Asian tech companies see twice as much media coverage in SEA than American tech

Asian tech companies (1,442 articles) attracted a much higher volume of media coverage in Southeast Asia, as opposed to American tech companies (697 articles) in the region.

According to a report by CARMA and Allison+Partners, the high level of media interest was triggered by the Chinese government’s regulatory changes, including a video-gaming limit for children and online privacy law. These regulatory updates attracted global interest and had a notable impact on companies such as Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu.

Alphabet dominated coverage of American tech companies, accounting for 70% of coverage. While Alphabet’s product-led media was highly positive, much of the news during this period focused on legal issues in multiple markets, including copyright issues in France and prohibited content in Russia.

Company performance, investments and product news were topics common to all tech brands. Ongoing legal issues faced by some tech companies were frequently covered, especially in Singapore media. These included Alibaba’s violation of China’s anti-trust law, Alphabet’s case on violating Russia’s regulations on banned content and the United States’ anti-trust law.

There were some subtle differences in the way that topics such as workplace culture and wellbeing were reported. While all tech companies received coverage of their CSR initiatives in their local media, SEA’s media outlets only syndicated stories about Asian tech activities. Tencent’s donations to lower-income groups and Alibaba achieving green efficiency were prominent examples.

While American tech’s efforts to manage employee wellbeing during COVID-19 received frequent media attention, Asian tech’s COVID-19 measures did not receive coverage in the analysed period. This may be due to timing as many of the Asian tech companies’ pandemic responses had already been implemented. However, it does show that employee wellbeing initiatives are of interest to local media and have the potential to generate positive coverage.

Asian tech’s workplace culture emerged as a source of highly negative media coverage. This was triggered by Alibaba’s alleged workplace sexual assault incident that resulted in the dismissal of 10 employees for leaking the accusation. Coverage of these events led to a broader discussion on the “toxic” culture of Chinese tech companies.

So what makes news?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to Southeast Asian mainstream media engagement. When it comes to what makes news in Southeast Asia, it can be inferred that different publications, depending on where they are based, are attracted to different types of news.

Publications in Thailand and Indonesia for example, are more likely to cover product-related news compared to the ones in Singapore.

While we do see some level of product news in Singapore, mainstream media outlets are more likely to cover tech news that is related to legal or government regulations, providing opportunities for brands to think about how they can further align their initiatives to local government policies.

Internal news can also be news

As media in the region is more receptive to covering internal efforts ranging from CSR to HR-related initiatives, there are opportunities for both Asian and American tech brands to consider employee branding campaigns. Asian tech companies in particular can be more vocal in communicating about their employee wellbeing and safety initiatives.

News resonates harder when it connects to country-level issues

Brands looking to gain traction need to address real-life challenges that people and businesses face and demonstrate their relevance by aligning viewpoints with national initiatives and policies.

Legal and regulatory issues have the potential to erupt into major news. As such, it is imperative for brands to proactively monitor conversations around these issues and ensure that there is a communications plan that can be activated should their companies be involved in such issues. Beyond dealing with how to communicate incidents that occur, brands will also need to proactively communicate the actions that they are taking to mitigate or resolve the issues.

Asian brands are more likely to share further updates following the incidents, which ultimately portrays them to be more cooperative and compliant compared to American tech brands.

Photo courtesy: 123RF

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