Ricky Samuel | Marketing Consumer Electronics Brands In Southeast Asia - Part 1

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

● How Bose approached omnichannel sales in Southeast Asia in the early 2010s

● Bose’s commitment to consistency across resellers

● How much control Microsoft had over ASUS’s local marketing strategy and pricing

● Localizing messaging and marketing for Indonesian consumers

● Driving preferential product placement on search platforms

● How customer feedback impacts HP’s product roadmap in Indonesia

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Ricky Samuel, E-Commerce Lead at Mindshare, a global media agency, where he helps clients in understanding their e-commerce-related challenges to drive success.

Ricky speaks on the digital landscape in Southeast Asia as well as the development of broader digital transformation strategies for the region since his entry into the marketing world in the early 2010s.

Ricky worked as Bose Indonesia’s Brand Marketing Manager from 2013 to 2015. Looking back at this experience, he offers some insight into the evolution of the company's omnichannel sales strategies during a time when digital commerce was rapidly gaining prominence. He talks about Bose’s focus on “customer excitement” to maximize the in-store experience, as well as Bose’s commitment to consistency in quality, service, and experience across their resellers.

As the Product Marketing Lead for ASUS from 2015 to 2016, Ricky discusses the unique challenges of localizing the brand in Indonesia. He then does a deep dive into HP’s omnichannel operations during his time with the company from 2018 to 2019, emphasizing the importance of partnering with Key Opinion Leaders and top e-commerce platforms to drive brand equity.

Key Quotes:

“We need to ensure that experience and engagement is at the same level every time a new customer walks into our store.”

“On the local level, showcasing and using the products is more powerful than communicating to the customer who we are. So, we had better engage with Key Opinion Leaders about our products for more powerful messaging.”

“We need to understand the needs of the population itself. We need to understand their behavior: how they spend their money and how they use our products in their daily lives.