[box_dark]Day Two Report of Digital Asia Festival: Focus on China and Technology[/box_dark]
The closing day of the 2012 Digital Asia Festival was separated into two distinct sections; while the morning was devoted to the prospects that technology like NFC as well as large data-gathering platforms offer marketers, the afternoon session focused on talks of engaging consumers from China and the direction in which digital marketing in the country is headed for next.
[box_dark]Ushering in the Future with NFC[/box_dark]
The commercial director of Tapit, Cameron Curtis, began day two of the festival with a stream of ideas for marketing and case studies centered on NFC or near field communications. Curtis stated that even though QR codes are still being made use of almost 80 percent of the time in the continent of Australia, studies reveal that when consumers are offered a choice between NFC and QR codes, most of them tend to choose the former since it involves almost no effort at all. Among the most interesting NFC applications shared by Curtis is the ease with which technology serves the purpose of gamification.
During their combined session, James Welch, the regional director of Media Innovation Group for Asia-Pacific, and Paul Gage, the regional innovations and strategy director for Asia-Pacific at Iris Worldwide, stated that brands and marketers need to embrace experimentation and technology-testing in real-time if they wish to lead the market. Gage pointed out that three major winners from Spikes were iterative and transformed in real-time. While the campaign for Kiwi Sceptics responded to the engagement of the audience, Honda Internavi made use of the data present on its cars to map traffic routes in real-time after the earthquake in Japan. Sony TV permitted viewers to interact on a virtual stage with props in order to make stuff happen. Welch opined that the main thing was to measure data not only for the sake of measuring data, but to discover ways by which the data might be made directly applicable and relevant.
[box_dark]Rapid Development of Technology Industry in China[/box_dark]
Eric Lee, the managing director of JWT Shanghai, agreed that this enthusiasm to be experimental and daring while making use of data to realize the wants of consumers happens to be the key in engaging consumers from China. He claimed that in order to form advocacy, the motivations of the consumer need to be understood along with what defines them, their world and their friends.
According to Lau Seng Yee, the senior executive VP of Tencent and president of Tencent Online Media Group, utility and fun make for a deadly combination. Executions such as this make the brand a part of the story instead of the star, which works well with Chinese consumers. Hard sell, he claims, is not effective.
Lau debated that very soon China would not just catch up with the remainder of the world but overtake it due to the increased pace of the development of digital marketing in China.
