Digital happenings this week from the Facebook, Paypal, Holden and more

Three major misunderstandings about social media ROI—measuring likes and followers equals ROI; ROI in social is the same as traditional; and social media can be used and measured on its own—are undermining the use of social media by brands, according to Walter Carl, chief research officer and founder of US-based research firm ChatThreads, who spoke at Social Media Matters Asia 2012 on 7 September.

Emmanuel Paget, most recently business development and communications director of Nurun China, has joined Splio China as vice-president of sales and marketing. Paget will supervise a team of 25 in Beijing and Shanghai. Splio China’s client portfolio includes L’Oreal, French ready-to-wear brand Etam and eLong. The agency operates cosmetics e-commerce platform eSkin.com for L'Oreal, and will launch a second e-commerce platform for a clothing brand next week.

Facebook's planned initiative to remove fake 'likes' on brand pages may hurt initially, but will eventually force Asia's digital ecosystem to produce improved and more genuine engagement rates between brands and fans. Helping to support brands with genuine customer-databases to draw on, Facebook has also recently launched a function that will allow brands to target ads on the platform based on email addresses and mobile numbers in their customer databases.

PayPal has named Rohan Mahadevan as its vice president for Asia, with immediate effect. Based in Singapore, he will report to Rupert Keeley, who has recently taken up a broader leadership role as PayPal’s senior vice president of Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific. Mahadevan will provide strategic direction for the region and working to increase the company’s presence so it may capitalise on the growth of e-commerce and m-commerce across all Asian markets.

Nearly two-thirds of consumers (61 per cent) are using social media to connect to their favourite consumer electronics brands, according to a global survey by CNN. This level of engagement has led to consumers requiring more of these brands with regards to sustainability and ethical sourcing. In fact, CNN International's ‘Consumer Connect – Consumer Electronics 2012’ report found that 65 per cent of global consumers are willing to pay more for electronic products that have been responsibly sourced.

Lee Smith is taking on the role of Asia-Pacific president for Annalect, Omnicom Media Group's data-driven marketing division, in addition to his current post as OMG's CEO of digital platforms. In this newly created role, Smith will lead the Annalect Group, which includes Accuen, the group's real-time bidding solution headed by Matt Harty, as well as search agency Resolution. Annalect aims to offer solutions that will help clients capture, organise and leverage data for marketing.

Big name brands are making stronger efforts to use rich media as they look for deeper engagement with consumers, with experts suggesting 2012/13 will a be seminal year for the technology. Health Promotion Board launched a mobile rich media campaign in the Singapore market earlier this year. Samsung and P&G have become early advertisers on Affle’s newly launched rich media and video advertising network Ripple. Amobee has also launched its Pulse Create platform to allow advertisers to create rich media and 3D mobile ad campaigns.

Yoshihisa Senga has joined UM Japan as head of digital from Glam Media Japan where he was vice-president of sales. Senga is tasked with leading digital business for UM's key clients, while building strong relationships with digital media and technology vendors. He will also lead global communications with UM's APAC and G14 clusters in the area of digital.

Holden, a fully-integrated General Motors operation in Australia, has extended its six-year relationship with Visual Jazz Isobar (VJI), formally appointing the digital creative agency as its primary digital services partner for consumer facing websites, following a competitive pitch. VJI will manage consumer-facing digital activity for the Holden brand, including holden.com.au, holden.co.nz and mobile websites.