APAC Firms That Invest in CX Earlier Are Drawing Ahead
- By Paul Mah
- February 15, 2022
Marketing organizations that made early investments into customer experience (CX) do better than those that come in later – and the gap is widening every year, observed Scott Rigby, the chief technology advisor at Adobe. Rigby was sharing some of the key findings from the just-released Adobe Digital Trends 2022 report, in response to a query from CDOTrends about the latest version of the annual report.
To better understand how digital trends are changing the marketing discipline, Adobe surveyed more than 10,000 participants from around the globe for the 2022 report, from marketers, consultants, to practitioners.
Early mover advantage
Specifically, half of marketing organization leaders around the globe cited “significant insight” into the journeys of new customers, versus just one in five of mainstream and 6% of laggard organizations, says Rigby. In addition, a majority (65%) of marketing organization leaders rate their speed of acting on insights as “strong” or “very strong”, versus just 22% of mainstream and 5% of laggard organizations.
There is no question that the global events of the last two years have accelerated the digital transformation for companies of all sizes, both around the world and in Asia. Indeed, surveyed senior executives agreed that the events of the last 24 months have re-wired customers to be digital-first, according to the report.
More businesses are rethinking how they engage with consumers and business buyers alike, though the pandemic have also raised the bar on CX.
Indeed, almost half (45%) of Asian businesses interviewed said that they were lagging customer expectations, while 51% of Asian businesses said that they were either just keeping pace with their sector or slightly to significantly underperforming. Currently, just one in four (26%) of those surveyed in Asia said that they exclusively use a cloud-based customer experience management platform.
It is hence unsurprising that more businesses in APAC say they plan on a slight increase of around 10% or slightly less than 10%, in their spending on CX management. This puts the region ahead of Europe and North America, which garnered 53% and 57% of the responses, respectively.
Stumbling blocks in APAC
Another notable finding was how half (50%) of those polled in APAC pointed to a lack of digital skills and capabilities as a major barrier. According to the report, poor integration between tech systems is holding marketing and CX back, followed closely by workflow issues.
Yet the APAC region is home to a significant base of technology talent, argues Rigby, who pointed out that APAC nations produced three out of four (76%) of the world’s STEM university graduates: “India trains more computer science graduates than anywhere else in the world. In the next five years, it is expected that at least 60% of APAC enterprises will have a digital-first workforce, where [up to] two-thirds of all employees are trained in data, coding, agile and advanced technology capabilities.”
But while the pandemic temporarily grounded homegrown talent, APAC is at risk of losing its digital expertise to other regions as borders reopen. According to Rigby, pre-COVID-19, over 70 percent of digital experts from India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore were either already working abroad, or were willing to move abroad for work.
This confluence of factors explains why APAC businesses are trying to reduce vendor dependencies, alongside efforts to simplify and standardize their technology stacks (33%). Rationalizing technology stacks by pruning systems, modernizing applications, and bringing technology together under a unifying platform can help legacy organizations, says Rigby.
Gearing up for the opportunities ahead
Rigby was quick to point out that great opportunities abound in APAC, with as many as 333 million people are expected to use mobile internet in the region for the first time over the next three years. Capturing this opportunity will require businesses to offload routine tasks and operations to automated systems, freeing up key personnel for higher-value work.
But how does regulation play into the use of new technology, and what role do organizations have to build and maintain digital trust with consumers? It turns out there is room for improvement for APAC organizations.
Only 40% of APAC businesses currently plan to make remote work permanent, compared to 70% globally. In addition, just 25% of APAC senior executives expected hybrid work at much higher levels than before the pandemic, while only 19% expected hiring remote workers at much higher levels – potentially constraining talent acquisition.
Finally, 55% of respondents in Asia felt either highly effective or effective in giving users control of their data. With 55% in gathering data, 41% in using first-party data and 58% in preparing for the post third party cookie world, there is room for improvement, summed up Rigby.
Paul Mah is the editor of DSAITrends. A former system administrator, programmer, and IT lecturer, he enjoys writing both code and prose. You can reach him at [email protected].
Image credit: iStockphoto/Pavel1964
Paul Mah
Paul Mah is the editor of DSAITrends, where he report on the latest developments in data science and AI. A former system administrator, programmer, and IT lecturer, he enjoys writing both code and prose.