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Marketing to& Researching
the Youth:
Challenges &Opportunities
JUN I s s u e
2 0 1 1
10 News Across:
The Great Malaysian Tech Splurge... & Other Findings
14 Spotlight:
Khailee Ng ExecutiveDirector,
Youth Asia
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InsidethisIssue
3 President’sMessage
4 Editorial Director’sMessage
5 CoverStory
8 SpecialFeature
10 News Across
14 Spotlight
17 Industry
Updates
18 MRSMEvents
18 On TheMove
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Marketing to & Researching the Youth: Challenges & Opportunities
Youth Marketing: Avoiding theMinefelds o Social Media &Harnessing Youth Passion
Consumer Trends 2011, The GreatMalaysian Tech Splurge & more
An Interview with Khailee NgExecutive Director, Youth Asia
Asia Consumer Index Q4‘10 etc
MRSM Congress Event& Bowling etc
JUNE 2011
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Marketing to& Researching
the Youth:Challenges &Opportunities
JUN I s s u e
2 0 1 1
10News Across:TheGreatMalaysian TechSplurge...& Other Findings
14Spotlight:KhaileeNg ExecutiveDirector,
YouthAsia
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Youth &
the Digital Age
“At no time in recent historyhave we seen the full powerof consumer-
ism...”
WELCOME TO THE 2ND issue of our very own Whiz. Let me kick
this issue off with a quote by our Prime Minister in April 2011 at a local
investment conference.
“1Malaysia is about uniting everyone behind our country's transformation…
it is about clear-headed, performance-based management – for I have long believed that
history favours [those] who produce results over those who are great orators but who fall
short when it comes to delivering on the promises they make.”
The message is clear; i.e. the call is to further strengthen ournational unity and economic justice. But it is implied that we also have to
leverage our strength. It is not enough to just utter promises and mantras.
We have to follow through on our promise. We have to live our mantras.
We can no longer use the dire economic climate as an excuse.
The country is starting the year in the right note: FDI rose 400% last
year; accumulated domestic savings remain healthy; and the various
initiatives under the ETP and GTP are gaining traction. The services
sector still grew 10.1% in Q1 2011 despite the smaller economic growth
of 5.2% in the same period (vs a 7.2% growth for 2010).
The MR industry is also enjoying the ride based on the conversations
we’ve had with each other over the last few months. Good news indeed.
MRSM has gained further traction in 2010 as highlighted in the
AGM in April. We have brought some life back into the website, we
have launched our inaugural WHIZ, we followed through on our calen-
dar of networking and training events, and arrested the decline in mem-
bership. But it is no time for celebration as there is still work to be done.
The time is ripe for us to push through a number of key initiatives for the
benefit of our members. The MRSM Congress is earmarked for the third
quarter of this year. Several training and networking events are already lined
up through the rest of the year. A more concerted effort to increase member-
ship is to kick off. The beefing up of our website is also in the works to makeit more interactive, informative, and relevant for our fellow practitioners.
Meantime, do enjoy this latest issue of Whiz. We are focusing on
the YOUTH this time around – very apt as these are the current and
future consumers. At no time in recent history have we seen the full
power of consumerism like the youth have exhibited today. The digital
age has truly revolutionized the world of marketing and media, and these are
the very people who are embracing the digital world with delight and vigor.
Enjoy!
Yours sincerely,
Yazid Jamian
President, MRSM
President’sMessage
03
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Youth is a Sourceof Talent Pool
“...understanding
the young can be
a challenge due
to its many
nuances and
ever evolving
mindset..”
IN THIS 2ND ISSUE, we’re focussing on Youth. This consumer
group is being targeted by marketers as more than 30% of the
population are from the age of 15-35 years old. They’re not just
being targeted as consumers but also as a source of talent pool to
meet the human resource needs of this country.
The youth represents a unique culture and occupies an
important position in our society; this country even has a ministry
for the youth (Ministry of Youth and Sports). However,
understanding the young can be a challenge due to its many nuances
and ever evolving mindset. Youth conjures up images of energy and vitality. Defining this segment is not an easy task as written by Sidd
in the cover story.
There’s also a special feature, sponsored by TNS Research
International, highlighting the importance of social media as a
powerful marketing communications tool with the young. Its
significance is aptly demonstrated by a recent event and some brands
which have successfully deployed the digital media to engage with
their consumers.
There’s a saying, ‘youth is wasted on the young”. However,
this is not necessary the case as proven by Khailee Ng. He’s
well-known for his work in harnessing young people to action. This
young chap is blazing new trails, pioneering Youth Asia, an online
community for the young. Read about his insights into young people
and those young at heart.
Enjoy this issue.
Your sincerely,
Barry Ooi
MRSM-Whiz
Editorial Director’sMessage
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Marketing to &Researching the Youth:
Challenges &Opportunities
CoverStory
05
These are the best of times, these are the worst of times.
NOTHING AS DRAMATIC AS the state of Paris
as described by Charles Dickens in “A Tale of Two
Cities,” but with much at stake in terms of markets
won and lost, marketing dollars and careers being
placed on the line.
In these choppy times, when the need to make
every buck count (more) is much more pronouncedthan before, marketers are sleeplessly identifying
and tapping into new consumer segments. While
the Youth has always been a lucrative segment,
there is much that confronts marketers for whom
they form a key Target Group. This article attempts
to start a discussion on some of these “issues”.
1: Youth Vs Youthfulness: Arriving at aclear definition of “Youth”
Today the easiest way to describe the youth would
be to use pre-defined age boundaries. For example,
the United Nations defines the youth as those who
fall between the ages of 15 and 24 years. In Malay-
sia, the official upper age limit stands at 40 years.
However, as those under 15 years tend to mature
faster owing to advances in education, nutrition,
media images and earlier instances of getting pocket
money, and those over 40 embrace new trends in a
bid to remain “in the loop”, we can expect moreemphasis on behavioural manifestations of “youth-
fulness.” These would include earl(ier) and more
varied adoption of digital devices and grooming
products, spending more on “apps” and even shifting
loyalties on favourite musicians. Increased purchas-
ing power would also mean a greater propensity to
buy into multiple products for multiple occasions
for FMCGs and media, and products better suited
to one’s lifestyle in case of durables and digital
devices.
So even as Taylor Swift rules the “young
romance” market, don’t be surprised if 40-some-
things hold forth a discussion on how the Lady
Gaga of today matches up with the Madonna of
yesterday, whether Madonna’s Papa Don’t Preach
said more than Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”
At an operational level, researchers would need
to go beyond numerical boundaries and ensure
regular update on of those “indicators of youthful-
ness” in their Screener Questionnaires, especially if
the study is Qualitative. This logicallly sets the tone
for more intense discussions of target groups and
true indicators of particular psychographic profiles.
2: Determining where personal spaceends and intrusion begins
Sometime back, I came across a rather amusing
case of inter-generational tug-of-war. A dominat-
ing mother was trying to ensure that her college-
going daughter was not straying from a traditionalupbringing. “No boyfriends” was the norm, and
Tiger Mom began monitoring the calls of Daugh-
ter Dearest’s handphone. The solution? Enterpris-
ing Boyfriend readily gifts her a new handphone
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Marketing to& Researching
the Youth:Challenges &Opportunities
JUN I s s u e
2 0 1 1
10News Across:TheGreatMalaysian TechSplurge...& Other Findings
14Spotlight:KhaileeNg ExecutiveDirector,
YouthAsia
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with a SIM card linked to his own. Hotline estab-
lished, Tiger Mom is kept out.
At another distant kampung, a set of young
boys fiddle around with an internet-enabled
computer. The mother of one of the boys laments
that she would like to know more, but her son will
not teach. “Perhaps he is afraid that I will bekeeping tabs,” she says helplessly, literally calling
out for someone who will teach older people like
her, minus the embarrassment.
Gen X (or Y or Z) seems to work at cross
purposes. On the one hand, it reaches out through
social media. On the other, it keeps “unwanted”
elements out through privacy controls. As research
techniques become more and more intrusive (Eg
video diaries, etc), research practitioners would
need to be extra vigilant to ensure that the tech-niques concerned do not become too invasive and
elicit responses that are more politically correct /
safe. Solid checks and balances need to be in place
to maintain respondent confidentiality and prevent
“leakage” of footage.
3: Separating Buzz from Noise
In the current proliferation of both consumer and
manufacturer-induced social media, it is important
to separate the wood from the trees, or the buzz
from the noise. Much of the problem rises from
the fact that one is either not sure of who has
posted a comment, or whether it has been “doc-
tored” or “moderated” by an intermediary.
While new data collection methods such as
Online Bulletin Boards and Facebook pages are
creating much excitement, it would fall upon good
old observation and common sense to adopt such a
method.
4: Re-emphasising Trust, RenewingBonds
Linked to the above is the never-ending debate on
whether an autobiography is a true reflection of a
person’s life, or does a biography provide a more
objective analysis. While manufacturer-sponsored
media is expected to tow the “official” line,
consumer forums / reviews / etc provide the other
side of the story.
Today’s Youth loathes being taken for a ride,
and can be quite unforgiving in seeking retribu-
tion, as many Middle Eastern leaders are finding
out rather late in the day. While nobody expects a
consistently clean slate, one does expect a certain
amount of transparency throughout, and quick
re-dressal when things go wrong. Much of the ire
in the Middle East has been directed at un-kept
promises and an uncertain economic environment.
In such a situation, one would expect marketers
to be more proactive in communicating trust and
transparency through their regular Marcom initia-
tives and Corporate Social Responsibility, on a
sustaining basis... Empowerment and Skill
Enhancement, rather than temporary gratification, in
partnership with governmental and non-governmental
agencies, are bound to come to the fore. Researchers
may expect a rise in both ad-hoc and tracking
studies on Corporate Imagery.
“Today’s Youth loathes being taken for a ride,and can be quite unforgiving in seeking retribution...”
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5: New Icons
The change in youth expectations is bound to bring
about fresh youth icons and the need for marketers
to keep up. While performing celebrities such as
Dato’s Siti Nurhaliza, Michelle Yeoh and Shah Rukh
Khan are expected to retain their fan clubs, the
spotlight will be on home-grown achievers with a“person next door” image who have had humble(r)
beginnings.
Some time back, I noticed how a glamorous
soccer star with the initials DVB went hand-in-hand
with the winner of Star Academy, a Middle Eastern
Reality show similar to Akademi Fantasia. “He
inspires us,” said respondents in Focus Groups, “We
feel we also can achieve much, starting from
scratch,” they added. The increasing hoarding space
hogged by hardcore achievers such as Dato’s LeeChong Wei and Nicole Anne David in Malaysia,
World No 3 in Women’s Badminton Saina Nehwal
and India’s cricket captain, M.S. Dhoni (who rose
from what was once considered an extremely under-
developed part of India to be India’s highest-paid
endorser of brands) are cases in point.
Dogged activists such as Aung San Suu Kyi of
Myanmar would continue to enjoy support, specially
in their crusade for a change in national order that
would promise a better economic and social environ-
ment for the youth. And we are bound to see “for the
moment” celebrities such as the young lady who
inspired Egyptians to congregate at Tahrir square in
Cairo, and the “shoe-thrower” on President George
W Bush to enter the “zone”. One can safely expect
more and more movie stars (especially those who
have depicted such “crusaders” on celluloid) to jump
into politics to cash in on their real popularity and
“reel” personas. Followers of Tamil movies in Malay-
sia and Singapore can look forward to a lot of thisespecially in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Cover StoryMarketing to & Researching the Youth
07
At the same time, don’t expect them to be blind
followers. In true “Asian” spirit the youth would
tend to be less appreciative of talents who have
fizzled out, but nevertheless show too much
“attitude”. Ask Britney Spears. Or even Sania Mirza,
once WTA’s Most Improved Player of the Year and
Asia’s hottest star, who now struggles to get past
the first round in most of her tournaments, t-shirtsproclaiming “Whatever” notwithstanding.
So what’s up in Malaysia?
And, things are changing in Malaysia too... Reports
indicate that Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Ministry is
to undergo rebranding in the effort to empower
youths to face bigger challenges. A committee
headed by Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, is to
be set up to undertake a comprehensive study of the
ministry's structure. The study is to take intoconsideration the staff, resources, its structure and
role in coordinating various agencies and working
closely with youth organisations throughout the
country. There has also been agreement within
government circles to review the National Youth
Development Policy 1997 to align it to the current
needs of the youth and focus on specific groups
among youths.
So watch out for more excitement.!!!
Thank You
About the author:
Siddhartha Ghosh, or “Sid” as he is popularly known as, has been a journalist and a marketing researcher for the past 15 years acrossthe Indian Subcontinent, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North
Africa and Southeast Asia. Sid is currently Research Director,Qualitative Practice Group, at Synovate Thailand. Prior to this, hehas worked at Indica Research and IMRB International in India,The Nielsen Company in Cyprus, the UAE and Malaysia. Sid was
part of the Executive Committee of the Marketing Research Societyof Malaysia in 20010-11. He can be contacted [email protected].
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Youth Marketing Avoiding the Minefelds o Social Media
& Harnessing Youth Passion
IN LATE OCTOBER 2010, barely days after an
ambitious project to erect a 100-storey tower in
downtown Kuala Lumpur was announced, a
Facebook page called “1M Malaysians Reject100-storey Mega Tower” was growing at a breakneck
speed of over 1,000 fans per hour. Quietly set up, it
spread like wildfire amongst the Malaysian
Facebook community through referrals from friends
and word of mouth (or in this case, word of news
feed). Sentiments spilled over onto Twitter where it
became a hot trending topic and the page propelled
itself exponentially to over 200,000 fans in sundry
weeks. Only much later did its planners step into the
fray, coming into a defensive position and having the
Prime Minister partaking in its testudo formation.
Now superimpose this scenario onto your brand.
Consider that 8 in 10 youths access social
networks daily; and that we meddle in the belief that
youths on average have a lower awareness of social
and political issues, it would not at all be haphazard to
believe that a brand which youths consume, interact
and have come to be emotionally impassioned with,
could potentially react in a more explosive way to the
scenario above. After all, within the infancy of 2011itself saw governments in the Middle East topple
through the network of social media.
American clothes retailer Gap was an early
casualty of the social media crusade when it had to
take an embarrassing U-turn at an attempt to
change its iconic logo without engaging with its
consumers first. By the time it tried to backtrack to
crowd sourcing, it was seen as feeble and insincere.
If social media was around in 1985 when New Coke
was launched, we might now be more familiar withits blue adversary instead.
Certainly in Malaysia, the youth’s passion fortheir brand is not ignorable, with 54% of them
having ‘liked’ a brand in the previous month as
opposed to 37% of over 30s. Malaysian youths on
average have 6 ‘brand friends’ on Facebook which
eclipses the global average of just 4. This indicatesthat the youth of today will advocate brands,
actively diffusing ideas and opinions across their
personal networks.
The idea sounds easy enough; the youth display
far less inertia towards change, they are generally
more technologically savvy and on the surface this
makes them the ideal test bed to any marketing
manager. However, there are other characteristics
that hint whispers of caution.
The youth of today represent the most educated
and hence, sceptical generation ever. They have a
deeper understanding through over exposure of the
traditional marketing and advertising tactics
employed. WoM recommendations from peers and
friends hold far more credibility, as today’s markets
are flooded with an array of brand promises making
it impossible to distinguish between the righteous
and the dissolute. 30% of Malaysian youths have
‘shared’ brands with their online networks in the
previous month- a testimony of how new media andthe emergence of digital platforms gives the youth
an opportunity to congregate in virtual spaces to
effectively promote or snub brands.
Previously, a marketer was charged with getting
the message out there, in places likely to be seen or
heard by their potential consumers. In today’s day
and age, consumers are in a position to choose
exactly which communications he or she wishes to
receive and more importantly how and when they
wish to receive it. Throw in cynical distrust and thegrouping culture of the youths, and suddenly a
frightening image comes to light- rather than simply
identifying their target consumers, marketers must
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“...an increasingly
infuential and afuent youth
set is a beacon o internet youthcrowdsourcing.”
Its success – largely built on the support of internet
savvy, and an increasingly influential and affluentyouth set is a beacon of internet youthcrowdsourcing.
The Threadless phenomenon has grownexponentially since its humble beginnings – set upby two friends for a measly $1000 in 2000, its onlinecommunity had reached 70,000 members in 2004,growing to more than 700,000 in 2006. At the closeof 2010, the site had logged 2.5 million unique
visitors, a 50% increase over the corresponding
period the previous year. The best part is that thepotential of replicating this successin Malaysia is not unachievable,considering that Malaysian youthson average have about 300 friendson their networks; almost 3 timesthe global average.
The evolution of a brand’smarketing practice has to beginnow and it has to look towards the
uncharted waters of the digitalworld. Like Christopher
Columbus, the first to venture with valour will takeclaim on new territories and create their ownstronghold of compatriots. Certainly it goes withoutsaying, such adventure requires the right tools, andTNS Digital Suite™ solutions is a treasure map tothe Newfoundland that provides all the informationand insight into consumer’s online behaviour. TNSDigital Life™ is able to provide a brand with a startoff point, whilst Digital Behave™ and Mobile Life
™ can advise a brand on where their consumerswant to go. Finally, the sail to success is through theuse of TNS ConceptEvaluate™. Through thesesolutions, and by understanding the segments ofconsumers and the way they consume online media;only then would a brand be sufficiently equipped tonavigate through the mysterious waters onto thepath of discovery.
Contributed by Guan Lee, Mark Leong, and Ryan Ridu of
TNS Research International
now also further isolate and reach the keyinfluencers within the group.
The game has changed, and so has the landscape.The days of monolithic agency-led advertising andmarketing are slowly slipping into distant memory;with shows such as Mad Men romantically relivingthe days when marketing was relatively simple –smart taglines, neat graphics and perhaps a scantily
clad model – key ingredients to success on anymedium. Brands were effectivelyautocratic in nature; dictatingboth supply and demand to
varying degrees of success. Today’scompetitive landscape is however,
very much characterised by ademocratic unity between brandsand consumers, the relationship alltied together by the myriad ofdifferent ‘touchpoints’ of the
internet and more increasinglysocial media.
The abundance of choice and channels ofcommunication has meant that more than ever,brands have to be increasingly wary of theirconsumers. Engagement with consumers from theinfancy of an idea, through planning and designing, and its eventual launch isabsolutely critical – the old adage of “bouncingideas off someone” holds clear, only this time it is
done with a much greater audience – what we nowknow as Crowdsourcing. Greater consumerengagement not only ensures your content andideas are marketable, it also acts as a megaphonewith WoM amplifying every action you take. To be
The American online clothes retailer Threadlessis a great example of a successful crowdsourcingmarketing platform targeted at youth. The Threadlesscrowdsourcing formula essentially relies ondesigners and consumers to spread the word about
the site’s products. Designers campaign for votesand the approval of the internet public by postinglinks on blogs, Twitter and Facebook, all of whichamplify WoM and drive traffic to Threadless’ website.
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Privacy and Ethics in Social Media Research
Global – To coincide with theESOMAR launch of the
consultation on social media
research guideline, Manfred
Mareck talks about how best to
preserve consumer trust and
researchers’ reputations.
(Source – RW Connect ESOMAR)
EsomarLaunchesConsultation on SocialMediaResearchGuideline
Global – Social media research isa hot new technique for gaining
insights that has also attracted
significant media attention
because of consumer concerns
that they are being observed or
tracked without their knowledge.
An ESOMAR team of experts
has developed a new guideline to
help researchers understand the
key fundamentals of transparency
and professionalism in respectingconsumers’ concerns.
(Source – ESOMAR)
Consumer Trends to
Watch in
2011Global – Eleven key consumer
trends to watch in 2011 include
acts of kindness from brands, the
developed world launching
products for emerging economies,
and online status symbols.
(Source – Marketing Charts)
Branding Seen as Key to Survivalfor Many Asian Companies
APAC – A new report from the
Economist Intelligence Unit
indicates that as Asia’s companies
grow ever more internationally
ambitious, the need for strong
brands will grow significantly.
(Source – The Economist IntelligenceUnit, The Economist Group)
GlobalRebalanc-ing Global – Although the worldeconomy has staged a
better-than-expected recovery in
2010 following the economic
downturn, both the recovery and
outlook highlight major global
economic divisions, while
rebalancing of world demand
will remain the key challenge.
(Source – Market Research World,Written by Euromonitor International)
Emerging EconomiesProvideConsumerInnovations,
Part 1Emerging EconomiesProvideConsumerInnovations, Part 2
Global – Emerging economies
are an increasingly importantsource of consumer innovations.
(Source – Marketing Charts)
News Across
Industry News
10
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How Well Do Women Know Their Money:
Financial Literacy Across Asia Pacifc,Middle East & Arica
Global – As financial products
become increasingly complex and
readily available, it is imperative
that financial literacy keeps pace.
(Source – MasterCard Worldwide Insights)
What’s Next in Asia?
APAC – China and India’s
optimism continues to boost
surrounding economies in Asia.
(Source – Market Research World,written by Harris Interactive)
Banks Shouldn’t Act ‘Cool’ withGen Y Consumers
Singapore – Generation Y users
prefer their bank to fulfill its core
functions rather than be "friends"
on social media platforms such as
Facebook, according to a new
survey, which highlights mobilephones as digital natives' key
access points for banking services.
(Source – ZDNetAsia.com)
Google Named Malaysia’s
Favourite Brand
Malaysia – Superbrand’s latest
brand survey conducted by
Nielsen has unveiled the country’s
top-ten favourite brands for
2011 with Google up two
notches from 2009, ranking first.
(Source – Marketing-Interactive.com)
Malaysia TopsOnline Banking in Southeast Asia
APAC – comScore, Inc. has
released the latest results from a
study of Internet usage in South-
east Asia. The report found that
an increasing number of
consumers across the region
turned to online banking
throughout 2010.
(Source – Adoimagazine.com)
Malaysian Consumers are
Most Likely toRetire Beorethe Age o 60within AsiaPacifc
Malaysia – 56% of Malaysians
expect to retire before the age of
60 but only 2 in 10 are financiallyready to retire.
(Source – The Nielsen Company, M’sia)
Social Media MostEvolved in
SingaporeSingapore – The city-state is
among the world's most evolved
social media markets and its
people's national pastime,
shopping, is clearly reflected in
their online habits, according to
a research conducted by Firefly
Millward Brown.
(Source – ZDNetAsia.com)
News Across
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Research Findings
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A RegionalClose-Up on GlobalConsumer
ConfdenceGlobal – Consumer confidence
fell in 25 of 52 countries in Q4
2010 as hope for a global
economic recovery evaporated at
the end of last year, according to
the Nielsen Global Consumer
Confidence Index.
(Source : Nielsen Wire)
New Findings on MobilePhones & Youth!
Global – According to Nielsen’slatest report, young people
around the world are more
immersed in mobile technology
than any previous generation.
Usage patterns vary greatly
among youth throughout the
world, demonstrating how
culture, economy and age can all
play an integral part in mobile
behavior.
(Source – Adoimagazine.com)
News AcrossResearch Findings
Why are Savvy
Brands Enriching
the Purchasing
Feeling or Their
Consumers?
Global – Why would consumers
be willing to pay up to ten times
more for a cup of coffee at a café
than one that is brewed at home?
The answer is simple – it's the
whole experience surrounding
consumption that keeps them
coming back for more.
(Source – Market Research World,written by Euromonitor International)
Hong Kong & Chinaconsumersmostoptimistic
Hong Kong – Slashing pricesmay not be the option for
retailers in Hong Kong and
China as their consumers are the
most optimistic and willing to
spend across Asia, a survey by
Synovate revealed.
(Source – Marketing-Interactive.com)
Youths StillTuned in to Mass Media
Malaysia – Most single
youngsters aged 15 to 24 years
have not yet abandoned mass
media, despite the image of them
as being glued to the Internet.
(Source : The Star Online)
Tapping theBuying Power o Indonesia’s
Young
ProessionalsIndonesia – As with other
developing countries, Indonesia’s
economy is strong and that
development has propelled a
growing middle class eager to
spend. (Source : Nielsen Wire)
Age Matters: Mobile Youth in Vietnam
Vietnam – Twenty percent of the
Vietnamese population is
between the ages of 15 and 24,
and half of these young people
already use mobile services. Like
their counterparts in other
countries, young people inVietnam use more data than
average. (Source : Nielsen Wire)
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News AcrossResearch Findings
13
2011 Outlook or the Retail &ConsumerProducts Sectorin Asia
APAC – Since Asia's successfulpassage through the global
financial crisis, multinational
retail and consumer products
firms have broadened and
deepened their interest in the
region, and with good reason.
Asian markets proved remarkably
resilient through the economic
downturn and continued healthy
growth over the next five years
looks almost certain.
(Source – PricewaterhouseCoopers)
A Rise in Ethical Spending in Asia-Pacifc
APAC – More consumers acrossAsia Pacific are shopping with a
conscience, according to the
results of the latest MasterCard
survey on Ethical Spending.
Social responsibility and
sustainability remain high on the
agenda for the region’s shoppers
with 70% of respondents saying
that they made fair trade
purchasing choices in the last
two to three years.
(Source : Adobo Magazine)
Conessions o aMalaysian ShopperMalaysia – Global marketing
communications agencies Grey
and G2 recently released the
2010 Eye on Asia – Retail study
with a host of fresh insights on
shopping mindsets across the
Asia Pacific region and its
implications to marketers.
(Source – Adoimagazine.com)
The GreatMalaysian Tech Splurge
Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur's elite
consumer market is spending
high on mobile phones and
high-end TVs and the trend isn’t
about to fizzle out anytime soon,
Synovate's 2010 PAX study found.
(Source – Market Research World,written by Synovate)
IndustryEventsacross APACAustralia
2011 AMSRS National
Conference Sydney
Curiouser and Curiouser!
8 – 9 September 2011(Source – AMSRS)
ConsumerConfdence in
Malaysia Hits4-year High in 4th Qtr 2010
Malaysia – Malaysia ranked 9
globally in consumer confi-
dence as consumers feel more
positive about local job pros-
pects and the state of their
personal finances.
(Source – The Nielsen Company, Malaysia)
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Ng Thinks
Khaileeo Youth An Interview with Khailee Ng Executive Director, Youth Asia
Spotlight
In 2008, he applied his
ocus to Southeast Asia with Youth Asia. He built the onlineresearch panel, YouthSays.com.
He recently used his expertisecompile one o the largest online
studies in Southeast Asia "TheSEACHANGE Youth Report" collecting
105,502 stories rom youths in 6 weeks.In 2010, his team brought communi-
ties across Malaysia together or thelargest youth estival in Malaysia, YOUTH'10, which garnered RM6.7 mil-lion worth o PR Value and together88,366 people or the event.
They also launched a group buying business http://groupsmore.com whichwas recently acquired by Groupon, theastest growing company in the world.
Khailee's current ocus is growing Youth Asia's next big business, SAYS.my — to connect businesses with Malay-
sians via social media. He has alreadyhelped over 40 advertisers run 120social media advertising campaigns,including some o the nation's biggest brands, and award winning campaigns.
Khailee's
has a unique
track-record in organizing
people orcollective ac-
tions.In his student
days, his community orga-nizing eorts in social issues and un-
derground music won him local and international media recognition. He
completed his degree in business at thetop 2% o his class a Valedictorian
having studied in Sydney, San FranciscoState and UC Berkeley, and won the
Asian HSBC Young Entrepreneur Award in 2006, the frst (and only) time the
award was given to Malaysians.The early years o his career was
spent with Mindvalley, where heworked with entrepreneurs and
technologists rom 16 countries tomobilize online communities in the
US and UK.
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Contributed by:
Kalavalli Sethu
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puzzle is wildly successful here, and not practiced
in the same way anywhere else in the world, evenin the US! In fact we are starting to see other
people cloning our business model. Being able to
pioneer something in a post-modern world of
innovation is something we are proud of.
On the other hand, what major challenges did
you face?
Internal doubt amongst the whole team is the
biggest one. When you want to go something
which has never been done before, or exceed your
pre-conceived limits, doubting yourself is the
biggest challenge, and not being bolder, faster,
sharper, and to fully live our biggest ambitions is
the number one reason we’re not even more ahead
than we can be.
Since you run an organization focusing on the
Youth, can we presume Youth is very different
from other human species?
We use the word youth to symbolize “This Gen-eration”. Every next person seems to have a differ-
ent ‘age bracket’ to define what ‘youth’. But we see
that this ‘youthful’ spirit is best embodied by what
we see happening in the social media space today.
In what way, do you find marketing to youth
different than to others?
This generation demands more authenticity,
because they are used to finding the truth, and
getting the truth shared with them really quickly.
Bad, irrelevant marketing campaigns are more
obvious, and great ones spread faster and can have
huge impact when shared.
SpotlightKhailee Ng, YouthAsia
15
MRSM Whiz : A bit about your family.
Khailee Ng : Dad an engineer, mom a housewife,an older brother and younger brother, both of
which love the internet!
Hobby or pastime?
Reading and laughing.
Your name is synonymous with youth commu-
nity in Malaysia. Can you tell us how did it all
start?
Accidentally, I guess. It was never the plan. I guess
it started from me learning web design on my own
when I was 15, which led to me getting addicted
to using the internet to bring people together. And
it's a coincidence Malaysia is 65% under the age of
35, and is also one of the high ranking countries in
the world in terms of social media usage. So this
lead to more and more youth focused projects, and
there you have it! :)
Can you tell us a bit about your organization
and what exactly do you do? What is yourvision and mission?
Youth Asia group of young people from around
the world who grow businesses related to social
technology and the collective power of people.
We maintain a youth research panel. We have a
group buying business http://groupsmore.com We
have a community of social media users who can
help clients accelerate the spread of their advertis-
ing messages via social media.
As we understand, you run an organization
staffed by youth. Can you tell us a bit about
that?
The average age of our staff is 25, and they come
from all over the world. It’s intentional that we
recruit people who ‘get’ what this generation is
about, considering we are providing services and
creating businesses for the future.
What would you acclaim as your major
successes?
The way we have designed the SAYS.my commu-
nity and how solves a piece of the social media
“Being able topioneer something in
a post-modern world of innovation is
something we areproud of.”
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SpotlightKhailee Ng, YouthAsia
to recategorize “teens” as 13 to 28. Haha! Sociolo-
gists coined the term “teenage” in 1900 to describethe in-between state of child to adult, and in this
century, they are fighting for a term ‘emerging
adulthood’ to describe this new, prolonged
in-between state.
Do you see clients focusing more on youth
now? What industry would that be? And, what
kind of focus do you see happening?
In a Malaysian context, the population distribution
demands for businesses to be relevant to the ‘youth-
ful’ mindset, not just to attract the youth, but to
attract the older audiences who aspire to feel
younger. But again, back to my belief that ‘youth’ is
not about age, but more on mindset, clients across
the board are increasing their investment on social
media because that is the language of the youth.
Has marketing research helped you and your
organization in Youth marketing and communi-
cation?
As one of our businesses involves providing a panel,we do use it very often to aid decision making,
reduce doubt, and increase boldness to pursue what
we ‘think’ is right! And I guess things have been
going on quite well
Going forward into the future, how can Market-
ing Research play better role in Youth Market-
ing?
Marketing Research can play a bigger role as an
ongoing mechanism to help products and commu-nications evolve and adapt faster to shifting
consumer preferences and more aggressive and agile
competitors.
How can MRSM be a partner in achieving the
Youth agenda in Malaysia through an organiza-
tion like yours?
We can collaborate together on helping the ‘truth’
about our consumer spread faster. Many decision
makers are ‘wishing’ things were like the old days,and it is not, and if we allow them to spend money
on irrelevant ideas and efforts, then our country
won’t be engaging with our biggest natural resource
– our youth.
Is Malaysian youth different from those from
other Asian countries? How does that thencompare with youth of other continents?
There are plenty of similarities and differences,
many of which become very obvious not just from
research, but via observation. Even in Malaysia,
different segments respond very differently to
celebrity endorsement, and have different ideas of
aspirations. But one big thing which still makes me
wonder is… youth from less ‘rich’ countries are
more interested in helping others in their commu-
nity vs youth in Singapore and Malaysia who are
more likely to prioritize wealth and material
accumulation.
Trend wise, what changes have you seen in the
youth community in the last 10 years? You
must have been in your teens 10 years ago
and hope you can still give us an answer.
Tough question to answer. There’s a lot we need to
discover together. But broadly speaking, The
attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, and
‘adolesence’ as we know it will bleed further andfurther into young adulthood. Pretty soon we need
“...‘youth’ is notabout age, but
more onmindset...”
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New Data Collection Company RaydarSet Up in KLMarch 1 2011
A new company, Raydar Research, offering datacollection through mobile and online platforms
was recently set up in Kuala Lumpur. Raydar is
established by Kym Wong, a former Pulse Group
COO. With this establishment, the market is
open to more data collection or fieldwork services
to service the local market as well as the regional
and international market.
Asia ConsumerIndex, Quarter 42010
Insight Asia, with the quarterly publication on the
Asian Consumer Index, reports that Consumers in
Singapore are still the most confident in the
region, despite a 9 point drop from 137 to 128.
The very strong confidence in the domestic
economy has faded somewhat in Quarter 4,
though Singaporeans remain very positive abouteconomic circumstances.
Malaysia is the only country in the survey to
register a significant increase. The Consumer
Confidence Index rose by 9 points from 113 to
122, lifting confidence further above the neutral
level. The improvement is mainly driven by a more
positive outlook on the economy, though
consumers are also somewhat more positive about
their financial well-being.
Consumer confidence in other countries did not
change significantly:
• Consumers in China maintained their
confidence in on-going economic growth,
although the Consumer Confidence Index
dropped 4 points from 117 to 113.
• Despite positive GDP growth, consumers in
Indonesia feel their economy has worsened.
The Consumer Confidence Index remains
around the neutral point at 97.
• Thailand is still ranked at the bottom. The
Consumer Confidence Index changed 1 point
from 92 to 91.
• Confidence in Vietnam was strong and stable
in 2010. In Quarter 4 the Consumer Confidence
Index decreased by 3 points from 127 to 124.
IndustryUpdate
17
DOS Puts TradeData Online January 2011
The Department of Statistics has now
made available detailed external trade data
for Malaysia online. The database covers
2006 onwards on a monthly frequency and
one can query by country, countrygrouping or product codes (both HS and
SITC codes), with output in pdf or Excel
formats. This is a very good resource for
researchers, where one does not have to
travel to Matrade to obtain this
information.
Contributed by: Rozina Mat Rawi
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MRSM Events for 2011Contributed by: Chan Li-Li
Market Research
1. Teoh Weh Cheng moved to MetrixResearch as Senior ResearchExecutive
2. Ghosh Siddhartha has joinedSynovate Thailand as QualitativePractice Director
3. Stepfanie Woon has joined IpsosMalaysia as Account Director
4. Barry Ooi appointed MD ofKadence Malaysia
Others
5. Tony Savarimuthu elected 4As President
6. DiGi Telecommunications Head ofCommunications, Joachim Rajaram hasstepped down from the role to pursue a newcareer opportunity
7. Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) Malaysia hasannounced the appointment of JonathanAeberhard, to the position of ManagingPartner
8. Eliza Mohamed has accepted an offer by
Maybank as its new Head of CorporateAffairs and Communications
9. Dr. Milan Agnihotri, Regional PlanningDirector of McCann Healthcare SEA, hasrelocated to Malaysia as Group Director,Brand Planning and Innovation for McCannWorldgroup
10. Fonterra Brands has appointed David Rossas its General Manager
11. ING Insurance Malaysia has appointed
Darshini M. Nathan as Head of Brandingand Corporate Communications.
Quarter Month Events Venue/ Location
Q2 2011 Jun 2nd Publication of MRSM e-bulletin -
Q3 2011 Aug Networking event TBC
Sep Bowling TBC
Q4 2011 Oct MRSM Congress Event Sime DarbyConvention Centre
Dec Christmas party, Seminar TBC(topic yet to be determined)
MRSM EventsOn The Move
On The MoveContributed by: Lee Poh Chun
18
MRSM Events for 2011Contributed by: Chan Li-Li
Market Research
1. Teoh Weh Cheng moved to MetrixResearch as Senior ResearchExecutive
2. Ghosh Siddhartha has joinedSynovate Thailand as QualitativePractice Director
3. Stepfanie Woon has joined IpsosMalaysia as Account Director
4. Barry Ooi appointed MD ofKadence Malaysia
Others
5. Tony Savarimuthu elected 4As President
6. DiGi Telecommunications Head ofCommunications, Joachim Rajaram hasstepped down from the role to pursue a newcareer opportunity
7. Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) Malaysia hasannounced the appointment of JonathanAeberhard, to the position of ManagingPartner
8. Eliza Mohamed has accepted an offer by
Maybank as its new Head of CorporateAffairs and Communications
9. Dr. Milan Agnihotri, Regional PlanningDirector of McCann Healthcare SEA, hasrelocated to Malaysia as Group Director,Brand Planning and Innovation for McCannWorldgroup
10. Fonterra Brands has appointed David Rossas its General Manager
11. ING Insurance Malaysia has appointed
Darshini M. Nathan as Head of Brandingand Corporate Communications.
Quarter Month Events Venue/ Location
Q2 2011 Jun 2nd Publication of MRSM e-bulletin -
Q3 2011 Aug Networking event TBC
Sep Bowling TBC
Q4 2011 Oct MRSM Congress Event Sime DarbyConvention Centre
Dec Christmas party, Seminar TBC(topic yet to be determined)
MRSM EventsOn The Move
On The MoveContributed by: Lee Poh Chun
18