ALSMA
Asian Local Search and
Media Association
A quick overlook
o The largest continent
o 60% of the world’s population lives in Asia
o The only two countries with a population that exceeds
1 billion
o Two of the top 3 economies in the world
o The largest Muslim country in the world
What is ALSMA?
o
The Asian Local Search and
Media Association was
formerly known as ADPAI –
Asian Directories
Publishers Association.
o
We represent several
directories companies as
well as regional companies
that are engaged in the
local search and local
media areas.
o
We count among our
members companies such
as Sensis (Australia), GETIT
(India), Global Yellow
Pages (Singapore), PCCW
YP (Hong Kong), Shanghai
YP (China) and NTT (Japan)
as well as MMRD
(Myanmar), Tele
Directories (Brunei) and
Directel Macau.
The YP business in Asia
o Relatively young industry when compared with
western countries
o Traditionally low penetrations
o Mostly small to medium size companies
o Still very dependent on print
o Digital catching up quite fast
Patterns now emerging
o
o
o
o
o
o
Transitioning from print to digital
Managing the print decline is the major challenge
Increased focus on services vs. products
Embarking on agency and re-sellers programs
Sales transformation/re-training is crucial
Relying only on their own local market for future
growth
From Print to Digital
Australia
Brunei
China
Japan
Macau
Singapore
Vietnam
Myanmar
Hong Kong
Taiwan
UAE
More than 50%
11% to 50%
Less than 10%
Percentage of Revenue derived from Digital
products and services
From Print to Digital
o Australia: “digital agency”
o UAE: “Integrated Media Solutions Partner”
o HK: “multi-media advertising company serving the
SME market”, “print products contribute less than
20% of total revenues
o Macau: “Your local media company”
o Singapore: “Solution Company”
o Vietnam: “leader in advertising on local search and
media”
Managing print decline
o In the low double digits for the region
o But mentioned as crucial by almost all companies
o Increased operational efficiency in order to reduce
costs
o Taiwan: trying to improve print effectiveness through
targeted distribution; community directories
o Japan: re-assessing all the print products, downscaling
a possibility
Focus on Services
o Most offered services: websites, SEO, Mobile
Optimized Landing Pages, videos, SEM, listing
submission
o To be launched: e-commerce, mobile payments
o Products offered: IYP, mobile apps
o HK: YP Mall
o UAE: “niche verticals, that need great content and
partnerships”
o Philippines: USSD enhanced by location-based system
Re-sellers programs
o Vast majority already re-selling Google, Facebook,
Yahoo, Baidu, TomTom, Nokia and even Yandex
o HK and Taiwan: IPTV (parent company business)
o Taiwan and Singapore: outdoors
o Singapore: partnership with Microsoft to offer SMB
cloud solutions
o China: value-added services from China Telecom
Re-training the Sales Force
o
o
o
o
o
Higher turn-out compared with the past
Using external trainers to re-train the sales force
Selling based on ROI and using bundles
Japan: “sales transformation is the key factor”
India: “move towards performance/delivery based
products and solutions”
Local market for growth
o Companies are mostly focused on growing their
internal markets by selling to new segments
o Regional expansion seldom a major future driver
o When addressing the Asian market, companies tend
to prefer partnerships
o Taiwan: “regional travel and entertainment mobile
app”
What’s next
o Use the power of the brand and the existing
relationship to keep their customers while
transitioning from print to digital
o Growth based on digital products and services albeit
with a lower margin
o Need to lower structural costs so to achieve
profitability
o UAE: “We will no longer be in the products/services
business but in the customer relationship business”
Thank you
Oscar Sousa Marques
oscar@yp.mo