDA turning HOOQ has more than tripled its Samba: We’ve had significant positive in the past year as it subscriber base across Southeast achievements in the past six years. leveraged synergies following the Asia in the past year and is now Most importantly, we have created acquisition of Turn. It also won new ranked number one in terms of a portfolio of digital initiatives that clients such as Cisco, Del Monte app downloads in Indonesia. It has now contributes meaningfully to and Heineken. been producing and licensing more the Group’s revenue. original local content across the Our video streaming service HOOQ region to woo regional viewers. We are on track to scaling our and data analytics arm DataSpark digital marketing platform Amobee are both gaining traction. Mobile Singtel Innov8, our corporate to become one of the world’s carriers around Asia are increasingly venture arm, has given us a top leading independent digital using DataSpark’s analysis of strong presence in the innovation marketing players. Fuelled by people’s data consumption patterns communities of Silicon Valley and 59 Israel, with start-ups increasingly “To accelerate growth, Amobee will create coming to us for funding and partnerships. Through the years, a differentiated digital marketing platform Innov8 has invested in over 70 by leveraging technology, data and media companies globally in various verticals such as cyber security, and will increase the self-service capabilities digital marketing, mobile video and of the platform.” big data which are key pillars of our digital strategy. SAMBA NATARAJAN How did Singtel identify these CEO, GROUP DIGITAL LIFE business opportunities early on? Samba: We are constantly on the lookout for investments in the digital By combining machine learning retail and gaming. And while space, bearing in mind Singtel assets and AI technologies to glean disruptive, these concurrently that we can leverage to provide unique data through partnerships present significant opportunities differentiation. with telcos and third-party data that we can capitalise or leverage. providers, we are developing For example, we got into digital insights that can help companies Through Innov8, we are constantly marketing after noticing that create campaigns for specific identifying innovative start-ups to advertisers have been shifting from demographics such as millennials invest in so we can stay ahead of traditional print and broadcast media and their travel destinations at the game. I'm optimistic that we will to digital media. We have the right certain periods. continue to make new investments assets to win in digital advertising. in the right areas of innovation. Our market reach with over 650 We will continue to innovate and These would give us and our million mobile customers across expand Amobee’s footprint across customers a stronger foundation Asia, Australia and Africa gives us Asia Pacific in order to capture the for the future. a significant amount of information growing digital ad spending in this that advertisers can use for targeted part of the world. This will also help Given that data is key to Singtel’s marketing campaigns in a non- diversify Amobee’s revenue base, digitalisation strategy, what steps invasive way. We also ventured into which is currently US-centric. have you taken to protect customer video on demand content because data in the light of the Facebook/ consumers’ changing habits meant What could be the next growth Cambridge Analytica data breach? that they are increasingly using their drivers for Group Digital Life? mobile