60+ global experts examine future of marketing and e-commerce

Asia’s premier marketing and e-tailing events, MarketingPulse and eTailingPulse, kicked off their two-day run today. Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the two-in-one virtual forum has brought together more than 60 marketing executives, brand representatives, advertising elites and e-commerce experts from around the world to examine the latest global trends in marketing and e-commerce and share their success stories.The theme for this year’s conference is “Together, We Create”. In her welcome remarks this morning, Margaret Fong, Executive Director of the HKTDC, said: “The forum will demonstrate how to create value for customers, consumers, societies and the world and engender new marketing and e-tailing experiences. We have invited industry experts from across the world to lead discussions on new trends and growth opportunities and help industry players learn about harnessing virtual worlds to drive business in the real world. In addition, the forum will examine the latest market trends and e-tailing opportunities in Mainland China and explore the rejuvenation and sustainable development of brands.”

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Sustainability and digital innovation under the spotlight

This morning, legendary marketer Keith Weed, former Global Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Unilever, hosted a session to envision the future of the marketing industry. He advised participants to prepare for a rapidly changing world by embracing tech, data, content and sustainability. “Businesses need to spend a lot more time to think about where the world is going, how can we get to the future first, and what we can do to react in an agile way. In these challenging times we have to find out what extra we can do and bring to consumers through our brands to help us navigate our way,” Mr Weed said. John Schoolcraft, Chief Creative Officer of Swedish drinks manufacturer Oatly, shared his experience in transforming oat drinks into a sustainable lifestyle icon and driving growth at the same time through brand purpose strategies.

Also joining the forum was Tina Chao, Chief Marketing and Digital Customer Experience Officer of McDonald’s Hong Kong. She shared tips on creating online-to-offline customer experiences through innovative promotional campaigns. “An ideal consumer experience is truly personalised and attuned to customers’ needs. Every element of a customer journey has to be designed in a way that each customer can participate in, make their own message and pass it on to share their brand love,” Ms Chao said.

Riding the metaverse and NFT wave

Eminent speakers were also invited to shed light on how brands can ride on the metaverse wave and examine developments such as virtual humans and new entertainment, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), NFT products and marketplaces, and virtual retail using gamified experiences. Among those sharing their insights were Sebastien Borget, Co-founder and COO of The Sandbox; Asher Rapkin, Director (Global Business Marketing, Facebook App and Emerging Platforms) at Meta; Melody Hildebrandt, Chief Information Security Officer of FOX and President of its subsidiary, Blockchain Creative Labs (BCL); Justin Hochberg, Co-founder and CEO of Virtual Brand Group; Wesley Ng, CEO and Co-Founder of CASETiFY; and Gary Liu, CEO of the South China Morning Post.

Exploring omnichannel retail and e-commerce trends

The second day of the forum will focus on omnichannel commerce and the latest developments in Asian e-tailing, including direct-to-customer (D2C), social commerce, video and livestreaming commerce, entertainment marketing and more. Marketing and e-commerce experts, including Takumi Kato, CEO at Shanghai Ezaki Glico Foods Co Ltd, Yajuan Wong, Chief Marketing Officer at Xiaohongshu, and San Zang, Head of Marketing Planning Department, Marketing Center of BiliBili, will reveal how brands and marketers can leverage innovative marketing strategies to engage young consumers in Mainland China markets.

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Practical workshops and business-matching facilitate digital transformation

Tomorrow will also see a series of digital marketing and e-tailing workshops offering a wealth of practical marketing knowledge and advice for participants. Representatives from companies such as EventX, iClick, Hivestack, Meltwater, Google and Meta will share strategies for social commerce, video and influencer marketing, virtual events and programmatic digital out-of-home advertising for brand promotion. Alongside the illuminating discussions, a one-on-one online business matching service is provided through the conference’s online platform, where local marketing and e-tailing experts will offer professional advice while showcasing their solutions.