Kate Clough is Regional Media Director, APAC at MRM Worldwide. Here in an interview wit ExchangeWire APAC, Clough gives an insight into the Chinese display market, the third biggest after the US and Japan.

Can you give an overview of MRM’s offering in the APAC region?

MRM is a global technology-driven marketing solutions provider with clearly defined practices, including strategy, site and content development, digital media, CRM, measurement and analytics. We create, execute, measure and optimize experiences that contribute to our clients’ marketing objectives and ignite passion for their brands.

The regional media team, which I manage, provides A-to-Z media services, focusing primarily on digital platforms: vertical sites/portals/networks, paid search, natural search, social media, mobile and others. The core team includes native Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English speakers, with broad knowledge of Asian markets, while the extended team, on-the-ground in key markets like Thailand and India, ensure linguistic accuracy, understanding of local trends, ties with the local media and so on.

By streamlining multi-country programs through the core HK-based team, while simultaneously collaborating behind the scenes with the extended team, we offer the convenience of a single point of contact without trading off localization. In fact, our unique approach increases the power of our programs through market-to-market knowledge-sharing.

Can you provide an insight into media buying and how it works with ad networks and publishers in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea? 

For clients who aim to achieve immediate response (e.g., cost-per-action, cost-per-sale), we work with ad networks and supplement this with directly-purchased domestic media. Generally, we find that the ad networks that offer action-oriented pricing (e.g., CPA) and the most sophisticated targeting capabilities in these countries, originated in other markets and unfortunately, still have relatively poor penetration into local, in-language media. This is the reason for the two-pronged approach.

For clients who are trying to build their brand (awareness, perception), we almost always buy directly with publishers, because ad networks do not offer us enough control over placement or inventory distribution across sites (to achieve reach/frequency goals) and rarely offer unique ad formats or innovative creative opportunities, all of which are critical to capturing interest and building long-lasting associations.

Read Kate Clough's Interview In Full On ExchangeWire APAC...