KUALA LUMPUR – Marketers need to find innovative ways to address common challenges in an interconnected people centric world and focus more on what customers need.
HSBC Retail and Wealth Asia Pacific marketing head Suresh Balaj, said in this fast paced world it is especially important to catch up with ever-changing trends.
“What is important is to understand and start thinking about what our customers really want.
The way we do things now is the same as before, except now the world is moving faster so we need to move along with it,” Suresh said at the MAA & WFA Global Marketing Conference 2016 yesterday.
The event, jointly organized by the Malaysian Advertisers Association and World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), brought together top marketers and leaders to address common challenges and highlight new ways which marketers can use to successfully engage people.
Among the speakers at the conference were AirAsia Group chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Samsung Electronics America chief marketing officer Marc Mathieu and Starcom Mediavest Group South East Asia chief operating officer Ranga Somanathan.
The AirAsia CEO emphasized the importance of adapting to a fast moving world in order to better cater to the needs and wants of customers.
Citing AirAsia as an example, he said by moving towards technology and data collection, the company would be able to provide a more positive experience to its customers.
“We are moving from a marketing and branding company to a technology, data-driven company, and there are all kinds of things we are working on to understand our customers better and give them a better product, and make it easier for them to fly.
“It is very important (for AirAsia) to really understand our customers and give them what they want, which would allow them to understand what we are doing and come back to us,”said Fernandes.
Earlier this month, WFA conducted a survey in Asean with its local advertiser association members in Indonedia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.
The result showed that marketers in the region recognized the need to improve in certain areas if they are to optimize their digital transformation strategies.
Additional marketers said they need greater assistance from their agency partners to understand customer behavious on fast-changing consumer platforms, and to create content and experiences that work on digital screens.
The findings are based on a survey of over 100 marketers from 65 companies, which spend more than US$54 billion (RM291.2 billion) globally.
Last December, ZenithOptimedia predicted that global advertising expenditure will grow 4.7% this year to reach US$579 billion by year-end, a 0.8% improvement from last year which saw 3.9% advertising spend growth.
“Fast-track Asia” which encompasses China, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, is expected to see an average growth rate of 8.4% a year between last year and 2018, down from the 14.7% yearly average between 2009 and 2014.
(US$1 = RM4.06)
*Source from The Malay Mail – 18 March 2016
View more MAA & WFA Global Marketer Conference 2016: http://www.wfanet.org/KL/
