2008 has been a great year for digital marketing in Asia, but it's no secret that 2009 is going to be tough -- both for digital agencies and marketers.
2008 has been a great year for digital marketing in Asia.
We've seen the region mature in terms of sophistication, and creativity is hugely improved compared to previous years. In my opinion, brands are braver and are more prepared to take risks.
Speaking to folks around the region, it's clear that a great deal of the future clever money is going to flow towards digital marketing; but it's no secret that 2009 is going to be tough -- both for digital agencies and marketers.
So my 2009 outlook is flavoured with a huge amount of reality. Here's what I think:
There will be increased demands to use social media in a declining economy because of false perceptions that it's cheap
Not surprisingly around the region, in 2008 there have been a large number of requests by clients to design and produce social applications -- and these requests will undoubtedly become more frequent in 2009.
When we explain to our clients that such applications don't come for free -- that's both the development and propagation of them -- we are often greeted with shock! In our experience, social applications deserve as much time dedicated to their development as any other medium (sometimes more so!).
And free distribution and user participation is by no means guaranteed -- as ever, reach and engagement will have to be both bought and earned. If you're interested in this, I suggest you follow the debate on a site I spend far too much time on: Groundswell.
There is an absolute necessity for the development and introduction of robust data sources, measurement methodologies and ad-unit standards in this region
This is an old chestnut of course, but one worth re-visiting. In a stretched economy, we will be asked to demonstrate aggressive returns on investment. This is onerous to prove if the data sources and measurement methodologies we employ to assess media and campaigns are not consistent across the region -- they're not even consistent within individual markets!
As one who's spent more time working on digital campaigns outside of Asia than within, I am still amazed at the lack of uniform ad-size standards across the region -- this costs clients a fortune in terms of incremental ad production -- and costs the agencies many anxious conversations.
It could all be so much easier and more efficient. As many of you know, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in Europe and North America has successfully worked with the media community to agree and impose a series of ad standards in those markets. See here for more information on US standards.
I applaud recent attempts to re-boot development of the IAB throughout APAC -- especially in China -- and urge you all to support the initiative if you come across it. See Paul Denlinger's blog to track the progress of his attempts to bring the IAB to China.
In this economy, brands need to offer their target audiences valued content in order to achieve breakthrough and to build loyalty over the long term
With limited disposable spends, coupled with the increased product choice and an open market caused by the proliferation of digital media, brands need to differentiate themselves like never before.
It's time to re-read Kotler's basic marketing text. Anyone who went to business school will know of Prof Philip Kotler -- he wrote (I think) the seminal marketing book, Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control, first published in 1967 (and revised twelve times since then!). This 'marketing bible' suggested that marketing was all about finding people's needs and wants -- then meeting those needs through the exchange of some kind of value (for profit).
Over the mists of time, this definition has been blurred, rewritten and has got oh-so bloated in the process. In 2009, digital marketing must strip away the diversions and instead focus on delivering valued content in contexts which meet consumers' needs and wants.
Regardless of improved levels of marketing sophistication and creativity, we need to shore up technical and security infrastructure in APAC
Dan Kaminsky's attempts in the summer to fix a major security flaw in the internet's Domain Name System (DNS) concerned me at the time and recently more so.
The flaw he indentified could allow a criminal to secretly re-direct any web traffic -- so that, for example, you could be tricked into thinking you were on your bank's website without having ANY clue that you were actually elsewhere.
In this way, unscrupulous folks could easily record your keystrokes thereby capturing your user name, password etc. As a confirmed security freak, you can imagine my recent dismay when my personal Yahoo! and Gmail accounts were hacked thanks to an unsecure hotel Wi-Fi connection.
I'm a relative web-veteran and this has seriously dented my trust in undertaking ecommerce -- just think what impact it will have on the uninitiated!
As an industry we MUST do all we can to maintain the fragile levels of trust currently in place. It won't take much to seriously undermine the great work that's been achieved. You can check if your server is secure via a link on Dan Kaminsky's blog.
My personal security issue led me to realise that a dozen or so years after the web's birth, we take so much for granted. But we simply don't know what other infrastructure issues we've yet to identify or deal with are out there.
Having said that, I strongly believe that digital marketing is in a good place -- especially in Asia -- and I think that we'll all look back on 2009 (maybe a bit bruised) and realise that in certain aspects (e.g. mobile marketing, digi-video, social ecommerce, etc.), Asia leads the world.
I wish you a safe, prosperous and happy 2009.
Mark Cripps is regional digital director at McCann Worldgroup.