SINGAPORE, 9 September 2021 – GrabAds, the advertising unit of Southeast Asia’s leading superapp, Grab, has teamed up with GroupM, the world’s leading media investment group under WPP, to help its clients grow their eCommerce footprint and harness retail media effectively across Southeast Asia. 

The partnership will harness the strengths of both parties to deliver greater value for brands, especially for those that are seeking to grow their consumer touchpoints, resulting in action and conversion. 

As a GroupM Partner, GrabAds will leverage its expertise in the eCommerce and quick commerce arenas from across the Grab ecosystem, to help GroupM clients leverage the full capabilities of GrabFood and GrabMart, as well as the rich insights from Grab’s first-party data to reach, engage and move consumers to action across the funnel on the platform. 

With 40 million people in Southeast Asia coming online for the first time in 2020, this shift in consumer activity has also propelled the growth of eCommerce, with the gross merchandise value (GMV) of eCommerce expected to reach US$172 billion by 2025. Studies have also revealed that for every dollar spent on online advertising, US$7 to US$11 is spent in-store for brands and retailers, underscoring the potential for brands to drive tangible business impact through the enhancement of their eCommerce capabilities and optimising the use of retail media.

The year-long partnership between the two parties will also see GrabAds providing GroupM’s clients with early access to its latest advertising features and solutions, such as Rank Boosters to help Grab’s merchant-partners increase their visibility through Search Ads and Listings, as well as the new and improved GrabAds Masthead that enables brands to drive higher visibility with their target consumers. GrabAds will also provide GroupM’s commerce teams with deep learning and development support, along with insights on consumer attitudes and behaviours, knowledge and tools, to help them harness the power of retail media to support their clients’ objectives to drive business impact.

“I am delighted to have GrabAds named as a GroupM Partner in Southeast Asia. This partnership not only brings together the best-in-class capabilities of GrabAds and GroupM to collectively help brands in Southeast Asia to grow their eCommerce footprint, it also paves the way for them to find new and creative ways to reach, engage and move their consumers to action effectively on the Grab platform. We are excited to be able to work more closely with GroupM’s clients to harness the capabilities of our full funnel advertising solutions, as well as with the GroupM team to expand usage of retail media in the region,” said Ken Mandel, Regional Managing Director and Head of GrabAds and Brand Insights.

“With the growth of eCommerce showing no signs of slowing, we have built up our capabilities to support the growing needs of our clients across the region to enhance brand visibility and drive business impact through the effective use of retail media. We are delighted to be partnering with the advertising unit of Southeast Asia’s leading superapp, GrabAds, to help our clients expand their footprint in the highly-competitive digital world, connect and engage with their target consumers effectively on the Grab platform. We are excited about the potential of this partnership and believe that we can collectively work together to help move brands, businesses and the Southeast Asia digital economy forward in these challenging times,” said Jon Thurlow, Chief Operating Officer Asia Pacific, GroupM.

Established in 2018, GrabAds has evolved to become an integrated advertising solutions provider which provides advertisers with multiple channels, such as in-app advertising, branding and product sampling via the Grab ecosystem, for building awareness, engaging audiences and triggering action across the Grab platform. Through its advertising and technology capabilities, GrabAds aims to help people discover, engage, and connect with the best businesses in Southeast Asia. For more information, visit GrabAds For Business.