OMD Sets Up Search Marketing, Analytics Hubs in China

Plus, a case study looking at the agency's work with Intel on a mobile campaign targeting the 24 to 32 year-old demographic.

With the rapid growth of digital marketing in Mainland China, OMD has spent the past year beefing up its digital platforms teams in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, with plans to fill its headcount up to 80 people to meet demand.

To ensure neutrality and due to the specialised nature of search and analytics, Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has set up two new hubs in Beijing for the two disciplines.

The OMG search hub is run by Crystal Chan, who manages a team of 15 staff to provide PPC campaigns for international clients such as HP, Apple, and China.com, the local recruitment portal of Monster.com.

The group’s measurement and analytics team is led by Jia Wen, responsible for setting up KPIs to track, code, and optimise related projects for all clients.

OMD also recently announced the appointment of Grace Li, former head of strategic planning at KU6, a top online video site in the country, to head up the platforms teams in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Rose Du, who joined the agency last April to drive Intel’s online strategy and execution is promoted to lead the team in Beijing.

Planners at OMD are expected to take ownership and have a holistic view of digital media planning on multiple platforms from social to mobile as well as consumer insights and understanding client product categories, said Arlene Ang, managing director at OMD Beijing, in a phone interview with ClickZ Asia.

Ang, who founded the digital agency AdXplorer in 1999, has seen the China market grow “leaps and bounds” when it comes to the online media landscape.  She said digital is becoming a mass media in China, particularly to reach out to young consumers.

TV programming from Korean dramas to American TV series are widely available in the form of online videos and that is why Chinese youths tend to be light TV users since they view the content online. Besides entertainment, youths in China go to the web as an outlet to voice their unhappiness or as an extension to connect with friends, Ang said.

For a brand to connect with young people in China, it not only requires understanding consumer behaviour but tapping local culture to amplify and ensure success of a campaign.

Intel ‘Amazing Call’ Case Study

During Chinese New Year in February, OMD worked with Intel to roll out a mobile initiative targeting the 24 to 32 year-old demographic in China’s tier 3 and 4 cities.

Based on the insight that youths keep in touch with friends during the festive period through voice calls, text messages, and MMS via their mobile handsets, Intel decided to rope in 20 celebrities from microblog Sina Weibo that includes those in the entertainment industry, cartoon characters, and sport personalities to send customised greetings and engage with the brand.

OMD developed a microsite and mobile WAP site to raise awareness for the program. Intel also bought banner ads on popular lifestyle portal Sina and other major mobile WAP sites as well as leverage digitally savvy users on Sina weibo to drive viral.


The mechanics include getting participants to answer three questions about Intel to enter a lucky draw and win a chance to interact on either one of these channels through SMS, voice call, Weibo, or Bluetooth with the celebrity of their choice to send the Chinese New Year greetings to their friends.

Ang said Amazing Call attracted more than 30 million people to participate in the campaign with 16.8 million from the WAP site and 12 million from Sina weibo.

It also drove more than a million downloads to Intel’s microsite and post campaign reports reveal top of mind awareness for the microchip maker increased 22 percent with brand preference rose to 15 percent.

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