Yahoo! Vietnam has created a first-of-its-kind online “Super Race” competition where Yahoo! Mail users can win prizes by completing online challenges in the shortest time. The race will demonstrate fun packed and novel ways to experience new Yahoo! Mail with unlimited email storage, enhanced photo sharing, increased attachment limits, and additional social networking features. The innovations are part of Yahoo!’s ongoing efforts to be the leading e-mail provider in Vietnam.

The Super Race includes one trial round from April 7 to April 12 to familiarize people with “race-track”, and three official rounds starting from April 13 to May 4. The top three entrants in each official round will win delightful prizes including Asus Eee PC 1008HA, Asus ultra-slim widescreen MS226H, and Samsung Corby Wifi mobilephone S3653W. Top prize of an Asus notebook K40IJ will go to the overall entrant who has completed all the tasks in the shortest cumulative time. Prizes will be awarded at Yahoo! Vietnam office in Ho Chi Minh City; winners who don’t reside in Ho Chi Minh City will receive their prizes by post.

Watch this space for more updates in upcoming weeks!

Yahoo! announced some key staff movements aimed at strengthening the leadership team in APAC:

Yvonne Chang – From VP of Advertising Sales and Marketplace, APAC to Head of Yahoo! SouthEast Asia

Ken Mandel – Head of Yahoo! South East Asia to VP of Advertising Sales and Marketplace, APAC

Jeff Han – Acting Senior Director of Marketing to VP, Marketing, APAC

It’s certainly an exciting time for Yahoo! in the region, with the recent expansion of our regional structure to incorporate South East Asian countries and India – all moves to enhance the level of support received by customers and advertisers in these countries. In particular, Yahoo! is committed to making the Internet easy to use and personally relevant for users in these markets who are going online for the first time.

600 million consumers worldwide make Yahoo! their online destination every day. With these seasoned industry professionals now embarking on important roles to lead the Yahoo! APAC team to the next level, Yahoo! is pushing the envelope in offering compelling online experiences that are tailored to emerging Asian consumers and providing an unmatched proposition for advertisers.

Watch this space for more exciting updates about Yahoo! in APAC.

PROFILE SERIES:

Starting this week, we’ll be bringing you a step closer to the Yahoos who make stuff happen behind the scenes  as well as guests from outside of the company to share their views on various hot topics.

Joey Alarilla, a prominent (some say famous) Filipino blogger and journalist who recently joined Yahoo! as our social media editor for Southeast Asia is our first guest. Read on to find out more about his new role and how social media is playing a critical part in the Yahoo! Southeast Asia newsroom as well as the upcoming Philippine Presidential election campaigns.

Welcome to Yahoo! Can you give us a brief introduction to yourself, for example, what were you doing before joining the company?

Prior to joining Yahoo!, I was the head of the Multimedia Department of the leading online game publisher in the Philippines, Level Up! My projects there included launching our live blogging and live video streaming services and producing/hosting a weekly online show for our community.

I was a tech journalist for over a decade. In 2000, I was one of the pioneer editors who spun off the leading Philippine online news site INQUIRER.net (then called INQ7.net) from the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper. As the multimedia editor, I launched the site’s blog network and online video service, while also hosting and producing several podcasts and editing the hackenslash gaming news site. I was also the founding president of the Asian Gaming Journalists Association and a tech blogger for CNET Asia.

Could you tell us what a social media editor at Yahoo! in the Philippines does?

As the social media editor, I listen and interact with the community, not just on Yahoo! properties, but also on other social networks. My job includes understanding and monitoring what’s trending on different social networks; engaging the communities on these networks to exchange ideas and get feedback; and sharing these insights with the editorial team and our content partners.

We are also looking for more user generated content and offering platforms for our users to have their stories covered by Yahoo! and their views heard and read by more audience.

Sounds exciting! Tell us more about the social media scene in the Philippines / Southeast Asia

The social media scene is quite vibrant not just in the Philippines but across the region. It’s becoming more and more mainstream, with celebrities, journalists, politicians, and other personalities becoming more active on social networks.

One of the factors contributing to the growth of social media is the increasing popularity of the mobile Internet. You could say that social media is starting to become the new SMS. When you see people typing on their phones here, they might not be texting, but actually posting status updates on their social networks, or chatting with other online users.

While Twitter and Facebook are gaining popularity in this region, Meme from Yahoo! has a huge fan base and growing very quickly. We have introduced themed Memes for comic book lovers and cosplay and anime fans – two popular topics in the Philippines.

Can you elaborate more on why you think social media has started to become a vital part for news gathering?

News organizations have to evolve to keep pace with the changing habits of their audience. Many Internet users, especially the younger ones, have embraced social media.

Their primary source of news is no longer newspapers, television or even online news. It’s trusted users on their social networks. That explains why you have a personal newspaper service like The Twitter Tim.es, which displays news and blog links from the people you trust on Twitter – you can even check out my personal newspaper.

Increasingly, social media users are “out-scooping” the breaking news teams from mainstream media. Social media is one of the key channels for delivering news and other information. In the Philippines, in the wake of the massive flooding caused by tropical storm Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana), Filipinos relied on social networks to keep themselves informed and coordinate relief and rescue operations. Through social media, different rescue groups were able to harness the spirit of volunteerism and encourage more people to help out the flood victims.

The fact is that news organizations that fail to adapt are in danger of becoming irrelevant. They can no longer assume that users will come to them, but must instead make sure their content is available wherever their users may be.

Due to different factors, some news organizations have been slow to integrate social media into the newsroom. I’m happy to say, however, that the situation is changing. Many news organizations in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia are embracing social media. This is a new and exciting frontier for many journalists, and Yahoo! will be here to help our media partners with our own insights based on our experiences and best practices.

During the recent social media forum in the Philippines, you discussed how social media is shaping the political landscape in the Philippines; do you think the candidates really understand the benefits/ use of social media?

Social media is generating a lot of hype in the upcoming Philippine presidential elections this May. Pundits are saying this will be the first Philippine elections in which social media will potentially be a game changer.

It’s good to see that many candidates recognize the importance of social media in their campaigns – no doubt inspired by the example of US President Barack Obama. What they have to keep in mind, however, is that social media is just one aspect of the campaign, and that their success will depend on how well they integrate it with their overall strategy.

The Obama team was able to reach out via social media but the crucial step was in translating this into actual grassroots support i.e, volunteers going door to door, and voters trooping out on Election Day. Social media is not a silver bullet. It’s not the be-all and end-all of a campaign, and if candidates become shortsighted, they might end up fighting an online popularity contest instead of inspiring action among their constituents.

Moreover, I would like to see candidates focus less on bombarding followers with their messages, and instead concentrate on interacting with voters online and listening to what they have to say. Social media is a conversation, and it’s a chance for voters to truly make their voices heard.

Empowering the voters through social media is the main goal of Yahoo!’s Purple Thumb site for the Philippine elections. We also held a social media forum, to examine the impact of social media on the upcoming elections. It’s all about the community – about putting the spotlight on what ordinary people have to say about the election issues that concern them most.

Social media is your chance to be heard. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

Yahoo! Hong Kong conducted a survey to find out about consumer behavior and retail trends during Valentine’s Day. Incidentally, this year, the first day of Chinese New Year (CNY) also falls on 14 February. The last time these two occasions clashed was 57 years ago.

The survey was conducted with more than 1,000 respondents, 80% of which were born in the 70s or the 80s. 50% of them, who are either in a relationship or married said they will be celebrating the day with both their partner and family, while 34% chose to celebrate Valentine’s Day before or after 14 February.

Other interesting survey highlights include:

1.    52% of the respondents who have “someone special” in mind, said that they will not confess their love to that person on Valentine’s Day since it is also CNY and the “atmosphere and mood” is not quite right.

2.    Consumer confidence is growing steadily in Hong Kong and the survey shows that 66% plan to spend five to ten percent more for Valentine’s Day this year, or have the same budget as last year. 15% of the respondents plan to spend between US$250 – 650 on gifts for their partner.

3.    Nearly 50% of the female respondents prefer gifts that are more personalised, unique and practical. They also said that the most unwanted Valentine’s Day gifts include flowers, chocolates, soft toys, health and beauty products.

4.    About half of the respondents who are either in a relationship or married shared that they will use less gift packaging to be more environmentally friendly.

5.    20% of the male respondents would like to spend Valentine’s Day in ShenZhen, China while 20% of the female respondents wish to spend the day in Paris. None of the male respondents chose Paris as an option.

6.    80% of the respondents who are single revealed that they will use online match-making services like Yahoo! Personals to find a potential partner or to meet more people through social gatherings.

According to Lisa Tam, public relations manager of Yahoo! Hong Kong, VIP members of Yahoo! Personals are invited to send messages to other members in the hopes of finding someone special and stand to win prizes during this special festive season.

Internet users can also visit Yahoo! Hong Kong Auction site to purchase Valentine’s Day and CNY gifts for their loved ones.