Ogilvy & Mather bullish on opportunities

Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific has started the year with an optimistic view about the opportunities for marketers and brands in Asia, despite bearish economic forecasts in several parts of the world.
The demand for social and digital media will continue to increase rapidly for the agency, along with other service areas such as consulting, content development and data analytics, it said.
However, the company sees both creativity and effectiveness staying at the heart of the marketing agenda, particularly in the changing digital-media landscape.
Paul Heath, chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific and worldwide executive director, said during a visit to Bangkok this week that the Asia-Pacific market remained highly promising.
Despite slowdowns in big markets like China, overall economic growth in the region is high compared to that in Europe and other markets.
Ogilvy & Mather therefore has strong confidence in many Asian markets, especially China, India and Vietnam.
“There will be lots of good news in 2016. The Olympic Games in Brazil later this year and elections in some key markets will create fresh opportunities for marketers,” he said.
The changing media landscape driven by the growth of social and digital media has changed the way communications work is done. As digital media and mobile devices have become part of people’s lives, they are engaged more with online conversations.
To win in this environment, a brand has to become interactive and be part of consumers’ conversation, rather than interrupting their activities to catch their attention, like in the past, Heath said.
Brands and marketers have to use good story-telling techniques to touch the hearts of the people and be part of their conversation.
“We believe in making brands matter,” said Heath. “As consumers continue to move to more social media, mobile and digital content, we see a lot of great opportunities for marketers in the region to grow their business.”
Ogilvy Asia now has a diverse range of skills across the communications spectrum, from consulting services with Ogilvy RED, to production and delivery through H+O – its specialist production unit – he added.
Other highlights include Ogilvy’s leading regional network of social-media services through Social@Ogilvy, automated marketing services through Verticurl, consulting services and public relations through Ogilvy PR – all of which have enjoyed robust growth over the past 12 months.
“The development of digital technology means that communications and commerce move faster than ever. Ogilvy has the full breadth and depth of skills and systems to truly integrate all the skills needed to deliver seamless modern marketing,” said Kent Wertime, chief operating officer of Ogilvy Asia, who is based in Bangkok.

Opportunities lie ahead in Asean
As Asean becomes integrated, marketers are looking at a broader market and a larger group of diversified consumers and businesses, Wertime said.
“Most marketers are now considering which strategy they should take, to look across all the markets or at an individual market. They need experts to help them analyse and select the right strategy to grow,” he explained.
Ogilvy RED, for example, provides front end consultancy service, helping marketers build the right strategy across markets, while OgilvyOne helps marketers manage relationship with their customers across media platforms.
Another trend observed in Asean is emerging middle-class consumers who have high purchasing power.
“It’s a matter of choice. There are lots of choices for consumers these days. Our role is to help brands and marketers understand consumers as well as B2B customers, and sell their products and services. We help build their brands as the preferred choice,” the COO said.