Digital marketing case study: Philips integrates digital in Asia

WARC, 13 February 2014

HONG KONG: As part of its ongoing repositioning, Philips, the lighting and healthcare business, is seeking to integrate its marketing and communications across digital platforms, according to leading executives.

"Right now digital is too siloed at the country and division level and our focus is to integrate that," Jan Hesselink, outgoing CMO for Asia, told Campaign Asia-Pacific. He wanted "to implement the brand message across every single touchpoint".

That work will fall to his successor, Damien Cummings, who indicated that he would be developing a network of influencers in select communities, such as parenting and motherhood. "We want to find advocates and engage them at scale," he said, "and you will see us do a lot more work with companies like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google."

He explained that he regarded social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as good customer service tools which would help drive customer satisfaction and, in time, identify suitable advocates.

Cummings also wanted to extend the predominantly B2B work that Philips was undertaking in Asia for its healthcare and lighting businesses to include more B2C communication and to expand search marketing in order to promote brands.

In addition to this channel-related approach, he felt the company could do a lot more to spread its ideas on innovation. "We're all about innovation, whether it is medical technology or LED lighting display," he said.

Last year Hesselink outlined to an ad:tech event in Singapore how Philips had tackled raising awareness in the region of its new positioning, having dropped its consumer electronics business.

It turned to crowdsourcing, asking internet users to submit ideas to improve living standards using Philips' products, the best of which it then developed, ranging from well-lit bus shelters in Jakarta to hospital guides for new mothers in South Korea. (Warc subscribers can read the full report here: Co-creation helps Philips transform its approach in Asia).

Data sourced from Campaign Asia-Pacific; additional content by Warc staff

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