With digital gaining prominence at breakneck speed, why are Asia's business elite still largely leaning on traditional media channels?
Marketing spoke to a few senior marketers on their take on the findings of the Ipsos MediaCT's latest BE:
Asia survey which shows 68% of this lucrative demographic own a smartphone - seven times the penetration of the general public, with 30% linked to social networking sites and 73% use digital media.
But almost a 100% still read traditional print media, 69% read international publications and more than half watch international TV channels on a daily basis.
Money K, global head of marketing, Citi Private Bank feels that online is great for headlines, news bites and real-time market data on the go but for a proper read of a longer, thoughtful, analytical article, the medium of paper will continue to be popular.
Although he added that the new generation of tablets such as the iPad do threaten print's dominance.
"In the private banking industry, we are of the view that within the next decade, about $5 trillion in wealth will have moved to a new generation. It also implies that leadership in many companies will also have moved to a new generation, who have different ideas, aspirations and behaviours. They represent the "network generation" - internet and tech savvy, huge users of mobile technology, and active in social media; generally they are the children of the digital revolution," he said.
However, traditional sources of news will still be popular to a new generation of business leaders coming on stream, although the medium of
engagement will increasingly be digital rather than paper, K adds. According to Alan Tan, head of branding & strategic marketing, OSIM International, the reason for such a trend is largely the result of working
habits of CEOs.
"They are less likely to be deskbound and dependent on technology and the internet (and they don't Facebook). Their job is to strategise and think big picture. The net has too much information and it takes time to filter out what you want from what you don't need," Tan says.
Having a financial paper, on the other hand, allows the CEO to quickly scan the page for what is important - the news of the day.
"If he needs to drill down into details, he can always get his personal assistant or the company analyst/researcher to do the necessary research," he adds.
However, Tan suspects that as younger managers and CEOs spend more time on their electronic devices, the numbers will change over time.
"But I'm sure they will still refer to the papers," he adds.
By Elizabeth Low, Singapore
30 September 2010
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