“Get under the skin of the consumers, and understand what your brand can do to meet their needs”. Certainly not one to mince his words, Mike Berry, UK-based digital marketing guru, was in town recently to speak at The Best of Digital Marketing Show organised by the 4As. The event attracted around 70 delegates from agency, client and media backgrounds, all eager to gain insights on how companies can better deliver business results through digital marketing,
Taking the audience on a lively and in-depth journey through case studies of award winning campaigns, Mike revealed how traditional brands like Monopoly, Marmite, Pepsi and British Airways managed to harness digital marketing tools to drive business ROI. “As consumers spend more time online for information and leisure, digital advertising and marketing has emerged as one of the most effective tools offline brands can bring into their marketing mix to attract and retain customers, given its extensive reach, availability and visibility.”
But it takes more than just merely adding online/viral, social media, email, search or mobile elements to a company’s overall strategy to succeed. As Mike was quick to point out, “It is vital to think out of the box, be highly committed and engage audiences in the conversation.”
To add a local perspective, a panel discussion with industry professionals rounded up the event, where the challenges and opportunities of using digital marketing in Singapore were debated. After all, with a wired population of more than 3.37 million internet users, Singapore is a prime market for digital marketing to potentially flourish.
One key trend highlighted was that many local companies are, in fact, hesitant about integrating digital because of either uncertainty over how it can improve their return of investment or simply deciding to blindly incorporate digital because of its popularity. “The debate should not be whether to choose which digital marketing tool works best for my brand, but rather, how my brand can work with an integrated digital solution,” quipped Vaasu Gavarasana, Digital Evangelist from Yahoo! APAC.
Echoing him, Marcus Tan, Managing Director from Smaato said, “Marketers need to realize that their role is no longer a one-way street where they can dictate what their brands are, but rather proactively consult these new media to get the best value at the end of the day”.
Amen and Amen, guys!
captions :
Mike Berry, UK Digital Marketing guru, takes the audience on a lively journey with case studies illustrating how business results can be harnessed through digital marketing.
The panellists, comprising (from left) Willy Tan – Singapore Press Holdings, Anol Bhattacharya – GetIT Comms, Marcus Tan – Smaato and Vaasu Gavarasana, Yahoo! APAC, discuss digital marketing in Singapore
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