The 4th PANA GMM made sure information was the order of the day, because as the GMM declares, “If you think you’ve got all your research data, think again”.
Mobile. Digital. Connected. This is the market we live in today.
Consumers increasingly receive and digest information on the go, while using or involving more advanced technologies to do so.
Benedicto Villanueva, general manager of market research firm GfK Philippines, characterizes the information and technology market with a shift from feature phones to smart phones and which is also driven by a strong demand for tablets.
“Smart phone users recognize that cell phones are fundamentally changing,” says Lester Sualog, digital head of TNS Philippines.
“Multiple screens and devices are changing the mobile market dynamics. Device consideration expands as the market becomes more mature. And as consumers’ sophistication grows, they also become discerning on how their content is provided.”
The question advertisers ask now is, as consumers embrace the mobile lifestyle in a digital world, is traditional media still enough?
ClearSight Media Solutions, Inc. research consultant Jay Bautista shares the facts: 70 percent of Filipinos are found out of home during the day, 60 percent are out of home at night, we travel longer distances and face longer commuting or travel times.
This new landscape finds the reach of out-of-home (OOH) comparable to main media platforms, and raises a segment known as “digital OOH consumers” who belong to the upper- and middle-income groups.
They are made up of teens, young adults, students, professionals and income earners. Twenty-nine percent go to the mall once a week, 23 percent visit the supermarket once a week, 20 percent eat at fast foods once a week and 14 percent hang out in coffee shops once a week.
The movement of technologically maturing consumers out of doors inspires a new media mix, where OOH must hold a stronger role.
ClearSight Inc. is working towards providing the market with a more accurate and consistence audience measurement solution for OOH so that the industry may maximize its capabilities.
In contrast to digital OOH, the GMM also looked at the good old dependable sari-sari store as a distribution channel and marketing point.
Sari-sari stores make up 90 percent of retail outlets in the Philippines.
“It is part of the Filipino way of life,” says GoodThinking Research Inc. managing director Ferdie Frejas.
Open everyday and almost around the clock, a sari-sari store deals with one customer every 11 minutes on a typical day. It manages an even higher traffic on weekends.
A typical storeowner spends most of his or her time inside the store, is serious and hardworking and has built the store to last.
The storeowners like to keep track of their business’ progress. They base the products they carry on the preferences of their customers, the products available at other sari-sari stores and news from TV, radio or print.
They try as much as they can to sell what customers demand.
As an important part of the community, Mr. Frejas sees a need for companies to provide more support for sari-sari stores in the form of storage facilities, advertising materials and store improvement.
“Even though they reach out to consumers, only few companies reach out to them,” he says.
There is great opportunity for growth and development on both sides if brands support sari-sari stores. It is one of the best ways to reach the heart of a community.
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