Aug 5

Written by: marketing
Thursday, August 05, 2010 12:57 PM 

Source: adoimagazine.com, April 2010

As digital media continues its rapid rise across Asia Pacific in 2010, media agencies everywhere are now looking to establish themselves as online specialists to drive their own growth in the region.

Just how they do that is creating a fair amount of divergence in the market.

One approach has been to create specialist digital teams who look after specific online briefs from clients. Another is to have everyone in the agency, from the Managing Director to the latest intern, up to speed on everything digital.

Starcom is just one agency that has recognized the massive growth in digital across the region. In a recent story out of the Bangkok Post, Starcom’s Southeast Asia CEO Jeffrey Seah explained how the agency is shifting focus towards human experience in order to “gain a deeper understanding of consumers and launch advertising campaigns that connect with consumer lifestyles.”

They also predict that digital projects in the region will account to 50% of business in 2010, up from between 20-25%.

Exactly what is the right approach to take in order to leverage the growth of digital marketing in the region? No matter how agencies choose to structure themselves, it’s great that they are ensuring it works for them in terms of digital delivery.

For online ad spend to continue growing in Asia Pacific, the digital expectations of clients must be met with strong capabilities on the agency side. We all know that a huge majority of Asian consumers are online. The bottom line remains that brands need to be involved in that space but perhaps more importantly, they need to be working alongside agencies with the necessary know how to get them in front of a large and relevant online audience.

Online vendors must also work closely alongside the agencies and take responsibility to support these structures. They are after all, looking to sell the space!