More marketers in Asia Pacific (AP) are investing in an enterprise marketing software suite (EMSS) to better engage empowered customers and drive contextual marketing — but EMSS vendors’ solution availability and localization efforts vary across the region. My recently published report, Vendor Landscape: Enterprise Marketing Software Suites In Asia Pacific, helps marketers understand EMSS vendors’ strategies in AP and outlines key factors to consider when making EMSS investments in the region.

Marketers in AP are struggling to create relevant and engaging digital customer experiences in a fragmented and fast-changing market. These marketers face the key challenges of:

  • Meeting rising customer expectations. Consumers in AP are much more empowered than their counterparts in the West. They expect to get what they want in their immediate context and moments of need. Only companies that can meet these demands will succeed.
  • Responding to pressure from digital disruptors. Firms like Alibaba, WeChat, Didi, and Grab are masters at using digital technologies to constantly deliver new experiences, such as Alipay’s augmented-reality red packet, to engage customers in context. But marketers in AP lack confidence in their tech competency.
  • Overcoming more market complexities. AP markets are fast-moving and full of unique characteristics. Local digital ecosystems are fragmented, with country-specific platforms like WeChat and Line and local data providers. Marketers in each market have very different needs to engage customers in context.

To select the right EMSS vendor to improve their contextual marketing capabilities, marketers in AP should understand EMSS vendors’ presence and localization strategy in the region. The report examines the seven major EMSS vendors — Adobe, IBM, Marketo, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, and SAS — in terms of regional capabilities (based on the strength of their local teams), breadth and depth of local partner ecosystems, pricing strategies, and packaging flexibility. Specifically, we looked at vendors’:

  • Business presence and solution availability in AP. This includes EMSS vendors’ local sales and support presence, solution availability and implementation, key industry verticals, local UI language support, and regional/local customers.
  • Localization and partnership strategy In AP. This includes EMSS vendors’ local platform integrations, technology partners, and global and regional go-to-market and implementation partners.

Marketers should also understand the nuances of their local markets before implementing an EMSS and prioritize local marketing needs when evaluating one. To learn more, Forrester clients can read the full report.