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12 JANUARY 2024

Welcome to this week’s edition of Culture Wire, a newsletter brought to you by Singapore-based pop culture and lifestyle marketing agency Culture Group.

In this week’s edition:

  • Innovation of the Week: Passion points and the evolution of loyalty 
  • Fax, No Printer: Can you guess Gen Z’s most wanted holiday gift?
  • Regional Round-up: More live music news, anime role models, ecoanxiety, and more

Innovation of the Week

✈️ POINTS MEAN EXPERIENCES 

KrisFlyer, the rewards program from Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group, partnered with AEG Presents Asia to give members exclusive priority access to an intimate concert with Ed Sheeran. Hosted at Singapore’s Capitol Theatre, An Evening with Ed Sheeran will take place on February 17, the artist’s birthday and the day after his sell-out National Stadium show. Announced last Friday, seats were fully redeemed within hours. A limited quantity of tickets will be available for a public onsale today.

Culture Group is proud to be the agency working with KrisFlyer and AEG Presents Asia to bring this initiative to life. Congratulations to our friends for a successful program!

💡 OUR TAKE

This announcement highlights the shift from product to passion points as a way to engage consumers. It strengthens KrisFlyer’s position as a brand that not just unlocks access to existing events (they enabled that for Ed Sheeran’s stadium show), but also curates exclusive and novel experiences. As a special intimate performance at one of Singapore’s most iconic venues, An Evening with Ed Sheeran holds some serious cultural cachet, for both die-hard Sheerios and Krisflyer members who just enjoy live music.

Offering rewards to returning customers isn’t a new concept. But for the airline industry and beyond, loyalty programs are no longer delivering. That’s partly to do with the type of rewards on offer—discounts and everyday perks have become hygiene and no longer have the same appeal, particularly for younger consumers. A stronger approach? Reward loyalty with passion points-based experiences, the type that money can’t buy, and turn membership (or product ownership) into a passport to memorable experiences. 

Finally, regular readers know that live events are on an upward trajectory in SEA, so it’s no surprise that another brand is capitalizing on Ed Sheeran’s visit to the region. In Thailand, the singer-songwriter will play a similar intimate show to open UOB LIVE, Bangkok’s newest entertainment venue. For UOB, this isn’t just about rewarding loyal customers. Instead, the partnership will cement a longer-term music strategy and continue the brand’s alignment with the region’s booming culture economy. 

Time to consider how your brand will build relevance and drive loyalty through culture? 

 

Fax, No Printer*

For those of you born before 1997, ‘fax, no printer‘ is Gen Z speak for ‘undeniable facts I agree with’

What is TikTok’s hottest Cup?

A. Freedom Cup

B. FIFA World Cup

C. Stanley Cup

Scroll down to the end of the newsletter for the correct answer!

Regional Round-up

🎫 Continuing with the live music theme—2024 is shaping up to be another huge year for live events in SEA. A quick round-up: Bruno Mars will return to Bangkok and Singapore, K-pop group SHINee is back in Singapore (after 12 years!) for the only SEA stop of their tour, and the Laufey x Manila Philharmonic Orchestra presale sold out within three hours (for both dates). Is your brand well-positioned to harness the opportunities brimming in live entertainment?

🎤 For Japanese elementary school students, the anime character Ai Hoshino from Oshi No Ko ranks ahead of their fathers and teachers as the person they admire most. While anime is ubiquitous to Japanese culture, it has become a global passion point to be reckoned with—the Oshi No Ko opening song, Idol by Yoasobi, also became a viral TikTok challenge (3.9B views) and became the first Japanese song to top the Billboard Global chart. 

🌏 Young people in Indonesia are using their voting power to spotlight the climate crisis and environmental destruction. The fight against ecoanxiety comes amidst presidential elections and calls on candidates to address their concerns. As mentioned in last week’s Culture Wire, 2024 is a big year for the polls. Brands that endeavor to support young voters and the causes they are vocal about will win much love from them.

🎮 The inaugural EsportsCon Malaysia took place last weekend and brought together fans and experts of the ACGN community. As part of that, MOONTON Games (creators of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang) partnered with Malaysia-based esports event organizer IO Esports to create a new academy league in the country. It’s part of a larger effort to grow MLBB in Asia from the ground up. What grassroots initiative can your brand champion?

⚠️ ICYMI: Songs from the 2000s are having A Moment. Natasha Beddingfield’s Unwritten is enjoying success thanks to rom-com Anyone But You, and the meme-fication of Murder on the Dancefloor (from Saltburn) has sent the song back up the charts. This isn’t the first time pop culture has reignited interest in older music—ahem Running Up That Hill—and it shows that the nostalgia drive is enabling a cycle of reintroducing old IPs to both old and new audiences, but always in new ways.

This Week's Trivia Answer

C. The Stanley Cup 

If you’ve spent any time online this week it’s likely you’ve encountered the Stanley Cup Frenzy. The water bottle—which comes in a variety of sizes and colors and has customization options—was the hottest holiday gift among Gen Z, racking up billions of views on TikTok. Some dedicated fans have been camping outside Target to ensure they can get their hands on special-edition tumblers.

The Stanley brand, a 111-year-old company, first developed insulated beverages for WWII pilots and quietly ticked along until around 2020 when Terence Riley—the marketing guru who helped make Crocs cool again—was appointed president. A redesigned model, several influencer campaigns, and one car fire later, revenue had jumped tenfold from USD 73M in 2019 to USD 750M.

At its core, Stanley is selling wellness (specifically hydration) as a status signifier, while also allowing owners to identify with a particular tribe. Like many products that are rooted in TikTok trends, the Stanley will surely fade out of style, but the marketing lessons will remain. How can you apply their tactics to your products in 2024? 

🚀 Over and Out!

Pop culture insights are better when shared. Subscribe, forward this on, or share the love on social media. Thanks for reading!

 

Your Culture Mavens,

Acacia, Angela, Kiko, Teri, & Vicki

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