Facebook and TBWA partner to increase mobile expertise and investment in APAC
TBWA in APAC has partnered with Facebook to train 1500 of its staff on the newest mobile technology, part of a plan to amplify investment in mobile.
The partnership will see TBWA working with Facebook on training, creative and measurement partnerships across 12 TBWA offices in Asia Pacific. According to TBWA, it is one of the first few creative agency networks in the region to roll out such a programme.
Philip Brett, president of TBWA\Asia, said: “Mobile is intrinsic to our way of life. With billions of people now managing their daily lives through their mobile devices, it is essential that a deep understanding of the channel, and its cultural relevance is ubiquitous throughout our network. We aim to develop a leadership position in how our clients’ audiences behave and engage with the Facebook platform, which will inevitably help us create increasingly disruptive and effective solutions.”
The core focus of the partnership will be around the announcements from Facebook’s recent F8 conference. With particular attention paid to Facebook LIVE, 360 Video, Canvas, PockeTVC and Newsfeed specific measurement solutions.
The training side of the partnership will be run in two stages. Firstly, the office of TBWA\Singapore will host 40 senior agency executives to be trained by Mark Cowan, APAC agency development lead at Facebook, and Fergus O’Hare, head of Facebook’s creative shop Asia Pacific, as well as using Facebook’s Blueprint eLearning service.
Cowan, said: “Asia Pacific is Facebook’s largest and fastest growing region with millions of people accessing the platform daily, via their mobile device. There is an incredible opportunity here for brands (and agencies) to engage with their audiences on a more personal level based on people’s mobile behavior.”
The 40 ‘Facebook Blueprint Qualified’ people will then carry out regional training, eventually getting 1500 staff members up to speed on the new technology.