Marketers urged to engage customers, make products stand out
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DIGITAL MEDIA is not just a communication channel, and marketers should use it wisely and creatively in order to build brand value and engage with customers, a seminar was told yesterday.
The Advertising Association of Thailand, in association with BrandAge magazine, organised the annual “Digitalisation Trends: The Next Big Thing” seminar as the part of the “10th Adman Awards and Symposium 2013”.
Speaking at the event, Chaipranin Visudhipol, chairman of TBWA\\Thailand and chairman emeritus of the Agency Association of Thailand, said audiences had become more active in generating their own content as a means of expressing their identity.
Peer-centric communication is impulsive for these new-generation customers, he suggested, adding that 74 per cent of the new generation consult their friends before making a purchasing decision.
However, marketers should learn that consumers become more fragmented in the face of a broader choice of services and brands. Given these factors, marketers have to make their brands and products stand out among the many offerings in the market, he said.
“To capitalise on this trend in the digital arena, marketers should create their own audience, not only to create brand awareness but also to compete with friend-generated content,” Chaipranin added.
Sometimes, brand owners should rethink how to spend their budget for communication in the digital arena, the seminar heard.
In the traditional media, marketers spend about 70 per cent of their advertising budget via media, while the remainder goes for producing television commercials. But in the digital world, marketers should allocate 70 per cent for TV ad production in order to attract digital viewers and create brand reputation.
Rungfa Kiatipoj, director of marketing communications and brand management of True Corp, cited the company’s latest viral video marketing campaign – “True Move H: Giving” – as an example.
Rungfa explained that the campaign had started on September 12 with the posting of a three-minute TV commercial on YouTube, telling the story of the greatest value of giving among humankind.
With a “touchable” story, the video has been watched more than 13 million times, not only by Thais but also by many others around the globe.
True Move H had launched the campaign on digital media seven days before the official debut on nationwide television channels, as a result of which the campaign rapidly became the talk of the town, said the director.
Adding to this point, Chaipranin suggested that brand reputation, customer experience and a targeted audience were the most crucial factors for creating value, relationship and community with potential customers.
“Social-media networking is one of the most effective channels to engage with a targeted audience and to listen to their voice,” he added.
Pawit Jitrakorn, managing director of Ogilvy and Mather Advertising, said: “Social media is a currency, as it is the extent to which people share the brand – or information about the brand – as part of their everyday social life, either at home or at work.”
If a brand becomes a part of the social network, there will be a group of guardians to protect it, he said.
