UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH PHANG CHEE LEONG, CEO, INNITY
a) What are some of the key trends in the online marketing space?
While the click still remains the predominant way that advertisers measure their display ad campaigns, it is not always the best measure particularly when the objectives of an ad campaign are to boost things like brand awareness or recall. In five years, we will see new metrics being regarded as more important than the click.
Increasingly, video and rich media are becoming very popular. The reason for this is that it is able to evoke the same type of emotional response that marketers get from TV ads with more accuracy in terms of measurement and better ability to target ads. Engagement and interaction involved in ads will play a key role going forward.
In order to deliver their messages more effectively, marketers are also spending more on display advertising, social media initiatives and mobile applications that help them better reach and engage with their audience.
Additionally, engaging ad formats and innovative payment formats will play a key role in online marketing going forward.
b) How has online advertising grown over the years?
According to eMarketer, an additional $11 billion will flow into the online advertising space overall between 2010 and 2014 which just goes to show how central the internet is becoming as a place in the media universe. This also reflects the fact that more and more marketers are finding their audiences online while benefiting from more precise targeting and better measurement than they would find with other media.
In Malaysia specifically, according to Nielsen’s report, ad spend on the internet went up 0.1% from 0.6% (RM16.7 million) in H1 in 2009 to 0.7% (RM25.9 million) in H1 of 2010. This just goes to show that the digital threat is no longer in its infancy and will only see continued growth with the surge of avenues such as display advertising and mobile marketing..
c) What has been Innity’s biggest achievement in the online advertising space?
Innity remains a leading player in the online interactive marketing space and amongst our many achievements, we are:
– The first company to introduce CPE in the APAC region
– The first company to introduce retargeting in the APAC region
– The first company in the APAC region to be IAB certified
