Vicky Skipp, Head of South East Asia and APAC CSC, Adobe SEA - LinkedIn
With 2012 now behind and 2013 just beginning, let’s take a few moments to reflect on the year just passed and what might come in the year ahead. Adobe’s Vicky Skipp, Head of South East Asia and APAC CSC and Will Bosma, APAC Solution Consulting Director share their insights on the year that was.
What were the highlights this year with regards to Digital Marketing for Adobe?
Will: Personally, there were 3 highlights that stood out for me in Digital Marketing for Adobe:
- Tremendous market take-up of Adobe Experience Management in APAC – especially in the Media and Entertainment and Financial Services industries. Some of the largest companies in the region have invested their entire business on our platform and have made it the center of their digital transformation
- The acquisition of Downstream Marketing and the many bright people there who have joined our business
- The release of Adobe Social – and finally a solution that addresses the issues of ROI for Social Marketing.
Vicky: 2012 was a very exciting year for Adobe all around. In 2012 we rebranded our Digital Marketing solutions to the Marketing Cloud which allows us to bring the magic of the creative cloud together with the marketing cloud as well as allow our customers to access the information anywhere at any time. In addition, we launched a joint research study with the CMO Council on the Digital Marketing Landscape in Asia Pacific. Also, as Will mentioned we launched Adobe Social which was very exciting as is one of the only end-to-end social solution out in the market.
What are major needs and challenges in Digital Marketing that customers have discussed with you this year and why?
Will: CMO' S and Social Media Managers have spoken about the challenges of using multiple tools to try to deal with Social Business – resulting in a disconnected and isolated process that is still not well accepted by senior executives. In addition there’s been a lot of discussion about the challenges they face in proving the value of social marketing - not only its ROI but also its alignment with the fundamental business goals of the company they work for. It impacts the funding and resources they get to address this high touch engagement channel. More generally, we heard a lot about the difficulty of finding great Digital Analysts – there is an incredible amount of data available for Digital Marketing but precious few who know how to find the true ''nuggets' that can alter business results – this is a huge challenge that’s arrived with the advent of Big Data.
Vicky: Customers are steadily evolving their business models towards focusing on mobile as customers spend increasing amounts of their time on their mobile devices. APAC marketers are hoping to increase their online marketing budgets in the coming year. According to Adobe’s recent Digital Marketing Performance Dashboard APAC, in Singapore alone close to 30% of marketers plan to increase digital marketing spend this year to between 25 – 49% of their total marketing budgets. But with so much customer activity happening online, the amount of data generated has become a huge business complexity. Being able to analyze and make sense of the data collected, to turn it into valuable strategic customer information has been one of the biggest challenges our customers face. Secondly, our Digital Performance Dashboard study found that businesses have been struggling with a skill shortage. Potential employees with the correct expertise and skillsets to help tackle the challenges of the digital age of marketing are hard to find. Currently, over 49% of respondents said their current marketing teams did not have the right skills, experience or talent needed to take on digital marketing strategy.
What would in your opinion be the top 3 Digital Marketing trends to watch out for in 2013 and why?
Will: The top 3 trends I foresee for 2013 are:
- Inbound Marketing and Content– organisations scramble to create compelling content that works across multiple devices, that customers and prospects alike want to consume and share.
- Context is king – not only do all companies need to become media organisations but the content needs to be delivered in context – the right content, right time, right device and in the customers context. This is a significant challenge and goes far beyond what most marketers think of in terms of personalisation
- Social Business finally arrives in APAC and with it an understanding that Social is truly organisation wide – it impacts marketing, service, sales, talent acquisition, the customer experience and brings with it a focus on organisational cultures and structures.
Vicky: For me, the top 3 trends for 2013 are:
- Mobile – As mobile consumption continues to grow and customers interact more and more via mobile, businesses will need to adapt content to suit mobile interfaces.
- Cloud – More and more business will be moving to the cloud as it allows for mobility and customers to access information anywhere and at any time.
- Data - Leveraging data to generate analytical insights is a critical factor to help businesses advance ahead of the curve by way of tracking and mapping customer insights and behaviour. In turn, this will help them create valued and personalised experiences for their customers. In the Digital Marketing Performance Dashboard APAC 2012, 72% of respondents are already using analytic and reporting technologies. Businesses understand the need to gather more data and insights to drive personalisation, targeting and segmenting in order to deliver more meaningful customer engagements. 36% of the businesses we polled across Asia Pacific have rated richer, deeper customer profiling and engagement as one of their top priorities for the fiscal year.
We’d love to get your comments and feedback. In your opinion, what are the top 3 trends for Digital Marketing in 2013?
It’s the Chinese year of the snake…and here are my predictions for what will be happening in the world of the Digital Marketer in APAC – with a snake theme.
