New study reveals Indian marketers well-poised to embrace digital marketing

Nov. 20, 2012 - PRLog -- New Delhi, India, November 20, 2012 – Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced the findings of the APAC Media Digital dashboard, a new study by the CMO Council in partnership with Adobe. The study benchmarked the levels of adoption, traction and success of digital marketing in Australia, China, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and India. The study highlights some very interesting contrasts that exist in India with regard to the adoption and execution of digital marketing strategies. While 94% of Indian marketers surveyed believe that digital marketing can create a competitive advantage for their company, they also acknowledged that support from senior management and budgets were low in comparison to other countries, with only 44% saying senior management support was very strong and receptive to piloting new programs compared to a regional average of 60%.

Over 295 senior marketers from a range of industries across the Asia Pacific Region participated in the study, including 54 marketers from India representing leading companies such as ICICI Bank, Taj Hotels, Dr Lal Pathlabs and Tupperware.

According to the survey, Indian marketers indicated the key drivers of digital marketing adoption in the country to be:

·         Size and demography of Internet-connected population - 70%

·         Greater ability to better engage audiences - 65%

·         Social networking and gaming - 63%

·         Proliferation of mobile devices - 54%

Umang Bedi, Managing Director, South Asia, Adobe said, “With over 120 million active internet users and 950 million mobile phone subscriptions, the Indian market presents a unique opportunity for marketers to embrace digital marketing. The report aptly highlights that over 70% of Indian marketers see the growing size and appealing demographic of the Internet population as a huge opportunity for the adoption of digital strategies. This was the highest result for this question across the APAC region.”

The study also highlights that Indian marketers are analytical and strategic in their approach to digital marketing. 70% indicated that they are measuring and testing results of digital marketing campaigns. 21% believed their ability to measure Return on Investment (ROI) was excellent or good, which was above the regional average of 19%.  

Adobe’s Senior Director of Marketing, APAC, Mark Phibbs said “The results from India paint a picture of a committed and engaged digital marketing profession who are struggling with budget restraints and with the need to educate and evangelise the benefits of digital marketing to senior management. With the right budgets and executive support, India’s digital marketers have the potential to take a leadership position in developing and executing highly strategic digital marketing programs.”

Other findings from the study included:

·         65% of Indian marketers surveyed believe that customer cost of acquisition is a very important metric of ROI, compared with 57% in Singapore and 55% in Australia.

·         65% of Indian marketers surveyed felt that digital marketing has the ability to better engage and activate audiences. This was second to Hong Kong (81%), and higher than Australia (59%) and Singapore (57%).

·         Indian marketers are the most likely in the region to consider data and analytics as a key competitive differentiator.

·         The skill set of digital agencies was rated the lowest by Indian marketers across APAC. Australian marketers had the highest satisfaction levels with their digital agencies’ capabilities.

·         20% of Indian marketers surveyed are currently allocating more than a quarter of their marketing budget to digital marketing spend, but this number is expected to increase to 30% by 2013.


APAC Digital Marketing Performance Dashboard 2012 Methodology
The 2012 APAC Digital Marketing Performance Dashboard was compiled through qualitative interviews conducted via phone with marketers in the Asia Pacific region. An online quantitative survey was distributed to the APAC members of the CMO Council. A total of 295 marketers from Australia, Korea, China, India, Hong Kong, Singapore and other countries within the Asia Pacific region responded and completed the online survey. All interviews and summaries included in the report have been reviewed and approved by each interviewee.

About the CMO Council

The CMO Council is dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building among senior corporate marketing leaders and brand decision-makers across a wide-range of global industries. The CMO Council's 6,000 members control more than $300 billion in aggregated annual marketing expenditures and run complex, distributed marketing and sales operations worldwide. In total, the CMO Council and its strategic interest communities include more than 20,000 global executives in more than 110 countries covering multiple industries, segments and markets. Regional chapters and advisory boards are active in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, India and Africa. The Council's strategic interest groups include the Coalition to Leverage and Optimize Sales Effectiveness (CLOSE), LoyaltyLeaders.org, Marketing Supply Chain Institute, Customer Experience Board, Market Sense-Ability Center, Digital Marketing Performance Institute, GeoBranding Center, and the Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience (FAME).

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

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