By Billy Z. Lots of people think that Singaporean businesses place a lot of emphasis on financials, overheads, efficiency and profitability – and that design, packaging and creativity are often an afterthought. However, there seems to be more than meets the eye. I’m sure you know of Adobe – the makers of Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator and other incredible design tools. Did you know that they work in the Digital Marketing space too? They’ve recently gathered some very interesting research which shows that creativity and design are actually the key components to delivering a great experience to customers. Check out the best bits of their Creative Pulse research report below!
In the era of Experience Business, design and creativity are key differentiators for businesses looking to pull away from competitors and deliver the best experiences for their customers. New research from Adobe has highlighted the role of design thinking and creativity as key components of business transformation. Adobe’s 2017 Creative Pulse research surveyed more than 5,000 creative and marketing professionals and examined the role of design and creativity in businesses transformation across Asia Pacific (APAC). Markets surveyed include India, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Southeast Asia (SEA), Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. The 2017 Creative Pulse found that merging online and offline experiences is the biggest driver of change for the creative community, followed by the adoption of data and analytics and the need for new skills. The research also found that customer experience is the number one investment by businesses across APAC. “Businesses everywhere are ramping up on customer experience, and the merging of online and offline experiences is a significant shift in the way organisations are thinking about customer experience. While many organisations have been focused on digital transformation and experiences, people still expect great physical experiences as well,” said V.R. Srivatsan, Managing Director, Adobe Southeast Asia. “Great customer experiences need to transcend the entire customer journey and be consistent at every touchpoint, whether online or offline — and results from the 2017 Creative Pulse reflect that.” Impact of New Technologies Online and offline experiences are being driven by new technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, powered by artificial intelligence. The 2017 Creative Pulse found that half of those surveyed across APAC did not feel concerned by artificial intelligence or machine learning, however, in SEA, 64% of respondents expressed concerned about the impact of these technologies, with 22% saying they were extremely concerned. “Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning can automate mundane processes and help creative professionals streamline their day-to-day production, allowing them time to focus on ideation and creativity,” said Srivatsan. “These new technologies are not going to replace the role of creativity; instead they can help free up time for creatives to focus on what they do best—being creative and scaling their ideas.” While creatives in SEA are concerned that new technologies will take over their jobs, they are not sitting on their laurels. 51% of respondents are looking to embrace new skills in machine learning and automation to raise their value through design thinking. 69% also said they are updating their skills every six months to a year to keep up with industry developments. Summary of key findings for SEA from the 2017 Creative Pulse research include:
Content and Social Media SEA organisations are also investing in social media more than any other regions in Asia Pacific. This is followed by customer experience and content. This emphasis on social platforms presents a variety of opportunities and challenges in the region. “Social media is big in SEA, and it has forced an explosion in demand for content, putting pressures on organisations to keep up. Budgets were identified as the biggest challenge, followed by conflicting views and internal processes,” said Srivatsan. “To deliver the maximum impact with a shrinking budget, creatives and marketing teams must leverage data and analytics to align their content strategy, and ensure what they are creating is relevant, and delivering an amazing experience for customers.” The 2017 Creative Pulse has reinforced the importance of design and creativity in digital transformation and Experience Business. “Becoming an Experience Business is not simply achieved by transferring an existing ordinary experience onto a digital platform. It is about harnessing the power of great design and creativity to stand out from the competition by delivering an exceptional, compelling experience for customers,” said Srivatsan. Only Adobe Experience Cloud provides businesses everything they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Leveraging Adobe Sensei’s machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities, Adobe Experience Cloud combines world-class solutions, a complete extensive platform, comprehensive data and content systems, a robust partner ecosystem delivering an unmatched expertise on experience delivery. Download the 2017 Creative Pulse research here. |