Published: on 02 Jun 2012
By Eugene Mahalingam
MEDIA agency MEC Malaysia eyes good growth potential within the local small and medium enterprise (SME) segment to grow its digital business.
“SMEs comprise more then 80% of companies in Malaysia and there's a huge growth potential,” MEC Malaysia managing director Law Chan Keong tells StarBizWeek.
“Furthermore, we have the capabilities to tap the SME segment,” he adds.
Law says one of the biggest challenges is to be able
to get SMEs to invest in a media agency.
“Just a small portion of clients comprise SMEs. But we want to grow our SME base because I think we have the right pillars in place to cater to their needs.”
Law says one of the biggest challenges is to be able to get SMEs to invest in a media agency.
“We have been working with SMEs and the perception is that generally most of them are worried about working with international agencies like us. I think there is the perception that we are very pricey or too big for them.
“We need to be able to convince them that we have the capabilities of attracting them of being able to provide the right attention and dedication,” he says.
Law adds that many SMEs are already realising the importance of investing in digital-related campaigns to create awareness of their business.
“It will be an interesting challenge. I know there will be reservations but I feel that digital is one of the most measurable mediums, be it on a transactional or an engagement basis. Furthermore, as far as investing in digital is concerned, SMEs don't have to invest in any of the technology because we already have that. They just have to invest in the confidence in us.
“For the SMEs to be able to invest about 10% of their advertising and promotional budget alone (in us) is sufficient for us to set up a decent digital platform for them. So (attracting SMEs) is more of an opportunity than a challenge,” he says.
Law reiterates that the perception that international agencies such as MEC Malaysia is expensive is untrue.
“The perception that we are pricey is not true. Being an international media agency, we can provide professional services by offering the most competitive price.”
MEC Malaysia, which is part of media giant GroupM, was first created in 2002. Law joined MEC Malaysia in 2009. The agency employs about 32 people currently.
In 2010, the agency established its specialist Analytics and Insight group. One of the key outcomes of this move was the ability to understand the impact of digital and traditional media for its clients.
According to Law, MEC Malaysia's digital business is its fastest growing division.
“(Digital) is our fastest revenue driver. Conventional media planning is still our bread and butter. Digital constitutes about 8% of total billings for MEC Malaysia,” he says, adding that the agency has set an “ambitious target” to double it this year.
Law says MEC Malaysia's digital business recorded a billings growth of 85% in the first four months of this year compared with the previous corresponding period.
“Judging by the growth in the first four months of this year, we're confident of achieving our growth target. We have the key talents in place and we're educating our clients on the latest digital innovations,” he says.
Law says the growth was attributable to the various initiatives the agency had done “over the past two years.”
“Over the last two years, we have been aggressive in driving new local business. Some of the new partners we have are Time Dotcom, the Coca-Cola (steel) business and Henkel, a Germany-based personal care company.
“We also have an established mix of local and overseas clients. Some of our key multinational companies include Colgate Palmolive and Citibank.”
Citing data by RECMA, a research company that publishes evaluations on the media agency industry, Law says MEC Malaysia ranked 7th in terms of billings size locally as at 2010.
“We don't foresee it changing in 2011,” he says.
On another note, Law points out that MEC Malaysia won its first ever Gold award at last year's Malaysia Media Awards.
“It's a result of bringing to life our mantra (active engagement). Ultimately, we believe in delivering value to our clients by actively engaging the consumer. What that means is that we go beyond the conventional means of just placing an ad in the newspaper ad or on TV. It boil downs to communication ideas.”
Going forward, Law says he's upbeat about MEC Malaysia's growth potential.
“We're optimistic about our growth going forward. The key success will be to continue recruitment and retention of talent. Within GroupM, we have an established and committed training programme to help groom our talents at the entry level, mid-management and senior level as well.
“This has been going on for past 5 years,” he says.
No comments:
Post a Comment