This article is by Greg Paull, principal of R3, a global consultancy group.
In the planet’s most complicated and diverse region, Asia’s leading CMOs are increasingly turning to digital marketing, social media and e-commerce to attract and maintain more customers, based on our findings in “Asia CMO,” a recently released book on the topic.
We’ve been fortunate to build on-ground talent in Asia to work alongside marketers on these challenges since 2002. Through the process, we’ve realized that sharing their best practices will be critical to companies investing in the region. We have been able to share the battle stories of thirteen leaders in the region – from global brands such as Coca-Cola, Heineken and Tiffany & Co., to local disrupters such as Go-Jek, Coffee Day and Myntra.
Cracking The Global PIN Codes Of 1114 And 1125
As Hans Rosling pointed out, today the earth’s “PIN Code” is 1114 – with four billion out of the seven billion people living in Asia, and just one billion each in Africa, the Americas and Europe. By 2050, at least another billion people will be added to that number with “1125” the new number (with Africa also adding one billion.) Twenty years ago, the business world’s focus was primarily on Europe and North America. Today, Asia accounts for most of the growth of the global economy, and companies have realized the vast potential of such a large and complex consumer market.
Asia’s CMOs Embrace Digital Transformation
As such, it has largely been up to the CMOs in Asia to figure out how to integrate global brand strategies into an extremely diverse region, all while dealing with the rapid changes to the marketing landscape caused by digital transformation. Mie-Leng Wong, international brands director, Tiger and Heineken APAC, said, “Asia-Pacific is very competitive and things move very fast. The biggest challenge is to stay ahead of the curve and to know what is really happening in the outside world, in the digital space and culturally.”
Leading CMOs Of Asia
The book features deep-dive interviews with the CMOs of leading companies in the region, including Arrif Ziaudeen, founder and CEO of Chope; Dr. Beh Swan Gin, chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board; Bidisha Nagaraj, former group president marketing for Coffee Day Group and the current CMO of Schneider Electric India; Erica Kerner, VP of marketing and communications Asia Pacific at Tiffany & Co; Gunjan Soni, CMO and head of international brands business at Myntra; Karen Ngui, managing director and head of group strategic marketing and communications for DBS Bank; Shakir Moin, VP and CMO for Coca-Cola Greater China and Korea; and Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO Consumer Singapore at Singtel, among others.
A survey of 30 marketing leaders across Asia that revealed that the biggest challenges facing CMOs today, what will be necessary to drive future brand growth, and how they are approaching the topic of digital transformation, include digital technology and aligning marketing with the overall business strategy. These answers also align with the challenges faced by CMOs globally, who find themselves struggling to prove digital ROI to a C-Suite that is demanding hard evidence that marketing is contributing to overall business growth.
Innovation Is A Key Requirement
While there have been so many success stories, there is still a lot of work to be done. Only 3% of the CMOs surveyed for the book totally agreed with the statement, “our marketing strategy is innovative,” and just 7% said that Asia CMOs are “very prepared” to navigate their brands into the future. Future success will largely be dependent on brands’ abilities to identify and connect with “Asia’s super-consumer.” The incredibly diverse consumer demographics of the region present challenges to finding the right audience, and 55% of CMOs stated they need more budget allocated to understanding their consumer market. Erica Kerner, VP of marketing and communications at Tiffany, asserted that “top management in headquarters often thinks that you can have an Asia strategy. But as marketers working here on the ground, we know that what we really need is to have customer strategies, addressing customers who are going to be different, both within and across markers.”
How Marketing In Asia Is Changing
Marketing today in Asia is very different from the marketing of just 10 years ago. Its function has evolved from beyond just selling to creating social impact, education, inspiration and being the keeper the brand’s message. We believe that marketers have a unique opportunity to help global organizations navigate the dynamic environment in Asia, and to capitalize on the growth potential in the region.
Source: Forbes
