Human truths that shape branding
December 5, 2005 | 12:00am
Grey Asia Pacific, led by its president and CEO Mike Amour, together with Millward Brown, recently released a region-wide research study called "Eye on Asia." It builds out from the highly successful "Eye on Australia," which is in its 14th year, and which is referred to by the Australian government and its national media for annual prediction of trends.
The objective of the study is to determine what powerful underlying trends and human truths will shape branding and communications today and the future. It gives insights into how to talk to Asians in a way that is helpful and meaningful, both to the communicators and their defined audiences. Ultimately it is about providing marketing inspiration and helping build stronger brands, given today’s highly competitive market environment.
Essentially, "Eye of Asia" provides vital information that can move marketers closer to the Asian consumers. "It focuses on three areas – marketing, understanding what Asians think about life today and tomorrow; appreciating their hopes, dreams and biggest need states; and examining the fundamental building blocks of a great brand in the Asia Pacific region, as it looks at what people in Asia are calling for in advertising and marketing," Amour elaborates.
The study was conducted using a mix of quantitative and qualitative research in 12 countries around the region, involving 4,400 interviews with Asian adults aged 18 and above, and nearly 200 in-depth ethnographic interviews. It was backed up by extensive secondary research.
Amour provided Filipino marketers a flavor of "Eye on Asia" when he shared top-line information in the recently-concluded 19th Philippine Advertising Congress in Cebu City. He declared that the Asia-Pacific region is an area that can’t be averaged, where cultural relevance is key, and where foreign brands can thrive only if they have a local heart.
Amour said, "The aspirations of Asian consumers vary. Strategies in reaching them vary. But their motivations are generally the same." He revealed that everyone feels stressed, but they react differently. In this environment, the family is consistently important yet the family structure itself is inconsistent. Values – cultural, moral, religious, and aesthetic – are being breached and re-examined across the region, implying that one brand can exist across multiple territories, but it would require a variation of communication approaches in each. Brands are desired, but what creates the desire in those brands differs from country to country.
"The good news is that everyone loves advertising, especially in the Philippines, although its role varies," Amour said. "Asians want memorable advertising, not convoluted messages, and they want it to be more entertaining."
When asked what they want from life today and tomorrow, including their hopes, dreams and need states, the Asian respondents all agree that as daily life becomes more complex, there is a desire for living to be simpler, more caring, and freer. To most of them, modern life is luxurious but it’s also cold, pressurized and unnatural. Paradoxically though, there is also a feeling that people have to be more competitive.
The study indicates that ideal living for Asians is anchored on the idea of "escape." It is a strong individual desire, particularly in the context of the heightened energy of many major cities including Manila. At the same time, aspirations in Asia seem to follow the metrics associated with success in Western countries. There is a dream of greater abundance, a personal focus where life is more carefree (bohemian perhaps), with fewer worries about money and security.
This goal for personal improvement is strongly linked to a notion that their respective countries have to improve as well. In essence, the respondents feel that being competitive individually or as a nation revolves around three things – innovation, inventiveness and originality – where aspirations vary since each country has a unique personality and individual collective differences.
On how their ideal life in the future would look like, the greatest aspiration that 97 percent of the Asian region agrees on is a need for well-being. It is the top-ranked dream and factor among all age groups except those who are 55 years old and above. It is true for both genders, and for 18-24-year-olds, and is as important as their hobbies and special interests. Working shorter hours, retiring and doing nothing are at the bottom of the list.
This leads to streamlining of people. There is a concern that their lives are fragmenting, exacerbated by a strong pressure from poverty in countries like the Philippines. Asians don’t desire simple lives as such, but to focus on identified priorities that enrich. In key messaging for a brand, this calls for simplification, and a strategic focus on basic product and service quality guarantee. "Brands can act as the catalyst that fulfills people’s emotional needs and desires," Amour enthuses.
With that in mind, what can Asians consider as the fundamental building blocks for a great Asia-Pacific brand? "Eye on Asia" reports that Asians want brands they trust, brands that innovate, are easy to remember, engage with and use. It was clear in the Grey study that in some cases the fundamentals are weak, something both global and local brands need to review. "This is why mass local brands often do better because they are seen to perform against the basics by people who consume them," Amour explains.
The study also reveals that brands that come from "a company with values and ethics" rank high in the priorities of Asians. This proves the notion that the company behind the brand is as important as the brand itself, and just as visible to our empowered consumer. Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines rank among the highest in this regard, while Korea and Japan are at the bottom. The regional average though is a high of 87 percent.
In advertising and marketing, 62 percent think that marketers in the region are doing a good job overall. Asians are positively predisposed to advertising and are receptive to what marketers do. The Philippines ranks top in the opinion that advertising is exciting, followed by India, Indonesia and Malaysia. With the exception of China, there is a higher percentage of poorer consumers in said markets who see advertising as a form of escape, or a lift from the humdrum of everyday living.
In some Asian countries, there is a strong feeling that there may be too much choice once people get into the stores. Asians who moved from the countryside into an urban setting are faced for the first time with more choices than they can handle. Therefore, brands that simplify choice stand a much better chance of winning the hearts and wallets of the over-communicated Asian consumers.
"Eye on Asia" helps marketers build strong brands. First, it tells us that we need to truly understand brand character. The consumer remains to be king and getting his attention is increasingly difficult, since audiences are splintering as people use different types of media as message carriers. Second, it makes us accept that we are in the attention economy necessitating that the brand story needs to be told better and more clearly than ever before. This means the brand experience has to be sharper and more relevant. Choices are multiplying fast, and consumers have become more skeptical about product claims. Their ability to get information about "whatever they want, whenever they want," has given Asian shoppers unprecedented muscle.
The need to leverage emotions to build greater intimacy with consumers becomes even more evident here. We have to be closer to our consumers, without getting in their faces. We have to listen to what our consumers say and understand their vulnerabilities, emotions and optimism to really connect. As a famous quote says, "Emotion leads to action, while reason leads to conclusion."
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