[Report] Indian Marketers are Ready to Adopt and Integrate Digital Marketing in their Businesses

APAC

DIGITAL MARKETING

performance

DASHBOARD
Executive Summary

© Copyright CMO Council. All Rights Reserved. 2012

APAC DIGITAL MARKETING PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD TM | REPORT

CONTENTS

3

Abstract

4

Introduction

6

Summary of Key Findings

12
14

Expert Perspective From Adobe

17

Top ROI Metrics of APAC Marketers

18

Leadership Committee

22

About the CMO Council

22


APAC Digital Marketing Performance Dashboard

About Adobe

2


abstract
With some of the highest levels of social media penetration, mobile device ownership, and
Internet connectivity in the world, developed and emerging Asian markets are ripe for more
innovative, efficient, and adept interactive engagement. However, the rapidly evolving nature of
digital marketing presents increased challenges, with many marketers struggling to integrate
digital components in a way that is efficient, effective, and measurable.
In the study titled “APAC Digital Marketing Performance Dashboard,” conducted by the CMO
Council in partnership with Adobe Systems, in-region marketers express high hopes for digital,
but struggle with limited budgets and a region-wide lack of talent and advanced training that may
be holding back advancement in the digital maturity model. Further, the challenges in balancing
true online digital marketing programs often mandated by global HQ strategies conflict with
regional consumer mandates for more fully mobile experiences.
Unlike many global marketers, APAC marketers have a keen understanding of where mobile
fits into the digital mix but have yet to find the optimal strategy to truly advance and capitalize
on automating and drawing insights and intelligence from the channels. Across the region,
the mindset around digital is rooted in traditional advertising strategies, measures, and return
metrics, monitoring clicks and views over engagement and revenue.
The report that follows is the culmination of a six-month program that explored the state of
digital marketing across the APAC region in order to benchmark levels of adoption, traction, and
success. The study aimed to track progress and improvements in digital marketing adoption,
management understanding, organizational proficiency, operational effectiveness, infrastructure
development, tools/platform usage, and integration and alignment with offline marketing efforts.
The study will also provide insight into obstacles, country differences, performance measurement
metrics, and best practices across the region while considering the business case for digital
marketing investments.
In total, 295 senior marketers operating in APAC took part in an online quantitative survey.
Additionally, the CMO Council interviewed 23 brand leaders from companies including Toyota,
20th Century Fox, Tupperware, Citi Group, Cigna, Nokia, and Yahoo!, among many others. The
surveys and interviews were conducted through the second and third quarters of 2012.


3


introduction
In a digital adoption model that outlines three key stages of digital adoption as crawl-walk-run,
marketers in the APAC region are taking their first walking strides, albeit on wobbly knees. And even
in the face of some significant challenges as many struggle to advance, there is a clear desire to
start running. A stage behind advanced digital markets like North America or Europe, APAC is being
pushed forward thanks in large part to a consumer base that lives highly digital—if not almost entirely
mobile—lives.
According to an overwhelming majority (93 percent) of marketing executives who took part in the
survey for this report, digital marketing can create competitive advantage for a company. Digital
marketing strategies are viewed as key channels to a more customer-centric and responsive
organization (52 percent) and enablers to more efficient and cost-effective engagement (51 percent).
However, only 6 percent of marketers working in the APAC region believe they have a very high level
of digital marketing proficiency. In fact, the majority (40 percent) feel they either need improvement
or are lagging behind. When asked to assess their organization’s position on the digital maturity index,
44 percent of marketers admitted they were still exploring the possibilities, but more than 30 percent
believe they are followers or lagging behind the pack.
The implication of this lag in digital advancement is that while consumers in the region continue to
advance in their adoption, consumption, and dependence on digital engagements, marketers are
struggling to provide targeted, intelligent, and personalized experiences that can have a direct impact
on the success of the business.
Why Worry About Demand Digital?
When looking across the landscape of digital in APAC, what emerges quickly is that the numbers
cannot be viewed in a vacuum. Take the user population statistics, for example. Asia has the largest
percentage of worldwide Internet users (40 percent) by population but only has 21 percent Internet
penetration. According to a study by the ADMA, there are 1 billion users online, but dig deeper and
you will see that 620 million of these users are searching on mobile Internet.
According to the Radicati Group, there are 3.3 billion email accounts globally, with nearly half of
those accounts located in Asia. However, due to broadband infrastructure limitations, government
regulations, localization challenges, and language barriers, in addition to a consumer culture that
is reluctant to hand over email addresses to businesses, email adoption and return in Asia have
traditionally been low.
With 2012 global advertising spend estimated to be in the area of $465.5 billion (Strategy Analytics),
estimates that China is set to become the world’s second-largest advertising market in 2013 and
second-largest digital advertising market (eMarketer's “Global Media Intelligence Report”) the
following year, behind the U.S., are staggering and a bit sobering. The report goes on to estimate that
global digital ad spend for 2012 is forecasted to top $105 billion, with APAC accounting for $27.63
billion, trailing North America ($40.3 billion) and Western Europe ($28 billion).
Digital spend is clearly on the rise, especially in the more developed Asian markets, and APAC already
leads the world in mobile ad spend, which is expected to be around $2.6 billion this year—a large
chunk of the $6.6 billion expected to be spent on global mobile advertising.
Mobile, in some cases even more than digital or broadband Internet access, is reinventing how
consumers and businesses interact and engage across the APAC region. Broadband infrastructure
limitations and a population that does not have ready access to computers restrict many markets in
the region. This has made mobile the ubiquitous channel to access data, content, and experiences.


4


According to eMarketer, APAC will be home to some 2.15 billion mobile phone users this year—nearly
55 percent of the global total—and will represent nearly 60 percent of all mobile phone users by 2016.
Adoption of smartphones, especially in more developed markets, is on the rise, replacing the easily
accessible feature phones that are dominant in regions like India. According to a study by Google,
more than half of the population in Australia owns a smartphone, and 20 percent of the Japanese
population uses smartphones. In markets where smartphone use is rising, so is the consumption
of mobile content. For example, the Google study learned that in China, 54 percent of smartphone
owners would rather give up their TV than their smartphone. China also represents the largest
smartphone market in the world, receiving 22 percent of global smartphone shipments. The region
also recorded staggering growth in smartphone adoption, with an annual growth of 81 percent
compared to just 5 percent in the U.S.
Asian consumers are changing their consumption patterns in line with these shifts in technology.
According to a 2011 report from Nielsen, nine out of 10 people in Southeast Asia watch free-to-air
TV, but online access has grown rapidly in reach and influence in the last decade. This increasing
dependence on Internet-enabled devices has pushed the region to surpass Europe and western
markets in the consumption of television, video, and online content via mobile devices. And these
users aren’t just using one device at a time, as Nielsen reports that “media multitasking”—accessing
the Internet while watching television—occurs multiple times per week.
Social media is also gaining momentum, albeit faster in emerging Asian markets than in more
established markets like Japan. Forty percent of online consumers in the region view product reviews
as part of their purchasing decisions, and 60 percent of consumers in markets including Vietnam,
China, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia openly admit that social media has influenced their
purchasing decisions.
But the reality is that traditional media—especially television, print, and radio—continue to be the
leading channels. While 12 percent of adults in Singapore indicate they have read at least one of the
local dallies in a digital format, 70 percent of respondents in the Nielsen survey continue to read
traditional print papers.


5


Summary of Key Findings
Global View
This clash of traditional and digital media is a challenge that marketers in the U.S. and Europe have
already faced and are continuing to advance and improve along the adoption curve. Consider the
top findings from the CMO Council’s own “Integrate to Accelerate Digital Marketing Value” study.
According to the primarily North American and European marketers who participated in the study,
most corporate management teams are fully supportive of digital marketing investments.
While 20 percent of marketers state they have a mandate and budget to execute, 42 percent say
they have strong interest and active support at a line-of-business level, and 18 percent note that it
is an agenda item they have to address with their CEO, CIO, and CFO. However, there were some
notable holdouts as some 23 percent of survey participants report their management is still trying to
understand where digital marketing fits within the overall business.
When asked where they believed their companies sat on the scale of digital marketing maturity, 44
percent of marketers said they were still evaluating options. And much like the results seen in APAC,
22 percent said they were following the pack, while 10 percent believed they were lagging behind. On
the surface, one could assume that the markets were evenly paced—that is, until you look at why the
global audience feels it is lagging or still exploring.

SOURCE: “Integrate to Accelerate Digital Marketing Value”

According to the global audience, they are being challenged to integrate digital campaigns across a
multitude of channels, but moreover, they are challenged to integrate the data and intelligence that
are being gathered through these campaigns to create a data-led personalization engine that will drive
deeper, more targeted and personalized engagements with their customer base. Global marketers
believe they are being held back in advancing their digital strategies because of challenges in fully
integrating internal and external data, identifying the digital platforms that deliver the greatest value
and return, and securing the budget required to sustain these projects.
But the reality is that the global markets—especially in North America and Europe—are dealing with
a customer base that is more developed in broadband Internet engagement and expects a higher
level of personalization and targeted content in their online exchanges. However, this is also a market
where mobile has taken a back seat to social.
When looking at the progression of digital marketing, it may be unfair to compare the APAC market to
the rest of the world. Asia is rife with mobile consumers, already gobbling up rich media and content
via mobile Internet. It is also a region challenged by its own spectrum of marketing maturity that


6


ranges from the advertising-dominant mindsets to those who are brand-poor but data-rich. Because
of this variance, it stands to reason that APAC needs its own digital maturity model that looks across
campaign execution, technology adoption, and overall respect and authority of marketers within the
region’s C-suites.
APAC Digital Marketing Maturity
In a market often driven by where and how the competition is advancing, marketers in APAC must leap
from crawl to run in order to keep pace with global marketing mandates and strategies. In order to stay
competitive globally, APAC marketers must shift from seeing digital as a more effective advertising
channel. And we are already seeing challenges and confusion emerging as globally developed
marketing and brand strategies are being delivered to regional teams to localize and execute.
Budget Limitations
What hangs in the balance, most evidently, is budget. According to the study, 37 percent of marketers
currently invest less than 10 percent of their overall marketing budget to some form of digital marketing,
including email, web, social media, eCommerce, mobile, etc. More than half of marketers cite budget
constraints as a key limitation to their digital success.
Marketers are investing, many driven by mandates from global headquarters that are demanding
increased utilization of digital experiences that can be better measured and analyzed. According
to respondents, 63 percent of marketers attribute the increase in spending and senior support to a
recognition that the customer prefers and, in some cases, is demanding more digitally connected
experiences. But the productivity, visibility, and increased accountability that come with digital are also
bonuses for many C-suites.
“There is tremendous support from senior management, but they want to ensure that we have a good
strategy from the start, says Pieter-bas Vos, CMO of ING-BOB Life Insurance. “People are interested in
testing as long as there is not a lot of money at stake. However, building online platforms requires a lot of
investment that is not there at the moment.”
This trend of testing and piloting is a popular one. When asked about the levels of senior management
support, 30 percent of respondents said their leadership was in favor of piloting and testing new digital
channels and programs, but 21 percent of respondents were either struggling to convince leadership of
the value and opportunity in digital or dealing with senior leaders who were still wedded to traditional
marketing practices.
"In a lot of companies, CMOs are still very traditional and prefer to use traditional tools rather than
branching out, but this will be key to engaging consumers moving forward,” says Nhat Nguyen, Country
Manager for Vietnam Heinz.
What is also striking is how little support marketing seems to be getting from key functional partners like
sales, the channel, IT, and line of business heads. In a stark contrast to global findings where 42 percent
of global marketers have seen strong support from line of business heads, APAC counterparts seem
far less willing to support marketing’s digital transformation agenda. Only 15 percent of respondents
feel that sales or channel partners support a push for additional investment in digital, while only 20
percent of marketers believe that line of business leaders are behind increased digital spend. Without
the support and partnership from these key functions, marketing will continue to struggle to make a
business case for increased investment and resource allocation.
But there is indication that budgets are slowly increasing. While across APAC most marketers are
spending less than 25 percent of total marketing budgets on digital engagements, nearly half of those
surveyed believe that their budgets will increase in the coming year. Some 47 percent of respondents


7


anticipate spend on digital to rise to between 10 and 24 percent of spend, while an additional 22 percent
believe their budgets will increase to between 25 and 49 percent of spend.
Oftentimes marketers are required to sell digital internally, which is more often than not exacerbated by
the need to convince an older, more traditional, risk-adverse audience.
“It is difficult to explain that you can’t only think about digital in terms of return on investment; you have
to look at return on insights,” explains Sameer Kaul, Vice President of Marketing for Dr Lal PathLabs in
India. “We also had to work with physicians because many of them are around 50 years of age and are
not very comfortable with the technology.”
But in order to advance digital performance, marketers will need to make the case and continue to invest
in digital platforms and solutions. Industry experts point to a best-practice benchmark of spend on par
with 50 percent of marketing spend being allocated to digital campaigns, channels and management
(see Adobe commentary on page 14). In order to reach these levels of spend, marketers will need to
solidify strategy and back up the call for increased investment with solid measures that deliver clear
business cases, provide visibility into marketing operational improvements and efficiencies, and deliver
a return on investment. Unfortunately, strategy (or the lack of a comprehensive strategy) may be one of
the most significant challenges Asia-Pacific marketers must overcome.
Struggling With Strategy
According to 29 percent of respondents, strategy is developed and executed from a global head
office, but a growing number indicate that there is a power shift in the air. While a significant number
of marketers still indicate that strategy is developed globally and then localized and executed at
the regional or country level, strategy development and execution are increasingly moving to the
responsibility of the country or regional heads. There is also an indication that strategy development
is in the hands of an increasingly influential senior leader, as 47 percent say that the CMO (or head of
marketing, as may be more regionally appropriate) is at the helm of owning and driving digital.
Over the past several years, many in marketing noted a shift in strategy development being reigned
in from the regions as a more “plan globally, act locally” line of thinking emerged. Digital may be
speeding this strategy evolution as respondents indicate that while overall marketing strategy may
be set at a global level, channels where language, culture, and preference will dramatically shift
execution—such as social media—are set at a regional level, led by the country head of marketing (39
percent) rather than the global head (17 percent).
But social media, the channel that 52 percent of APAC marketers see as a top priority for the next
year, seems to be the anomaly. As it did in the U.S. and Europe a few years ago, social has emerged as
the next hot trend for marketers as consumer consumption and use patterns are sharply on the rise.
Even in regions where Internet access is sparse, mobile connectivity to social is on the rise and helping
properties like Facebook take off at alarming rates. Korea, once thought to be one of the last holdouts in the adoption of Facebook and Twitter, has started to make a turn, as users are adding to their
already voracious social appetites (the Korea-based Cyworld boasts more than 25 million users, and
an estimated 90 percent of the Korean population regularly blogs).
When asked to map digital marketing allocations, social media emerges among the top four budget
holders. While email and search will both see healthy investment, social media will see allocations
across driving community growth and advertising. This mirrors the explosive budget climb that social
made globally over the past three years, experiencing double-digit growth in budget year over year
since 2008.
The core challenge across the region appears to be in developing strategies and campaigns that
can continue to steer away from traditional campaigns (and campaign metrics) while developing

8


integrated, connected, and aligned customer experience strategies. Regional marketers even admit
that strategy may not be their strong suit as 43 percent of regional marketers admit that their
challenge to develop a more comprehensive, connected digital marketing strategy has been the top
issue when executing digital campaigns.
Marketers are also challenged to make a business case for digital marketing spend (40 percent), as
well as understanding and identifying the resources needed (39 percent). And while budget still tops
the list of constraints (53 percent), it must be noted that 37 percent of marketers in the region feel
they are struggling to determine the best technology and solutions to support digital.
“Banks are basically software companies of the 21st century, but we have finite resources,” says Caleb
Hunt, CMO of Citibank Japan Ltd. “I think the single largest constraint in our ability to move as quickly
as we’d like is the availability of technology resources.”
But the majority of marketers believe they have a strong digital marketing champion on the senior
team who will help push the digital agenda forward, including Diane Ho, Head of Marketing in APAC
for Jones Lang LaSalle, who shares, “We have good senior management support, and I think that’s
primarily because we are showing measurements around what has been effective.”
Managing the Talent Gap
The bigger challenges do not seem to lie in support levels, but more in support staff as talent to
execute digital, mobile, and social campaigns is scarce in the region. From budget to bring on senior
staff to training to educate existing staff, APAC marketers are looking for a wealth of talent that, as of
right now, does not exist.
Talent acquisition, training, and access to the right skills and expertise are clear issues across
every region in Asia, and for nearly half of the survey respondents, they are the top challenges that
marketers have experienced when trying to advance digital marketing within their organization.
“In the Indian market, we are challenged with a lack of good talent to build up our digital marketing
teams, as well as a lack of individuals at the local level who have a good understanding of digital,” says
Namrita Sehgal, Director of Internet Marketing for Taj Hotels, Resorts, and Palaces.
For the most part, marketers believe that the skill set of their current marketing organization is
improving (33 percent) but that there is still considerable room for improvement. Many also feel
constrained by the lack of budget to bring on the right level of senior talent to lead these digital teams.
The fact is that only 13 percent of marketers felt they had the right team in place with the right level of
experience and skills.
According to Argha Sen, Head of Marketing and CRM for Toys R Us–Asia, while others in the region
may struggle to identify the best tools and technologies, his challenge is to advance the skills of his
team so they have the knowledge, confidence, and ability to most effectively leverage the technologies
available to them. He notes, “Some people are more advanced than others, so we have to make a
great deal of effort to move everyone forward. Unlike many companies who are still learning about the
platforms, our challenges revolve around people and processes.”
This lackluster talent pool also extends to the agencies in place to manage digital. Most marketers
in the region are managing multiple agencies (39 percent) that each oversee a different part of the
digital marketing process—including web campaigns, social, online advertising, mobile, etc. Another
33 percent of marketers are managing a pool of agencies that work on individual projects with no
formal continuity agreement with any of the agency resources.


9


This patchwork of resources has become a more cumbersome and complex matrix to oversee, which
is being translated into unimpressive results. Three out of four marketers surveyed admit that agency
effectiveness is moderate at best, conceding that their partners are good in some areas but weak
in others. Only 13 percent of respondents gave their agency partners rave reviews, saying that their
partners understood the strategy and execution requirements and could measure their results well.
A Need for Marketing Metrics
Unfortunately, it is the inability of marketers to effectively measure and demonstrate clear return that
is so often the top reason why risk-adverse C-suite leaders do not approve marketing budgets. While
72 percent of regional marketers are using digital marketing analytics to report on the impact and
return of their programs, the level of sophistication and depth of measurement do come into question.
Of those marketers who are actively measuring digital programs, only 3 percent feel they are excelling
in their ability to measure value and return.
Among the key measures that marketers are looking at to validate the value of digital marketing are:
• Website performance (72 percent)
• Click-through rates (69 percent)
• Response rates (68 percent)
• Conversion rates (62 percent)
But what is more telling is where marketers in the region are less likely to measure:
• Average order value/cost per sale (19 percent)
• Customer lifetime value (12 percent)
• Upsell and cross-sell activities (11 percent)
• Customer churn levels (10 percent)
As global marketers adopt measures that link back to revenue-driving metrics, APAC marketers
are struggling to move beyond surface-level KPIs that simply report clicks, views, and baseline
consumption. And as measures are being reviewed, there is more focus on applying traditional
advertising measures that look at cost per click versus the impact of digital engagement on the
customer experience that can boost the bottom line.
Data is often also being overlooked as a key byproduct of digital. When asked how well marketers are
leveraging data that is generated through digital channels, 35 percent said that data was being used
to report on KPIs. As 15 percent admitted that they were struggling to manage the volume of data
coming into their systems, 10 percent are just archiving data but do not know what to do with it at this
time. Only 5 percent of APAC marketers see data as a key competitive differentiator that can be used
and integrated throughout the marketing life cycle.
Conclusion
What emerges from the audit and best-practice interviews is that there are key attributes that many
digital leaders have worked through to advance digital as a core business driver for competitive
advantage. These key elements have all emerged as topics that must be identified and discussed in
any organization to maximize digital impact, effectiveness, and return. They include:
1. Adoption: Marketers must understand where the roadblocks and traditional thinkers
exist and change digital engagement perceptions. Through measured wins and business-


10


driving success, senior leadership—even those who only operate on a strict KPI and ROI
value sheet—will see and clearly understand the value of digital marketing performance
improvements and investments.
2. Talent: The region does not lack bright minds looking to advance their knowledge and
skill base, but training on advancements in technologies, strategies, and analytics will be a
requirement. Even for the most senior marketers, having a heightened knowledge about how
content, engagements, and channels converge to create a more robust, personalized, and
dynamic digital experience can mean the difference between dunce and dynamo.
3. Innovation: The matrix in Asia is a loose collection of digitally powered advertising
channels. But where global marketers are seeing incredible response, return, and value from
digital is through the more bi-directional exchange of content and insights. Marketers in the
region must be connected to technology updates and trends in digital engagement that can
map and track their consumers’ behaviors. In this new age of a mobile consumer that can
initiate with and disconnect from a brand at their discretion, marketers must be ahead of
the curve in identifying the new platforms and operational systems that optimize the digital
experience.
4. Intelligence: Data is not just for justifying budget. As more marketers look to push the
needle with personalization, targeting, and segmentation strategies as a route to developing
more meaningful engagements between brand and customer, data cannot simply sit in silos
collecting dust. Regional marketers must look to advancements being made, albeit slowly, in
regions like North America and Europe to set the pace for analytics and intelligence rather
than looking to regional competitors for guidance.
5. Adjustments: Across key regional markets, there is an even more detailed adoption curve as
mature digital marketing countries like Singapore and India are facing issues around talent
and advancing analytics, while countries less forward in their marketing maturity like Korea
are still challenged to make a business case for key technology, campaign and platform
investments. What is paramount to remember is that even in the face of these differences,
there is a singular belief that optimizing digital engagements and experiences will create a
competitive advantage for a brand and is bring driven by customer demand and expectation.
Laggard regions must make adjustments in everything from budget allocations to talent
development to keep pace with advancing demand.
By understanding each of these core phases needed to advance digital marketing performance,
APAC marketers can start to identify where and how digital can and must evolve within their
organizations.


11

APAC DIGITAL MARKETING PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD TM | REpoRT

apaC digiTal marKETiNg pErfOrmaNCE daShbOard
The infographic that follows illustrates the state of digital marketing adoption across the
Asia-Pacific region with respect to four key areas: mindset, marketing readiness, organizational
alignment, and marketing skills. All ratings are on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the highest.
The overall rating for each category is an average of the four key indicators beneath each
measure. The ratings of the individual countries are then depicted below, with the highest rating
for each measure appearing in that rating's specified color. As you can see, the mindset around
digital adoption is strong across the region as a whole, but talent, readiness to implement, and
organizational alignment must improve in order to capitalize on these efforts.


12



13


expert commentary from adobe
The Next Steps to Success
By Mark Phibbs, Senior Director, Marketing, APAC, Adobe Systems

The signs are all looking good. Sixty percent of executive teams across Asia-Pacific show strong
support for digital marketing, recognizing the rapid shift in customer preference for digital
engagement and on-demand interaction. Forty-five percent of business leaders are driven by
competitor adoption, concerned they might fall behind in the race for new markets and growth.
With such compelling market drivers, never before has there been an opportunity like this for
marketers to leverage interest and demand, secure investment and resources, and lead their
businesses into the digital era.
Ultimately, the success or failure of digital marketing will be determined by the customer. Sixty-three
of respondents in the survey for this report said customer preference for digital engagement is driving
the shift in their organization. Companies see digital as crucial in enabling them to be customercentric and responsive, particularly with the adoption of mobile and social.
However, the overwhelming challenge for marketers in APAC is whether they have the skills and
resources they need to build a bulletproof business case and demonstrate return on investment. This
study shows a significant disconnect between that goal and today’s reality.
According to the marketers of Asia-Pacific, 59 percent of their business leaders support digital
marketing because they expect it to provide a greater level of accountability and transparency. The
expectation is clear—but can marketers deliver?
Ability to Measure ROI
The good news is that marketers are measuring digital results. In fact, 72 percent of APAC marketers
are leveraging analytics and reporting technologies, with Australia and Korea proving to be the most
advanced in the region, with more than 84 percent usage. The notable exception is China, where only
one in three of companies has measurement technology in place.
However, the bad news is that marketers are not delivering the report that really counts in the opinion
of senior management. Only 19 percent of APAC marketers rate their ability to measure ROI as
excellent or very good. Forty-one percent believe they are getting better, while a further 38 percent
feel they are poor or need improvement.
Marketers Are Not Measuring Business Impact
Marketers in Asia-Pacific are clearly taking steps to prioritize gathering rudimentary metrics, at the
very least. The top three most popular things to measure among marketers are website traffic (72
percent), click-through rates (69 percent), and response rates (68 percent).
What’s not top of mind are ROI metrics. Less than 25 percent of marketers are measuring critical data
such as revenue per customer, cost per sale, return on ad spend, or channel ROI. Only 43 percent of
marketers are measuring ROI even at the specific campaign level, and this metric ranks ninth out of 25
items on the overall list of what’s being measured. The Adobe APAC Digital Marketing Performance
Dashboard for 2012 clearly shows a lack of alignment between marketing measurement and strategic
business goals.


14


2013
2012

2013
6.21%

4.81%

10.69%

3.78%

22.41%

19.59%

46.90%

34.36%

2012

2012

2013

2013
37.46%

Lack of Dedicated Resources Will Continue
to Impede Ability to Build Strategy and
Demonstrate ROI

2013

2012

Thirty-four percent of APAC marketers plan to invest
in analytics and insights this year, with Korea the
highest in this respect at 60 percent, Hong Kong at 38
percent, and Australia at 35 percent. China recorded
a significantly low result, with only 14 percent of its
marketers intending to boost analytics and insight
investments this year.

13.79%

When it comes to allocating budget, this year,
marketers continue to prioritise digital marketing
initiatives that are more traditional. Website content
and optimization receive the majority of budget
allocation with 82 percent, followed by email
campaigns at 63 percent, search engine optimization
(SEO) at 61 percent, and social, search, and display at
45 percent.

Digital Investment in APAC:
2012 Versus 2013

2012

Marketing Investment: The Budget Mix

In almost 50 percent of companies, the APAC region
Less than 10%
10%-24%
25%-49%
50%-70%
More than 70%
or country teams hold primary responsibility for the
development of their organization’s digital strategy
and execution. However, investment in dedicated teams and headcount remains very low across the
region as only 25 percent report that they have a dedicated senior digital marketing or interactive
marketing director owning the program.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that an aggregate 74 percent of companies rate their current proficiency in
delivering a digital go-to-market model as just moderate or needing improvement.
Only 15 percent of companies felt they had the right teams in place, with 49 percent of companies
citing lack of in-house digital expertise as their greatest challenge. Only 13 percent of companies
across APAC have dedicated and experienced resources to provide marketing analysis.
With such a lack of internal resources available, APAC marketers rely heavily on their agencies, as
72 percent are using multiple agencies to manage disparate channels within the marketing mix,
so it’s not unusual for one company to engage different agencies for social, digital advertising, and
website management. Ironically, the diversity and duplication of agencies only adds to the difficulty of
achieving a holistic, integrated, analytic view incorporating measurement and optimization across all
digital channels.
One of the outcomes of this is that data is not being mined and applied strategically to understand
customer behavior and optimize their experience, but rather at a very tactical level to report on KPIs—
which, as we’ve already noted, tend to be fairly basic.
Next Steps
It’s clear that the critical next step ahead for APAC marketers on the road to digital performance is to
be able to build a business case for simultaneous investment in three areas:
• Appoint dedicated, senior digital marketing leaders to own the marketing strategy alignment
to key business drivers. It’s particularly important to make sure your organization is measuring
the right elements in order to demonstrate ROI.

15


• Bring in dedicated analytics resources to drive the shift from tactical KPI measurement and
ensure the organization is leveraging data for continual optimization.
• Continued investment in measurement and optimization technologies.
Marketers of Asia-Pacific: You have the attention and support of your business leaders and with that,
you are seeing increased investment. You have an the opportunity like never before to lead strategy
and drive significant business outcomes, but now is the time to fight for investment in the teams and
infrastructure that will help drive your success.


16



17


leadership committee
Anonymous

Head of Customer Marketing and
Global Services
Anonymous Mobile Technology
Company

Bronwyn Heys

Marketing Director
20th Century Fox–Australia

Frederic Moraillon
Vice President, Marketing
Akamai Technologies

Nicki Kenyon

Managing Director (Formerly)
Asia Rooms

Sujit Ganguli

Head of Marketing
ICICI Bank

Pieter-bas Vos

Chief Marketing Officer
ING-BOB Life Insurance

Diane Ho

Head of Marketing, Asia-Pacific
Jones Lang LaSalle

Kathryn Illy

Head of Marketing
Macquarie Private Wealth–
Australia

Basker Rangachari
Junior Cho

Vice President of Marketing,
Cigna International–Korea

Caleb Hunt

Citibank Japan Ltd.

Alicia Seah

Senior Vice President, Marketing
& Public Relations
Commonwealth Travel

Sameer Kaul

Vice President, Marketing
Dr Lal PathLabs

Helene Blanchette

Head of the 1:1 Experience Service,
Go-to-Market Strategy
Fuji Xerox–Asia-Pacific

Standard Chartered Bank–Hong
Kong and Northeast Asia

Namrita Sehgal

Director, Internet Marketing
Taj Hotels, Resorts, and Palaces

Barry Money

General Manager, Retail Development
Toyota–Australia

Argha Sen

Head of Marketing & CRM
Toys R Us–Asia

Anshu Bagai

Head of Marketing
Tupperware–India

Nhat Nguyen
Country Managert
Vietnam Heinz

Anthony Murray

Director
HeathGate Medical-Australia

Anonymous

Jai Singh

Senior Director, JANZ Strategy &
Marketing Operations
Vistaprint

Honda Siel Cars India Limited

Nitin Mathur

Senior Director, Head of Marketings
Yahoo! India and Southeast Asia

18


demographics
What is your title?
12% Chief Marketing Officer
16% Head of Marketing
9% SVP/EVP of Marketing
8% VP of Marketing and Sales
19% VP of Marketing
1% VP of Marketing Operations
25% Director of Marketing
1% VP of Corporate Marketing Communciations
1% Director of Corporate/Marketing Communications
8% Other

How large is your company?
11% Less than $50 million
7% $51 million to $100 million
22% $751 million to $1 billion
24% $1.1 billion to $5 billion
14% Greater than $5 billion


19


What best describes your company's industry sector?
1% Chemicals
2% Construction
1% Consumer Durables
1% Education
5% Electronics and Miscellaneous Technology
1% Energy
1% Entertainment
16% Financial Services
2% Food and Beverages
1% Government
15% Information Technology
4% Insurance
2% Life Sciences
2% Manufacturing
7% Media and Publishing
1% Packaged Goods
3% Professional Services
9% Retail
8% Telecommunications
2% Transportation
10% Travel and Hospitality
1% Utilities
4% Other


20


In what country are you located?
27% Australia
11% China
11% Hong Kong
15% Singapore
10% Korea
18% India
9% Other


21


about the cmo council

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council is dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange,
thought leadership, and personal relationship building among senior corporate marketing leaders
and brand decision-makers across a wide range of global industries. The CMO Council's 6,000
members control more than $300 billion in aggregated annual marketing expenditures and
run complex, distributed marketing and sales operations worldwide. In total, the CMO Council
and its strategic interest communities include more than 20,000 global executives in more
than 100 countries covering multiple industries, segments, and markets. Regional chapters and
advisory boards are active in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, India, Middle East, and Africa.
The CMO Council's strategic interest groups include the Coalition to Leverage and Optimize
Sales Effectiveness (CLOSE), LoyaltyLeaders.org, Marketing Supply Chain Institute, Customer
Experience Board, Market Sense-Ability Center, Digital Marketing Performance Institute,
GeoBranding Center, the Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience (FAME), and the causedirected research initiative, Pause to Support a Cause. More information on the CMO Council is
available at www.cmocouncil.org.

about ADOBE

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit
www.adobe.com. Keep up to date with news and views from APAC digital marketers on the
Adobe Digital Dialogue blog at blogs.adobe.com/digitaldialogue/. Join APAC marketers on the
Digital Dialogue Asia-Pacific LinkedIn group. Follow Adobe Digital Marketing Suite news and
updates via @AdobeMktgCloud.


22

[Report] Indian Marketers are Ready to Adopt and Integrate Digital Marketing in their Businesses

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to [Report] Indian Marketers are Ready to Adopt and Integrate Digital Marketing in their Businesses

Similar to [Report] Indian Marketers are Ready to Adopt and Integrate Digital Marketing in their Businesses (20)

More from Social Samosa

More from Social Samosa (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

[Report] Indian Marketers are Ready to Adopt and Integrate Digital Marketing in their Businesses