Branded online content demonstrates measurable ROI, says report by Waggener Edstrom Communications

 24th January 2014    PR News 

Waggener Edstrom Communications’ latest report, “The Impact of Brand Storytelling Online” - Understanding the role of digital content on Asian consumer decision-making and business ROI, was released this week.

The report focuses on whether there is a business impact to online branded content. The analysis covers six key sectors – mobile devices, consumer electronics and appliances, food and beverage, personal care products, travel and tourism and healthcare across 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including India, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam. The survey was based on responses by 2,200 consumers between the ages of 15 and 60.

The purpose of the report is to explore the impact on purchase behaviour between audiences who are highly exposed to branded content online versus those who are not. Purchase behaviour has been defined according to three core activities; buying cycle, advocacy and engagement.

India results

The results for India are interesting. Not only is India highly engaged with brands through the content online, but are also likely to spend on brands they are engaged with. For example, consumers following brands in the travel and tourism sector in India are 3 times (187%) more likely to spend on brands in this sector as compared to those who don’t follow brands online.

The report also found that a staggering 97% of the Indian respondents follow their favorite brands on social channels.  And 72% of the Indian consumers surveyed follow their favorite healthcare brand on social channels, which is even higher than the Asia-Pacific average for the healthcare sector at 48%. This inspite of the fact that there are not that many interesting campaigns in this sector.

There were also interesting results regarding recall and usage about the top 5 social networks by Indian respondents. IM apps WeChat and Line figured in the top 5 and not WhatsApp. The rest of the list is made up by Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

To understand the business impact of branded content in the Indian market, PRmoment India radio, spoke to Stephen Tracy, Asia Pacific head for Insights & Analytics, for Waggener Edstrom Communications. Listen in: