Marketers spell out online expansion plans

At a time when e-commerce and online activities are expanding rapidly across Asia, building up and maintaining a strong business presence online is more important than ever, says top Hong Kong brands.For some, their digital investments are growing at a rate of more than 100% annually.Speaking at a press event before Yahoo's 2013 Emotive Brand Awards, Francis Fong, chairman of Hong Kong Association of Interactive Marketing, stressed that brand building was now a key area of the online marketing."They [brands] are starting to extend their distribution channels to extend their reach while building brand image and customer loyalty," he said.Some of those brands, like Hong Thai Travel Services, are particularly aggressive.Jason Wong, director and GM at Hong Thai Travel Services, said the travel agency has been using a mix of online and traditional media reach online audiences, but said online spending was growing at more than 100% each year.Lawrence Chow, chief marketing officer of Samsung Electronics Hong Kong, added the company had evolved from a single-device brand to a more integrated group, adding that online marketing was a key part of its expansion plan.Vincent Cheung, general manager and senior director of consumer imaging and information group at Canon Hong Kong, said the company had increased its online marketing budget this year from 10% to 15%, since behavioral targeting online was highly effective in reaching customers.Rico Chan, vice president and general manager at Yahoo Hong Kong, said users today are more confident in buying and shopping online with well-developed e-commerce platforms and payment solutions.Its biggest e-commerce platform, Yahoo Deals, for instance, recorded a three-digit percentage growth last year."Online and offline marketing each offer unique opportunities to marketers, the important part is that marketers need to find the optimal mix of online and offline marketing to best reach their audience," he said.Samsung, Canon Hong Kong and Hong Thai Travel Services were awarded in digital AV and travel agent category, respectively; while the top three Yahoo Emotive Brand Awards this year went to HSBC, Ocean Park and Samsung.