Always-On Digital Platforms

Hi everyone

It has been incredible to see the changes in digital marketing in Asia over the last 12 months.

Increasingly, our brands and customers are moving from mainly campaign oriented short-term solutions, to include more long-term programs focused on maintaining an digital platform with customers.

This change is of course driven by the always-on nature of many of people today. The growth in use of social media, micro-blogging, mobile and gaming - along with numerous other digital media - has provided brands an opportunity to extend the connection with people beyond a campaign site and short burst of paid media.

The question now is this - beyond our main web offering, how can our brands sustain and build a presence online?

I read a great article on this by Garrick Schmitt on this last week in Ad Age, and rather than selectively quote I’ll add the link at the end of this blog so you can read his whole story. In it there are many great examples of digital platforms based on community action, crowd sourcing, e-commerce, brand experience and CRM. Covering brands such as Pepsi, Best Buy, Starbucks, Legos, P&G, Lufthansa, Nike… the list goes on.

What I think is important to understand is that the same marketing approach applies as much to Thailand and Asia as anywhere else now.

12 months ago I used to have to convince clients to invest in digital, now digital is part of nearly every brief and our clients are the ones who are identifying the real need. This has been driven in a large part by the digital trend amongst Thais of all ages taking hold. The growth in use of smart phones (iPhone, Blackberry), social media (Facebook, Twitter), gaming, blogs and instant messaging, and the general rising trend of using the web in every way (for work and play) for all ages and demographics, has driven the need to transform the marketing approach here.

I would see this change as one moving from more passive involvement to active, continuous participation online. I call it the ‘participation economy’. Thais are no longer content to stand on the sidelines and just passively watch what is going on. They are jumping in and doing things for themselves, sharing their voice, and being active participants online.

One reason is the rise of sites like Facebook where only by participating in conversations and sharing photos, blogs & videos can you really take advantage and enhance your social connections.

It is literally participate or die. And these digital platforms allow this sort of ongoing platforms that will start to dominate digital thinking moving forward.

The article is : Super Bowl Shuffle: Why Marketers Will Shift to 'Platforms'. Enjoy.

Cheers, Rob