Welcome to the Digital Marketing Inner Circle

Name: Neil Hudspeth

Works: HP Asia Pacific & Japan (Singapore)

Job Title: Head of Digital Strategy, APJ

1.How, where and when did the digital industry find you?

I was running my own brand and design agency in Malaysia and Singapore, when a conversation in 1992 with an old friend from UCLA sparked my interest in something called the Internet. From that moment on, my passion for what quickly became known as the world wide web took off, as I saw it as an incredible environment for three things: 1. Freedom of speech; 2. Creative expression; and 3. Dialogue/interaction with people all over the world. Subsequently, I established a  "new media" consultancy component to my business in 1993, and followed that up by starting a new media brand agency in London in 1995.

2.  What is your current role and what do you actually do?

Head of Digital Strategy, Asia Pacific & Japan. I develop corporate digital strategy for the region (and collaborate with WW strategy), counsel our Business Groups at regional and country level on digital marketing strategies, programs, channels and best practise; collaborate with partners (internal and external) to achieve market leadership; counsel our business functions; develop digital frameworks for all media channels; provide governance to our Businesses; identify and develop strategic external partnerships, develop digital programs that allow HP to reinforce and establish market leadership, lead the development and evolution of HP.com across the region, and undertake HERO work.

3.  Can you give us some insights into HP, your heritage, market position and forward plans?

At HP, we've helped lead a revolution in the way information is created, captured, stored, processed, and shared. We've ushered in an era of open industry standards, freeing data from the handcuffs of mainframes and democratizing information technology. To put it simply: Data uncontrolled is noise; controlled, it's knowledge. This is what we empower.

We "create amazing" for our customers to win in business and life. We push ourselves and each other to never stop pioneering, never stop surprising, never stop anticipating, and we never stop at impossible.

As a market leader around the world with revenues in excess of USD115B, in APJ we have a number of select priority markets that include China and India. We want to reinforce and grow our market share, achieve leadership, and always strive to maintain a world class organisation with world class talent, forever innovating. Digital media is critical to our continued success, and we are investing substantially to support and grow our leadership in this arena.

4.  Take a punt on the next 'big things' in digital and media in general?

Private Clouds and Mobile.

Whilst both have already arrived, they are still formative and developing. Their full potential has not been reached. Within these clouds, full ecosystems will flourish and expand, and the role mobile plays will become increasingly catalytic.

5.  What trends do you think the digital industry will see in the next 12 months?

In conjunction with the above, I believe mobile will become more of a driving force for brand engagement and social expansion. Add in the equation personalised opt-in mobile TV and video, and the digital experience is set to become a lot more dynamic and integrated. Mobile will drive the Internet's pervasiveness, especially in developing countries where desktop PCs and notebooks are and will continue to be out of reach (or impractical), such as India and China, not to mention Indonesia and Vietnam.

6.  How do you see the digital and other media evolving in the next 5 years?

More integration between digital and "traditional". The lines will blur rapidly. Digital will be the driving force for engagement and OTS in the real world.

7.  What does the digital industry need to do better, right now, to position itself in the broader media landscape?

 Innovate with confidence. Innovate in how we measure what "success" looks like. Innovate how we integrate digital with traditional media. Innovate and integrate technologies and platforms. Innovation in creative execution. Innovate by developing "one" global voice of authority to shape corporate and government strategies. Too fragmented now.

8.  If you were starting a new business - what area would you be looking at, and why?

In APJ, an integrated digital agency that puts brand and business consulting at the heart of the proposition (rather than marketing). Integrated in all senses - e.g. how does real world retail integrate digitally, and vice versa.

9. With your experience in the Asian region - what insights can you give to Aussie businesses planning to enter this market?

Understand the cultural, technology and behavioural differences in each market, especially North Asia (China, Japan, Korea) and South Asia (India), and fine-tune go-to market and marketing strategies for each independently. Set different objectives and criteria for success for markets dependent on local contexts and relevancies (albeit generally aligned with regional strategy). Listen locally. Work locally, deliver world class. Put the brand first.

10.  How do you see the relationship between client and their marketing and advertising agencies evolving in the coming years?

Two pathways:

1. "Clients" continue to ramp up investing in world class in-house consultancy (rather than simply marketing) and increasingly utilise agencies for creative implementation/ execution/research and maintenance. However it should be noted that agencies are trying to fend this off by in-turn investing in business and brand consultants, and repositioning their agencies as "business partners".

2. Clients leverage "local" agencies and relationships more, rather than Global agency networks driven by WW (especially in the digital arena). Many global agencies (especially in Asia) experience huge churn, and the level of local knowledge and expertise can be limited. Clients in country may want local expertise but world class knowledge, but equally, the relationship is key, and many agencies struggle with consistency.

10.  Who do you see as doing digital and social media well now?

Tech world - IBM, DELL, Apple.  FMCG: Nike, Adidas, Motorola. In essence, those brands that have understand the importance of fully integrated ecosystems, and the need to have "conversations" with customers framed by brand behaviours and tone of voice. Hard selling/marketing is only one element of a brand conversation. Brand relevance and advocacy is ultimately the goal. Those that focus (like the above) on the emotive elements of the brand when they engage with customers and prospects, rather than simply the rational benefits (price, function, etc), are those that will more successfully build long term brand value.

11.   Where do you get your industry information from?

New Media Age, Marketing interactive, Design Week, Campaign, Internal networks, industry events (like Adtech).

12.  What industry groups or networks are you a part of?

DBA (Design Business Association UK), WGA (Writers Guild of America)