90 Degrees Asia

  With a population of 51 million, South Korea is one of the most connected countries in the world – with an internet penetration rate of 93%¹. (The penetration rate is measured by internet use or smartphone ownership). The proliferation of internet use has contributed to the increased usage of social media channels. YouTube has garnered more popularity in recent times (with an increment of 7%²) although the online news access is still dominated by local platforms such as Naver and Daum. Three-quarter (78%) of the users reported having watched online news videos in the last week, while more than half (58%) said that they listened to podcasts at least once a month³. Kakao Talk is the message app of choice for Korean users – a platform where they interact (more privately) over shared news and political information 4 .  Credit :  media.digitalnewsreport.org The current technological climate in South Korea is a departure from what it was in the 1960s – it has grown remarkably...

  The gifting of red packets (monetary gifts) during Chinese New Year or on special occasions such as weddings, birth of a child or graduations, is one of the oldest traditions in China. This custom symbolizes blessings or good luck and are usually given out by married couple to single people. When WeChat launched the ‘Red Packet’ function, it became an instant hit.     https://chinachannel.co/2018-wechat-red-packets-data-report-new-year-eve/ Enterprises leverage on this function to connect with Chinese consumers and for branding purposes. Case in point – Macy’s launched the red envelope campaign on Weibo, which successfully added 16,000 new followers since inception. Each post averaging 20,000 reads. More impressively, the campaign so far, has led to over 30,000 downloads. Ways of executing the ‘Red Packet’ marketing via WeChat    Follow an account and receive a red packet. Leave a message and receive a red...

  SMEs seeking to venture into new territories overseas, may find their first steps daunting. With due diligence and concerted business planning, it needn’t be so. Imperative factors to consider include: Assessment of company’s readiness for overseas expansion Clarify funding structure and operating model Analyse capabilities gap and build capabilities to bridge the lack Accelerate acquisition of relevant knowledge to manage expansion risks Since great ideas don’t market themselves, digital marketing is not only necessary but can also serve as a prelude to your overseas venture – without having to be physically there. Digital analytics can be leveraged upon, to do a pre-assessment on your brand’s target demographic needs. This is not to say that we can oversimplify the complexity of it all, but incorporating digital marketing to your business can certainly value-add. Let us illustrate how: Insights on Consumers Behaviour Buying preferences and habits in one culture does not transla...

  The upcoming Tokyo Olympics 2020 has opened doors to the global halal industry, in its bid to attract and accommodate Muslim tourists. The number of Muslim arrivals to Japan has been growing sharply since its government relaxed visa requirements for South East Asian visitors. The popularity of social media and low-cost air travel in Asia, have fuelled growth in Japan’s Muslim tourist sector. The Olympic Games is expected to further increase the number of Muslim travellers to Japan hence increasing the demand for halal food, products, Muslim-friendly guided tours, hotels and the availability of mosques and prayer rooms. There has been a massive change in Japan’s halal industry landscape in the past 10 years. However, there is still ample opportunity areas for growth. What are the benefits of going halal for companies? Businesses can leverage on the global halal market worth more than USD2.1 trillion, enhance competitive advantage in the global market place, provide greater assuran...

  Millennials are probably the most misunderstood generation of all times. Born in 1982 and under, they have been stereotyped as job-hopping, lazy, entitled and self-centred. According to Forbes, 68% of organisations find it difficult to manage millennials. Despite their shortcomings, millennials tend to be tech savvy, creative and focused on getting their job done. However, they are not receptive to red tapes, bureaucracy, hierarchical structures or being forced to follow a specific process (if they can achieve the end result in a more effective way). Whether you like it or not, millennials are not merely part of the workforce – they ARE the workforce. As they succeed the generations before them (baby boomers and generation X-ers alike), understanding these emerging leaders is crucial. 73% of millennial workers are involved in decisions to purchase products or services for their companies or their own businesses¹. The traditional, linear sales process of qualifying, educating, cre...

  Japan has the world’s 4th largest e-commerce market after United States, China and United Kingdom. The Japanese fashion market offers great retail and e-commerce opportunities. While developing a digital presence is key from a marketing perspective, it is still important to be visible in physical stores, to allow for greater impact on the market and sales online. In our previous article, we highlighted the opportunities in the halal industry space, in Japan. A lot of focus has been placed on halal food and tourism sectors. However, there is a dormant and untapped potential in modest fashion which we will explore here. What is modest fashion, exactly? Modest fashion conforms with Islamic principles – clothing pieces which are not clinging to body contours, preferably loose, long-sleeved and are made of non-translucent materials for tops. For bottoms, the skirts or pants must be long or covering the ankles, at the very least. These are usually worn with  hijabs ...

  A typical upgrade “strategy” is where you just take old content and delete it. Most people who do it, do it wrong and your traffic goes down, instead of going up. If you are not technically savvy or you don’t really know how to interpret your traffic data, you can mess up your content strategy. Even though a webpage doesn’t get many visitors, some of them may have several strong backlinks and social shares. They are creating some good brand signals and amazing user metrics for you. A good example is a blog post that doesn’t get much traffic, but your readers stick around for 5 minutes or more and it makes your overall website do better. So if you are not getting enough traffic to your blog posts, what should you do? Look at your data on Google Analytics and list down top 20 blog articles and see if there is anything new in the last 60 days. If there is something new has popped up, take a look at the blog posts and see how many keywords that page ranks for. If it ranks for a hundr...

  There is no denying on the significance of influencer marketing for businesses. Even small pop-up stores are learning about this marketing phenomenon. It has become the standard PR and marketing strategy, but many are still unsure on how to effectively use the influence. Statistics show that: People between 18-34 years prefer a recommendation from a social media influencer (Media Post) B2B decision-makers rely on trusted online communities when buying (Forrester Research) All buying decisions are directed by word of mouth recommendations (McKinsey and Co.) A case study done by Nielsen Catalina Solutions and TapInfluence, showed that  influencer content generates ROI that is 11 times greater than traditional digital campaigns . (Influencer campaigns earn $6.55 for every $1.00 spent). This is not to say that it’ll work for every single business under the sun but it’s definitely worth exploring. To create a successful influencer marketing campaign, you need to: Determine Your O...

  There is a lot of buzz surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), of late. Discussions on AI vary from the benefits that we can reap from embracing its use to the unease surrounding its potential threats (such as replacement of jobs). One thing is certain – artificial intelligence will revolutionize digital marketing in helping businesses achieve epic breakthroughs. But what is AI exactly and what are its benefits to Digital Marketing? AI is a process in which machines are able to essentially figure out to problem-solve on their own, by drawing on previous data. The benefits of AI include: Predicting the behaviour of your customer AI is able to analyze behaviour and customer profiles more closely and perform their own outreach strategy. It can personalize a customer experience based on his purchasing history and predict the behaviour of new and existing users. The accuracy of customer journeys will get more efficient and help determine sales forecasting and ROI so that your busine...

  When one thinks about digital marketing – it is usually synonymous with trending hashtags, emotive, viral videos or stylish influencers and charming industry thought leaders. But what if your company or the industry that you’re in is more ‘practical’ or to put it more bluntly, more boring? How do you craft sexy content to promote the sale of your industrial machinery or increase product awareness on the benefits of the fertilizer that your company is reputed for, through social media? According to online marketing guru, Neil Patel – B2B companies with unintelligible products or services need to find and develop an angle that is understandable to appeal to a broader audience. Digital marketing is fortunately not industry biased. Here are 5 tips to amp up your initiatives. Humanize your brand  Once you have found an un-boring angle to craft your content with, make an intense effort to humanize your brand on social media. Online presence and engagement should come first, leads ...

  We never get a second chance to make a first impression – this applies even in business. A positive experience can create long-lasting business relationships. By creating a compelling LinkedIn Page, companies get to increase following, expand content reach, drive qualified leads, grow connections within targeted buying committees and drive traffic to your organization’s website. As a rule of thumb, LinkedIn’s top 10 Company Pages in 2018 shares more or less of the following best practices: 5 Tips that will help you maximise your LinkendIn Company Page Companies should never underestimate the importance of having a complete company profile (as a start) by ensuring that these components are included at the basic level – logo, company description, website URL, company size, industry type and location. These will provide your visitors with all the information they need to connect with your company when they’re ready. According to a finding by LinkedIn, businesses that post ...