Malaysia Digital Brand Index

Global PR firm, Edelman, yesterday launched the Asia Pacific Digital Brand Index (“DBI”) – research that shows how often a brand is mentioned online in the countries in which it carried out the research, in partnership with Brandtology, a market research organisation.  According to Edelman:

“Every 10 seconds, someone in Asia mentions a major technology firm online, but these conversations could be even more active and widespread if the brands themselves engaged consistently, found the first quarterly Asia Pacific Digital Brand Index (DBI).The DBI is the first research project in Asia Pacific to unveil the most discussed brands online, the most active channels and the most interesting subject areas. Developed by Edelman and derived from Brandtology data, this quarterly piece of online intelligence from across eight markets in Asia Pacific found almost 800,000 online mentions of 233 large technology brands, contained within 4,348 influential channels monitored between July and September 2009.”

The Malaysian results are contained in a press release below.  As I read the report, here are my personal thoughts:

1. just because one is mentioned more often doesn’t necessarily mean it is a good thing.  In my experience, people mention things online either because there is a good offer/bargain from a brand, or its products/services suck so badly and they are venting their anger and frustration.
2. no Apple?  This is certainly interesting.  No Digi as well?  The exclusion Apple can perhaps be explained by the fact that people don’t normally refer to Apple as “Apple”, but rather “iPhone” or “iPod”.  I guess such is the power of Apple’s branding that its products themselves can become “brands”?  As for DiGi, I have no ideas.
3. I wasn’t aware that this website mentions brands so frequently.  Maybe I should charging people for mentioning their names?

Google is Malaysia’s most discussed brand online

Findings from first Malaysia Digital Brand Index helps technology marketing leaders to measure impact of engagement over time

Kuala Lumpur, 22 October 2009 – In Malaysia’s first ever Digital Brand Index (DBI), Malaysians are found to mention a major technology brand every 4 minutes on some of the country’s most popular and influential online sites.

Developed by Edelman and derived from Brandtology data, the DBI found:

• 37,246 online conversations for 52 large technology brands contained within 467 influential channels, monitored between July and September 2009, of which 67% of volume revolve around top 10 brands
• Of  the 10 most-talked about brands online, Google is ahead of  the curve in volume of conversations at 18%. This is followed by Blackberry at 9.7%.
• With 2.9 brand mentions for  every  person,  Sony, led Microsoft (2.6) in terms individual engagement across the 50 brands researched.
• With 1.6 number of posts per channel across all brands, Lowyat.net – Kopitiam forum, an online discussion site  and community resource,  is the centre of  gravity for mentions of technology brands – with 6,218 mentions found.

Bob Grove, Managing Director, South East Asia, Edelman, said: “Where the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about, in Malaysia, it’s surprising to see big household names absent from online buzz”.

“The study confirms that most purchasing decisions are already made in consumers’ minds before they even touch, see and feel the real thing. This underlines the importance for companies to build strategies with stakeholders for a sustainable multi-stakeholder, multi-channel engagement communications campaign”, explains Karen Hoh, Managing Director, Edelman in Kuala Lumpur.

From Buzz to Business Outcomes

Marketers  benefit  in  several  ways from  the  DBI.  The  DBI  can  show a  direct  link between traditional marketing efforts and online conversations and benchmark the extent to which online conversations drive marketing results. For example, when managed well, brands can produce bigger spikes of conversation for major product launches, events or promotions – delivering greater ROI for campaigns. In terms of channels, the DBI allows brands to focus on quality, rather than quantity, and influential individuals and communities – thereby directing efforts at the most effective online channels. The research can also provide insight as to which communities or people have previously been targeted, by whom and what the result was, allowing more targeted outreach.

In addition, the research also provides insight into the language and words used by key communities and influencers, which can make search marketing more efficient, and what kind of content works well within specific communities or individuals – allowing tailored marketing communications,

• Conversation Index: Ratio of individual instances of online branded conversations, versus the average instances  of conversation for all brands locally – Indicates share of voice amongst consumers online.
• Channel  Index: Ratio  of  total number of online channels (including social networking sites, forums, blogs and news sites) where comments about a brand are found, versus the average number of channels with comments for all brands locally.  This is indicative of efficiency of channel engagement and targeting.

By calculating Average Engagement, the DBI also provides an indicative gauge of advocacy by measuring the average comments per unique person who talks about a brand.

“What’s interesting to observe from the Top 10 Channels in Malaysia is the rise of Twitter, the short  message  social  networking  site  in  Malaysia,  which  was  a  close  second.  Traditional influential channels and voices online are being ignored, and low Average Engagement scores signal a clear opportunity for brands to roll their sleeves up, get more involved and create more compelling social media content to increase their buzz factor,” said Eddie Chau, Founder and CEO of Brandtology.

For more information on the research and in-country results, readers may click on – http://www.edelmanapac.com or get in touch with Edelman in Kuala Lumpur at +6 03 2287 8689.

Survey Methodology

The DBI was conducted across 8 key markets in the Asia Pacific region, namely, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore. Produced on a quarterly basis,  the  Asia  Pacific  Digital  Brand  Index  monitors  key  brands  from  the  following  broad categories: Internet and Software, Consumer Electronics, Mobile and Telecommunications, Business and Consulting and IT and Technology, and analyzed across a list of popular online channels which includes influential blogs, forums, and online news outlets. The channels were selected by identifying conversations based on both qualitative as well as quantitative research.

About Edelman

Edelman is the world’s leading independent public relations firm, with 3,200 employees in 51 offices worldwide. Edelman was named PRWeek’s “2009 Agency of the Year,” PRWeek’s “Large Agency of the Year” (for the third time in the last four years), and Holmes Report’s “2009 Best Large Agency to Work For” and was listed as a top-10 firm by Advertising Age in 2007 and 2008.

Edelman represents technology brands around the world, many of which are included in the Digital Brand Index. For more information about Edelman visit  www.edelman.com.

About Brandtology

Brandtology provides business and brand online intelligence services round the clock from its 24×7  Command  Centers.  Manned  by  trained  specialists,  Brandtology  enables  organizations around the globe to make timely and informed strategic decisions. Brandtology’s Digital Conversation Management System (DCMS) is powered by an intelligent opinion mining and ticket-processing system  which aids organizations in listening to online digital conversations generated from blogs, forums, micro-blogs, news sites and other social medium. Brandtology serves a multitude of industries and public sectors in functions where online intelligence matters. Brandtology’s proprietary technologies, coupled with proven processes and trained specialists, enable clients to improve their brand equity, to increase revenue and to gain competitive edge. For more information, please visit www.brandtology.com.

For more information on the research and in-country results, kindly contact:

Aileen Han

Edelman in Malaysia

Tel: + 603 2287 8689

Email: aileen.han@edelman.com

Callum Feasby

Brandtology

Tel: + 603 6201 0909Email: callum.feasby@brandtology.com

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