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Rice Media

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Founded by Mark Tan and Julian Wong in 2017, Rice Media is a media company based in Singapore.[1][2] The company markets itself as "Asia's alternative voice",[3] providing commentary on topics ranging from food history to societal issues. As of March 2020, Rice Media has more than 39,000 followers on its Facebook page and 7,000 followers on Instagram.

A screengrab of Rice Media's home page taken on 13 March 2020. Rice Media is a Singapore-based media company.

Background

Origins (2017)

 
Pictured: Rice Media's visual branding. Image adapted from Rice Media.

Rice Media began as Mark and Julian's pet project sometime in 2015 and 2016.[4] The company was subsequently established as a start-up in mid-2017.[5][6] Rice Media's initial website and branding had been designed by one of Mark's business partners who ran a creative agency at the time.[7] That same year, Rice Media acquired a S$300,000 investment and channelled the funds towards recruiting staff and expanding its operations.[8] The company had also received another round of funding from an undisclosed group of investors in 2018.[9] As of 2020, Mark Tan and Julian Wong are the Chief Operating Officer and Managing Editor of Rice Media respectively.

Mark Tan (CEO)

 
Mark Tan, the CEO and co-founder of Rice Media. Photo credit to Yew Jia Jun/ High Net Worth.

Mark founded Rice Media at the age of thirty-three. Before establishing Rice Media, he had practised law for four years.[10][11] He attained his law degree from the University of New South Wales in 2010.[12] Growing up, Mark read magazines like Monocle, Vanity Fair and publications under the Condé Nast brand.[13] His parents run a print magazine subscription business, AllScript, which he eventually joined following the passing of his younger brother in 2016.[14] In primary school, he tried to start a publication by photocopying encyclopedia pages on different topics, compiling them and then selling them to his classmates for fifty cents.[15]

Julian Wong (Managing Editor)

From 2012 to 2015, Julian worked full-time as a barista. He started freelance writing in 2013 and eventually joined Rice Media in July 2016 as a writer.[16] By April 2017, Julian was a contributing editor - a position that required him to manage a team of writers. As the current managing editor of Rice Media,[17] Julian supervises the company's content strategy and looks for ways to improve Rice Media’s work processes.[18][19] Julian graduated from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2016 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Language and Literature.[20]

Content growth

By 2019, Rice Media had a monthly average of 500,000 unique visitors.[21] At the time, the company had twelve full-time employees - seven writers, four video producers and one account executive.[22] As of 2020, the website gets 1 million views per month and headcount has since increased to 22 full-timers - five of which are stationed in Thailand.[23] The company was first headquartered in a second-storey walk-up at Jalan Besar.[24] In May 2019, Rice Media relocated its office to a shophouse at Ann Siang Road.[25]

Branded content

 
In 2020, Rice Media published one sponsored post and two sponsored videos in partnership with Tourism New Zealand. Thumbnail from video.
 
The cover image of a 2020 SP for Capitaland. Screengrab from Rice Media.

Rice Media is transparent when it comes to acknowledging their paid partnerships. Their repertoire of sponsored posts has increased over the years.

Year Client Refs.
2020 Tourism New Zealand [26][27]
Scoot Sponsored Post
Storytel Sponsored Post
Grab Sponsored Post
Timezone Sponsored Post
Shopee Sponsored Post
MSIG Insurance Sponsored Post
SK-II Sponsored Post
WE CARE Community Services Sponsored Post
CapitaLand Sponsored Post
National Youth Council Sponsored Post
2019 Burpple [28]
DBS Bank Sponsored Post
Singapore University of Social Sciences Sponsored Post
LUXIEE Sponsored Post
2018 - 2019 CPF Board [29]
TwentyxThirty by DBS [30]
2017 Macallan [31]

Rice Media Thailand (2019)

Rice Media expanded regionally to Thailand in December 2019.[32] In an interview with Splice, Mark commented that Thailand was a top choice as it had a developed media market and an audience that consumes all kinds of content.[33] He also acknowledged the skill of content creators in Thailand. In his own words: 

“(Thailand) has some of the best creative talent in the region”.[34]

As of March 2020, Rice Media Thailand has published two video productions about Thai locals living on the fringes of society. These videos feature an actor trying to make a comeback and an old-school gentleman gangster. Rice Media Thailand will eventually follow the same business model as Rice Media Singapore, which is producing editorially-driven branded content in 2020.[35]

References / Citations

  1. ↑ Poh, Charmaine. “Interview with Mark Tan: The Man Behind Rice Media”. High Net Worth. January 25, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2019.
  2. ↑ Kwang, Kevin. “Controversial or creative? Rice Media’s founder emerges from the shadows to have his say”. Channel News Asia. April 28, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  3. ↑ “About”. Rice Media. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  4. ↑ Kwang, Kevin. “Controversial or creative? Rice Media’s founder emerges from the shadows to have his say”. Channel News Asia. April 28, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  5. ↑ Oon, Jeffrey. “Chasing a regional profile, Rice Media’s Mark Tan plants his Singapore startup in Thailand”. Splice. January 18, 2020. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  6. ↑ Poh, Charmaine. “Interview with Mark Tan: The Man Behind Rice Media”. High Net Worth. January 25, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2019.
  7. ↑ Kwang, Kevin. “Controversial or creative? Rice Media’s founder emerges from the shadows to have his say”. Channel News Asia. April 28, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  8. ↑ Kwang, Kevin. “Controversial or creative? Rice Media’s founder emerges from the shadows to have his say”. Channel News Asia. April 28, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  9. ↑ Oon, Jeffrey. “Chasing a regional profile, Rice Media’s Mark Tan plants his Singapore startup in Thailand”. Splice. January 18, 2020. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  10. ↑ Poh, Charmaine. “Interview with Mark Tan: The Man Behind Rice Media”. High Net Worth. January 25, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2019.
  11. ↑ Kwang, Kevin. “Controversial or creative? Rice Media’s founder emerges from the shadows to have his say”. Channel News Asia. April 28, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  12. ↑ “Mark Tan”. LinkedIn. Accessed on 6 March 2020.
  13. ↑ Oon, Jeffrey. “Chasing a regional profile, Rice Media’s Mark Tan plants his Singapore startup in Thailand”. Splice. January 18, 2020. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  14. ↑ Poh, Charmaine. “Interview with Mark Tan: The Man Behind Rice Media”. High Net Worth. January 25, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2019.
  15. ↑ Oon, Jeffrey. “Chasing a regional profile, Rice Media’s Mark Tan plants his Singapore startup in Thailand”. Splice. January 18, 2020. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  16. ↑ “Julian Wong”. LinkedIn. Accessed on 6 March 2020.
  17. ↑ “Julian Wong”. LinkedIn. Accessed on 6 March 2020.
  18. ↑ “Youth Jury & Critics Programme”. Film Academy. Accessed on 9 March 2020.
  19. ↑ Foo, Mei Anne. “The Writes And Wrongs Of AI-Enabled Journalism”. A Magazine Singapore. Accessed on 9 March 2020.
  20. ↑ “Julian Wong”. LinkedIn. Accessed on 6 March 2020.
  21. ↑ Kwang, Kevin. “Controversial or creative? Rice Media’s founder emerges from the shadows to have his say”. Channel News Asia. April 28, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  22. ↑ Kwang, Kevin. “Controversial or creative? Rice Media’s founder emerges from the shadows to have his say”. Channel News Asia. April 28, 2019. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  23. ↑ Oon, Jeffrey. “Chasing a regional profile, Rice Media’s Mark Tan plants his Singapore startup in Thailand”. Splice. January 18, 2020. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  24. ↑ “Jalan Besar: Our First Home”. Rice Media. December 11, 2019. Accessed on 9 March 2020.
  25. ↑ Oon, Jeffrey. “Chasing a regional profile, Rice Media’s Mark Tan plants his Singapore startup in Thailand”. Splice. January 18, 2020. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  26. ↑ Rice Media. “Whanau! Finding Family in New Zealand: Part 1 (Auckland)”. Facebook. February 21, 2020. Accessed on 6 March 2020.
  27. ↑ Rice Media. “Whanau! Finding Family in New Zealand: Part 2 (Rotorua, Hokitika)”. Facebook. March 3, 2020. Accessed on 6 March 2020.
  28. ↑ "Burpple". Rice Media. Accessed on 13 March 2020.
  29. ↑ “Advertising”. Rice Media. Accessed on 6 March 2020.
  30. ↑ "TwentyxThirty by DBS". Rice Media. Accessed on 13 March 2020.
  31. ↑ “Advertising”. Rice Media. Accessed on 6 March 2020.
  32. ↑ Rice Media Thailand. “About”. Facebook. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  33. ↑ Oon, Jeffrey. “Chasing a regional profile, Rice Media’s Mark Tan plants his Singapore startup in Thailand”. Splice. January 18, 2020. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  34. ↑ Oon, Jeffrey. “Chasing a regional profile, Rice Media’s Mark Tan plants his Singapore startup in Thailand”. Splice. January 18, 2020. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
  35. ↑ Oon, Jeffrey. “Chasing a regional profile, Rice Media’s Mark Tan plants his Singapore startup in Thailand”. Splice. January 18, 2020. Accessed on 5 March 2020.
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