This discovery is supported by an independent study in the US that compared the effectiveness of online advertising with television and print.
Conducted by award-winning researcher Rex Briggs of Marketing Evolution, with participation from the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and MSN, the study concluded that companies can maximise the results of their marketing programmes online without having to increase their overall ad spend. An increased allocation of online ad spending by as little as 15 per cent was found to raise brand awareness, positive brand associations and purchase intent of consumers by 40 per cent.
But are conservative-minded Asian businesses ready for online marketing?
In fact many of them have already begun to use it - and with considerable success. In seeking to attract enquiries from potential customers faster and cheaper than a traditional sales force, Malaysian bank Hong Leong turned to the internet to attract young people to its ads while they browsed online. In the cut-throat market for personal loans, the bank needed to turn enquiries into genuine prospects by accurately qualifying new contacts as swiftly as possible.
To overcome the challenges, Hong Leong harnessed the internet's power for instant communication to promise an immediate response (in less than four minutes) from the bank's team of telephone operators, once a simple form had been completed online.
In just a short call, operators were able to confirm each applicant's suitability and answer remaining questions. And although final approval of loan applications could not be granted instantly online, the convenience of the new procedure meant a record number of applications were completed, compared with previous campaigns.
Equally important for Hong Leong was the opportunity to build a database of individuals who had opted to receive additional information from the bank on future marketing activities. Previously, offline advertising activities had proved ineffective for systematically collecting such data.
Hong Leong is just one of the many examples of traditional Asian businesses that are capitalising on online programmes. More and more marketers are discovering that dense populations, the exploding growth of broadband connectivity and the high penetration of computers and mobile devices make Asia ripe for online campaigns.
Are you ready?
