Yahoo takes home the Team of the Year award in the Advertising category

The Southeast Asia sales team successfully brought back Yahoo’s iconic Purple to the marketing and advertising industry in Singapore and the region.

A global media and tech company that reaches almost 900 million people worldwide, Yahoo connects people to their passions -- from finance and news to shopping, gaming and sports – with the trusted products, content, and tech that fuel their day. In addition to its suite of iconic brands, Yahoo provides a full-stack platform for businesses to amplify growth and drive more meaningful connections across advertising, search and media. 

At the height of the pandemic, Yahoo returned to its identity origins with a rebrand that celebrates its nearly 30 years as the world’s premier global technology and media company.

Setting its sights on accelerating business to the next level, the rebranded Yahoo needed to make client prospects understand the depth and expertise of its offerings.

However, Yahoo faced significant challenges, primarily with in-person client engagements during the pandemic. Additionally, Yahoo had to find creative and engaging ways to build awareness for its rebrand amidst a lack of understanding about its ad tech capabilities amongst its clients and educate them about the extensive business offerings from Yahoo beyond its suite of iconic, trusted brands such as Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Mail.

As headquarters for Yahoo in Southeast Asia (SEA), the sales team based in Singapore led the rebranding in the region, developing a cohesive, region-specific go-to-market strategy anchored on its roots as a digital-first company. 

The strategic approach aimed to build awareness for the new Yahoo with a focus on its business offerings for the marketing and advertising industry, reinforce its status as one of the most iconic brands, effectively and compellingly demonstrate its capabilities and strengths, and showcase its cutting-edge innovation and creativity to potential clients.

To implement the strategy, the SEA sales team introduced several new initiatives. Among the new initiatives undertaken by the team was leveraging speaking, sponsorship, and thought leadership opportunities at top trade virtual events in SEA, offering expertise and advice to increase brand visibility and drive business leads. As restrictions eased, the team pivoted to physical events, taking advantage of in-person engagements that potential clients preferred.

They also hosted insightfully branded online webinars such as the Yahoo SEA Newfront on owned, earned, and paid platforms featuring in-house experts who shared knowledge, best practices, and recommendations.

The team also increased client touchpoints through its digital channels by revamping the Yahoo for Business SEA LinkedIn page with a refreshed, content-driven approach. In addition, they also created a new client touchpoint by kickstarting an e-newsletter tailored with highly relevant insights, ideas, and news.

Showcasing capabilities, trendsetting work and expertise, the team explored and participated in top-tier industry awards to establish its competitive edge, and build client confidence and trust.

As a result, Yahoo’s effective strategy drove outstanding results in a challenging environment, increasing sales by 4% year over year despite an economic slowdown in Southeast Asia.

The team also achieved a 33% increase year-on-year in revenue on branded content, one of Yahoo’s core product offerings. Taking advantage of its first mover position within the omnichannel space, Yahoo coupled this with its outlook on the future to aggressively develop its digital out-of-home (DOOH) offering. The result was an impressive 600% increase year-on-year in the growth of DOOH campaigns in the region.

“Our rebrand back to Yahoo and aspirations to be the leading independent unified ad stack came amidst a challenging time for the global economy. With APAC as a key driver of our global advertising technology business, I am proud to see the team in Southeast Asia come together and rise to this challenge - guided by our principles: People first, Partnership Always, Performance now,” Paul Sigaloff, Vice President, Head of APAC at Yahoo said.

With these multiple milestones, the Yahoo Southeast Asia sales team bagged this year’s Team of the Year Award for Advertising in the Singapore Business Review Management Excellence Awards 2022.

The SBR Management Excellence Awards is presented by Singapore Business Review Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2023 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's employee engagements and management initiatives, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez at julie@charltonmediamail.com.