Thoughtful Media Group Inc (TMG), the Thailand-based social commerce-focused, premium digital advertising network of Society Pass Incorporated (SoPa), has on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Newave, an Indonesia-based KOL management agency.

SoPa said in a statement that Newave’s +10,000 influencers on its talent roster turbocharges TMG’s social commerce advertising business in both Indonesia and Southeast Asia (SEA).

“TMG is ecstatic to welcome Newave onto our ever-expanding TMG regional platform,

“By merging Newave’s dominant position in the nano and micro influencer space with TMG’s social commerce focused ecosystem, we provide additional channels for regional and local brands to market their products and services,” said Pamela Aw-Young, TMG Vice-Chairman.

According to her, since the firm’s parent company SoPa acquired TMG in July 2022, TMG has grown from strength to strength with headcount growing from a dozen professionals to over 60 staff in just under a year.

“We look to triple our revenues year-on-year in 2023. As we enter Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia markets in the second half of 2023, TMG is uniquely positioned to be the premier SEA regional digital advertising agency offering a significant value proposition for advertisers, merchants and influencers in SEA’s biggest economy,” she said.

Founded in 2017, Newave is the go-to advertising platform for nano and micro influencers (KOLs with under 100,000 followers) in the Indonesian social media scene.

The firm has ridden the popularity of social media and social commerce in Indonesia advertising market.

Cited Datareportal, Newave Head of Strategy Ilhamka Nizam said that 68 percent of Indonesians or 191 million people are on social media as of January 2022.

“Covid drove millions of Indonesians to shop online for more than three hours daily via their social media. Naturally, brands increased their marketing budgets every year since Newave was founded,” he said.

For 2023, he said the firm expects Indonesia-based brands to invest more than 30 percent of their marketing budget on influencer marketing.

To meet demand for influencers from increasing advertising budgets, Newave focused on identifying and servicing up-and-coming nano and micro influencers as these KOLs represents 66 percent of all influencers in Indonesia according to INSG.CO.

Newave Co-Founder Bunga Nizam said when they founded Newave, they realized that onboarding hundreds and thousands of nano and micro influencers is the unique selling proposition that sets Newave from other so-called influencer marketing companies.

As a result, he said the firm has been fortunate to onboard more than 10,000 influencers onto its talent roster.

Newave Co-Founder Bulan Nizam, adds said that TMG’s broad advertising network and SoPa’s extensive user and merchant bases in SEA allow the firm to fully become the premier digital advertising company in the world’s fourth most populous country.

“Thoughtful Media Indonesia is well positioned to generate significant revenues in 2023 and occupies a central position in Indonesia’s large and fast-growing digital advertising market,” he said.

Founded in 2010, TMG is a digital advertising platform helps brands maximize marketing budgets and achieve business objectives through some of the most innovative marketing campaigns in the region through its network of talented creators across multiple industries in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

In 2022, SoPa acquired TMG Since then, they have fully evolved into a digital-first and fully integrated advertising powerhouse.

Founded in 2018, SoPa is a data-driven loyalty, fintech and e-commerce ecosystem in the fast-growing markets of Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Listed in the United States and with offices located in Angeles, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Manila, and Singapore, the firm is an acquisition-focused holding company operating six interconnected verticals (loyalty, digital media, travel, telecoms, lifestyle, and food and beverage).

The firm has amassed more than 3.3 million registered consumers and over 650,000 registered merchants and brands.

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