D+D partners with The CMO Council in Asia-Pacific

When it launched in January, the D+D promised its members to be advocates for the industry and to aid networking as a means for marketers to maximise the value of their investment in direct and digital marketing.

The CMO Council’s 7,000-strong membership in 110 countries represents an opportunity for D+D’s publications, such as its yearbook, to gain an audience internationally, explained D+D chairman David Ketchum. “We’re also hoping that this wider audience will learn more about digital opportunities in Asia.”

On the part of the council, D+D will provide the in-market presence in Asia-Pacific it hasn’t had and grant it access to people in the region for the surveys and research it pilots such as the Asia-Pacific Digital Marketing Performance Dashboard the council conducts with Adobe, Ketchum added.

“The CMO Council is also interested in holding the type of closed-door, senior roundtable events we have, which is inclusive of agencies and where we overlap in this regard is an opportunity,” he said, adding that at these events the broader focus of the CMOs will provide a boardroom-level perspective for direct and digital marketers.

This partnership is the latest in a series of industry-level activities in Asia including the launch of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) first regional office in Singapore and, more recently, UK-based Marketing Society’s launch in Asia.

A macro-economic push is taking place in the region, encouraging members to be more active, observed Ketchum. “After the global financial crisis, people around the world lost interest in affiliations and associations, they were too busy looking after their own businesses," he said. "But as markets have started to recover in the US and in Europe, international MNCs and associations have become more interested in Asia-Pacific. In the region, the business feels secure now that it’s got the basics covered and feels ready to devote time to industry-level activities.”

"APAC is a dynamic, complex and multi-dimensional regional market, and we value the linkage with trusted local resources and domain experts in both the digital and direct sectors”, noted Donovan Neale-May, founder and executive director of the CMO Council. “We are seeing more and more global market contenders and brand challengers based in Asia, and our multinational members definitely want to learn more about digital channels, strategies and creative approaches in Asia.”