Alibaba Group, the world’s largest retailer, has continued its ambitious plans to grow its offering globally, with the appointment of MediaCom as the overseas media strategy and buying agency for Tmall World, Alibaba Cloud, Dingtalk, and Taobao International. MediaCom won the pitch against Publicis Media, Dentsu Aegis and Wavemaker.

Alibaba has previously signalled that it has plans to rapidly expand its e-commerce network abroad, and is building a global logistics network to underpin this ambitious overseas expansion. Recently it opened its first Southeast Asia office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, part of the company’s vision to expand their footprint further in the region.

Tmall World primarily targets the nearly 100 million overseas Chinese who live abroad but still have kept their tastes and spending habits, especially in Asia Pacific. The brand already has high awareness amongst overseas Chinese, but now wants to more rapidly convert this into sales growth.

While Tmall is the initial priority, Alibaba is also looking at expanding overseas with their other products including DingTalk, Alibaba Cloud.

The appointment comes as the e-commerce giant continues to expand its services globally following the launch of offices in Europe, Australia and most recently Malaysia. Alibaba founder Jack Ma has spoken of his ambitious growth targets and estimates that Alibaba's e-commerce activity will rank as the world’s fifth-largest economy by 2036.

Rupert McPetrie, CEO MediaCom China said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to help one of the world’s top 10 companies to continue their success story, and is a big vote of confidence for how MediaCom China can lead the international expansion of Chinese brands looking to take their success to other markets.”
“MediaCom has a very strong global network. With MediaCom China as a hub, offering deep understanding of Tmall World’s culture and business objectives, we can develop a focused and consistent strategy, which our local markets are well positioned to adapt and implement effectively,” McPetrie added.

Iris Chin, General Manager MediaCom China explained: “We are so proud that the Alibaba Group has appointed us, and that we now have the chance to bring their services to more overseas consumers. We can’t wait to see the results of our first big project together: boosting the Tmall Double 11 Festival, which has quickly become a huge success in China, globally”