ASIA-PACIFIC – SINGAPORE, APRIL 30, 2012: The tech-equipped digitally-savvy consumer and the future of mobile marketing against the changing digital media landscape were the central topics on the first day of the Mobile Marketing Association Forum Singapore 2012 (MMAF). Closely focused on evolving consumer behaviour in the current technological environment and how brands and marketers can engage, inform and influence them, the first day of MMAF offered industry the chance to identify market trends that will shape a smarter future.
Nearly 300 delegates and speakers were present at the event held April 24 at the Grand Hyatt, featuring presentations from industry and media leaders such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Google and Nokia. Themed ‘A Smarter Tomorrow’, the MMAF highlighted how the development of the mobile marketing and advertising industry is contingent on a deeper understanding of tech-equipped digitally-aware consumers, who have come to understand and shape the new emerging media.
Consumers will be less concerned about the distinctions between mobile and digital and Internet, but will simply operate within a converged space, Guest-of-Honour, Michael Yap told the delegates at the Forum when he opened with his Keynote Address. Mr Michael Yap is Deputy CEO, Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA).
His talk set the stage for the day’s discussions as he explained Singapore’s world-leading efforts to encourage the development of the interactive digital media sector, including MDA’s international research network, collaboration with industry (including test-bedding programs with a mobile marketing focus) and other progressive programmes.
The nation’s focus on the tech-equipped digitally-savvy consumer mirrored exactly the next talk by Marcel Fenez, Global Leader Entertainment & Media, PricewaterhouseCoopers, who eschewed a discussion of technology in favour of talking about what consumers want in terms of content and how they behave. Against the backdrop of an informative video that included candid comments from consumers from all over the world, Fenez explained that consumers take technology as a given, and that they are more interested in content than in channels.
“The tech-equipped digitally-savvy consumer of the future is the clear focus, as they use their mobile devices in ways that brands and marketers could never imagine,” said Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, APAC. “This year we’ve had more of everything – more brands, more delegates, more insights. This is a reflection of reality. Mobile is so much a part of everyday life that now it’s the consumers who are shaping the landscape of this new media.”
Consumers continued to dominate the conversation for the rest of the day. Srikanth Raju, Head, Ecosystem, APAC, Nokia explained at one point that there may be low-end devices, but there are no low-end consumers (meaning that consumers all want compelling experiences, regardless of the device). Even when the conference split into two tracks (one on mobile as The New Media and the other on Audience and Data), consumer behaviour was still the centre of attention, no matter the subject, from social TV to media consumption, from cross media communication to mobile commerce.
The discussion of digitally-aware consumer of today and the future of mobile marketing continues tomorrow, as the Mobile Marketing Association Forum Singapore 2012 enters its second day
