Astro's former biz dev lead Marissa Hanafi joins digital entertainment firm in Thailand

Astro's former head of business development Marissa Hanafi (pictured) has joined digital entertainment company POPS Worldwide as Thailand head of OTT and content. She will be responsible for leading Thailand's content strategy across multiple platforms, including the POPS streaming service in Thailand. 

Based in Bangkok, Marissa will lead also creative and content strategy to ensure POPS delivers relevant content on all its channels and platforms in Thailand. During her time with Astro previously, Marissa was responsible for driving strategic partnerships, overseeing global content distribution and acquisition, and building new revenue streams for its kids and family business units. She has also worked at L'Oreal and GroupM, where she was involved with driving consumer insights and brand management.

According to POPS, Marissa aims to support the company by being at the forefront of media innovation, piquing its audience imagination with a myriad of premium content offerings and addressing emerging regional trends. "I am delighted to step into an all encompassing role to expand our business in Thailand and beyond. I look forward to contributing my efforts towards our shared vision of redefining the future of Southeast Asian entertainment for all, alongside our amazing teams across the board," she added.

Meanwhile, founder and CEO of POPS, Esther Nguyen, said Marissa's proven commercial track record and extensive operational and content experience is invaluable as the company powers its vast distribution platforms and rapidly expand our business across Southeast Asia. We are pleased to have her on board.”

In February this year, POPS sponsored Ampverse's esports team Bacon Time to compete in ROV Pro League 2020 Summer, renaming it to POPS Bacon Time. As part of the partnership, POPS brands will be prominently featured on the team's jerseys and all official branded merchandises. The agreement also includes co-produced promotions for gamer community exclusively on POPS streaming service. Meanwhile that same month, the company also named David Kolko to the newly-created role of chief content officer, who is responsible for the overall content strategy across multiple platforms including POPS streaming service.

A+M's Content 360 conference is going virtual, and will bring together industry leaders to discuss challenges and share insights on future content marketing trends, as well as successful strategies to help tackle the complex marketing landscape. Sign up here!