Is your ad getting value for money?
Issues affecting marketers addressed at MAA-WFA conference
AMID a complex media landscape, there are many issues which a marketer faces to ensure ad spend, campaigns and branding initiatives are well utilised.
There are other burning questions which they constantly ponder: What am I really getting for my advertising money? Are the recommended changes to the media plan getting my brand more visibility? Did my ad appear? Is my brand appearing on objectionable websites? The list goes on.
Their predicament were raised and possible solutions were provided at a recent Digital Governance conference organised by the Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA) in collaboration with World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and strategic partners FirmDecisions Ltd and Ebiquity Plc.
UK-based FirmDecisions is a global auditor in the specialised area of contract and financial compliance of agencies to client contracts in the marketing communication industry. Ebiquity, also a UK-based company, is one of the world’s leading independent marketing analytics specialist.
Ebiquity South-East Asia managing director Leela Nair tells StarBizWeek: “How do you understand what’s working for you and what’s not in this complex media landscape? Firstly, you have to understand whether you get what you pay for. Secondly, have the right metrics in place, defined the right way, so you can measure the effectiveness of the campaign.”
Meanwhile, FirmDecisions Asia Pacific managing director David Brocklehurst advises that in the ever-changing landscape of digital and programmatic, agency contracts should not only be refreshed and audited but consideration should also be given in redefining the in and out of the scope of work.
“Your contracts may not be giving you the transparency and controls you think you have. Typical clauses to look out for are: The right to audit before and post termination because rebates will come in after the period, for example; the right to choose who the auditor is; ambiguous clauses on data ownership to name a few,” he notes.
Moreover, experts in the conference agree the process of verifying invoices has to go beyond matching against the media plan. Sometimes an ad is cancelled or is not published and therefore audit helps improve governance in billings to actual media bought.
To further ensure compliance, salient terms of contract should be summarised and tabled to help educate all internal stakeholders.
Data
What is data? How to manage data? Do I need all these data? How do I target an audience effectively in a complex media landscape?
These are some of the other pertinent questions which are frequently on the minds of marketers.
There are also many multiple targeting filters that can be put in place to isolate your buys in order to target the exact individual that will react to your ads. The only issue is, are you over-targeting?
Elaborating on this, Ebiquity South-East Asia head of digital Muhammad Abdullah says: “It can be a trade-off for the scale. This ties back to what are you really trying to achieve as a marketeer – hyper targeting or to gain scale in reaching out to the masses?”
“Marketeers also tend to face the problem of reaching out to the same audiences on different platforms. To achieve better efficiency, isolate and have singular targeting across whatever you are buying. That’s where a programmatic approach should come into place.”
Stretching the dollar with combo media
Every channel should have a fitting role to play that will affect the KPIs. Muhammad adds: “There should be less focus on only evaluating cost as a parameter but you should also look at the quality you are getting based on that cost. It goes in tandem. So you evaluate the true value of your buy.”
As more media is consumed online, is the trend favouring video? And must it be professional-grade? He cautions the online audience has a shorter attention span, and the creative and content should not be the same as an adapted television commercial that is put online.
“Instead try the reverse. Build assets from an online perspective then bring to free to air,” Muhammad notes.
Crowd sourced videos can be successfully used as actual videos within the media buy. That is, if your messaging angle and the whole story that you are trying to put across comes to life from these, he says.
The human factor
Ultimately, people matter. The constants on your team and in the agency, must align objectives, ensure effective implementation and tracking, according to experts at the event. Don’t wait for the campaign to end as digital allows for monitoring and reviewing daily. Frequent interaction between agency and your team is critical in order to strike the relevant chords in unison, to ensure a harmonious symphony.
Dynamic and ever changing metrics, according to some experts demand that knowledge and skills must be upgraded and everyone has to evolve together – media agency, media owner, advertisers and marketers.
The way forward
Whether or not your agency is acting in your best interest, do verify and ensure that you retain your rights to review and audit. Do refresh your contracts, understand what you are getting for your working media, ensure that you have digital governance, empower yourselves to be smarter to protect your own assets for your business, attendees were reminded at the event.
“Ad Fraud is one example, and a guidance is available to look at the steps, technology and tools that need to come into a campaign to help ensure it is a human and not a bot,” says WFA director of marketing services for Asia Pacific Ranji David.
WFA is the only global organisation representing the common interests of marketers. It brings together the biggest markets and marketers worldwide, representing about 90% of all the global marketing communications spend, almost US$900bil annually.
It also champions responsible and effective marketing communications as well as provide education in protecting marketing investment and driving business goals.
Founded in 1964, MAA has over 200 members across categories as diverse as travel, packaged goods, technology and healthcare, whose total communications spend is in excess of RM11.6bil.
The objectives of the association are to promote the importance of advertising in driving competition in the economy, promote self-regulation and work with government, media owners and advertising agencies in ensuring an environment conducive to the growth of the industry.
Global Forex Market
THE US dollar continued its slide this week, falling by 0.49% to a further two-week low of 93.933 dragged by the stronger euro and cautious sentiment leading up to the House of Representatives tax bill revision.
The better-than-expected inflation and retail sales data last month, which both rose 0.2% month on month (m/m), failed to lift the dollar. However, the greenback managed to pare losses amid improved sentiment after the House of Representatives passed its version of the tax bill.
Brent crude oil approached US$60 per barrel over the week, falling by 3.4% from US$63.93 to US$61.36. The agreed cut in oil supply by Opec and other major producers like Russia, that is expected to continue beyond March 2018, is to a certain extent offset by the 1.85 million barrels increase in US crude stockpile last week as reported by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The euro gained 0.9% to 1.177 largely on the back of robust third quarter 2017 (3Q17) gross domestic growth (GDP) growth in Germany of 0.8% q/q from 0.6% q/q in 2Q17 followed by some support from weaker dollar within the week.
However, the euro faced some pullback after October inflation data slowed down to 0.1% m/m versus 0.4% m/m in September while the European Central Bank’s Yves Mersch reiterated that the euro still needs monetary stimulus.
The British pound fell 0.01% to 1.3195 following news from last weekend that 40 lawmakers of the Conservative Party had signed a letter of no confidence in Theresa May’s leadership as doubts emerge if she could carry a successful Brexit.
The pound later picked up with better October economic data as inflation eased off at 0.1% m/m compared to 0.3% m/m in September, unemployment rate staying steady at 4.3% and retail sales rose 0.3% m/m from -0.7% m/m in the month prior.
The yen climbed against the US dollar by a margin of 0.4% to 113.06, its highest in almost a month amid an overall weaker US dollar. In contrast to September, October’s machinery orders picked up to 49.9% y/y from 45%. However, Japan’s GDP growth rate fell from 0.6% q/q to 0.3% in October while Industrial Production decreased to -1% m/m from 2% in September.
All Asia-ex Japan currencies appreciated against the greenback except for the Hong Kong dollar. The South Korean won was the strongest Asian currency, strengthening by 2.02% to a two-year high supported by strong export figures in October which expanded 7.1% y/y from 35.0% y/y in September.
The won also received a boost from a currency swap deal signed by South Korea and Canada which has no limit on liquidity provisions or expiration date. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong dollar shed 0.10% over the week amid disappointing data in China, such as retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment, had led investors to anticipate further economic slowdown as deleveraging efforts continue.
The ringgit strengthened against the dollar by 1.58% to 4.176, its highest in more than a year despite GDP growth rate being expected at 5.7% y/y in the third quarter, slightly lower than the previous 5.8%. Bank Negara’s positive outlook on the economy and expectations of higher future interest rates have supported the rise in the currency. Besides, the dollar is expected to weaken as growth in emerging markets gathers momentum.
US Treasuries (UST) Market
US Treasury yields curve flattened to a 10-year low amid October core inflation data pushing higher to 0.2% m/m from 0.1% m/m in the month prior, followed by investors pricing in further rate hike in 2018. At Friday 11.30am pricing, the 2-, 5- and 10-year UST traded at 1.71%, 2.06% and 2.36% respectively.
Malaysian Bond Market
Local govvies’ yields slipped across all tenures except the 20- and 30-year yields, driven by the strong ringgit which reached a year-to-date low while investors were also cautious ahead of the release of Malaysia’s 3QGDP data.
At Friday 11am pricing, the 3-, 5-, 7-, 10-, 15-, 20- and 30-year benchmark MGS yields settled at 3.53%, 3.76%, 3.98%, 3.98%, 4.68%, 4.77% and 4.98% respectively.
Trading activities for the benchmark local govvies improved this week. Trading volume for the week stood at RM9.2bil, compared to RM8.4bil in the previous week.
In the case of the secondary corporate bonds market, trading activities softened compared to the previous week. Week to date, total trading volume was at RM1.07bil compared to previous week’s RM1.39bil. About 42% of the trading volume came from GG/AAA while 51% was from the AA segment and the balance 7% from the A segment.
In the GG/AAA segment, notable trades included ‘03/22 Bank Pembangunan Malaysia bond which closed with yields 4bps higher at 4.42% with a trading volume of RM90mil. There was also interest in ‘03/20 HSBC Amanah Malaysia bond which closed with higher yields by 6bps at 4.26% and a total trading volume of RM90mil.
Meanwhile, ‘04/22 and ‘04/27 Lembaga Pembiayaan Perumahan Sektor Awam bonds garnered interest, having recorded a trading volume of RM80mil, closed with yields higher at 4.16% and 4.52%, respectively. Furthermore, ‘08/37 Tenaga Nasional bond ended with yields 7bps higher at 5.17% with RM44mil changing hands.
Elsewhere in the AA segment, notable trades were seen in ‘06/29 and ‘12/29 Jimah East Power bonds which recorded a total trading volume of RM50mil with higher yields at 4.92% and 4.95%, respectively.
Meanwhile, 2029-2034 MEX II tranches posted a trading volume of RM50mil and closed with yields higher at 5.19%-5.59%. Also attracting interest this week was ‘10/18 Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor which recorded yields 3bps higher at 4.37% with a collective trading volume of RM50mil. In addition, 2023-2032 Tanjung Bin Energy Issuer tranches recorded mixed yields between 4.65% and 5.16% with RM40mil changing hands.
MYR Interest Rate Swap (IRS) Market
As at Friday 11am pricing, the IRS curve was higher towards the longer end while the three-year IRS dipped amid expectations of strong 3QGDP data and a 2018 interest rate hike. Elsewhere, the three-month Klibor remained at 3.43%.