Enjoying Wonderful World

September 24, 2020

NOVUHAIR® Supports Alopecia Philippines

September 2020 marks the seven (7) fruitful years of collaboration between NOVUHAIR®, the leading hair loss treatment in the country and THE ALOPECIA PHILIPPINES, a group founded in 2012 by singer and songwriter Abby Asistio.

“VICTORIOUS, Rising Above Alopecia and the Pandemic Together” is this year’s official online gathering theme LIVE at When In Manila’s Facebook page on Saturday, September 26, 2020 (3pm to 8pm). Everyone is invited to witness this momentous event.

Starting with its Annual 10.10 Brands Festival, Shopee Enhances Support for Brands to Scale and Succeed Online

Shopee announces the region’s first partnership program with five of the biggest media agencies to help brands amplify their online presence

Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, is expanding its initiatives to help brands and retailers launch, scale, and succeed online, starting with its annual Shopee 10.10 Brands Festival.

As more brands and retailers step up their digitalization efforts to capture a growing proportion of online-first consumers, it is crucial for brands to find new ways to reach and engage with their consumers.

This 10.10 Brands Festival, Shopee enhances its support for brands with the launch of its Shopee Media Agencies Partner Program (SMAP) covering seven markets . This strategic program is the region’s first and largest of its kind, comprising five leading global media agencies: Dentsu Aegis Network, Omnicom Media Group, Publicis Groupe, Havas Group, and Mediabrands.

Through this program, Shopee will equip media agencies with in-depth knowledge and skills on using Shopee’s suite of brand marketing tools, including advertising solutions such as Shopee Ads, products such as in-app branding assets, and other value-added services. Shopee will also provide the media agencies with a deeper understanding of e-commerce sharing best practices on store management, campaign execution, and optimization. As brands invest more in growing their online presence, SMAP will enable media agencies to leverage a broader range of e-commerce tools to maximize the return on investment of their clients’ media spend.

Also, media agencies and their clients will have the opportunity to get exclusive first-hand access to Shopee’s new marketing solutions and products.

Martin Yu, Associate Director at Shopee Philippines, said, “We’re encouraged by the growth in the number of local and international brands joining Shopee Mall, who trust and rely on Shopee to sustain and expand their businesses. Helping our brand partners make a seamless transition online, amplify their online presence, and boost brand affinity has always been a priority. We’re excited to launch the SMAP program, which complements our existing end-to-end support system for brands to achieve success online. We will continuously innovate our platform to deliver better value for brands and their customers.”

Amplifying online presence with strong marketing and operational capabilities

Aside from SMAP, brands can further elevate their online presence and scale their e-commerce business with Shopee’s strong ecosystem of solutions:

● Robust logistics and warehouse solutions: Shopee’s strong logistics support enables brands to fulfill their orders with ease, especially when sales volumes are high. Brands can tap on Shopee’s optimized network of warehouses to ship out orders more efficiently, including the use of data to forecast demand so that brands can better allocate their resources.

● Easy-to-use brand marketing tools: With Shopee’s custom-built Shop Decoration Tool, brands can easily customize the layout of their Official Stores to reflect their brand image and identity. This is especially useful for brands to build authentic connections with their customers through enhanced brand storytelling.

Building stronger connections with customized engagement features

As more consumers seek greater entertainment while shopping online, brands can leverage in-app features such as Shopee Live to bring together unique entertainment, real-time interactions, and instant purchases. Shopee can help brands produce live-stream content and has dedicated brand support teams to customize engagement strategies to achieve optimal results.

For instance, brands familiar with e-commerce, such as L’Oreal, are constantly exploring ways to engage their consumers better. At the recent 9.9 Super Shopping Day, Shopee worked with L’Oreal to host an extended 3-hour live streaming marathon featuring over 8 Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) across the region, which successfully garnered over 180,000 views.

On the other hand, Shopee also offers tools tailored for brands who are newer to e-commerce or do not have prior experience with online engagement strategies. For example, the Shopee KOL program pairs brands with popular influencers for their brand live streams, contributing to boosting the brand’s visibility and sales.

Highlights of 10.10 Brands Festival

As the region’s biggest online shopping event for brands, the 10.10 Brands Festival will feature 2 weeks of supersized brand promotions and back to back Super Brands Days. The festival will run from September 24 to October 10, with key highlights including:

● Free shipping with ₱0 minimum spend for the entire period of 10.10 Brands Festival.

● Enjoy value-added services and guarantees such as 100% Authentic products, Free Delivery, and hassle-free 7-day return policy at Shopee Mall.

● Daily sulit deals where users can score ₱10 deals and enjoy fun games like bingo marathon and other game shows on Shopee Live.

● Amazing promotions and up to 50% off discount from leading brands such as Infinix, Wyeth, Vivo, Unilever, Oppo, Mamypoko, Nestle, Enfagrow, Maybelline, L’Oreal Paris, Inspi, Havaianas, P&G Pampers, Johnson & Johnson, and Abbott.

Find out more about the 10.10 Brands Festival at https://shopee.ph/m/10-10-1.

Download the Shopee app for free via the App Store or Google Play.

GCash provides Filipinos with over 400 billers - most extensive network of billers in the Philippines

With over 400 billers available in the app, GCash, the undisputed leader iand preferred mobile wallet in the Philippines, is providing its users with the best digital bills payment service in the market, enabling Filipinos to do more with less especially in the time of the pandemic.

Filipinos are now increasingly using their mobile wallets to settle their bills, reflective of how they are now embracing the cashless lifestyle, which is now a necessity in the new normal. GCash is providing the most diverse set of billers in the market, allowing users to settle payments for their electric, water, telco, credit cards, loans, insurance, and even government dues.

“GCash has transformed from being a simple mobile wallet to a financial lifestyle super app, where all your bills payment needs are met with all billers present in one app. With GCash, we have the freedom to manage our bills and finances in the comforts of our home, especially during these trying times. This is the power Filipinos yield with GCash,” GCash President Martha Sazon said.

As of end-August, Meralco is recorded as the top biller in the country , followed closely by non-bank fund lender Home Credit, which is not payable in all online banking apps .

Telecommunication firms followed suit due to the demand for staying connected during this pandemic. Globe Postpaid and Globe AT HOME came in at third and fourth place, while PLDT and Converge ICT landed fifth and sixth place, respectively.

August data also showed that Filipinos settle their bills digitally through GCash as it presents the convenience of having access to all billers in the country in one app.

“GCash has grown in terms of usage of our Pay Bills service, and this is attributed to the app having the most extensive network of billers in the country. We are committed to further expand our current network of partner-billers to remove the hassle for Filipinos and let them be at ease that they can settle all their bills with GCash anytime, anywhere,” Sazon said.

The over 400 billers available in the app range from utility and telecommunications payments, government-related payments, school fees, transportation, up to financial services such as credit cards, loans and insurance.

Aside from having the largest biller network in the country, GCash removes the hassle of enrolling billers to the platform’s system, which reduces friction. It also posts payments real-time. It offers zero to low fees for settling payments as well as split payments.

“Moving forward, we continue to improve our existing services including Pay Bills and further innovate and come up with more financial products and services to remain as the superior, reliable and convenient partner in managing finances for every Filipino,” she added.

Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), which operates GCash, is part of the portfolio companies of 917Ventures, the largest corporate incubator in the Philippines wholly-owned by Globe Telecom Inc.

GCash is available for download on the App Store and Google Play. For more information, kindly visit https://www.gcash.com/.

Sitel Academy Partners with Schools to Provide Students with Online Skills Training

Top global BPO offers educational modules through webinars, Facebook

Sitel Group, a global leading business process outsourcing (BPO) company, reinforces its commitment to skills training and education by strengthening collaborative partnerships with universities, colleges and technical vocational institutions in the Philippines. Through these partnerships, Sitel provides a variety of informative online classes to students via webinars and Facebook.

“As we continue to adjust to the current situation brought on by the pandemic, it has become vital for our programs to be more targeted and deliberate,” shared Fatima Tigas, Senior Manager, Sitel Academy. “We quickly transitioned to online learning and through Sitel’s University and Community Partnership program, engaged our educational partners to help bring these classes to their students.”

Sitel Academy is a pioneering BPO skills development program offered for free for near-hires, far-hires, students, out-of-school youth and differently abled individuals. The program has partnered with universities and colleges in Metro Manila and in the various provincial locations where Sitel operates. Partner schools include Polytechnic University of the Philippines, ABE International Business College, Cainta Catholic College, STI, Tarlac State University, Palawan State University, Western Palawan University and MFI Polytechnic Institute, Inc. to name a few. The modules designed by Sitel are created to bolster existing school programs and prepare students for work after graduation.

“Before the pandemic, we had already been working closely with the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) to deploy the Service Management Program to schools in Palawan to help bridge the gap between what students learn in school and the additional skills they will need to succeed in the workplace,” explained Tigas. “The quarantine may have put this project on hold, but we have continued to pursue providing modules for these essential skills through online webinars and Facebook live events that are designed to give students proper guidance and expose them to actual work environments giving them the leg up they need to be competitive in the workforce.”

Sitel Academy launched its first webinar on May 1, 2020, Labor Day, and discussed what it was like to work with Sitel and the customer experience industry. This was followed by a webinar called “Destination New” giving students an overview of the BPO, hospitality, and management industries. “The Web is Your Classroom” module delving into the online shift of education came next and had over 3,000 active participants. Modules on language skills, effective communication, and proper pronunciation followed.

For the City High School in Palawan, Sitel additionally launched the “Salamat sa K-12, Handa na Ako!” program for graduating senior high school students interested in the BPO industry. The class had over 80 participants who underwent training for a week. The program experienced a 100% pass rate and students who completed it and wanted to work were lined up for opportunities within the company.

“We’re thrilled at the overwhelmingly positive response we’ve received so far,” Tigas said. “For Sitel Academy, our goal is not just to teach skills but also to create lifelong learners. The feedback we’ve received from students who have attended the webinars is that they want to attend more and learn more. Our partner institutions have also expressed their interest in creating even more learning programs together in the future.”

About Sitel Group

As a global leader in end-to-end customer experience (CX) products and solutions, Sitel Group partners with the world’s best-loved brands, from Fortune 500 companies to local startups, to design, build and deliver a competitive edge across all customer touchpoints.

With 90,000 people working across the globe – at home, in contact centers and within MAXhubs – we securely connect brands with their customers over 4.5 million times every day in 50+ languages, driving our clients’ digital CX strategies forward. Powered by our global strength, local expertise and proprietary technologies, we deliver tailored solutions to fit clients’ needs through a consultative, customer-centric approach.

EXP+™, Sitel Group’s Enterprise Experience Platform, is a flexible solution with complete cloud capability, designed to simplify the delivery of end-to-end CX services, while boosting efficiency, effectiveness and customer satisfaction. EXP+ creates a robust ecosystem by harnessing the power of four connected product families: Empower, Engage, Explore and Evolve.

With our award-winning culture built on 35+ years of industry-leading experience and commitment to improving the employee experience, we improve business results by pairing innovative design thinking and digital solutions – including self-service, artificial intelligence (AI), automation and data-driven analytics – with the expertise, emotion and empathy of our people to Create Connection. Value Conversation.

Learn more at www.sitel.com and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

September 23, 2020

TikTok commits to transparency and accountability with the release of its global Transparency Report for January-June 2020

MANILA, SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 - TikTok released its global Transparency Report for the first six months of 2020 on September 22, 2020. The report provides insight into content removed from TikTok for violating its Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. It also covered how the company responded to copyright content take-down requests, law enforcement, and government agencies.

“We know how vital it is to build trust by being transparent with our community, and we're committed to leading the way when it comes to bringing accountability to the tech industry. It's why we release these reports to hold ourselves accountable to our community and provide transparency into the actions we take to help keep TikTok safe for everyone. It's the reason we opened our global Transparency and Accountability Centers, where lawmakers and experts can see first-hand how we moderate content, secure our platform, and prioritize user safety and content diversity as we build TikTok. At our physical centers, we've even made TikTok's source code available for testing and evaluation by experts,” said Michael Beckerman, VP, Head of US Public Policy & Eric Han, Head of Safety, TikTok US.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world come to TikTok for entertainment, self-expression, and connection. According to Beckerman, their focus remains on promoting a safe app experience that fosters joy and belonging among its growing global community.

Here's what's covered in TikTok’s global H1 2020 Transparency Report.

Promoting safety and community on TikTok

In the first half of 2020, numerous improvements in continuous effort to offer a safe and uplifting experience for people on the platform were made, which includes the following:

Expanded Community Guidelines, including new policies to counter misinformation and disinformation
Introduction of fact-checking programs to help verify misleading content about the novel coronavirus, elections, and more
Addition of in-app educational PSAs on hashtags related to important topics in the public discourse, such as COVID-19, the elections, Black Lives Matter, and harmful conspiracies, such as QAnon
Launch of Family Pairing, a suite of industry-leading youth safety features that let parents and guardians connect their TikTok account to their teens' accounts to guide the type of content available to their teen, promote healthy screentime habits, and choose appropriate message settings
Built global partnerships with leading safety organizations, such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and WePROTECT Global Alliance
Creation of a Content Advisory Council of experts on topics like hate speech, inclusive AI, and youth safety

Community Guidelines enforcement

TikTok has experienced incredible and continued user growth in 2020. As more lives moved online, people increasingly found meaningful ways to connect with each other on the platform. With significantly more content being created by its global community than ever before, TikTok content removals have increased compared to the last report.

104,543,719 videos were removed globally for violating the Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, which is less than 1% of all videos uploaded on TikTok. Ninety-six point four percent (96.4%) of these videos were found and removed before they were reported, and 90.3% were removed before they received any views.
Of the total videos removed globally, 9,822,996 (9.4%) were removed in the US. Diving into some of the areas of particular interest over these six months:

41,820 videos (less than 0.5% of those removed in the US) violated TikTok’s misinformation and disinformation policies.

Learn more on how TikTok combats misinformation and election interference

321,786 videos (around 3.3% of US content removals) violated TikTok’s hate speech policies.

Learn more on how TikTok works to counter hate speech, behavior, and groups

In the US, 91.5% of violating videos were removed in less than 24 hours after they were uploaded to TikTok.

Legal requests

The volume of legal requests also increased as the TikTok community grew over the first half of this year.

1,768 requests for user information from 42 countries/markets were received
Of those requests, 290 (16.4%) came from US law enforcement agencies.

TikTok received and evaluated:

126 subpoenas (when a US governmental entity issues a subpoena, we may disclose user data that includes basic subscriber information)
90 search warrants (when a US governmental entity obtains a search warrant, TikTok may disclose user data that include video content and user interactions)
6 court orders (when a US governmental entity obtains a court order, TikTok may disclose user data that includes log data)
68 emergency disclosure requests

TikTok received 135 requests from government agencies to restrict or remove content from 15 countries/markets, and 4 of those requests came from US government agencies
TikTok evaluated 10,625 copyrighted content take-down notices globally

The report has the full details on how TikTok evaluates and complies with the requests.

TikTok’s commitment to transparency and accountability

“TikTok strives to be the most transparent and accountable company in the industry when it comes to how we're keeping our users safe. We're proud of the progress we've made to increase visibility in these areas, and we aim to keep providing more information in each report,” Beckerman shared.

According to Beckerman, the full disclosure of the report is part of the company’s commitment to transparency and accountability. TikTok is also working towards being able to report this information and the progress made on a quarterly basis to increase accountability to its community.