With 21 million Internet users in the country, Malaysia is one of the most digitally connected nations in the region. The number of internet users has been steadily on the rise and last year, the Department of Statistics reported a 145 percent mobile penetration, with 44.5 million subscriptions in the country. As Malaysia poises to thrust itself into the forefront of the digital economy, the trend is expected to continue – sending a powerful message to brands that are looking for direction in digital marketing. Beyond the mobile device, the high percentage of digital reach also means that the advertising industry can and has pivoted in a new direction to include possibilities that were previously unheard of. The Asia Pacific digital ad market achieved five percent growth in 2016, and has accelerated even further this year. Based on spending alone, it’s clear that marketers are fully aware of the impact of digital. Yet, because of the free reign it provides, it is just as easy to have investments spiral down a dark tunnel. This fear of the unknown and lack of transparency have resulted in tighter restrictions on digital spending, where ads are not placed in front of the right – or even real – eyeballs. Retreating from this untapped potential, global retail behemoth Procter & Gamble (P&G) recently revealed a fall in digital ad spending. Similarly, Unilever also highlighted this year that a significant portion of its three-year US$7 billion cost cuts would come from its marketing spend. While the sea of social media users in Malaysia is large – and brimming with potential for marketers –we cannot assume that anything thrown into this ocean will reel in good results. Advertisers need to understand the bottlenecks achieving their desired results and put their dollars in the same bucket as...
