Bangkok--29 Mar--GroupM
GroupM, a leading media investment management operation unit, and mInteraction, a digital specialist unit providing digital media services to well-known media agencies under WPP’s umbrella including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, and Mindshare, jointly announce in its latest digital conference, GroupM FOCAL 2011 powered by Google, that marketers should place importance on 4 key trends this year. The four trends consist of massive hit of online video content, the growth of smart phones, more purchase decisions based on search and social media, and higher confidence of digital marketers due to better industry data.
Suphanee Dechaburananon, GroupM Chairwoman says digital media is dynamic. New things are happening at all times. Marketers are always distracted by changes of media landscape and emerging technologies. GroupM as an integrated off-online agency with a wide regional network and insight into Thai consumers will bring marketers out of the mess and fragmented world of information overload to focus on certain issues most valuable to our clients’ business. This is why we name our conference, FOCAL.
“Digital media trend in this year relies on 4 key points which are guidelines to successful campaign development and competitive edge for brand recognition,” says Siwat Chawareewong, Managing Director of mInteraction, a digital media specialist of GroupM.
The first one is massive hit of video content on faster network. Intense competition among broadband service providers made broadband more affordable for mass consumers, resulting in much higher penetration in Y2010. The higher the speed, the easier the content can be transformed and distributed in digital format. Noticeably, the famous actors and actresses started to create their own Youtube channels. All the leading web portals also put video content in outstanding location on their home pages.
The growth of smart phones comes as a second key element. Considered 70 million mobile phone users, some might say mobile will lead digital growth. However, most of mobile users in Thailand use voice services, while users of iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android are using mobile phone as their 2nd screen after computer display. Many new mobile Apps introductions are expected in the market next year, including branding Apps. However, they are still considered an extension of web content or applications, driving more frequency in different occasions instead of driving higher reach. Marketers should also consider promoting their branded Apps through mobile advertising network.
Third important point in digital media trend is that more purchase decisions will be taken based on search and social media. Thai people will spend more and more time on social network. More information about products and services will be published over the internet, either by the marketers or by consumers. Fifty six percent of internet users say public opinions shared over the internet influence their decisions to purchase. The path to purchase is 60 respectively from the first touch point, with up to 11 measured digital steps from start to finish. Marketers shall pay greater attention to products/services information on social media and the way to manage them, as well as invest more on Search Engine Marketing.
Last key consideration to be taken is better data make marketers more focused. Not only changes in consumer behaviors driven by technologies but also more standardized data in this industry will drive marketers’ confidence in digital media investment. We saw better digital-related researches launched to the market lately, and expect to see some more this year. All these activities will comfort marketers’ decision to allocate more budget into digital.