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AirAsia BIG's CMO shares his strategy on cutting through the digital clutter

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The Southeast Asia marketing field is an immensely exciting one to be in, given that the region is booming in all things digital. Today, no campaign is complete without the integration of some sort of digital component.Despite the fact that digital gives marketers the power to broaden a brand's reach, and appear in front of millions of potential members at the click of a button, it comes with its own set of challenges.For one, it has led to a “noisy environment” for the consumer, said Riccardo Perere, chief marketing officer of AirAsia BIG. Perere has over 12 years of experience in e-commerce, digital media, and travel industries. He has worked with the likes of Groupon and joined AirAsia approximately seven months ago.“Consumers are being flashed ads at every search and every click on their laptops and mobile phones.  As such tactical campaigns are mostly lost in the noise and becoming more and more expensive to run on digital,” he said.Social Media platforms are no longer just a place for people to interact with each other. They have become another important marketing channel where “much of the marketing dollars are being spent and where many brands spend a lot of time and effort to interact with their users and the public," he explained.So as such, standing out and cutting through the clutter becomes a real challenge.He highlights three crucial steps to cut through the clutter. To truly stand out, brands must understand their customer profile by looking at data and analytics-driven insights. The next would be to evaluate what are the best channels to acquire these customers. Finally, brands need to be thoughtful when crafting a message.People don’t like to be sold to. So find out why they would want to use your product or service, and speak their language. The visual and creative should be inspiring them to want to interact with you.He added that being able to create awareness of the brand and educate people on your product using video and interactive content is essential, as static images are quickly losing effectiveness as consumers demand more stimulating content to grab their attention.AirAsia BIG is also expanding its channels to have a more holistic approach in its communication. The main focus remains on social and digital channels. To do this, Perere is investing in the right set of talent with complementing skills to create synergy and unity within the team.He added that one of his main objectives when coming on board the AirAsia BIG team was to bring a digital savvy startup mentality into an established company with a legacy of using traditional marketing channels.  He was also tasked to educate a team that may not have been exposed to digital channels, and bring in talent with a deep knowledge of digital and data-driven marketing and setting up the required platforms and tracking.Localisation is also high on AirAsia BIG’s priorities.“As the company has members from across the globe we need to expand our digital efforts into other markets in the region,” he said. Perere added that all markets have their own best practices and working with local agencies who have local market knowledge normally provides the best results and allows the company to learn from them.As the loyalty programme for AirAsia, AirAsia Big has over 10 million members. As such the "life cycle management" is also a big part of its focus.“I have seen that many companies don’t pay as much attention to life cycle management or even CRM and spend too much time and money to continually bring in new customers / members. Engaging with them all in the same way, without looking at which channel they came from or which product they have purchased. Without any segmentation or personalisation it results in loss of engagement very quickly” he said.“To be successful you also need a platform that is capable of keeping you ahead of the ever evolving consumer expectations. A/B testing, also known as split testing, personalisation, automation, aren’t just fancy terms. Without them you will be left behind.” 

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