Cracking the code: How consumer brands can maximise ROI with omnichannel approaches

How can a consumer brand improve marketing ROI? How does its current ROI stack up against industry benchmarks? What are the key opportunities and challenges for brands specifically in the APAC region?

These are just some of the questions which a new whitepaper from data science and AI-powered solutions specialist Ekimetrics seeks to answer. ‘Winning marketing strategies for consumer brands: Benchmarking metrics that matter’ takes on several questions that marketers grapple with every day, covering key geographies across APAC including ANZ, North Asia (Korea, Japan, and Taiwan excluding mainland China) and Southeast Asia. The whitepaper was created using Ekimetrics Marketing Mix Optimisation (MMO) capabilities to analyse millions of dollars in media spend over the past 4 years.

Speaking about the theme of the whitepaper, Olivier Kuziner, Managing Partner APAC, Ekimetrics said, “The market for consumer goods in Asia Pacific is rapidly evolving, driven by emerging trends such as aggravated price sensitivity or boosted interest in sustainable products. Parallel to these shifts, the region is facing growing digitization, with consumers spending larger amount of time on digital platforms. Embedded in the broader paradigm of omnichannel engagement, media digitization is completely reshaping the marketing landscape. The question for many marketers is how to keep pace with all these changes and leverage meaningful digital assets to create outstanding consumer experiences.”

The whitepaper points to several emerging trends, including strategies that can be deployed by consumer goods marketers to optimise the impact of their campaigns.

The surprising resilience of omnichannel media consumption

Although digital marketing platforms have gained massive traction and cater to a predominantly mobile-first audience, the data tells a different story.

Omnichannel strategies still find a lot of traction across the region.

Among offline media, TV retains its dominance even as online video and connected TV gain ground. Offline media owes at least some of its appeal to an aging demographic in many key markets who are in no hurry to switch to a digital first lifestyle.

Nevertheless, there are deeper, compelling reasons that make offline media a valuable option, even as marketers are increasingly drawn to digital for its precise metrics, higher ROI, and ROAS. Ryan Kim, MMO Specialist APAC, Ekimetrics said, “The role of traditional media across key markets in the Asia-Pacific region remains significant and multifaceted.”

Offline media contributes to areas like brand recall and long-term impact helping to seed iconic jingles and logos that are embedded in collective memory to create a lasting impression. Kim observed, “While digital ads may capture attention momentarily, TV commercials and other traditional media formats tend to linger in the consumer’s mind, building a solid foundation for sustained sales growth and brand relevance.” In markets such as Australia and New Zealand, where an outdoor lifestyle is the norm, he added, “billboards are particularly effective, resonating with audiences who spend significant time out of the house.”

One of traditional media’s most important advantages is the crucial role it plays in omnichannel marketing strategies. Kim said, “The synergy between traditional and digital media enhances the customer journey, driving consumers from awareness to consideration and ultimately to purchase. This cross-channel presence ensures a comprehensive approach to customer acquisition and retention. While digital media offers precise performance metrics, traditional media remains a vital component and continues to deliver significant value through its ability to reach diverse audiences, create lasting brand impact, and act to complement digital strategies.”

A wide and varied media mix across markets

APAC markets exhibit diverse levels of development, which is reflected in their preferred media channels for reaching consumers. Despite this diversity, overarching trends like digitization are evident across the region.

Ecommerce search and display account for the lowest share of spend by media mix. But strong growth is expected from this space, given the significant presence of both homegrown and global ecommerce companies. William Ferrell, Customer Centricity Lead APAC at Ekimetrics said, “The rise of retail media networks in APAC driven by Amazon, Alibaba, Lazada, Shopee, and JD.com present an opportunity for consumer brands to invest more heavily in these channels, reaching customers at the point of purchase. These brands will likely shift more of their media mix towards e-commerce to capitalise on the region’s digital growth and the opportunities for targeted consumer engagement.”

Delving into data from multiple sources to identify critical KPIs

Having more data than ever before at their disposal is a mixed blessing for consumer goods marketers. While data brings the potential for better targeting and more insightful marketing approaches, marketers often struggle to leverage this information optimally. Ferrell pointed out, “Marketers face the challenge of isolating critical data indicators from vast sources like e-commerce, social media, and customer feedback.” A potential workaround lies in aligning data to business objectives. Ferrell recommended, “They should leverage advanced analytics and AI to track, measure, and act on the insights from each relevant data source. They can implement real-time dashboards that segment and filter data to enable storytelling, democratising the vast amount of data available in an intuitive fashion.”

The full report from Ekimetrics contains deeper insights on all the above areas, while highlighting areas where consumer brands can build a competitive advantage. Kuziner said, “Leveraging Ekimetrics’ cutting-edge Marketing Mix Optimisation platform OneVision which enabled computation of more than one million data points, this report builds on unique marketing benchmarks, including marketing ROI and media spend levels, contextualised to different APAC sub-regions and media channels.”

To access the full report, please visit the Ekimetrics site.