The 5th Malaysian Media Conference brought some of the most forward thinking ‘media’ minds under one roof Talking about the future is never easy, but when done in front of a hall packed with media players, it is a moment to stop and take notice. On July 22 at Sime Darby Convention Centre, the Malaysian Media Conference saw some of the best minds in the media industry reveal what may just be the near future of, not only the media field but, of life as we know it.
The 6th Malaysian Media Conference (MMC), with the theme ‘Listen, Learn, Lead’, saw almost 250 media pundits, industry specialists and key media decision-makers in the fields of media, marketing, branding and advertising across Malaysia earnestly listen to predictions of the future by those who potentially shape the industry. Amongst the speakers featured are thought leaders in their space from Malaysia, Singapore, India, Australia and Japan.
To put into perspective the current media environment, Paul Corrigan, CEO, GroupM, gave a Malaysian Media Industry overview, emphasising that the ‘mass’ market concept is the past. Today, brands and people are becoming the medium. Digital will be the core of brand strength and as young people tend to form opinions purely on websites or other people’s opinions, as compared to trusting blatant advertisements.
In relation to digital, Corrigan talk about how it is now cheaper to buy a page ad in the Times news paper now than it was 15 years ago. This does not mean your product will reach more readers, as consumers of newspapers, magazines, and TV in general are now found online. He ended by stating the key points of the digital future: 1. Return of the ‘Big Idea’, 2. Media players should no longer think about campaigns, 3. Recognise the change in relationship between agencies and marketers, 4.embrace new technology as the democratic platform of conversations.
Roy Tan, MD, Carat Media, shared some interesting points on moving to online media. He noted, 80% of the world will be digital by 2020. However, media agencies are currently underfunding their online activities, while consumers are taking control of media messages through online mediums.
Stressing that online consumers do not want to be bombarded with adverts, he says people use the net as a tool to research a product not for products to find them. In a nut shell, earned media is the way to consumer’s hearts.
Participants had a glimpse of the industry in 2013, as Andreas Vogiatzakis, MD, OMG. He says participants are the new journalists, currently 10% of 200M bloggers are active. 75% of journalists already use blogs for research. Media agencies are likely to be involved in targeting, ad serving, organising campaigns and management. Media buyers will also be separated by content and not type of media, thus moving towards a specialisation of content. The future will see behavioural targeting as consumers move to a state of perpetual partial attention.
When it came to mobile media, Emmanuel Allix, APAC MD, Pudding Media shared some very interesting insights as how mobile advertising can be made more effective, is 5 to 20 times more targeted than internet and less intrusive. As mobiles are personal belongings people don’t share, targeting becomes easier. Among all forms of mobile advertising, the best is WAP- downloads are good form of branding, followed by MMS – rich and interactive and audio – ring tones are captive not intrusive, while compatible to all phones and has a 100% reach.
Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO of Hungama Mobile, the largest aggregator, developer and publisher of Bollywood mobile content in the world enlightens on the fact that content is the storefront for engaging consumers. With 4 billion mobile consumers daily worldwide and entertainment a catalyst to development of new media, mobile entertainment today is a US$ 32 billion industry and growing. With a large number of consumers using their mobiles to watch films and access the net, mobile devices are giving companies new avenue for their advertising medium.
Neeraj predicts, the next billion Internet users will come from mobile, with the internet on mobile phones widely accessible, usable and increasingly preferred. This means companies will have to create content specifically for mobile . Neeraj also says as 60% of mobile entertainment is music, Bollywood entertainment is perfect for mobile because it heavily depends on music.
Ian McKee, CEO VOCANIC brought back the oldest form of advertising, Word of Mouth (WOM). Today only 18% of TV ads generate positive ROI because only 14% consumers trust ads. In the light of this fact, advocacy and not advertising should be the path ahead, done through WOM. It can even be applied to online communications because as Ian highlighted, if you’re not on a social network site, you’re invisible on the Internet. So how do you get the word out? 1. Identify influencers, 2. Create stories, 3. Identifying triggers to spread your message.
Who else better to tell us about winning over the youth market than 24-year-old Khailee Ng, Executive Director, The Youth Asia. According to Khailee, by 2010, 65% of Malaysians will be under the age of 35, the future number that will determine the success of our business. Youth today consume media made or recommended by their social circle, not by advertisers or big name producers. 87.7% of Malaysian youths between 15 to 34 use the internet. Hence most brand use online tools to get to youth but are ineffective. Instead, brands should understand what youth want and what motivates them. Then, develop a suitable value proposition. Give it to them and make it easy for them to share it with their friends. But give youths a compelling reason to talk to their friends about you [the brand].
Branded content is growing n popularity as an ad format and how product placement is allowing brands to capitalise on movies. Mike Da Silva, CEO MDSA Entertainment Marketing talked about how digital placements of adverts are tailored to certain regions or market. For example, in Europe where heaters are shown, air conditioning is put in replacement to localises it. Hence local brands can advertise and be relevant even in foreign films. This technology is allowing new revenue streams for agencies and offers brands guaranteed Brand involvement. It is a form of advertising that is making waves in Asian marketing industry.
Prashant Kumar, CEO, Universal McCann and Cannes 2009 Media juror showcased some of the best branded content campaigns from Cannes 2009. Among the host of Cannes entries screened by Prashant, one of the best entries is Tourism Queensland’s “Best job in the world” developed by the Brisbane-based agency Nitro which scooped the two top awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival – PR Grand Prix and Gold Lion Direct Marketing. The campaign has been dubbed, the world’s greatest PR campaign. He also advised creatives that if people are not sharing their creations then it is not successful. Today’s ads need to be entertaining, multi-dimensional and viral.
Finally the much anticipated oxford doctorate and social anthropologist Fiona Graham aka Sayuki, the first foreign full-fledged Geisha walked us through her process of of becoming a Geisha and shared her hopes of resurrecting this dying Japanese tradition through the use of media.
Marketing Magazine would like to thanks all supporters, partners and friends who came together to make this event a success and to build the future of the industry together: