Asia Pacific CEOs Increasingly Brand & Social Media Aware

Chief Executive Officers in Asia Pacific corporations are found to be more aware of brands, and more likely to respond to social media inputs in their respective businesses. This is based on a study from MEC and CNBC from a survey among 32 CEOs in multinational corporations across China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore.

As these top-level executives are utilizing technology more intensively for information aggregation and time management, CEOs are now willing to take direct control of their own access to communications, business performance and industry news, instead of relying to their personal assistants.

CEOs are often thought to be unreachable, and only accessible through their assistants or secretaries. The average senior business leader frequently “maintains distance” from their business environments to retain their influence, perspective and control.

However, CEOs are now found to actually be more accessible, due to the use of Business-to-Business (B2B) social media as an important tool for company positioning. Only a few APAC executives are identified using the platform for external communications, though — a contrast to their western counterparts.

Jon Wright, MEC Asia Pacific Head of Analytics and Insight, said that the networks are not exactly an effective way of communicating with CEOs due to the “probability of losing control in their communication structures.”

But, they allow internal conversations, in order to help get employees heard. This leads to better transparency within an organization.

Moreover, CEOs are found to be more open to the influence of business contacts when it comes to products and services, such as hotels, airlines, clothing brands and technology. CEOs surveyed said they listen to recommendations from respected media outlets. This is seen as an opportunity for B2B networks to partner with media brands to provide relevant, valuable and timely content.

Still, remains to be the preferred method of communication. A special mention went to Apple for its ethos and CEO achievements as a brand as well as a business principal. The key idea here is that business leaders respond to a new, clear and actionable information at an appropriate time through an appropriate channel.

Wright continues that CEOs are humans, too. “In many ways technology has made them more similar to the everyday person. Brands need to ensure that valuable content is provided that fits in with CEOs’ requirements, and it needs to be effectively ‘liquid’ in order to be accessible via any device.”

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