Top brands cite collaboration, data as imperatives: Top 1000 Brands Summit

More than 100 marketers and other industry insiders convened for a day of presentations and panel discussions on the trends and strategies that define success in the Asia's Top 1000 Brands survey this year and in the future. 

Vishal Bali, managing director, consumer insights at Nielsen Southeast Asia, North Asia and Pacific, shared insights into the growth of the middle class in Asia and how to address the region's varied markets. 

“Asians love advertising, much more than consumers of other parts of the world,” he noted. “Asian consumers are also the world’s most optimistic group according to Nielsen’s global consumer confidence index, and hence it is an opportunity for brands to engage and connect with them.”

in a panel discussion entitled “Get on top, stay on top”, marketing leaders noted that there will be more collaboration in the future between brands from different industries. Taking part in the event were Prashant Agarwal, senior vice-president of marketing at DBS, Damien Cummings, regional marketing director, digital & social media, at Samsung and Amit Dasgupta, brand director, Southeast Asia, at Adidas. The discussion was moderated by Atifa Silk, editorial director at Campaign Asia-Pacific.

Cummings noted that partnerships with brands in different other industries allow brands to benefit from different perspectives, as well as to access different research and training.

Dasgupta, agreed that such collaboration is "the future of marketing" and discussed how Adidas has worked with different brands including Samsung in various projects.

The event concluded with a panel discussion on 'big data' and how it drives consumer engagement. Ranganathan Somanathan, Starcom MediaVest Group's COO said that data has always existed but the volume and velocity of it has seen unprecedented growth. For Somanathan the big challenge is talent. Companies need to find people with a combination of mathematics and storytelling capabilities. 

Robbie Hills, Google's head of media technology agreed, adding that marketers need to find a way to apply this data to make their businesses grow. Michelle Froah, regional marketing director of Kimberly-Clark International moderated the panel.

Look for photos of the Top 1000 Brands Summit later today and in-depth coverage in the October issue of Campaign Asia-Pacific.