Dentsu banks on research platforms

Lim: I think one of our strongest assets that gives us that edge over competition is our proprietary platforms, namely the CCS and SenseAsia.

Global advertising agency wants to strengthen its branding and strategic planning services

AFTER a spate of acquisitions and building its talent pool with the recent appointment of three key personnels, Dentsu Aegis Network Malaysia is banking on its research platforms to strengthen its branding and strategic planning services.

Towards this end, the global advertising agency which ranks in the second spot in terms of total billings in the country, will focus strongly on its proprietary platforms, namely the Consumer Connection System (CCS) and SenseAsia. The former is global research platform and the latter is an Asean-focused brand-driven research platform.

Elaborating on its research platforms, the agency’s chief of group insights and strategy Sue-Anne Lim says: “I think one of our strongest assets that gives us that edge over competition is our proprietary platforms, namely the CCS and SenseAsia.

Our commitment to invest in both proprietary and subscribed research platforms that would allow us to audit situations by utilising multiple data sources.

“Gone are the days where our strategists spend 80% of their time doing the legwork in research and 20% analysing the findings. Today, with our commitment to invest in our people and platforms, our strategists can now spend 20% of their time gathering data and 80% on the actual output and still bring unprecedented accuracy to strategy design for our clients. And as the saying goes, even a craftsman will be lost without his tools, ’’ she tells StarBizWeek in an interview.

Lim says CCS is currently the largest and most in-depth single source of media, marketing and consumer research in Malaysia as well as globally. It is unparalleled as a strategic planning tool and it is bigger than 99% of any type of research in Malaysia with 4,000 sample size covering both Peninsular and East Malaysia, she notes

“A unified global platform allows cross-market and cross-region analysis right where the client is located. Globalisation means they can be seated anywhere in the world and will no longer need to worry about bottlenecked systems to get vital information and insights, ‘‘ she adds.

As for SenseAsia, Lim says it is an internal brand and communication-focused research fused with third party data sets accessible via a live dashboard. SenseAsia is available in six Asean markets with a total sample size of 3,000. With this, the agency is able to provide rapid, intuitive, regional access and up-to-date multi-category data to all our strategists – it’s truly information at their fingertips, she explains.

“At the rate the world is moving, we need to ensure that our services can respond in speed, scale and security to our clients’ requirements. Soon, we will also be launching a new market research unit which focuses on unearthing insights and trends in category consumers as an additional revenue stream to our strategy planning capability,’’ she says.

Creative services agencies under Dentsu Aegis Network Malaysia - Dentsu LHS and Dentsu One - announced three key appointments this week.

Dr. Milan Agnihotri was appointed as chief catalyst of brand planning and strategy while Liew Mun Tip as group brand director of Dentsu LHS. Dentsu One appointed Chia Mei Yeng as its strategic planning director.

Commenting on the latest hires, Lim says it will effectively bolster the respective creative agencies planning and strategy capabilities while building on existing structure to take Dentsu Aegis Network’s strategic offerings to a whole new level.

“Furthermore, the industry is currently experiencing reverse integration at a scale like never before, thanks to the digital and data revolution. This has prompted us to relook at the strategy of how we manage client briefs. Planning simply does not work in silos anymore.

“We believe that integration happens at the heart of the strategy, which is why we appoint different disciplinary strategists to work on the same client account. It’s a team concept where we connect the left brain to the right and the client gets the whole brain working together on their business, leaving no stones unturned.

“We now have what we believe is the most significant integrated planning and strategy resource in the country. Our team of strategists consists of fresh minds and experienced seniors from diverse backgrounds who bring multi-cultural, multi-category experiences and multi-disciplines onto the discussion table, Lim explains..

The agency believe in investing and grooming hybrid talents, and anyone who understands true hybrid value is that one plus one never equals to two, she says, adding that there is always a third and new by-product resulting from this kind of synergistic collaboration.

Lim says there are over 400 talents now across all agencies within Dentsu Aegis Network Malaysia, adding that talent is one of our greatest assets and sits high on the agency’s agenda. She adds talent growth is driven by its strategy to be sufficiently scaled and substantially differentiated, noting that expansion is not about hitting headcount numbers.

Dentsu Aegis Network made two acquisitions in April - Merdeka LHS Sdn Bhd and Consider Digital - and industry players reckon that more acquisitions could be in the offing.

Merdeka LHS, which joined forces with Dentsu Malaysia to form Dentsu LHS after the acquisition, is a creative boutique and brand consultancy led by Malaysia’s veteran advertising practitioners Tony Savarimuthu, Huang Ean Hwa and Szu Lee.

Consider Digital, an MSC-status digital marketing agency, has been merged with Dentsu Aegis’ performance marketing brand iProspect to form Consider iProspect.