Google Launches DigiCamp in Hong Kong
Google wants to obtain more mainstream advertisers with deep pockets in Greater China, to build their brands online.
Google kicked off DigiCamp – a two-day event in Hong Kong to showcase its creative and technological capabilities aimed at helping marketers in Greater China build brands online.
In Asia, performance marketers are generally familiar with Google’s search engine marketing (Adwords) and banner advertising opportunities.
But the Internet firm is also offering more tools to appeal to mainstream advertisers looking to creatively engage with consumers in digital ways.
Google’s proposition, compared with competing media, is its ability to provide an “always on” campaign for brands.
Simon Kahn, chief marketing officer from Google Asia Pacific, tells local journalists at Google Hong Kong’s newly renovated office on Tuesday that marketers should watch out for these three trends:
1. Digital is becoming the core element of marketing.
2. Advertisers are embracing non-traditional channels to connect with their audience.
3. Marketers are using digital to forge emotional connection with consumers.
To demonstrate some of these trends, Kahn shared a few case studies.
Tourism India Crowd Sourced #IncredibleIndia Photos on Google Plus
The Ministry of Tourism for India recently ended a six-week campaign that had Google Plus users submit the best pictures of India to win a week’s holiday at any Indian destination of their choice.
Pictures that were hashtagged with #IncredibleIndia were curated and displayed on the landing page that were further sorted out under various categories such as nature, people, architecture, and food. The campaign page available on Google Plus platform attracted more than 568,000 followers and 2,400 shares.
Japan: Augmented Reality Penguins Engage Visitors in Real Time
Using augmented reality, Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo worked with Hakuhodo to design a mobile app that increased visitor attendance by 152 percent from the previous month to the 35-year-old attraction.
The app features penguins leveraging GPS and motion capture technology that lead visitors to the aquarium.
Mobile users that downloaded the app also spent on average more than nine minutes interacting with it.
Indonesia: Unilever’s Wall’s Ice Cream Shares Interactive Branded Content via YouTube
Unilever wanted to increase in-home consumption for Wall’s ice cream in Indonesia targeting families with young mothers.
The consumer packaged good team created a branded YouTube channel and rolled out a branded content video campaign called Scoops of Happiness that features fifteen fairy tales.
Users could interact with the video content to view step-by-step recipe instructions that they could share with friends on social networks or download recipes as pdf. Users that downloaded the recipes could also receive coupons to redeem and impact sales.
Other elements of the campaign included Google and YouTube ads, an SEO strategy where mothers that looked for recipes would be directed to visit its brand channel on YouTube, TV commercials, Facebook ads and retail point of sale.
Google Digicamp
Six booths were set up at Google Digicamp in Quarry Bay showcasing Android, Chrome, Google Plus, YouTube, Geo-location, and Art, Copy & Code solutions.
Google chief executive Eric Schmidt was also in Hong Kong on Monday to announce a partnership with the Chinese University of Hong Kong to support young entrepreneurs. The one-year mentorship program included a sponsored trip for outstanding participants to visit Google headquarters in Mountain View to connect with experts in the global community.
