Digital happenings this week from Microsoft, Club 21, Mobext and more

Havas Media’s Mobext has launched two operations in Indonesia and Hong Kong, coming just weeks after the launch of operations in Singapore and Malaysia. Mobext is now present in six markets across the region, but it is expected that it will also venture into China before the end of the year. Arthur Policarpio, formerly the CEO of Mobext Philippines, will now head up Mobext operations across Asia. Mobext’s strategy will be to encourage marketers to experiment in the mobile space rather than continue to theorise about it.

Aegis Media Taiwan welcomes back Shawn Liu as business director for its internet search and performance marketing focussed agency iProspect this month. Liu will work on major account planning and strategy for Chunghwa Telecom, Cigna Insurance, and Pfizer. She reports to Carrie Tsai, general manager of iProspect Taiwan, and will work closely with Jonathan Huang, who joined the company in May, as data and technology director.

Microsoft has allotted AdMaster, a third-party assessor of digital marketing effectiveness, new business to monitor the performance of its Windows Server 2012 - part of its 2012-2013 commercial campaign. AdMaster will monitor, evaluate and optimise the online marketing campaign for Windows Server 2012, as well as provide services including tracking and analytics of display, search engine and mobile advertising mediums of the campaign.

Digital communications agency Lewis PR has been appointed by the Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation (HKIRC) to manage its public relations campaign. In order to profile HKIRC as the go-to expert for business and consumer audiences, the agency will deliver comprehensive public relations consultancy services for the next three years, including strategic counsel on issues, development of creative campaigns and implementation of media programmes and support for marketing events.

Napoleon Biggs, senior vice-president, head of digital integration for Fleishman-Hillard Asia-Pacific, stepped down from his role and will be signing on with local mobile and digital activation firm Gravitas as chief strategy officer at the start of October. Biggs chose to join Gravitas because he missed his "entrepreneurial roots" and appreciated the 9-year-old digital agency's nimbleness.

Nearly six in 10 new email subscribers on an average email list have never clicked on or opened an email from the marketing programme, according to a new study by Epsilon and the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Email Experience Council. The way forward for direct marketers is to focus on segmentation, on-boarding and welcome strategies, recommended the report. Triggered messages are deployed as a result of an action or trigger such as ‘welcome’, ‘abandoned shopping cart’, ‘thank you’ and ‘anniversary’.

MEC has appointed Rafis Kadir as Asia-Pacific head of mobile for its international media arm, Global Solutions. The appointment is effective immediately and Kadir will report to Ben Poole, head of interaction, Asia-Pacific for MEC. He is tasked with developing the agency's mobile offering and upgrading staff skills.

Luxury fashion retailer Club 21 has appointed digital marketing agency OOm (Optimal Online Marketing) for its search marketing duties across Southeast Asia India and Greater China. The search marketing campaign aims to promote Club 21’s global site, as well as the newly-launched The Club 21 eShop to offer customers a seamless and convenient shopping experience.

Salesforce has merged social media management platform Buddy Media with social CRM offering Radian6 to form end-to-end offering Marketing Cloud. Michael Lazerow, founder of Buddy Media, has been appointed CMO of Salesforce Marketing Cloud while Ken Mandel, formerly managing director of Buddy Media Asia-Pacific, will retain his title in the new entity. The new offering aims to unify social listening, content, engagement, advertising, workflow, automation and measurement on one platform.