Orchestrating growth: How marketers are unlocking high-value segments

The marketing landscape in Hong Kong is undergoing a profound shift. For years, the industry relied on a legacy playbook, which consisted of a combination of linear TV, search and broad social media, to drive massive reach.

However, as the next wave of growth increasingly depends on the evolving and nuanced consumer segments, it has become clear that broad demographic targeting is no longer sufficient to capture the audiences that truly move the needle.

At a recent exclusive event in Hong Kong titled “The future growth formula: Unlocking high-value consumer segments”, industry leaders from HSBC, Futu Securities, DFI Retail Group, Ipsos Hong Kong and The Trade Desk gathered to discuss how brands can move beyond mass-reach models to orchestrate a seamless, data-driven, full-funnel journey.

Beyond the demographics: defining high-value audiences

To capture high-value segments, including high-net-worth (HNW) individuals, the emerging affluent and cross-border consumers, marketers must look past traditional metrics. According to Annie Chan, managing director at Ipsos Hong Kong, the “who” is easy to find, but the “why” holds the key for real growth.

“If you treat this diverse population as a single monolithic block, your marketing dollars are going to miss the mark,” said Chan. She highlighted distinct archetypes within the domestic HNW segment on wealth management, ranging from the “cautious majority” seeking stability to “risk takers” who actively use online trading platforms.

Furthermore, Chan noted that cross-border travellers represent a multi-billion dollar economic driver. These consumers are highly receptive to relevant digital advertising, willing to share personal information for better experiences, and are hyper-exposed to commercial environments such as transit hubs and retail outlets.

Similarly, for financial institutions, the definition of value is dynamic and constantly evolving. Joe Yu, chief marketing officer at Futu Securities, explained that the firm defines their customers by lifetime value. Once that baseline is established, they categorise these audiences into specific segmentations based on different investment interests.

The trust factor: the currency of conversion

Trust is the foundational bridge for both domestic HNW individuals and affluent cross-border travellers. Hong Kong’s reputation as a hub of quality, legitimacy and professional standards acts as a regional competitive advantage, but maintaining that trust requires a highly sophisticated approach to engagement.

Kirsty Kwok, head of brand and digital marketing, Hong Kong, at HSBC, emphasised that the bank does not view brand building and performance marketing as a trade-off. "We use branding to connect with customers to ensure that they know us," she said. "This is the long-term protection for our brand, and it will eventually convert to conversion."

Kwok also noted that their definition of a high-value customer goes beyond immediate wealth. "We believe every customer is high-value - not because of what they hold today, but because of the financial journey they're on," she explained. "Wealth grows over time. Needs change with life stages. And many of today's emerging customers will become tomorrow's core relationships."

This sentiment was echoed by Yu, who noted that for the finance sector, trust is the basic currency for lower-funnel conversions. "There is a very clear curve that as spending in branding keeps going up, the cost of acquisition keeps going down," Yu explained.

Activating the omnichannel playbook

As consumer media habits become more complex and fragmented, the ability to coordinate effectively across channels is no longer a luxury, but a critical performance metric. Research from The Trade Desk suggests that when marketers employ a connected, omni-channel strategy, ad fatigue drops by 2.2 times for the audience and persuasion increases by 1.5 times.

Adia Mak, business development lead at The Trade Desk, stressed that relevancy and experience are highly crucial in the consumer journey of high value audiences. For example, those who embrace privacy, exclusivity and minimalism, this means loud or repetitive marketing in the digital realm can be highly counterproductive. "If your brand is shouting right in front of them, they will immediately filter it out," Mak warned.

Instead, she advocated for an omnichannel strategy powered by artificial intelligence to guarantee relevance. By leveraging first-party data, geo-location signals and contextual insights, brands can orchestrate a journey that feels like a natural extension of the consumer’s day rather than an interruption.

Harnessing first-party data at scale

During the event's panel discussion, which focused on orchestrating a data-driven, full-funnel journey, discussants highlighted the unparalleled power of rich, first-party data ecosystems. Wee Lee Loh, group chief digital and yuu rewards officer at DFI Retail Group, noted that understanding consumer behaviours across a wide network provide a critical structural advantage. DFI Retail Group leverages aggregated and privacy-compliant insights derived from their massive volume of transactions across their retail and partner network to build a more holistic understanding of customer needs.

"We collectively have upper-funnel engagement activities, but we also have conversion," said Loh. "We can actually have post-transaction retail data which gives you full-funnel return on ad spend, as well as the whole traceability."

Loh added that the ultimate priority is creating a meaningful, engaging experience that reduces the intrusiveness of advertising while still achieving key business objectives. By focusing on audience-first solutions and privacy-first data collaborations, brands can safely connect the dots across fragmented touchpoints without alienating their core consumers.

The path forward: measurement and precision

To close the event, panellists discussed the urgent need to move away from blanket measurements. Johnnie Leung, senior director of business development at The Trade Desk, argued that because high-value segments are disproportionately valuable, they should not be measured using the exact same key performance indicators as the rest of the audience.

"If we are going to show and expose our brand to an audience 10 times in a week, it is much better to have it twice across five different channels than it is for one creative to show the message over and over again," Leung said.

As marketers navigate the dual challenges of AI adoption and privacy-first data practices, one thing is clear: future winners will be those who blend machine-driven precision with human strategy and insights. Success will depend not only on smarter algorithms, but on disciplined data governance, cultural fluency, thoughtful frequency management and emotionally resonant storytelling. By striking this balance, brands can move beyond short-term tactics to cultivate enduring, high-value relationships that drive sustainable growth.

Acknowledgements

This event and article were made possible by our partner, The Trade Desk.

The Trade Desk is a global technology company that empowers buyers of advertising to plan, forecast and buy digital media more effectively. Their data-driven platform helps marketers orchestrate full-funnel omnichannel campaigns, allowing brands to seamlessly reach their most valuable consumers across the open internet.

To learn more about how The Trade Desk can help you unlock your next wave of growth and elevate your customer experience, visit https://www.thetradedesk.com.

This article is done in collaboration with The Trade Desk.