Sennheiser names PR partner for Singapore and Indonesia

Audio company Sennheiser has appointed Allison+Partners to handle its PR duties for the Singapore and Indonesia markets. Sennheiser's spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that this new appointment comes as part of its plan to further expand its position in the global market, including in Southeast Asia. The appointment will be for a year and will be reviewed on an annual basis.

During the appointment, Allison+Partners will provide communications and media relations support in Singapore and Indonesia, with a focus on raising the Sennheiser's brand profile and visibility, specifically for its Pro Audio, Business Communication and Neumann.Berlin business units.

The appointment comes following a pitch held late last year which saw four other agencies vying for the account. Sennheiser's spokesperson said that Allison+Partners was chosen as the agency showed a clear understanding of the brief, including its business, challenges and local nuances, providing confidence that the team will be able to execute well in both markets. "The agency also designed a hub model based in Singapore in which A+P Singapore will lead the overall communications program strategy and content development, a framework that works well with the needs of the brand," the spokesperson added.

Separately, Sennheiser unveiled its latest Korean-pop themed APAC campaign in February last year. Titled "Earbuds that put sound first", the campaign focused on Sennheiser's signature sound quality of the earbuds, and was part of the brand's efforts to reach younger consumers. While majority of its current consumers are found to be 25 to 45 years old, and will remain a core demographic for the brand, Sennheiser is also targeting consumers aged 18 to 35 years old - who the brand deems as "forward-looking and in constant pursuit of the best". These consumers are what Sennheiser labels as "cutting-edge achievers". 

The three-month-long campaign also sprinkled iconic landscapes from various countries throughout the ad to attract audiences from markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, and China. While the original ad is one minute and 45 seconds long, Sennheiser also produced bite-sized versions of the ad lasting 90 seconds, 60 seconds, 45 seconds, 20 seconds, and 15 seconds, and made available on various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Weibo, WeChat, and Douyin. The ad was created by production agency Moving Bits, digital agency Wavemaker, as well as social media agency RED². 

In an interview then with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Alex Lim, head of marketing, Asia said the ad was Sennheiser's "first foray" into the K-pop arena and the direction was chosen given K-pop's global dominance. The brand wanted to take on a life-style approach which was more emotional in nature to appeal to everyday consumers rather than gadget experts alone. This was in contrast to Sennheiser's previous marketing efforts, which were more focused on demonstrating the quality of its sound and were tactical in nature.

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