Working to Heal Communities: ADMERASIA & NextShark Connect Businesses to Donators & Volunteers

COVID-19’s impact across the nation has laid bare the cracks in every system; from healthcare and education to law enforcement and small-business.

In March of 2020, the sudden escalation of xenophobic racial targeting prompted ADMERASIA to collaborate with organizations and businesses nationwide to start Racismiscontagious.com, a tool designed to aggregate & visualize & address the rise in incidents of hate perpetuated against Asian Americans.

Now, Asian Americans and their fellow BIPOC community members, are facing another round of hardship. Businesses damaged during fallout of nationwide protests have left many families, already struggling, with staggering losses to their finances.

ADMERASIA & NextShark (a partner on the Racism is Contagious website) have teamed up again, developing an interactive mapping system designed to intake data from fundraising campaigns for negatively-impacted small businesses.

The map gathers data from fundraisers and local organizations whose goals are to support businesses, including those added to NextShark’s business donation list. In order to better visualize the small businesses affected, ADMERASIA included tabs to find which states and cities the businesses belong to. There is also a tab to direct those looking to donate or volunteer at a BIPOC business in need of help.

If you are a colleague in the marketing and advertising industry who wishes to use their power to extend the reach of this initiative, or a business that is looking to connect with its community, please reach out to us. The country is in need of healing, and it’s all hands on deck.

For more information, contact:

XiaoHwa Sydney Ng
xiaohwan@admerasia.com
Digital Strategist&
Activist&
Word Enthusiast

Asian Americans Unite Against Hate with Racism is Contagious

As the COVID-19 virus spreads, Asian Americans have experienced an increase in verbal and physical assaults. Racism is Contagious, a platform that aims to centralize, unify and visualize data associated with the rise of hate and violence targeting against Asian Americans, launched on April 6th. Formed by organizations and companies across the nation, its mission is to create a publicly accessible resource to combat the rise of hate crimes and aggressions towards the Asian American community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In doing so, our ultimate ambition is to build out a real-time data and analysis community tool that can help identify flare-up zones that will encourage more direct action from law enforcement through this publicly accessible resource. We want people to feel seen, feel safe and see change happen.” – Jeff Lin, CEO ADMERA&IA.

Joining with ADMERA&IA in this mission are media platform NextShark, social movement #HATEISAVIRUS, digital collective International Secret Agents, and a number of other entities; building a singular, united voice.

Racism is Contagious hosts a data analysis dashboard that generates real-time statistics utilizing the same backend technology used to track the global spread of COVID-19. The platform is bilingual, hosted in English and Chinese. Additional languages will be added.

“If you, or a loved one, has experienced an act of racism or bigotry we encourage you to come forward. Your privacy will be respected and we want you to know, you are not alone.” – Tammy Cho, #HATEISAVIRUS

“With the sharp rise of racism and discrimination toward Asian Americans in the last few weeks, we feel that it is important to help document these incidents with the hope of advancing causes within our community. I’m honored to be working alongside some incredible leaders.” – Benny Luo, NextShark

www.racismiscontagious.com will be aggregating through media partners and researchers. The site also encourages individuals to submit their incident reports through the Stop AAPI Hate form, hosted by A3PCON and Chinese for Affirmative Action.

“It is the most robust source of data active in the space, and we want to support, not detract from the ongoing efforts of Professor [Russell] Jeung and their team,” – Max Davidson, CIO ADMERA&SIA

The platform is also forming new coalitions that will help push the campaign further, adding educational and informative resources for victims. If interested in connecting, please contact info@racismiscontagious.com.

#HateIsContagious: Now is the Time to Stand Together

“HATE’S the most contagious and these days it’s going VIRAL”. Our friends, Year of the OX, shine a light on the discrimination and racism currently facing Asian Americans. Scared to leave their homes, not only because of the virus, but because of the onslaught of racially motivated violent attacks and harassment. Like YOX says, this is not a new issue but one that has long festered in our communities.

NOW IS THE TIME TO STAND TOGETHER.

Speak your truth.
Move the conversation forward. #HateIsContagious
Cure it.

ADMERASIA stands by the Asian American community. Join us.

ADMERASIA’s Yashica Dutt, Author of Coming Out Dalit, Comes Home

Yashica Dutt, ADMERASIA’s Associate Creative Director, is back from her book tour! Dutt published her groundbreaking book, Coming Out Dalit, a non-fiction memoir about caste and its systemic impact on India and Indian communities across the globe, in 2019. Since then, her contribution to civil rights continues to grow.

Dutt on the Jaipur Lit Fest panel

A TOUR THROUGH INDIA

After weeks abroad in India and various U.S. cities, Dutt returned to us with many stories to tell.

In India, Dutt attended the Jaipur Literary Festival, one of the world’s largest lit fest, and the Kolkata Literary Meet. Dutt was featured on numerous panels at both events.

Dutt at the Kolkata Lit Meet

The Harvard India Conference on a panel on Caste and Media

The tour continued to various cities including Mumbai and Delhi. Dutt had the pleasure of speaking to several students at colleges and universities.

BACK IN THE STATES

Back in the U.S., Dutt attended a panel on Caste and Media at the Harvard India Conference, and another one the same day at MIT.

“It’s been rewarding, eye opening and in many ways one of the most defining experiences of my life,” says Dutt.

We are proud to have Yashica Dutt on our team.

Lunar New Year 2020 Rat Like You Mean It

“… Win. Win. Win. No matter what.”-DJ Khaled

Sometimes the winner isn’t the fastest, strongest or biggest. To everyone that’s got the grit to make it happen this year. Go forth and prosper.

The ADMERASIA Team

Original artwork by
Shane Kuo
ADMERASIA ILLUSTRATOR

A Letter from our Co-Founder

Fellow film geeks:

I had a chance to see Awkwafina in The Farewell this weekend and it was just another (tear-jerking) reminder that Asian Americans are on a roll. Starting with last year’s Crazy Rich Asians on the big screen, the roster continues to grow: NBC’s A Little Late with Lilly Singh, the much-anticipated Mulan, and Marvel’s Shang-Chi, starring the first-ever Asian lead for the franchise.

The rise of Asian cultural movements is piquing the interest of people everywhere. We are often asked by clients and colleagues, “can an ad segmented for Asian Americans also play in general market?” The answer is an emphatic, “yes”. Whether it be cosplay, cricket, e-sports, foodies, nerd-life, or lux-life, we enjoy finding the subtle, yet impactful, ways humans find common ground. It is a nuanced balancing act – supplying the authenticity of our core heritage and culture while communicating in a universal voice.

Speaking of action movies, we’ve also been dabbling in the realm of superheroes. Our latest TVC campaign featured Asian American cosplayers in full warrior gear. I can’t help but admit I got a thrill out of being a part of a project that has Asian Americans representing heroic and strong characters – even when it’s rubber swords and replica helmets. Asians & Asian Americans are finally getting the roles and recognition they have long deserved. It’s about time.

And we’ve been rewarded with success. We’ve run our campaigns in theaters nationwide in front of Spider-man: Far from Home, on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, and on live-streaming platform, Twitch. The Asian American story CAN be anyone’s story.

Admerasia proclaims itself as an “&” agency. We do more than ad. We connect.

I’ve come to embrace the &. I started off life as a boy, as Chinese. I grew into an immigrant, an American. Sometimes it felt like I had to choose between my identities, that they were in conflict. But as I grew, instead of cutting things out of my life, I added to the list of the things that made me who I am. I &.

This & approach to life is how we operate here at Admerasia. Barriers, lanes, human constructs – we do not adhere to. We do not believe our stories are limited. We do not believe our voices stop at the borders of Chinatown or Jersey City. We do believe in &. It’s that foundational belief that carries our ads across continents, into your home.

I hope this tale of Awkwafina & Identity & Brand Craft has inspired you to put a little & into your day. Limits aren’t for us. We can be Asian & American & Asian American.

See you at the movies.

Jeff Lin
Co-Founder of Admerasia&
Soccer Enthusiast&
Wine Collector.

Admerasia Takes Home Gold and Silver at 3AF

At this year’s Asian American Advertising Federation (3AF) Marketing Summit in Los Angeles, Admerasia swept up TWO Creative Campaign of the Year awards: State Farm’s Asian TV commercial “Smart Living” was awarded Gold, while Twin Marquis’ web series “Yum Chat” took home Silver.

Julia Kang, Account Director, spoke on behalf of Admerasia, “It’s a true honor to be recognized from the 3AF organization as we continue to tell impactful stories that can empower and positively influence the Asian American community and beyond. We constantly strive and hustle to think outside of the box and explore bold ideas for our market to become part of a greater conversation.”

Congratulations to our team and partners at State Farm and Twin Marquis. We could not be more proud!

Admerasia Speaks at Asia Society Summit

The 2019 Diversity and Marketing Leadership Summit, hosted by Asia Society, was an enlightening and educational exploration on the ascending Asian American consumer. We learned so much from trailblazing leaders in business including those women who push back on the ceiling. One of the reoccurring takeaways from the summit was diversity – learning the nuances that every culture and people express which will create more authentic connections. Try something, take bold steps, use failure as a learning tool, and lead in trends, not follow.

As the grand finale of the two days festivities, our co-founder, Jeff Lin, moderated panel, Women Executive Leadership: The Power and Rise of the Asian Consumer: Transforming the Way We Do Business with Jennifer Hsieh, Marriot International, Chloe Lim, Facebook Singapore, and Tina Mahal, PepsiCo.Our. The panel discussed such topics as breaking through both Asian and American barriers, the staggering buying power of Asian American consumers, and where we’re headed in the future. They enjoyed their discussion over a bottle of Art Bus Red from woman-owned, La Sirena Wines, who’s owner, Heidi Barrett, is one of California’s leading local winemakers.

We are incredibly grateful to Asia Society for having us and look forward to more collaboration in the years to come.

Asia Society is the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context. Across the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, the Society provides insight, generates ideas, and promotes collaboration to address present challenges and create a shared future.

Admerasia Goes to Washington

From Left to Right: Eric Chuang (Digital), Yashica Dutt (Creative), XiaoHwa Ng (Strategy) Max Davidson (Integrations)

We had a fantastic time at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) Gala in Washington DC. We witnessed inspiring messages from our country’s leaders matched with ambitious and intelligent young Asian Americans who, one day, will lead this country as well. Speakers included, US Senator Tammy Duckworth of IL, Rep. Ted Lieu of CA, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, not to mention a long roster of fantastic individuals paving the way for Asian representation. We had a chance to shake hands with some amazing folks pushing forward representation and diversity in industries across America.

We thank APAICS for having us and look forward to spreading their message all year round.

The Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) is a national non-partisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting Asian Pacific American participation and representation at all levels of the political process, from community service to elected office.

Our New State Farm Campaign Speaks Cricket to its South Asian Audience

State Farm’s latest campaign is about cricket, but not like you’ve seen it before.

South Asians loving cricket is hardly a secret. Introduced to the subcontinent by the British, it’s now one of the most popular sports in the region and most South Asians, whether in United States or back home, grow up watching or playing cricket. So, it’s no surprise that the sport is on top of most marketers’ playbook when trying to reach out to South Asians, and in particular, an Indian audience. Especially, in time for the Cricket World Cup – it’s few weeks away and happens once every four years – a marketing game plan to channel the excitement and energy that comes with the tournament is a win-win.

That’s why when it came to crafting a theme for this year’s State Farm campaign, we decided to turn to this sport that echoes with so many Indians and their emotions. But instead of engaging with tired or overdone tropes we’ve seen many times before, we hit upon an insight that most Indians in the U.S. can relate with: rooting for your favorite cricket team while living in a country where, for most people, cricket is an insect that refuses to be quiet at night. For its fans, each cricket season comes with a reminder that being a fan of the sport in the U.S. can sometimes be a challenge. Our newly launched State Farm spots, Cricket Crashes and Commercial Breaks, engage with that distinct longing for your fandom — something rarely expressed in either mainstream or multicultural advertising – with humor and empathy. Both ads feature Jinisha Patel, a real-life State Farm agent who understands Asian Indians’ love for cricket and that you can’t miss a single second of a match, especially when India is batting.

Cricket Crashes, the 30s spot, brings to life a distinctive yet familiar story of Ankur, a cricket fan who misses watching cricket with his friends in India. With humor, the ad plays up his predicament of being a cricket fan in the U.S. Everyone in his new home seems to watch either baseball or basketball, in stark comparison to India where cricket is practically a religion. Served with a healthy side of nostalgia, this spot takes the viewer on Ankur’s journey to search out fans who love cricket as much he does.

Commercial Breaks focuses on an intense, yet completely relatable, aspect of being a cricket fan — taking calls only when the commercials are on. The unique 15s ad tells another amusing story when Ankur has ‘literally seven seconds before the commercials end’ to speak to his State Farm agent – a rather meta take on commercial breaks told through… a commercial. However, Jinisha Patel, the real-life State Farm agent, is here to help in whatever way is needed, even if that means getting straight to the point.

In Commercial Breaks, Jinisha understands why cricket fan, Ankur, can’t talk on the phone when the game is on and in Cricket Crashes, she recognizes how the first cricket season away from home can be tough. She does more than help you through your insurance needs – she gets you.

Cricket has always been a direct and rather effortless way to connect to Indians. But despite its ubiquity in multicultural marketing, there are still ways to keep it fresh and interesting. Our latest State Farm campaign is a case in point.

Yashica Dutt
Associate Creative Director