After gaining attention with Studio Ghibli-style portraits, ChatGPT’s image generator is now powering a new wave of self-representation online – this time with users turning themselves into plastic action figures.

What began as a quirky trend on LinkedIn has now spread to platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X. The trend includes different takes, but the “AI Action Figure” version is among the most common. It typically shows a person recreated as a doll encased in a plastic blister pack, often accessorised with work-related items like laptops, books, or coffee mugs. That’s fitting, considering the trend’s initial traction among professionals and marketers on LinkedIn.

Other versions draw inspiration from more recognisable aesthetics, like the “Barbie Box Challenge,” where the AI-generated figure is styled to resemble a vintage Barbie.

The rise of the virtual dolls follows the earlier success of the Studio Ghibli-style portraits, which pushed ChatGPT’s image capabilities into the spotlight. That earlier trend sparked some backlash related to environmental, copyright, and creative concerns – but so far, the doll-themed offshoot hasn’t drawn the same level of criticism.

What’s notable about the trends is the consistent use of ChatGPT as the generator of choice. OpenAI’s recent launch of GPT-4o, which includes native image generation, attracted such a large volume of users that the firm had to temporarily limit image output and delay rollout for free-tier accounts.

While the popularity of action figures hasn’t yet matched that of Ghibli portraits, it does highlight ChatGPT’s role in introducing image tools to a broader user base. Many of these doll images are shared by users with low engagement, and mostly in professional circles. Some brands, including Mac Cosmetics and NYX, have posted their own versions, but celebrities and influencers have largely stayed away. One notable exception is US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who shared a version of herself with accessories including a Bible and a gavel, calling it “The Congresswoman MTG Starter Kit.”

What the AI Barbie trend looks like

The process involves uploading a photo into ChatGPT and prompting it to create a doll or action figure based on the image. Many users opt for the Barbie aesthetic, asking for stylised packaging and accessories that reflect their personal or professional identity. The final output often mimics retro Barbie ads from the 1990s or early 2000s. Participants typically specify details like:

• The name to be displayed on the box
• Accessories, like pets, smartphones, or coffee mugs
• The desired pose, facial expression, or outfit
• Packaging design elements like colour or slogans

Users often iterate through several versions, adjusting prompts to better match their expectations. The theme can vary widely – from professional personas to hobbies or fictional characters – giving the trend a broad creative range.

How the trend gained momentum

The idea gained visibility in early 2025, beginning on LinkedIn where users embraced the “AI Action Figure” format. The Barbie-style makeover gained traction over time, tapping into a blend of nostalgia and visual novelty. Hashtags like #aibarbie and #BarbieBoxChallenge have helped to spread the concept. While the Barbie-inspired version has not gone as viral as the Ghibli-style portraits, it has maintained steady traction on social media, especially among users looking for lighthearted ways to express their personal branding.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z6S6zQQ8sCQ%3Fsi%3DPJOwLgHWngf21YhL

Using ChatGPT’s image tool

To participate, users must access ChatGPT’s image generation tool, available with GPT-4o. The process begins by uploading a high-resolution photo – preferably full-body – and supplying a prompt that describes the desired figurine.

To improve accuracy, prompts usually include:

• A theme (e.g., office, workout, fantasy)
• Instructions for how the figure should be posed
• Details about clothing, mood, or accessories
• A note to include these elements inside a moulded box layout

Reiterating the intended theme helps ensure consistent results. While many focus on work-related personas, the style is flexible – some choose gym-themed versions, others opt for more humorous or fictional spins.

Behind the spike in image activity

ChatGPT’s image generation tool launched widely in early 2025, and its use quickly surged. According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the demand became so intense that GPU capacity was stretched thin, prompting a temporary cap on image generation for free users. Altman described the load as “biblical demand” in a social media post, noting that the feature had drawn more than 150 million active users in its first month. The tool’s ability to generate everything from cartoons to logos – and now custom action figures – has played a central role in how users explore visual identity through AI.

The post First it was Ghibli, now it’s the AI Barbie Box trend appeared first on TechWire Asia.

“We’re not goldfish. We have attention when we want to have attention.” With this declaration at DMWF Asia, Sukanya (Su) Das Gupta, Blis APAC’s senior insights manager, addressed conventional marketing wisdom.

As brands try to capture ever-diminishing attention spans, Das Gupta offered a refreshing counter-narrative: marketers are drowning in data while missing the human stories behind consumer behaviour analysis.

In her day one session titled, “From instant hits to lasting habits: Crafting sustainable brand presence in APAC,” Das Gupta challenged marketers to move beyond quick wins and focus on building genuine connections that endure.

Humanising data: beyond numbers and statistics

Das Gupta challenged the reductive view of data science, emphasising that effective marketing requires seeing beyond raw numbers to understand human emotions and decision-making patterns. “Data isn’t just numbers,” Das Gupta said. “It’s been so reductive because everybody likes ‘data science’ and ‘data analysis.’ It’s human emotions, and it’s not rational because externalities push people to make these decisions.”

Her team’s consumer behaviour analysis for a QSR brand in Malaysia revealed three important facts that transformed their approach:

1. Decisions happen outside the store: Das Gupta’s team discovered that purchasing decisions weren’t primarily made at the point of sale as commonly assumed. “The decisions were happening outside of the store. They were happening in neutral spaces of community,” she explained. The insight prompted the brand to shift its messaging strategy to target consumers during everyday interactions with peers and family rather than focusing exclusively on in-store promotions.
2. Consideration trumps transaction: The data revealed that the psychological journey leading to the purchase was far more influential than the purchase moment itself. “The moments of consideration mattered so much more than moments of transaction,” Das Gupta said. Consumers’ consideration of a purchase was much more important than the moment they were buying.” Even for impulse-driven QSR products like pizza or burgers, consumers were making evaluations well before entering stores, and that suggested brands need to invest in nurturing consideration rather than merely optimising transactions.
3. Context drives behaviour: The most surprising finding was how the brand’s contextual positioning directly influenced consumer response. “When the brand shifted its context slightly, then behaviour started to shift. It was really about how the brand reacted to everything versus how audiences reacted,” Das Gupta said. By reframing its messaging to acknowledge consumer hesitations rather than simply pushing products, the QSR brand saw dramatic improvements in engagement.

The brand saw a dramatic turnaround, shifting from short-term firefighting to consistent, long-term engagement. “Instead of having a campaign once every quarter, we said, let’s try to keep it monthly. Let’s make it more realistic. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” she noted.

The marathon mentality represented a fundamental shift in campaign philosophy. Das Gupta explained that their initial burst campaign had produced an unsustainable 73% increase in exposure. Rather than celebrating this artificial spike, her team recognised the danger of such volatile results and recalibrated toward steady, incremental growth.

“We steadied it,” she said, describing how the team replaced infrequent high-intensity campaigns with consistent monthly touchpoints. The approach proved more sustainable and gradually built consumer trust through reliable, predictable brand interactions. It allowed attention, awareness, and consideration to build over time rather than attempting to force immediate results.

The APAC challenge: Why Western formulas fail

Das Gupta highlighted Western brands’ common mistakes when entering APAC markets, noting the region’s extreme fragmentation and cultural diversity. “When Western brands come in, they believe what’s worked in the US and the UK works beautifully in APAC. And I don’t think they could be more mistaken. You can’t take something that works elsewhere and fit it in APAC. It’s really that simple.”

She cited a cautionary example of an FMCG brand that tried to use a swimsuit-themed advertisement created for US and European markets in Bangladesh, resulting in cultural backlash. While localisation is widely recognised as essential, Das Gupta acknowledged the challenges: “It becomes a matter of cost and time investment. It’s always easier to try your luck.” She stressed that successful brands invest in understanding local nuances: “You have to understand, this is all behavioural economics. People are not rational beings. So you need to understand what triggers their irrationality.”

Subtle impressions win in a noisy digital world

Das Gupta also made a counterintuitive argument for subtlety over attention-grabbing tactics in today’s digital environment. “Look at brands everywhere in any Asian market. You see a giant billboard. You drive 200 metres; you see the same giant billboard with the same creative, same influencer, same tagline, same font, and same background. Are you registering the brand, or have you just ignored it?” she asked.

She advocated for “small, subtle touches” that embed brands in consumer memory, citing Netflix’s distinctive sound for example: “[The] Netflix jingle became a Netflix jingle because it was only there before a Netflix movie started playing. It was not because every brand was blasting it.” The approach requires patience from stakeholders expecting immediate ROI. “Yes, ROI takes time, but so does anything good,” Das Gupta noted. “Try to lean into patience and consistency. It will never not play.”

Content strategy: relevance over length

Regarding shrinking attention spans, Das Gupta rejected simplistic formulas about content length. “I think it’s very reductive to say that people have less attention. We’re not goldfish. We have attention when we want to have attention,” she stated. Success depends on relevance and storytelling, not arbitrary time limits. “Your story can be five seconds long, it can be 30 seconds long, it can be 15 hours. You convey your message in the story you want to tell and be relevant.”

She referenced PETRONAS’s festive season campaigns in Malaysia and Nike’s inspirational ads as examples of longer content that still captures the audience’s attention because of compelling storytelling. For brands seeking to navigate APAC’s complex markets, Das Gupta’s insights offer a roadmap: humanise your data, respect cultural contexts, maintain subtle consistency, and tell stories that resonate. Simply put, when marketing is approached as behavioural economics rather than just promotion, the results speak for themselves.

The post Micro-moments to macro-meaning: Blis on humanising APAC data appeared first on TechWire Asia.

Remember when SEO simply meant getting your website to rank on Google? Those days are quickly fading into digital history. The evolution of SEO has been quietly transforming beneath our feet – from keywords and backlinks to a complex ecosystem that extends far beyond traditional search engines.

“Think of it as a natural progression,” says Judy Tay, Head of Content at First Page Digital, as we settle into our conversation at the bustling Digital Marketing World Forum (DMWF). Her eyes light up as she shares what she believes is the next frontier for digital marketers.

“SEO has evolved from search engine optimisation,” Tay explained. “Last year, it was search experience optimisation, but it is still focused on the website and the search engine. This year, it will be optimised for search everywhere. Keep your eyes out – websites will be so integrated into other engines outside of just Google.”

The three stages of SEO evolution

The evolution of SEO can be mapped across three distinct phases:

1. Search Engine Optimisation – The traditional approach focused primarily on ranking in Google search results
2. Search Experience Optimisation – A more holistic approach considering user experience on websites
3. Search Everywhere Optimisation – The current frontier where brands must optimise across multiple platforms and touchpoints

This progression represents a fundamental shift in how digital marketers approach their strategies. As search behaviours diversify across platforms like social media, voice assistants, and specialised apps, the conventional focus on Google rankings alone has become insufficient.

Metrics that matter in modern SEO

When evaluating SEO success, vanity metrics give way to more meaningful performance indicators. Tay emphasises that metrics should align with specific business goals rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach.

“Metrics is extensive,” noted Tay. “It really depends on context – SEO and marketing campaigns can no longer work by executing blindly. Understanding the business needs comes first. If the business wants to see revenue, I believe that should also be part of an SEO report or metrics.”

Tay focuses on engagement metrics for technical evaluation: “I look heavily into things like bounce rate, time on page and things like that. Those, to me, are not vanity metrics. Those are things that can inform the execution side of things.”

However, client-facing reports typically emphasise different aspects: “On the client side, it’s really about traffic, number one, of course. But then we must show what this traffic translates to – whether it’s engagement with specific landing pages, e-commerce conversions, or other valuable actions.”

Red flags in SEO agencies

Choosing the right partner becomes crucial as businesses navigate the evolution of SEO and seek expertise to guide their strategies. Yet many brands struggle to distinguish between agencies that deliver genuine value and those selling empty promises.

“This is something many people keep hush-hush,” Tay noted when asked about industry practices. Drawing from her extensive experience, she outlined three critical warning signs that suggest an SEO agency might be overpromising and underdelivering:

• Inflexible, cookie-cutter solutions

Tay warns against agencies that offer rigid, one-size-fits-all approaches: “A red flag is when an agency pushes only predetermined solutions with no room to pivot or be flexible. They’ll say, ‘You need this pay-per-click (PPC) campaign, you need this SEO package’ without considering your unique business context.”

• Lack of co-creation

“Another warning sign is when agencies discourage client involvement,” Tay explains. “They’ll say, ‘We’ll handle everything—just take a back seat and wait for results.’ This rarely works because collaboration is essential. We aren’t on the brand side day-to-day, so we need that partnership.”

• Limited experience with strategic thinking

Tay says tactical execution without strategic depth is problematic: “You can find someone to handle technical SEO tasks on Upwork or Fiverr, but that’s just execution. Many agencies focus on short-term tactical gains, especially in SEO; you need strategic experience to drive meaningful results over time.”

SEO practices to avoid

As SEO evolves, certain practices can potentially harm businesses in the long run. Tay highlighted a particularly concerning trend: the devaluation of technical SEO.

“The devaluation of technical SEO [is problematic],” Tay stated. “I’m the head of content, but nowadays, many agencies think that you can just optimise content and then just optimise very surface stuff like page load speeds and things like that. But I don’t think that’s the way.”

She emphasised the need for comprehensive strategies: “Given we need to take into account an overview of AI, what is the impact of my brand with the emergence of AI, for example?”

The evolving agency-client relationship

The relationship between SEO agencies and their clients has transformed significantly in recent years. Tay notes that agencies are increasingly functioning as extensions of their client’s teams rather than as external vendors.

“We are now seen as an extension of clients,” Tay explained. “We have some clients that get us to join their weekly stand-up–the entire marketing team, not just SEO specialists, but their sales, product developers, and things like that.”

This integrated approach allows for more comprehensive strategy development. However, Tay acknowledges it’s not suitable for every client: “That’s more towards customer servicing, as well as giving a more comprehensive strategy, which not every business needs or is paying for.”

Beyond integration, Tay emphasises the importance of consultative relationships: “Being able to be consultative – don’t just deliver. I try to have bi-weekly catch-ups with my clients to sit down and [ask] if we are meeting markers. Are we going in the right direction?”

The future belongs to the adaptable

A critical aspect of successful SEO is anticipating and adapting to search engine algorithm updates. While First Page Digital benefits from being a Google Premium Partner, Tay credits their success more to proactive testing and pattern recognition.

“Before Google even comes up with the updates, we have sort of put it to test already,” Tay revealed. “When you run big enough campaigns, you will see a pattern; when you see a pattern, you must form a hypothesis.”

This forward-thinking approach reveals why some agencies thrive while others struggle in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. As Tay emphasises, success in tomorrow’s SEO isn’t about mastering a single platform but understanding the entire digital ecosystem where your audience exists.

The evolution of SEO from search engine to search everywhere optimisation isn’t just another industry buzzword—it’s a fundamental reimagining of how brands connect with audiences. 

Those who recognise this shift early and adapt accordingly will survive the transition and discover unprecedented opportunities to dominate digital spaces their competitors have yet to explore.

As Tay puts it, we’re no longer optimising algorithms but for human connection across an expanding digital universe. And in that universe, the old rules of engagement no longer apply.

The post From Search Engine to Search Everywhere: The evolution of SEO in 2025 appeared first on TechWire Asia.

As AI reshapes the marketing landscape, this year’s forum places a special emphasis on AI integration and automation, featuring an impressive lineup of speakers from global brands including The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, PepsiCo and TikTok.

The two-day conference will run parallel tracks exploring more than 10 crucial themes, from AI-driven marketing strategies to customer experience optimisation. Dr. Luke Soon from PwC Singapore will present insights on ‘Humanising the future of marketing through AI and Automation’ as part of the conference’s focus on emerging technologies.

Several high-impact panel discussions will address the industry’s most pressing challenges. A notable session, ‘From Productivity to Creativity – How to utilise AI in your Marketing Strategy’, brings together experts from Google, PwC Singapore and First Page Digital to explore practical applications of AI in marketing operations.

Key highlights

• Data & AI innovation: Multiple sessions will explore how brands can harness AI for agile marketing insights, with Intel’s Sahaj Khunteta sharing strategies for driving marketing agility through AI-powered analytics.
• Customer experience focus: The conference features dedicated tracks on personalisation and customer-centric strategies, including a panel on ‘Shaping your digital strategy with Personalised Experiences’ featuring representatives from RBL Bank, Pearson and AEON.
• Social media evolution: Alexander Lim from TikTok will present on ‘Leveraging Gen AI to Create for Commerce’, while other sessions explore emerging social media trends and creator economy strategies.
• E-commerce & omnichannel: Industry leaders from ZALORA Group and MoneyHero will share insights on adapting to changing consumer behaviours in the digital commerce landscape.

The event has attracted top-tier sponsors, with HubSpot serving as the Track Sponsor, while Semrush Enterprise and Brandwatch join as Gold Sponsors. This strong industry backing underscores DMWF’s position as a premier gathering for marketing professionals in the Asia-Pacific region.

HubSpot’s Kat Warboys will be presenting a session on ‘From Hype to Reality: AI’s Evolution from Buzzword to Growth Essential’, highlighting how marketing technology continues to reshape industry practices.

For marketing professionals looking to stay ahead of industry trends and connect with leading innovators, DMWF Asia 2025 promises to be an unmissable event. The conference will feature networking opportunities with in excess of 300 senior-level marketers and more than 50 expert speakers across various sectors.

Those interested in attending or learning more about speaking opportunities can contact the organisers at hello@digitalmarketingwf.com. The full agenda and registration details are available on the DMWF Asia website.

Readers can get 25% off their tickets by using the code TECHWIRE at checkout.

As the marketing landscape continues to transform, DMWF Asia 2025 stands as a beacon for professionals seeking to navigate the intersection of technology, creativity and customer engagement in the digital age.

The post AI takes centre stage at DMWF Asia 2025: marketing leaders converge in Singapore appeared first on TechWire Asia.

• Reviews by AI tend to be more favourable.
• Human-created content more relatable.

Research from emlyon business school and Toulouse School of Management, both based in France, has revealed customers find it challenging to spot the difference between product reviews written by a human or AIs like ChatGPT. According to the research, AI-generated reviews are typically less-detailed, include false information, and tend to be substantially more positive compared to authentic feedback.

The study, conducted by Yingting Wen, Professor of Marketing at emlyon business school, and Sandra Laporte, Professor of Marketing at Toulouse School of Management, investigated whether AI systems could craft marketing content that connects with humans as effectively as content created by human marketers.

Professor Wen spoke on the increasing use of AI for marketing purposes, and an increasing number of written reviews by AI, saying, “As generative AI tools like ChatGPT are increasingly used in marketing, they help automate tasks like crafting social media posts and responding to customer comments, resulting in higher engagement and increased purchase intent.”

Wen and Laporte focused primarily on marketing materials like product reviews, social media posts, and ad copy, conducting three studies that compared human-created content with AI-created material. To understand if AI-generated content could achieve the same level of impact and engagement with audiences as human-created content, the researchers focused on the sensory experiences of chocolate and whiskey!

Keeping it human

The primary study used a text analysis tool to compare product reviews written by AI to those written by humans. The results showed that human-written content was more relatable and authentic. It was also less positive than AI-generated text.

In the second study, humans reviewed the content, as opposed to the text analysis tool, with the same conclusions made.

In the third and final study, the researchers studied social media posts, with half being branded and the other half being unbranded. And, a portion of the posts were written by human social media marketers, while the others were created by ChatGPT. The evaluation process saw human raters tasked with reviewing the content to judge its sentiment and assess overall engagement.

Compared to humans, AI struggled to produce content that had depth or meaning. The researchers discovered AI content was not as detailed and lacked a diversity in tone, style, or approach, compared to humans.

Reviews by AI more positive

Nevertheless, AI succeeded in composing content that had positive connotations and emotions with persuasive appeal. It was also more successful at convincing customers of being genuine on social media posts, particularly ChatGPT 4, which was found to be more effective than its predecessor ChatGPT 3.5.

Professor Wen emphasised the importance of human contribution alongside the use of AI. “Research shows that while AI-generated content can be effective, it still lacks the nuanced understanding and authentic voice that human creators bring to marketing, therefore human input is still needed in the process.”

The research highlights the important role a marketer still has, even with the advancements of AI. Rather than relying solely on AI, Wen and Laporte emphasise the need for human creativity, strategic thinking, and emotional insight to create content that resonates with audiences. AI still has a habit of handing out misinformation, as the study revealed, pinpointing some of the challenges that need to be considered.

The post AI or authentic? Customers can’t tell the difference in reviews appeared first on TechWire Asia.

Third party cookies have been an important data source for businesses hoping to understand their customers better. Over the years, third party cookies have often been used by advertisers and marketers to track online activity and preferences across different sites.

Some users may consider this a risk to their privacy and security, as third party cookies can collect their personal information and expose them to unwanted ads and content. As such, some users may want to use browsers without cookies for privacy and security reasons, as cookies can also track online activity and collect personal information.

Most browsers give users the option to manage cookie settings and choose which websites to trust to store cookies on their devices. Some tools can enhance this. Here are three ways to browse the internet without cookies:

• Using a VPN: A VPN, or virtual private network, allows you to connect to the internet more securely. It helps to prevent others on the same network from seeing what you’re doing. You can think of it as surfing the web through a steel tube, where your data is much harder to see and collect.
• Using incognito mode: Incognito mode prevents your browser from saving any data from the websites you visit, including cookies, history, or the data you might enter into a website. You can usually access it by clicking the three dots on the top right of your browser and choosing the New Incognito Window option.
• Using a private browser: A private browser is a browser that prioritizes your privacy and anonymity. It usually has features such as blocking third party cookies, encrypting your traffic, hiding your IP address, and others. Some examples of private browsers are Tor, Epic, Brave, and DuckDuckGo.

Towards a cookieless future

Increasing demand for privacy and security has led to web browsers moving towards a cookieless future. A cookieless future is a scenario where third party cookies, which are used to track and target users across different websites, are no longer supported by major web browsers.

In 2020, Google announced that it intends to ban third party cookies. Safari and Firefox already block third party cookies by default. However, this can also be a problem for businesses as marketers and advertisers will then have to find alternative ways to understand their consumers better.

In that case, businesses would need to rely on first party cookies, device IDs, IP addresses, or even email-based identifiers to collect and use data for online advertising and personalization.

According to an article by Adobe, first party data will now be foundational to customer targeting in the cookieless future, as will social media platforms. The latter have evolved into mainstream marketing and sales tools that can help fill the gap created by the cookie ban.

Google finally phases out third party cookies

For Google, disabling third party cookies on the Chrome browser is focused mainly on improving privacy on the web. According to Anthony Chavez, VP for Privacy Sandbox, Google will begin testing Tracking Protection, a new feature that limits cross-site tracking by restricting website access to third-party cookies by default.

“We’ll roll this out to 1% of Chrome users globally, a key milestone in our Privacy Sandbox initiative to phase out third party cookies for everyone in the second half of 2024, subject to addressing any remaining competition concerns from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority,” said Chavez in a blog post.

The Privacy Sandbox initiative aims to create technologies that both protect people’s privacy online and give companies and developers tools to build thriving digital businesses. The Privacy Sandbox reduces cross-site and cross-app tracking while helping to keep online content and services free for all.

When it comes to the Chrome browser, the Privacy Sandbox for the web will phase out third party cookies by using the latest privacy techniques, like differential privacy, k-anonymity, and on-device processing. Privacy Sandbox also helps to limit other forms of tracking, like fingerprinting, by restricting the amount of information sites can access, so that information stays private, safe, and secure.

Google Chrome is the world’s most popular browser. But it’s also the browser that continues to be targeted by cybercriminals. CloudSEK, a cybersecurity firm, recently reported that hackers are using cookies on the Chrome browser to log into user emails without the need for passwords or authentication.

The Independent reported that analysis from CloudSEK found that a dangerous form of malware uses third party cookies to gain unauthorized access to people’s private data, and is already being actively tested by hacking groups. The exploit was first revealed in October 2023 when a hacker posted about it in a channel on the messaging platform Telegram.

Apparently, hackers have found a way to retrieve cookies by exploiting Google authentication cookies. This bypasses the two-factor authentication as well.

“This exploit enables continuous access to Google services, even after a user’s password is reset,” Pavan Karthick M, a threat intelligence researcher at CloudSEK, wrote in a blog post detailing the issue.

In a statement, Google said that it has taken action to secure any compromised accounts detected. It’s for reasons like this that third party cookies will eventually be phased out by all browsers in the near future.

“As we work to make the web more private, we’ll provide businesses with tools to succeed online so that high-quality content remains freely accessible — whether that’s news articles, videos, educational information, community sites, or other forms of web content. With Tracking Protection, Privacy Sandbox and all of the features we launch in Chrome, we’ll continue to work to create a web that’s more private than ever, and universally accessible to everyone,” Chavez said.

The post Google Chrome starts phasing out third party cookies  appeared first on TechWire Asia.

For the last nine months, there has been a standoff between China’s largest fast-fashion brands, Shein and Temu, in their largest market – the United States. As two of the fastest-growing e-commerce platforms in America, occupying the same off-price shopping space, no one saw the battle coming – or at least for it to escalate to the point it is today.

It all started in December, when Shein sued Temu over intellectual-property infringement. At that point, Temu was just a two-month-old fast-fashion site in the US. Shein specifically accused Temu of misleading consumers into thinking they were the same brand, allegedly selling products copyrighted by Shein and displaying the word “Shein” in search ads that led to Temu’s website. 

Shein also claimed that Temu is behind three imposter Twitter accounts using names like “Shein_USA” and asking fans to support “the new Twitter of Shein” while links posted would redirect to Temu’s app and website. Both companies are still fighting over this case in court. Some seven months later, Temu sued its competitor Shein, a dramatic escalation of a contentious legal battle the two fast fashion upstarts have been embroiled in for months.

According to a complaint filed by Temu on July 14 at the District Court of Massachusetts, Shein had allegedly violated antitrust laws, with the former claiming the latter had strong-armed suppliers into exclusivity agreements. Shein forces manufacturers “to sign loyalty oaths certifying that they will not do business with Temu,” reads the complaint. 

If they decline, Shein imposes “extrajudicial fines” on the manufacturers and publicly shames them. According to the suit, these alleged antics have led to 10,000 products being pulled from Temu’s site. For Temu, the allegedly strong-arming by Shein is the main problem because only a few manufacturers in China can keep up with the lighting-fast turnaround required by both companies. 

Unfortunately, according to the suit, Shein has locked up 8,338 of them into exclusivity agreements. Such exclusivity agreements are illegal under the US antitrust law. It’s also a bad deal for consumers because “Temu beats just about everyone else on price,” the suit claims. Temu is seeking unspecified monetary damages.

The two platforms, rare examples of Chinese tech companies attempting to be mass consumer brands in the US and finding at least some success – despite changeable policies at home and political hostility in the US – are expected to be entangled in the bitter legal war for a while. IThe battle revolves around each accusing the other of illegal conduct to woo American shoppers. 

The rise of Shein and Temu in the US

Since its debut in the US in 2017, Shein, founded in Nanjing and headquartered in Singapore, has become the most popular ultra-fast fashion brand, appealing to customers with trendy designs at low prices. The company is valued at about US$100 billion, more than longstanding fast-fashion brands H&M and Zara.

This year Shein announced it had reached record profit results in the first half of 2023, citing growth driven by the US market. “We recorded the highest first-half net profit in the company’s history, compared to a near break-even during the same period in 2022,” Shein’s executive vice chairman Donald Tang wrote in a memo to investors obtained by CNBC.

Tang highlighted that, in particular, Shein’s continued momentum in the US reinforces its leading position in the market. To recall, other platforms offering cheap Chinese goods failed to reach Shein’s level of influence today. Take AliExpress, for instance; the overseas version of Alibaba, which has been around since 2010, has yet to break through in the US even though it also prices products extremely low.

Shein did things that AliExpress didn’t—namely, marketing and presentation. By paying influencers to try out its clothes and produce glossy YouTube and TikTok videos, Shein is spreading the idea that, first and foremost, its products are fun, trendy, and highly affordable. The fact that they’re made in China is secondary. 

Shein eventually rose to dominance. According to Bloomberg Second Measure, its market share in the US fast-fashion sales grew from 12% in January 2020 to 50% by November 2022, surpassing big-name competitors such as H&M Group, Zara, ASOS, and Forever 21.

But Shein’s rise is now being threatened by Temu, which launched in the US in September 2022, selling an equally vast assortment of products but marketing itself as an even cheaper alternative to Shein. By the first quarter of 2023, Temu saw downloads jump 57%, topping rankings on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play, according to mobile intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

According to Meta, Temu has run over 1,000 ads on its platforms between September and October 2022, with posts in English and Chinese. In comparison, other rival Chinese apps like Shein and AliExpress have run only dozens of ads. When it comes to app stores, Temu’s iOS ads are primarily targeting consumers in the US and Canada, while its Android ads are also in seven other countries, according to the app-store advertising database App Growing.

The battle of the fittest 

In many ways, Temu is attempting to replicate the success of Shein in the US. Both have capitalized on cheap international shipping, China’s strong manufacturing capacity, and the supply chain that Shein pioneered. 

To begin with, the companies were distinct for what they sold: Shein did more apparel, while Temu offered household products. But each platform has spilled into each other’s primary product lines, making the companies more direct competitors. In short, they are going after the same expansive network of low-cost suppliers.

So if one platform—especially the more established one—decided to tie the hands of those suppliers, forcing them to choose between the two, one is bound to lose badly – essentially what Temu is accusing Shein of doing. But Temu is no saint, either. 

Many Chinese sellers have complained that the platform forces them to accept extremely low prices or arbitrarily ends their business when it finds a cheaper supplier. Frankly, both Shein and Temu’s behavior is not uncommon, especially in China. 

Historically, monopolistic practices by internet platforms, such as demanding vendors to transact only on one platform exclusively, or providing differentiated prices to customers based on their shopping history and profiles, have been relatively normal in China. In fact, for years, companies like Meituan and Alibaba’s Taobao forbade vendors from working with competitor platforms until the Chinese government explicitly put a stop to such deals in an antitrust push in 2021.

For Shein and Temu in the US, it remains to be seen how both fast-fashion giants will continue striving without cannibalizing one another in their most prominent market. There are chances for both Shein and Temu to battle with the US federal government, too, because authorities have been highlighting their concerns with Chinese “fast fashion” platforms and the problem they carry. 

According to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, the challenges posed by platforms like Shein and Temu include:

• The exploitation of trade loopholes.
• Concerns about production processes, sourcing relationships, product safety, and use of forced labor.
• Violations of intellectual property rights.

“The primary focus is first mover Shein, about which the most data is available, with additional discussion of Temu, which has rapidly expanded its US market presence in the past year. These firms’ commercial success has encouraged both established Chinese e-commerce platforms and startups to copy its model, posing risks and challenges to US regulations, laws, and principles of market access,” the commission stated in its brief.

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Less than a year after announcing that it had picked Malaysia as a location, German renewable power company Siemens Energy officially launched its first cybersecurity operations center (CSOC) in Asia Pacific. The center, located in Cyberjaya, Malaysia, is also the region’s first managed detection response (MDR) and operational technology (OT) CSOC, made to monitor, detect, and mitigate cyberthreats on critical infrastructure such as energy and utilities.

During the launch, Siemens Energy’s executive board member, Karim Amin, said that the company picked Malaysia as their choice mainly due to the extensive support received from the local government. He reckons that “Malaysia is well-positioned in the Asia-Pacific region as a regional hub for cybersecurity talent and investment.”

Karim also emphasized in his keynote address that for the energy transition to succeed, Siemens Energy must build a more mature energy value chain in the Asia-Pacific region. “Developing a resilient cybersecurity landscape is an integral part of this,” he added. In hindsight, CyberSecurity Malaysia chairman Dr. Zulkifeli Bin Mohd Zin believes that Siemens Energy selecting Malaysia as the location of its first CSOC in the Asia Pacific is a solid first step in putting the country on the map as a regional cybersecurity powerhouse.

According to Siemens Energy, the center harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) and a dedicated team of cybersecurity experts to provide monitoring, detection, and timely crisis support to secure businesses’ operating environment 24/7 and ensure operational continuity. The MDR solutions, powered by Eos.ii, an intelligent software platform, transforms vast amounts of data into intelligence that enables human analysts to defend physical and digital assets effectively.

“With the new CSOC, the company will be able to provide crucial advanced OT cybersecurity services to customers across the region and beyond, leveraging lessons learned from different use cases to continually refine its services further while remaining at the vanguard of cybersecurity trends to protect its customers proactively,” Siemens Energy stated in a statement.

When asked about investments, Karim said the Siemens Energy CSOC in Malaysia is projected to have an inflow of more than RM10 million in the next two to three years and up to RM15 to RM20 million over the next five years. On top of capital investments, Siemens Energy will also collaborate with a local university, University Tenaga Nasional, to train young local talents with the skill sets and tools necessary to become cybersecurity professionals.

The move by Siemens Energy is a timely one considering how the energy sector has been the leading target for cybercriminals, with an uptick in both attempted and successful attacks since the prime days of the pandemic and remote working. The sector relies on inherently complex and distributed infrastructure, meaning there is a large ‘surface area’ for an attack. It is also considered a late digital adapter with a relative lack of cybersecurity expertise.

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A few months ago, US-based e-commerce giant eBay Inc. gave a global lackluster sales and profit outlook for the year as it sees the pandemic-led boom fading. eBay was in fact, not the only platform that is seeing their e-commerce business plateau from its pandemic highs. The scenario however seems to be different in Southeast Asia, especially among countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, according to eBay themselves.

For starters, in Southeast  Asia, e-commerce is not just a consumer phenomenon, but is  increasingly becoming a key business strategy, particularly important for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. According to eBay’s regional general manager for Southeast Asia and India Vidmay Naini, being the epicenter for manufacturing of several sectors, this region has the necessary capabilities to scale and meet the global demand.

“Regionally,  99% of all eBay-enabled small businesses, many of them small firms, export. In Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, exporting is universal among eBay-enabled  small businesses, while export rates exceed 97% in the other three markets studied. Also noteworthy is how this extreme export success compares with firms in the traditional economy, with Malaysian businesses the most likely to export, at 19.4%, while just 5.1% of traditional Thai businesses are exporters,” Vidmay told during the the launch of eBay’s latest report in Malaysia.

The eBay’s Southeast Asia Small Online Business Trade Report released highlighted that all eBay-enabled small businesses in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam are exporters, and more than 95% in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore use eBay to reach global consumers.  “These  SMEs  exporting  on  eBay  have  the  reach  of  giant businesses, serving customers in an average of 25 different international markets on an annual basis,” Vidmay told during a fireside chat held by eBay in Malaysia recently.

Across the six countries that are the focus of this report, an astounding 68% of eBay-enabled small businesses exported to 10 or more international markets, led by those in Singapore at 86%.  And as a collective, the eBay-enabled small business  community  in  the region made sales in 214 international markets in 2020.

Speaking with Tech Wire Asia on the sidelines of the launch, Vidmay is of the belief that Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia and Thailand, is off to a significant growth ahead — with or without the bust of the pandemic-led boom in the e-commerce segment. “We’ve seen significant growth in our business, especially with the SMBs selling from this region to the world. The truth is, we are just scratching the surface because we see eBay as a very nascent business here still, and we expect it to grow multifold.”

That said, Vidmay holds a pretty bullish stance that SMEs from this region are going to grow at an increasingly rapid rate. When asked which country in the Southeast Asia region holds the most potential, Vidmay suggested Malaysia and Thailand. “The fact that I’m in Malaysia proves that we’re going to bet a lot on Malaysia,” he said.

“Each market is important, but we are going to sequence it in terms of what type of investment and where we want to invest at this point of time versus at a later date. So all markets are important, but at this point of time, our focus is definitely going to be on Thailand and Malaysia for sure,” Vidmay added. In eBay’s report, it was highlighted that Malaysian SMEs export to an average of 30 international destination markets, including the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Canada, Italy, France, Japan, China, and Spain. 

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eTail Asia 2022, after a two-year hiatus, returned to Singapore earlier this month, with a three-day summit. Dubbed as Asia’s leading summit for the e-commerce sectors, over 400 retailers have joined in the summit, networking and collaborating with industry leaders, as they share tips, insights and experience on maneuvering their businesses during and post-pandemic.

Speakers and attendees including leading industry analysts as well as C-level executives from some of the biggest brands in the world discussed top technology trends that are transforming the retail space. There were also sharing of insights on the ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ trend that has taken the region by a storm, especially since the pandemic.

Among the many topics discussed, Southeast Asia’s (SEA) market prominence was most spoken about. Experts shared how SEA is leading the digital transformation in Asia Pacific, and how it is set to leapfrog China to become the fastest-growing digital economy in APAC. In fact, according to data shared during eTail Asia, e-commerce sales in SEA will total US$89.67 billion in 2022, an increase of US$15.31 billion from 2021. 

By next year, the region will cross the US$100 billion mark, a long way from the US$37.22 billion seen in 2019. Industry players, during the summit, even discussed ways to maintain momentum after unprecedented growth in recent times, and what took center stage in most transformation topics is the role of stores post-Covid. Marketers shared a common agreement that adapting omni-channel strategies would result in maximum customer impact.

A number of luxury brand experts even took the stage to share how they brought their brand to life online, creating memorable virtual and in-store interactions through digital innovations. Most importantly, experts share insights on the best practices to drive sustainable environmental and social practices that support the economic growth of their business.

In fact, sustainability has become a watchword and even consumers are increasingly embracing social causes, seeking out brands that align with their values. Therefore, purchasing habits are shifting into a new alignment. Realizing this, retailers admit the need to reframe their position on sustainability, attuning their approach to the new hybrid lifestyles of consumers.

Among others, Sephora Digital SEA regional director of mobile commerce Lorenzo Peracchione in a testimony of the summit, reckons that “eTail Asia helps you keep up to speed with the ever changing technological landscape and better tailor your offers to the evolving needs of today’s omnichannel customers.”

eTail, launched in 1999, has been dedicated to supporting the growth of the retail industry ever since. Just for the summit, they conduct six months of in-depth research, more than any other retail summit, co-creating an agenda that’s tailored specifically towards Asian retailers’ current opportunities and concerns.

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