1) The document proposes digital marketing strategies to increase brand awareness of SingTel's ConnectPlus IP VPN product for target customers including CIOs and network managers in Asia Pacific. 2) Research findings indicate that the buying process begins digitally but ends with personal connections, and that social media and content play a key role in purchase decisions. 3) Two key ideas are presented: creating an online content hub and community on LinkedIn, and creating hyper-personalized videos targeting individual CIOs.

1. It’s not information overload.
CLAY SHIRKY
It’s filter failure.

2. ConnectPlus IP VPN
Digital Marketing Presentation
Author: Kunal Robert | Date: 13th November 2014

3. Contents
Objective
Target Group
Landscape
Research
Strategy
Ideas
Annexures
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

4. Objective
Increase brand awareness and top-of-mind recall for SingTel’s
ConnectPlus IP VPN product within the target group
Position SingTel as a leading partner for connectivity in the
APAC region

5. Target Group
Chief Information Officers (CIOs)
Network Managers
Decision makers in buying IT (Connectivity) related products in MNCs
across the APAC region.

6. Landscape

7. SingTel Consumer Services
WEBSITE FACEBOOK LINKEDIN
TWITTER YOUTUBE GOOGLE+

8. SingTel Business Services
WEBSITE YOUTUBE LINKEDIN GROUP - HK
LINKEDIN GROUP - CHINAMYBUSINESS - FACEBOOKMYBUSINESS WEBSITE

9. AIRTEL - INDIA VODAFONE - INDIA TELSTRA - AUSTRALIA
AIS - THAILANDSTARHUB - SINGAPORENTT - JAPAN
Competition in APAC

10. OPTUS - AUSTRALIA VIRGIN - UK O2 - UK
VERIZON - USAAT&T - USALEVEL 3 - USA
Competition Globally

11. SINGAPORE SINGAPORE INDIA INDIA AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA THAILAND JAPAN UK UK USA USA
Competition Evaluation – APAC & Global
ONLY TELECOM BUSINESS AND ENTERPRISE ASSETS WERE EVALUATED

12. Observations
• Facebook hasn’t found significance in any business/enterprise’s
content strategy
• Twitter is being used extensively in the western markets but adoption
in Asia is still nascent
• LinkedIn as a medium has wider acceptance across the board
• YouTube appears to be the platform of choice for most brands in this
space but is highly underutilized

13. Research & Findings

14. Finding #1
“CIO’s are a heterogeneous group – diverse in characteristics and needs.”
“Treating the CIO buyer as a single, homogeneous demographic is a
ridiculously ineffective and costly way to build relationships and drive
revenue growth”
– Firebrick Consulting
Whitepaper: “Fortune 500 CIO” Is Not a Target Market (2012)

15. In their own words
“If a sales rep wants to connect with me, he needs to do his homework and know what
business I am in, what problems I likely have, and uncover my needs and only then should
he pitch a product that solves a specific problem for me.”
– Walt Thinfen, VP & CIO, Visoneer (California, USA)
Source: www.aventigroup.com
“Please don’t try to sell restaurant point of sale software to me. I’m not the CIO for an
Iron Chef.”
“…focus on your audience. Do your research on who we are, and what our companies do. If
you help us see ‘what’s in it for us’ then I’m certain the results will show.”
– Guest CIO
Source: www.sellingtothecio.com

16. Finding #2
“86% of IT buyers are using social media networks and content in their
purchase decision process”
“Social networks and communities are one of the first places that B2B
buyers look to for general education as they make an IT investment.”
It is no longer enough for vendors to only be involved in one community or in one social
network; they should have a social mix using Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn
(the top four social networks that buyers look to for decision making).
– IDG Connect
Research: Connecting Conversations to Content (2014)

17. The B2B Social Buyer
The B2B Social Buyers are young senior executives with clout, mostly under
40 decision makers in IT. They spend more time consuming content than
their traditional counterparts.
“B2B Social Buyers and Traditional Buyers consume information differently.”
– ITSMA
Survey: How Buyers Consume Information (2012-13)

18. Finding #3
The buying process may begin on Google, but it
ends with a person
– ITSMA
Survey: How Buyers Consume Information (2012-13)

19. The Path to Purchase

20. Awareness Consideration Purchase Retention Advocacy
Digital Touch-points in the Path to Purchase
Search & Display
E-mailers
Branded Content
Social Networks
Website
Blogs
Forums
Google Hangouts
Professional
Communities

21. Content is at the heart of it all

22. Digital Strategy & Framework

23. Unique &
Individually
Diverse
Content
Hungry
Necessitating
Human
Connection
INSIGHTS
Personalised/
Customised
Solutions
SME / Thought
Leadership
Bridge Online-
Offline
Hyper-targeting,
Curated Content
Social Channels
Content Strategy,
Whitepapers,
Quora
E-trade shows,
Webinars leading
to offline events
SOLUTIONSCHALLENGES
TARGETGROUP

24. PAID
EARNED
SOCIAL
OWNED
EMBASSIES
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
YouTube
Google+
DIGITAL
PROPERTIES
Website
Blog
The Hub
OUTPOSTS
Blogosphere
Forums
ADVERTISING
Search & Display
Emailers
INFLUENCER
ENGAGEMENT
SME Interaction
Thought Leadership
Advocacy
CONTENT
Social Engagement
Quora Answers
LinkedIn Custom Groups
The POEM Framework
Search Engine
Optimization

25. Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8
CONTENT
STRATEGY
MEDIA
STRATEGY
INFLUENCER
OUTREACH
CREATIVE
DEVELOPMENT
COMPANY PAGE
SHOWCASE PAGE
CUSTOM GROUPS
Indicative Deployment Roadmap
SingTel Business – Social Channels
MEDIA
ROLLOUT

26. Ideas

27. Idea 1: Inbound
THE HUB
A content marketing engine to keep the
conversation and engagement going
within CIOs and Network Managers
through a sustainable model.

28. THE HUB
WHITEPAPERS
CASE STUDIES
CURATED
CONTENT
WEBINARS
GOOGLE
HANGOUT
with SMEs
BRANDED
CONTENT
THE HUB
A platform for CIOs and
Network Managers to
discuss and solve their
biggest challenges in an
interactive, engaging
medium.
LinkedIn
CUSTOM
GROUP
LinkedIn
SHOWCASE
PAGE
The community can be facilitated using
LinkedIn B2B solutions like Custom Groups
and Showcase Page

29. ibmbigdatahub.com

30. LinkedIn Features Used
Custom Group, Partner Messages, Join Group ads, Banners, Text Links, Video Units, Article Banners
HCL’s offline magazine called CIO Straight Talk created a highly engaged, invitation only, online community of
senior IT professionals
The CIO ‘Straight Talk’ community
WEBSITE
LINKEDIN GROUP
CIO WEBINARS

31. Customers were recognized as practitioner thought leaders whose
experience based insights have tremendous community value.
• 80% Director Level and above; 25% CXOs
• 70% from organisations with >10,000 employees
• 110+ Fortune 500 companies
• Warm leads generated from engagement activities
The CIO ‘Straight Talk’ community

32. Idea 2: Outbound
Hyper-Personalised Videos targeted to
the top 500 CIOs and IT buyers across
APAC

33. 56% of Internet Users Have Searched for
Themselves Online
– PEW Research, 2013
Source: www.mashable.com

34. Step 1
We use this ‘Egosurfing’ characteristic of people
and hyper-target the ‘First and Last Names’ of
top 500 CIOs in APAC on Google, etc.
There will be virtually nil competition on these
keywords.

35. Step 2
We develop customized videos of a SingTel
Senior Executive inviting each individual CIO by
name to a brunch/coffee
These are individually hyper-targeted to each
CIO on Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

36. Step 3
Create detailed industry-wise case study packets
with video narratives + PDF bundle and target
these to enterprise buyers in that category

37. Final Thoughts

38. Define a core content strategy
for SingTel Business Services1
2
3
4 Develop elements like On-Demand Webinars,
Video Case Studies and Presentations
Establish Social Media Channels for SingTel
Business on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
Leverage unique tools such as LinkedIn Showcase Pages
and Custom Groups to build and engage communities

39. If I had more time, I would have written
a shorter letter presentation.
MARK TWAIN

40. Appendix
Case Studies & Research

41. PHILIPS B2B LinkedIn Case Study

42. WEBSITE LINKEDIN COMPANY PAGE LINKEDIN SHOWCASE PAGE
LINKEDIN CUSTOM GROUPLINKEDIN CUSTOM GROUPLINKEDIN CUSTOM GROUP
PHILIPS B2B – LINKEDIN CASE STUDY

43. • Partnered with LinkedIn to create active communities that have become
online destinations for medical and lighting professionals worldwide
• Helped establish Philips as a partner in these fields of expertise amongst
their key target audiences
• Globally active 30,000+ member communities representing 121
counties and a wide range of specialist fields
PHILIPS B2B – LINKEDIN CASE STUDY

44. Content Sources used in making Technology Purchase Decisions
Source: IDG Connect (2014)
Search, Social Networks, Professional Networks and Video Sharing Platforms are the
preferred sources of content when making IT investment decisions.

45. Source: IDG Connect (2014)
Relative Importance of Content Sources for IT Investment Decisions
Social Content will soon be the dominant source in making IT investment
decisions – ahead of Vendor or Editorial Content

46. Source: IDG Connect (2014)
Preferred Engagement Activities on Social for IT Buyers
Virtual Events (Webinars, E-Trade Shows), Expert Blogs and Forums are
the most preferred engagement activities on social media for IT Buyers.

47. Source: IDG Connect (2014)
Buying Stages When Social Media Networks and Content Are Used

48. B2B Social Buyers and
Traditional Buyers prefer
different sources to consume
content.
Social Buyers prefer Social
Media and Email Newsletters
over In-person Events.
Traditional Buyers prefer In-
person Seminars,
Conferences and Trade
Shows over Social.