[Photo: Mr Till Vestring, managing partner of Bain & Company, speaking at a forum organised by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather at the Fullerton Hotel.]

By Elizabeth Wilmot

THE marketing budget might look like a prime candidate for cuts in a recession, but connecting effectively with your customers is even more crucial in a downturn, said a panel of experts yesterday. Their view was clear: Market research that throws more light on the various segments of the economy - from youngsters to seniors - can make a huge difference to a firm's prospects in a period when people are watching every dollar.

'It starts with really understanding the customer,' said Mr Till Vestring, managing partner of Bain&Company, a global management consulting firm.

'Good companies...don't cut their marketing research budget.'

Mr Vestring told a forum organised by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather that such firms spend time, money and energy 'to really understand customer behaviour'.

SingTel chief executive Allen Lew concurred: 'What's really interesting for us, recession or no recession, the budget that we never cut is market research.'

Mr Lew pointed out that its research into the youth and senior customer sectors has been effective.

'When you look at your marketing effectiveness in terms of reaching out to youth, we are discovering that targeting...(them) by using the mobile phone, the Internet, and networking sites are much more effective than some of the traditional ways you think of reaching out to them,' he said.

He said its approach to older customers was necessarily different.

'Seniors are people who, during this period, are going very much more towards value, towards reliability, towards durability. Nine out of 10 in that age group will never change to a different brand during this period,' he said.

'We are focusing very much on making sure we target seniors with promotions that meet their needs.'

One specific finding was that seniors prefer text messages 'because they have in their minds from the old days that voice calls are more expensive than text'.

The senior market is clearly one that has been exercising the minds of many in Corporate Singapore.

Other panellists at the Fullerton Hotel event explained how the downturn had forced a rethink about how they approach customers and their businesses.

Mr Leslie Fong, senior executive vice-president of SPH's marketing division, said: '(The recession) in a way has sharpened our focus. We have been looking at the future and looking at how we're going to brand and position ourselves.

'I think we are fully aware that in the years ahead, there will be a transition from print to digital media.

'We have started quietly, efficiently, preparing ourselves for that migration in the future. Which is why SPH has now gone into every conceivable media and platform.'

Mr Stephen Mangham, group chairman of Ogilvy & Mather here, told The Straits Times later: 'In this post-digital recession, there's a lot more information available about how your customers behave, what they do and therefore what they want.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.