APAC vs Global Marketing: Learnings from ADWEEK

Regionalising needs to be top of mind for brands. After working day-to-day with regional leads across APAC, it's refreshing to hear someone in the industry talk about APAC as its own beast instead of lumping us into a global strategy. At #AWAPAC, Richard McCabe from McCann Worldgroup took us through the key things brands need to consider when marketing.

APAC consumers are radically moving towards trusting local over global brands - and when we do trust global brands it's the ones that appreciate the culture and diversity of each market. Brands must have a deep understanding of people and culture to play a broader role and it's imperative that they are strategic in how they approach APAC to ensure maximum ROI, regional buy-in, and trust.

The AdWeek session left us with three points that brands need to be 100% across to win APAC marketing:

1. Truth is a valued currency

According to a global survey in 2018, 72% of people felt it's more important to put the truth before any other factors in all situations, up from 61% in 2015. APAC tends to take the truth much more seriously. Our region can often feel the need to seek truth from multiple sources (such as on a news story) before accepting it as fact. China leans into this tendency more heavily needing almost double the sources of the global average.

For brands, this means spending time understanding the local market and building trust. Brands need to find a way to navigate the changing dynamics of the local and political landscape in each regional market they're playing in.

Some country-specific insights I found particularly enlightening were:

• In China, brands are associated with creativity, rather than trustworthiness like the rest of the world (very interesting considering they check more sources than the global average). Something done in a clever way is highly respected in China, and there is a huge focus on creating the next big thing - but through improvement rather than disruption.
• In Thailand honesty ranks higher than the global average. More than 1/2 of Thais believe that social media is not always truthful.
• In Japan, there is more of a flexible mindset towards truth compared to the global average, which has been formed from a tendency towards harmony and saving face.

My key takeaway: Brands need to show up with an APAC specific strategy that understands the culture of each country while prioritising transparency - anything else will be seen as inauthentic.

2. Diversity is the new ordinary

What does diversity mean to different regions? Sometimes we have an assumption that diversity means the same thing country by country, but it couldn't be more inaccurate in APAC.

Diversity isn't just defined as a difference of language, religion or race. In many APAC markets, diversity alludes to income, geographic regions (provinces), and generational barriers (eg. experiences of those exposed/not exposed to the Korean War).

Did you know: China and Korea believe themselves to be the most diverse nations

My key takeaway: Different than "me" doesn’t need to mean foreign - it could refer to class, generation, geographic region etc. Diversity isn't just a comparison of markets, there are layers within markets that brands need to consider before rolling out an advertising strategy.

3. Embrace deep globality

Deep globality is defined as "the awareness of and efforts to thoughtfully spread a brand, idea, or movement in a multi-market capacity, while actively enriching the receiving culture."

As a brand, you need to be embracing the local culture when you're in a market. You have to give just as much (if not more) as you take. More than anything it's important to promote unified values while addressing niche market nuances. Think about if your strategy will not only work IN <insert country> but more pressingly will it work FOR <insert country>. What can you give back to meet the unique needs and expectations of each audience?

My key takeaway: What is the gift of globality that your brand can deliver in a local way, and vice versa?

Overall, it's clear that brands need to step up to the challenge and not fall into the trap of globalising content. Whether it's uplifting brand awareness or pushing for lower-funnel conversions, it's more vital than ever to think about how you can add value to the consumer and build on culture, rather than just inserting your brand in a market.

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The 2019 Adweek session on how brands can win in APAC was by far the best I've seen over the past few years. All credit (and thanks!) goes to Richard McCabe and the team at McCann Worldgroup for the content shared at #AWAPAC.