The world of business is constantly evolving, and keeping up with the latest trends and innovations is essential for success. Recent years have seen a significant shift in the way companies operate, with new technologies, changing consumer preferences, and global events all playing a role in shaping the future of industry.

One of the most significant trends in business today is digital transformation. Many companies are investing in new technologies and data analytics to improve efficiency, productivity, and customer experience. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend, as more businesses are turning to remote work and digital communication to stay connected with employees and customers.

Another important trend is the growing focus on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Consumers are becoming more aware of environmental and social issues and are looking for companies that prioritize these concerns. This has led to an increase in eco-friendly products, sustainable packaging, and ethical business practices.

The rise of e-commerce is also a significant trend shaping the future of industry. Online shopping has become increasingly popular, and companies that previously relied on brick-and-mortar stores are now investing in online sales channels. This shift has led to increased digital marketing and advertising, as well as the use of social media influencers to reach new audiences.

The gig economy is changing the way businesses operate. More people are working as freelancers or independent contractors, and companies are adapting to this trend by hiring more flexible workers. This has resulted in a rise in gig work platforms and digital marketplaces that connect freelancers with businesses in need of their services.

Overall, the latest business trends involve embracing change and adapting to new technologies and consumer preferences. Companies that can innovate and stay ahead of the curve are likely to succeed in the years to come.

There have been many elements identified that have changed Malaysians’ behaviour and lifestyle habits as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. Despite the limits being relaxed, many of us, in my opinion, are accustomed to living in the cage we have since the pandemic started.

Although a recent study by InsightzClub found that 6.5 percent of respondents dine in every day and 2.8 percent of respondents haven’t eaten at the restaurant in over six months, we may confidently state that eating out is one of Malaysians’ favorite pastimes to engage in virtually every day. Celebrating events, dates, anniversaries, and other milestones was among the respondents’ top reasons for eating out. We can certainly relate to this since the majority of us have spent the last three years celebrating our significant occasions behind closed doors throughout the pandemic.

InsightzClub found that 23.1 percent of respondents order food online many times per week, and 20.4 percent of them have it delivered once per week, among those who find comfort in eating in at home. Undoubtedly, individuals who work from home will find it most comfortable to have their food delivered right to their door given that the majority of Malaysian companies now allow employees to choose between working from home or the office.

Malaysia offers a number of delivery services, including GrabFood, Foodpanda, Gojek, Shopee Food, AirAsia Food, DeliverEat, GemSpot, BeepDelivery, and many more, that take use of opportunities in the food and beverage industry. However, GrabFood and Foodpanda have been among the most popular food delivery platforms thanks to fantastic discounts and coupons.

Although it has been almost two months since Malaysia announced the endemic, it will undoubtedly take some time for things to return to normal, or rather for people who prefer to stay and continue living their lives as they did during the pandemic, after nearly three years of surviving with what we had, daily activities, routines, and a job.

Google recently made headlines for their developments in Chat Bot technology. A senior working on the project claims that they have created a Chat Bot capable of sentient speech. An algorithm powered by AI called LaMDA (a Language Model for Dialogue Applications) that has been trained over the last 5 years to produce human-like responses.

Even without such advanced technology, chat bots available on the market today offer a wide range of features that can help you automate your marketing processes and expand your marketing online.

Here are some of the ways that you can benefit from Chat Bots.

More Marketing Conversations

Marketing is all about good conversations, as a brand it is vital to handle customer conversations well.

By using Chat Bots you can dramatically increase the number of these conversations. Chat Bots provide an exceptional bandwidth for allowing you to close more sales enquiries.

Not only can they help you start more conversations with consumers, they also help you to achieve better engagement in the process.

Qualify Leads

More businesses look towards using Chat Bots to automate lead generation, by deploying chat bots that ask prequalifying questions to visitors they can easily filter out bad leads. This lets your sales reps to spend their time efficiently with more qualified leads.

You might even find that you can shorten your sales cycles with this approach as a lot of time is saved with sales reps avoiding junk leads.

With Chat Bots conversations can happen in real time, so customers don’t have to wait days for someone to respond and sales reps can quickly identify potential qualified leads.

Automating After-Sales Services

Engagement with customers post sale are just as important as the initial engagements. Nothing can be more frustrating for customers than to struggle to get updates and support post-purchase.

This situation can be easily avoided by adopting chat bots that can quickly attend to customer’s needs.

Many logistics business have seen the value in AI powered chat bots and adopted them to boost efficiency.

Chat Bots certainly have a wide range of applications and show so much promise with more advanced versions in development, it’s a worthwhile marketing investment to consider. However, at the same time in order to set-up an engaging experience for your consumers, it’s important to truly understand their behviour and needs.

To learn more about customer behavior and trends, reach out and schedule a call with us.

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Based on a recent study conducted by InsightzClub, we discovered several different trends among buyers in Malaysia that are very interesting, especially after the Covid 19 pandemic.

Making important decisions

Making efficient and informed decisions is an art that is learned through life experience. We learn how to make decisions from an early age, even if we are not always aware that we are being taught to do so. 34.2% of respondents said they make decisions with others, such as their family members, while 65.8% are the primary decision makers.

Daily lifestyle

In the survey, we asked about the products purchased in the last 6 months. In terms of beverages, 67.5% chose mineral water, which is the most consumed beverage compared to others such as alcohol, juices, tea, coffee and many others. The least consumed beverage is pre-mixed cocktails at 4.4%. Given the extremely hot weather in Malaysia recently, we certainly agree that mineral water is the most consumed beverage by Malaysians. We come to an agreement that water helps to absorb important vitamins, minerals and nutrients from food, which increases the chances of staying healthy.

In the face of the pandemic, most companies in Malaysia have made it possible to work flexibly, either in the office or at home. We found that 62.9% of Malaysians have consumed instant noodles and oatmeal and cheese in the last six months. This is quite predictable, as the majority of Malaysians prefer foods that are prepared quickly and instantly, so instant noodles and porridge are used almost daily.

Personal Care

As the saying goes, health is wealth! Of the many personal care products, we asked to choose from, 84.3% chose shampoo and face wash & cleanser. We received the fewest responses for menstrual cups. This is probably due to the fact that menstrual cups are not yet as common in Malaysia as sanitary pads.

Household care was also one of the questions we asked, and 74.6% of respondents voted for household cleaning products such as multi-purpose detergent, bathroom cleaner, kitchen cleaner and floor cleaner. The liquid cleaner for baby bottles received the lowest score of 10.5%. We personally think that nowadays there are quite a lot of cleaning products that are baby safe or safe for babies, so a special liquid cleaner for babies is not in demand.

Most consumed Beverage

It was interesting to find out which beverage brand was most preferred by our respondents. For alcoholic beverages, 113 respondents chose Absolute Vodka as their favourite drink, while Tiger Beer was the most popular beer with 168 respondents. Among wines, Micheal J. Gelb red wine was the most popular with 70 respondents. Pre-mixed cocktails were chosen with 113 votes for the “Rio” brand. Bottled mineral water was a hit for the “Spritzer” brand with 65 respondents.

Coca-Cola clearly accounted for the most votes among soft drinks. Goes with any occasion! In juices, Tropicana Twisters and Lipton Tea were popular as ready-to-drink beverages. Of course, most of us need coffee – and we have Nescafe and IndoCafe as the preferred coffee! Thinking back to Malaysians’ favourite chocolate malts since childhood, Milo brings in the most votes and Yeo’s is their preferred drink!

Preferred Grocery Store

Respondents recorded their preferred grocery store and hypermarkets logged the highest votes amongst the others like supermarkets, marts, online shopping and others.

InsightzClub survey also asked respondents if they had changed their lifestyle or consumption patterns during the outbreak in the past 6 months. We found that 69.3% preferred to eat at home rather than outdoors.

To learn more about consumer behavior and trends, contact InsightzClub and learn more about our solutions here.

Last year marketing budgets even amongst top marketing leaders took a historic hit. Nearly shrinking by half from 11% of total revenue down to 6.4%.

At InsightzClub we have reported on the uncertainty created by the covid pandemic’s impact on the economy in the past. But with consumer confidence slowly returning, many marketers are making a rebound this year, with a majority expecting to increase their marketing budgets for 2022.

Here’s what you should take note of so that you can maximise the gain from your marketing spend.

Digitalizing Marketing

Many marketers jumped onboard the digital marketing trend that has transformed the way brands have traditionally interacted with their customers.

An overwhelming majority of marketers plan to invest in this highly contested space, which includes Digital Video, Influencers and Social Media.

With the top priorities currently being: branded content by influencers, ads in social media stories and feeds, smart TV ads and online display ads.

Marketing automation has also become more popular with many brands spending up to nearly a quarter of their budgets on marketing technology. While software can evolve marketing processes, it’s always a good idea to assess what’s actually being used, what isn’t and what else is needed.

Goal Balancing Strategies

Long-term brand building seems to have taken a back seat as often brands prioritize sales activation for showing immediate performance result, however, this can be hazardous in the long-run and hurt the brands budget later on.

Brands navigating uncertainty will struggle to plan beyond the present business needs. Unless the brand’s survival is at stake, there is no sense in cutting brand building initiatives.

Practicing Agility with a Readiness to React

If the pandemic had taught businesses anything it is how to adapt to new situations and overcome new challenges. Being flexible has proven to be greatly advantageous for many brands that have emerged from the pandemic stronger than before.

A strong budget strategy always begins with maximising Return on Investment. Only through frequent monitoring will you identify underperforming marketing elements and have time to respond with improvement ideas.

As such having a vigilant oversight team that strategically optimizes your budget is so important for budget efficiency.

To learn more about how InsightzClub’s marketing performance tools can help you optimise your marketing spend, feel free to reach out to us.

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