Pulse Blog

Tuesday, Oct 20th, Kuala Lumpur – Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has appointed Pulse Group PLC as its strategic research partner for its research projects throughout Asia-Pacific. OMG, part of the Omnicom Group is one of the largest media agencies in the world. Guy Hearn, Director of Communication Insights, Asia Pacific commented “We are very pleased to be working with Pulse. They have comprehensive back-end research support infrastructure and one of the largest online panels spanning 20 countries throughout Asia”.

Pulse Group will work with OMG’s analytics team providing the latter with its online and offline data collection expertise and other ancillary services such as project management, survey programming and data processing.

Pulse Group has a comprehensive back-end research support infrastructure and one of the largest online panels spanning 20 countries throughout Asia. Kym Wong, COO of Pulse Group PLC adds, “Being astute to consumer behavior and driving innovation requires commitment to research and we are proud to be selected as its strategic partner having worked with the group for some time now”.

The deal will also cover initiation of new region-wide research projects to stay tuned to consumers’ ever changing behavior.

We recently held a ‘Pulse Breakfast Forum’ in Kuala Lumpur with the main topic being ‘Consumer Brand Loyalty in a recession’. The forum is part of a regional effort in which we share insights to monthly regional surveys conducted online, and amongst n=3,750 consumers region-wide.

The forum was attended by the industry’s leading thought-leaders, CEO’s, and Media agencies who all had a vast vested interest in securing the engagement and most importantly ‘share-of-wallet’ of their consumers.

1) Some of the findings were that as much as consumers seek ‘value’ during a recession, they are also extremely jittery and prone to switch brands as soon as prices are slashed.

2) Price sensitivity had also lead to product, venue, and retail downgrades

3) Malaysians remained pretty bullish about the economic outlook for the next six-months, although will remain cautious when it came to spending

4) Luxury categories were effected badly

5) Categories such as Petrol retained a high-level of loyal customers

6) Digital was a huge driver towards engaging with brands, researching products, and also purchasing in various categories

7) Tactical Ad’s were most welcomed, and a majority of consumers actually look forward to ‘sales’ and ‘promotions’ more than ever to gain more bang for their buck

In terms of some of the principles we believe were required to stay relevant and to have a voice were;

1) Focus on your core audience

2) Continue your Marketing activities, you really need to be heard

3) Go Digital

4) Innovate and invest in research (off course!)

5) Be Tactical

6) Add and deliver value

While this was an ‘invitation only’ event, we would be happy to share top-line findings with you if interested. Please email forums@pulse-group.com to request a copy of the top-line report.

Last week, I was interviewed by BFM89.9 a local business station in Malaysia about our journey from winning the APICTA Award in 2006. APICTA (Asia-Pacific Information Communication Technology Awards) was the brainchild of MSC Malaysia to recognize high-achieving rock-star companies, now spanning 13 countries and in its ninth year (great job guys!).

Like most awards, it’s really a time to take stock of one’s journey, and stopping to smell the roses. APICTA was our first award which we clinched in 2006, as the ‘fastest growing start-up’. There’s no doubt that we grew fast, and continued to do so until now…clinching more than 20 other awards along the way..both regional and global in nature.

The APICTA award however was special..it was our first, and the most monumental milestone that assured us that we were on the right growth trajectory, flight-path, and region to be doing what we do. Our team at the time was pretty small, scattered mainly across our Sydney and Cyberjaya offices, and assembled mainly of bright young things who took a huge risk in joining a very young company. A lot of these folks are still with us today, having rode in on the very fast and furious wave which has become a norm at Pulse, as we had grown the company to what it is today.

Looking back to winning APICTA several years ago now, it has been a truly amazing ride with the highs and lows and challenges of a hypergrowth company, but the excitement and fulfilment that comes with it. We wish all the new winners the best of luck for the awards this year, and make sure to fasten your belts from here, it’s going to be a fun ride!

Listen to the interview at: http://www.bfm.my/How-To-Avoid-The-Pit-Falls-of-a-Start-Up-Bob-Chua-Pulse-Group-Niran-Noor-MDeC.html