Ready for the First Sunset Marathon at Clark Pampanga on Dec. 9

Wazzup Pilipinas!

For the very first time, RUNRIO partners with Tourism Promotions Board Philippines (TPB) and Clark Development Corporation (CDC) for a running event that aims to promote night running in the Philippines.

At a media launch held at Burgoo Mall of Asia on November 16, 2017, representatives from RunRio and CDC announced to the media the first collaboration between the two which will be held at Clark and ongoing for 10 years starting with the first Sunset Marathon event. The two parties have not revealed their other planned activities yet but would definitely be targeting sports, running and fitness enthusiasts from both local and foreign visitors in and out of Clark, Pampanga.

With the partnership of the TPB, it is also an opportunity to introduce tourists to what Clark has to offer for tourism campaigns especially for our foreign visitors whom they are hoping would join the Sunset Marathoin.

As the name implies, this will be a run held during sunset and will culminate with an after-event party highlighted by DJs and bands to perform immediately after the run.

TPB and the CDC boasts that the upcoming Clark Sunset Marathon happening on December 9, 2017, at the Parade Grounds of Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga at 4pm, is the first of its kind ever conceptualized in the Philippines, to highlight Clark as an ideal venue for such activities since the roads are well-lit and convenient even for night activities.

The Clark Sunset Marathon is a race conceptualized and organized by RUNRIO, Inc. and was inspired by the fact that in tropical countries like the Philippines, the weather is mostly hot and humid. A night run is the perfect running event for running enthusiasts to have a more cooler and more exciting race experience.

Clark Sunset Marathon features running categories in 5KM, 10KM, 21KM and 42KM with the full marathon’s gun start happening at 5pm. The 21KM, 10KM and 5KM follow shortly at 5:15pm, 5:30pm and 5:45pm respectively.

The race event is expected to attract a total of 5,000 running enthusiasts coming from all parts of the country, as well as runners from other parts of the world. “The Clark Sunset Marathon comes at an opportune time when we are being very aggressive in promoting Clark Pampanga as one of the country’s premiere tourist hub.” Said Noemi Julian, manager, Clark Development Corporation, Tourism Promotions.

This landmark running activity is inspired by other world-famous famous running events such as the Boston Marathon, New York Marathon, Singapore Marathon, and the Tokyo Marathon, and is expected to put the country on the global map as a destination for running enthusiasts.

 

In partnership with Tourism Promotions Board Philippines and Clark Development Corporation the Clark Sunset Marathon aims to establish Clark, Pampanga as a venue of world-class running events in the Philippines. The activity also aims to establish this event as a premiere international marathon foot race in the country by securing route standard accreditation from AIMS/IAAF, the international governing body for distance races in the world.

"The development of Clark International Airport, including the construction of a P12-billion passenger terminal will not only provide running enthusiasts easy access to attend this event, but will also open new opportunities for both tourist and business groups in Clark Pampanga” added Julian.

Running coach Rio dela Cruz of RUNRIO Events, Inc. is proud of this ambitious running event that will not only promote the sport of running, but more importantly, promote the country as well and boost tourism.

“When we started conceptualizing the Clark Sunset Marathon, we wanted to have a first class running experience that targets not only local runners but also foreign running enthusiasts. We thought of a running event that can be compared to world-renowned marathons such as Boston Marathon, Singapore Marathon, New York Marathon among many others. And our goal is not just a one-time event. But to have an annual running event that will make our country one of the top running destinations” said dela Cruz.

For the inaugural year, runners can choose five categories and their cut-off times. 42K-7 hours, 21K - 4 hours, 10K – 2 hours and 5k – 1 hour.

Since Clark has an international airport, Clark Sunset Marathon is also targeting foreign runners to join the race that will culminate with the Clark Sunset Marathon Music Festival, an after party celebration at the finish line. The activity will showcase DJs that will provide the party atmosphere of the running event. “We at RUNRIO want to give a one-of-a-kind experience to all the participants. We staged this running event on a Saturday evening so that the participants will have a relax and “chill-type” of an experience. It will be a night of running and partying with DJ Ashley Rivera and DJ Tom Taus dishing out the coolest music. This will make sure that participants, their families and friends will have a good time,” said Andrew Neri, managing partner, RUNRIO Events, Inc.

Clark Sunset Marathon is made possible by Gatorade, the official sports drink, ActiveHealth, the official sports system solution, Garmin, the official timing partner and Solar Sports as the official media partner. The first running event of its kind in Clark, Pampanga is also made possible by Nizoral and Nyxsys.

For more information, visit www.runrio.com or like the official Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/runrioeventsinc/.


Photo Caption: Franco Bambico (race director) and Andrew Neri (managing partner) Runrio Events Inc., and Noemi Julian, manager of CDC-Tourism.

KKR-Backed Emerald Media Leads US$65 Million Series B in aCommerce to Drive Southeast Asia’s Retail and Ecommerce Ecosystem Forward

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The region’s leading ecommerce enabler and e-distributor will continue to build successful multi-channel retail, distribution and marketing strategies for brands such as Samsung, Unilever, Nestlé, L’Oreal, Philips and Mars.

aCommerce Co. Ltd. announced today that it has closed a US$65 million Series B funding round. The company is Southeast Asia’s leading ecommerce enabler and e-distributor in four markets that enables over 260 brand clients such as Samsung, Unilever, Nestlé, L’Oreal, Philips and Mars to sell to the world’s fastest growing consumer markets.

The newest funding round is led by Emerald Media, a pan-Asian platform established by global investment firm KKR to fund growth investment opportunities across Asia. Participants to the round also include existing backers Blue Sky, MDI Ventures and DKSH, with North Ridge Partners advising.

The US$65M investment in aCommerce will be channeled into:

Further augmenting the company’s brand centric tech platform that allows clients to “plug in” and distribute through an integrated network of Business-to-Consumer (“B2C”) (e.g. online brand stores, e-marketplaces like Lazada and Shopee) and Business-to-Business (“B2B”) channels, with real time data analytics;

Scaling strategic partnerships within the retail ecosystem in current markets: Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines; and

Enabling client expansion into new markets like Malaysia and Vietnam.

Brands going multi-channel, demanding “Business-to-All” (B2A)

Given the rapid growth of the B2C market and retail industry in ASEAN, more brands are looking to launch on multiple channels to reach new audiences such as B2B that include specialty retailers, resellers, business-to-governments (“B2G”), and business-to-corporate employees (“B2E”)

“At the beginning of the region’s adoption of online, it was enough to simply have a website,” says Paul Srivorakul, aCommerce Co-Founder and Group CEO. “Fast forward a few years later and brands are realizing in order to stay ahead of the retail game, they need to be omnipresent and data hungry to fully control all pricing and consumer touch points.”

“Customers want to reach their favorite brands at any time through any platform,” continues Paul. “Clients leverage our ecommerce expertise, data-driven approach and local footprint to effectively distribute their products to become business-to-all.”

aCommerce is the driving force behind some of the notable new B2B and B2E initiatives of global brands in ASEAN such as Samsung and L’Oreal.

“Our platform covers the entire customer journey online, from product sample distribution, collecting customer data to driving and attributing purchases across channels like the brand’s own webstore and the region’s top marketplaces,” added Paul. “Having a strong partner like KKR and Emerald Media with their years of investment experience in the region will provide capital and critical connections in content and demand generation across Southeast Asia, which we see a great deal of convergence in. We can provide our clients an even better level of transparency and accountability hard to find elsewhere.”


All eyes on Southeast Asia’s consumers

The region’s residents are moving to online shopping at an increasingly exponential pace, growing 32% year-on-year for the next 10 years according to research by Google and Temasek. The surge in online activities has caused giants such as JD.com, Amazon and Alibaba to expand their presence in Southeast Asia’s retail market.

In 2017 alone, brands such as Mars, Nestlé, and Unilever, have all established a stronger official ecommerce presence with aCommerce across the region in addition to selling through existing offline channels.

aCommerce is an important part of the ecosystem by enabling these companies to collect and own valuable consumer data, develop strategic partnerships with the region’s top marketplaces/retailers and access actionable data through its ecommerce market research arm, ecommerceIQ.

“What gives us confidence in aCommerce is the company’s highly brand centric technology platform that enables clients to simply plug in and use all operating systems, channel distribution methods and demand generation applications across the region,” said Paul Aiello, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Emerald Media. “This provides new entrants a quick way to roll out multi-channel operations in these exciting markets without building large local operations.”

“In four short years, aCommerce has established itself as a leader in Southeast Asia working with the world’s top brands,” says Rajesh Kamat, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Emerald Media. “We look forward to accelerating the expansion of the business as a key player in moving Southeast Asia’s retail ecosystem forward.”

Photo Caption: Paul Srivorakul, aCommerce Co-Founder and Group CEO

Davao Aguilas FC Stays on Point and Goes for a Win Against Kaya FC Makati

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Away team Davao Aguilas FC stayed focused and on point on Saturday evening’s match against Kaya FC Makati, held in Makati City, as they went for a 1-3 win, in their favor.

Angel Guirado was the first one who went for the goal on the 26th minute, with a very good assist from Enzo Cheng. An equalizer however took place on the 58th minute from Kaya FC Makati’s Alfred Osei. But Davao Aguilas went all out again and gained two more goals, courtesy of Australian Harrison Sawyer on the 65th minute, and Angel Guirado once more on the 74th minute.

Head Coach Marlon Maro says, “Happy and satisfied and I think it is because the players really wanted to win tonight. The delivery and the process made us score a lot of goals tonight, and also the players responded well to each other.”

Angel Guirado, who was named Man of the Match says, “For me the team is more important because, the team worked good tonight. I’m happy because I scored, but more importantly, the team has 3 points more and I’m also looking forward to our next season. This boosts the confidence of the team.”

Davao Aguilas FC’s next matches will be on November 21 against JPV Marikina at 7 p.m., and on November 25 at 4 p.m., to be held at Rizal Memorial Stadium (RMS), against JPV Marikina as well.

For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/DAFCofficial.

Photo Caption: Davao Aguilas FC’s Angel Guirado got two goals for the team and was named Man of The Match.