V-Click Technology launches to aid marketing to Chinese shoppers
The V-Click Technology (V-Click) joint venture has been officially launched to aid retailers better reach cross-border shoppers as the number of Chinese tourists rapidly increases in the region.
VGI Global Media Plc, a major Thai online to offline (O2O) solutions provider across advertising, payment and logistics platforms has hooked up with iClick Interactive Asia Group Ltd, (“iClick”) an independent online marketing and enterprise data solutions provider in China.
As Thailand continues to be a major destination draw for Chinese tourists, local companies are aiming to deepen their engagement with the visitors. V-Click aims to leverage their digital strengths and the extensive local networks of iClick and VGI to aid companies through targeted and customised strategies that consider the unprecedented cross-border retail opportunities.
The suite of technology-driven digital marketing and media solutions will include intelligence, social and mobile tools based on iClick’s 780 million consumer profiles to provide clients with a comprehensive insight into the Chinese market.
V-Click will also continue to launch various products and applications that extend the joint data and technological capabilities of iClick and VGI.
Said Yan Lee, the V-Click CEO, “For Southeast Asian brands looking to capture the attention and wallets of the Chinese consumer market, advanced marketing technology has become essential in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of Chinese consumer behaviour, ways to effectively reach them and how to turn marketing efforts into real business value. I certainly look forward to leading and being part of V-Click’s growth story in Southeast Asia.”
To celebrate V-Click’s launch, VGI and iClick co-hosted an industry event in Bangkok that provided insights on digital marketing in China, as well as best practices along with the Chinese travellers’ perception of Thai brands. With the theme “Connect to Digital China Conference 2019”, the event attracted over 300 marketers from Thailand. Leading Chinese internet players and marketing experts including Tencent, Ctrip, RED and DianPing shared their insights on China’s outbound tourism market and the purchasing behaviour of Chinese outbound travellers.
V-Click CEO Lee will spearhead the strategic development of the joint venture in Thailand. Lee has more than 10 years’ experience in marketing technology solutions and possesses a deep understanding of the Chinese consumer market, an has served as the chief product officer at iClick since 2016.
Commenting on his new role, Lee said, “Backed by VGI and iClick, the region’s two leading marketing solutions players, the joint venture is uniquely positioned to help Southeast Asia’s consumer brands, marketing companies and influencers to penetrate the Chinese tourism market and also capture the potential benefits in other sectors such as retail, consumer goods, healthcare and entertainment.”
Nelson Leung, CEO of VGI, said, “Through our joint venture partnership with iClick Interactive, V-Click is now launched and bringing together the world-class tech giants from China to Bangkok to share with us how brands in Thailand can unlock the Bt580 billion Chinese tourist market. This milestone proves that VGI is no longer just an out-of-home company; we are now an O2O solution company that connects multiple offline and online platforms. Today, VGI has a new business unit the VGI Digital Lab, which specialises in digital online solutions.”
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports in Thailand, in 2018 there were 10.5 million visitors from China, with a total expenditure of Bt580 billion.
