Ad and online spending continue to rise, but market differentiators are increasingly complex
Marketing challenges Image: The Drum |
With total e-commerce transactions in China alone hitting an eye-watering $2tn last year, Asia's netizens are an increasingly attractive prize for foreign brands. However, understanding and accessing the market presents big challenges.
According to media consultancy The Drum, the 42 country-strong Asia Pacific region is geographically challenging for marketers, who all too often think of entire countries as blocks, rather than regions combining many differentiated areas.
Employee retention is also a major concern for digital marketers in Asia. According to Lowe Profero CEO Wayne Arnold, "it's not uncommon for companies in China to complain of an 80% churn rate in their talent".
Despite this, online advertising is booming. According to research from to digital research consultancy, Forrester, online advertising spending has almost doubled over the past two years from $9.2bn in 2012 to $18.1bn in 2014. This figure is likely to more than double in the next two years to $38.1bn.
Forrester has also released a ranking of the top digital agencies in China assessing them by current offering, strategy and market presence. The report showed well established digital agencies like OgilvyOne, Isobar and Razorfish dominated in terms of overall performance, while many local firms tended to specialise in one particular area of activity.