"Social Media Matters" Aims to Bridge the Gap

HONG KONG--August 24, 2012--(Business Wire)-- Social media now plays a "primary role" for business in Asia, but the region's companies remain slow to adopt usage of social platforms, a new poll of regional senior executives across the region shows.

Reluctance by companies to engage in social media comes despite nearly a quarter of the executives surveyed having faced a crisis aggravated by social media and one third having battled unauthorized social media platforms.

Conducted by research firm Ipsos and marketing company Ogilvy & Mather, the findings highlight the hunger by the region's executives to understand the business value of social media ahead of the Social Media Matters conference in Hong Kong.

"Executives in Asia instinctively recognize that social media has changed the behavior of their customers," said Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific Director of Social@Ogilvy. "The difficulty comes in convincing their own organization to adapt to that change."

"Many businesses in Asia missed the first wave of social media because they only saw a consumer fad," said Paul Heath, regional Chief Executive Officer of Ogilvy & Mather Asia-Pacific. "Now companies need to understand the strength that social media brings to business, including and beyond marketing."

Does Social Media Really Matter?

In addition to sessions about the value of social media to business, the Social Media Matters conference, co-organized by Branded and Ogilvy & Mather on September 7, features some of the world's top investors, platforms, brands and industry leaders, including Joseph Chen, Chairman and CEO of Renren; Gopi Kallayil, Chief Evangelist, Google Social for Brands, Google; and Esther Dyson, Internet investor and visionary.

"Executives in Asia face the need to prove social media's business value," said Mr. Crampton. "Demonstrating dollar returns for social media investment is by far the most requested topic for Social Media Matters."

Social Media's Leading Role in Asia

Social media plays a primary role in business across several markets. Hong Kong, China and Singapore stand out with more than a third of respondents believing social media is of primary business importance, while Indonesia, India and Taiwan were highlighted by more than 20 percent of respondents.

Additional highlights from the study include:

Despite emphasizing the importance of social media, 60 percent of executives said their companies spent less than five percent of their marketing and communications budget on social media.

Many companies are new to social media, with 58 percent of executives surveyed claiming their company had used social media for less than two years.

A large portion of companies have been hurt by social media, with more than 22 percent saying social media aggravated a crisis and one third saying the company has faced unauthorized social media properties created by their own team.

Departments using social media within companies include marketing for 90 percent of respondents, corporate communications for 46 percent of respondents and customer service for 34 percent of respondents. Social media is used by 25 percent of the human resources and sales departments or respondents, while only 13 percent use social media for product research and development.

The most common internal structure, for 43 percent of respondents, is a single team that manages social media for the whole company. For 24 percent of respondents, social media is managed by individuals in different departments.

The primary use cited for social media is "buzz building" at 66 percent, followed by monitoring online sentiment for 63 percent of respondents.

The survey polled 153 executives in more than 14 countries across Asia-Pacific. Of the respondents surveyed, 43 percent were manager or development head, and 18 percent director, vice-president or general manager spread across more than a dozen industry sectors, the largest segments were technology (15 percent), food & beverage (14 percent) and finance (12 percent).

For more details on the conference, please visit www.socialmatters.asia.

About Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather is one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. In Asia Pacific, Ogilvy & Mather won Network of the Year 2011 and Creative Agency Network of the Year 2011 at the annual Campaign Asia Pacific Awards. Through its specialty units, the company provides a comprehensive range of marketing services including: advertising; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; shopper and retail marketing; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing. Ogilvy & Mather services Fortune Global 500 companies as well as local businesses through its network of more than 450 offices in 120 countries. It is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY). For more information, visit www.ogilvy.com.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. In October 2011 Ipsos completed the acquisition of Synovate. The combination forms the world's third largest market research company.

With offices in 84 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management. Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media. They measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of €1.140 billion ($1.6 billion U.S.) in 2010. Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos' offerings and capabilities.

About Branded

Branded is a leading Asian event organiser, media and entertainment brand marketing agency. Branded has successfully partnered with a number of the world's leading entertainment attractions including: Walking with Dinosaurs, The Rolling Stones, Coco Lee, Black Eyed Peas, Jamie Cullum, We Will Rock You, James Blunt, ARTHK and even Barney the Dinosaur. Branded Ltd. is also the owner and organiser of Asia's leading digital media and music festival, Digital and Music Matters In May 2012, Digital and Music Matters attracted over 1,200 delegates from close to 400 companies from 30 countries.

###

Media contacts:

Rhonda Taylor

T: +852 3114 6335 / 9804 2114

E: rtaylor@consultancy-pr.com.hk

Michel Chau

T: +852 3114 6336 / 9628 2988

E: mchau@consultancy-pr.com.hk