Michael Leander is an accomplished international marketing speaker. With more than 20 years of direct marketing experience – digital marketing since 1995 – Michael has been hands-on involved in just about any part of direct and interactive marketing one can think of. Covering a range of topics related to direct marketing, digital marketing, marketing automation, customer loyalty marketing management, customer experience design, social media marketing and CRM, he has delivered great experiences to audiences in nearly 40 countries earning him a reputation as a “great marketing speaker and marketing trainer”. Michael has made it clear that different marketing strategies are required for different industries. Law can be one of the most complicated in this department. However, I’m sure you know the important reasons Why attorneys need to track their leads! This has been common knowledge for quite some time. There are a number of advantages of doing this which is why you may want to extend your research further.

As the CEO of Michael Leander Company and the Chairman and founder of Markedu, Michael Leander continues to work with a handful of consulting clients at any given time. He believes it is important for the quality and value of his presentations to include these practical experiences.

Analytical with deep interest in learning all the time, Michael Leander has bared his thoughts and understandings of the digital progress in Bangladesh and around the world, his inspirations and some key insights on how digital marketing should be done. Digital Marketing Summit (DMS) 2014 was graced by the expert digital marketer for the first time in Bangladesh.

Following is the exclusive interview session of Michael Leander, Keynote speaker of DMS 2014, as conducted by Bangladesh Brand Forum correspondent.

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BBF: How do you see the state of digital marketing in the Bangladesh landscape?

Michael Leander: I think the state of digital marketing and digital business in Bangladesh is right now at a complicated place.

On one hand we have people who are more or less always online, who subscribes to your telecoms, who have access to their smartphones, who probably do a lot of stuff online. They entertain themselves but they also do productive stuff related to their private as well as their business lives. On the other hand we have people who are not even connected. Now that is growing at a very rapid pace, thanks to telcos making it more affordable to go online and making it possible for many people to come online for the first time through a device, probably and primarily smartphones.

So digital marketing is difficult right now because on one hand you have a digital media mix whose advertises probably tend to favor. But many advertisers are skeptical as to whether they even need to invest in digital market!

Just a few minutes back, I was surprised to learn, the largest shopping market here does not even have a website. On the other hand you have some advertisers who are into reaching their audience through mobility space, but also somehow having some form of investment in digital media. So it is in a difficult place that is difficult for advertisers to maneuver and luckily you can look at many other nations that have come through the same transition phase as you will be going through now and later for the next 3 to 5 years until the internet penetration comes around. That’s usually when things get a bit “normalized” so that “digital” is adapted just as any other normal component of any media strategy.

BBF: What is your opinion on the mindset of South East Asian consumers, typically those residing in and around India, Pakistan and Bangladesh?

Michael Leander: I think each market in Asia is different and I can only speak of markets where I have actually been and spent some time.

India is growing at a phenomenal rate when it comes to accessibility in tiers 1 and 2. I think in Pakistan it is the same. Other Asian markets include Singapore which is usually 100% connected. Korea is probably the leading one when it comes to mobility.

So if we are to generalize, an Asian consumer is much more mobile than Western consumers because they are connected through a smartphone. But I think they really like to engage. Maybe not in the positive way always. It might be a cultural thing. But the Asian consumer is “prone” to spending more time on the internet. They are super active in Bangladesh right now. People have a platform to communicate in a way that has never existed before, which is a good thing. Whether social platforms like Facebook will last is a questionable thing; but right now it’s a very powerful medium.

BBF: What makes digital marketing so unique? Why does it have such a breakthrough despite constant change? How far can we see it going?

Michael Leander: It’s not surprising that it gets a lot of attention because it’s new. If we look at it from an industry perspective, we have an unfortunate habit of embracing new, even if we haven’t fixed old. So we jump, jump and jump to new fads that come up. So digital marketing, such as that provided by firefly, is a new area that gets a lot of attention in this part of the world for it’s “newness.” It’s exciting really. A lot of people find that they are empowered suddenly, that they can participate in a different level than they have been accustomed to. ANYONE can be a social media “person,” I don’t want to say an expert. But anyone can contribute. It’s something we can all relate to. We use these platforms ourselves the same way we use the internet. We all have opinions about it. And I think that’s what makes it very exciting. It might be smart to hire the best seo in Sydney if you really wanted to see results with digital marketing because not everyone has their kind of experience.

I think digital right now is treated as a “silo” so people have this tendency to divide things because it’s easier for them to divide things. So digital media, mobile mobility, traditional media are all silos. That’s how we are treating it right now. And I hope that in the very near future we will stop that “nonsense!” It’s just a channel you know? But probably we’ve treated the “fax” the same way. I think it’s human nature that we treat it this way but I hope that we will see that digital as a more integrated part of marketing. Here’s why: the danger is that when we embrace digital as much as may do, we don’t see all the other options and that’s wrong. Because what we need to understand is we are doing what we are doing to reach an audience, that’s not just an audience anymore and it’s one of the things that digital can help us with as an individual and we have a tendency to forget that.

Some individuals also like to read the newspaper, watch the tv, listen to the radio, we look at outdoor commercials and so forth. But when you get a digital space, people say “GO DIGITAL OR DIE!” and some might even say there won’t be any need for newspapers tomorrow – and that’s not going to happen. We need to start seeing digital as an integrated part of everything else. When we do advertises in particular, or in branding, a marketer will enjoy a much more rewarding return on their marketing investment if they take a holistic view, opposed to when they look at it as a single entity.

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BBF: You are a source of inspiration for many budding marketers. What was the source of your inspiration that led you through all the challenges and hurdles to where you are right now in this field?

Michael Leander: That’s a very good and personal question.

I’m not someone who went the traditional route through school, got a job, then work myself up and so on. I had a bit of a different way. I don’t come from a rich family, but my parents are good people who gave me some good values on hard work. They told me I should not sit around and wait for someone to start something – one has to make it happen himself. What they didn’t teach me is that it’s better to find something that is like your vocation. Something that you don’t take as a job but more as a hobby; something in which you can grow.

I have been very fortunate in sales in the US, selling door to door for money, which is a good school to learn that sales is really really hard. But when you move from sales to marketing you really respect marketing. I think it’s that and I’ve never thought of myself as working for anybody or myself for that matter. I have just thought that every day I go through some challenges that are incredibly interesting. Work with people that I find incredibly interesting. And then being curious, learning all the time.

I can’t tell you how many people stop learning at school and they don’t understand why they don’t get ahead. But if you ask anyone who sure is successful, and many of them will say “I never stopped learning.”

I was with someone in Portugal a few days back and he directly worked with David Ogilvy and is known to be one of the direct marketing gurus and an amazing copywriter and he’s 78 years old! Now most people would be like “why would I work at that age?” But he’s still travelling around the world and anyplace you meet him on the planet, he talks about something he learned. I think that’s probably what keeps someone like me going.

It’s that I realize that I don’t really know anything; I don’t know much, I have to learn all the time. Then the young people have the problem of keeping up. So you can’t be ignorant. You got to have your iPhone and your Android and your Mac and your PC because you want to be sure what’s really going on. I am 49 and I think why shouldn’t I keep up? I keep up because I have that attitude. Because it’s interesting. But I can tell a lot of people in my age who are arrogant towards this and if you are arrogant, then life isn’t so interesting. One has to be curious.

BBF: One of the points you will discuss in this summit is the new AIDA model? How does it differ from the old one?

Michael Leander: Well it’s actually an adoption form of the AIDA and I’m not trying to create a new version of the AIDA model.

I got quite upset some years back where people suddenly started using “likes” as a way of measuring success. People hold this perception in their minds that having more “likes” makes them the “big” guy and that’s just nonsense! So I changed AIDA to AIDLIRA; AID from AIDA which has “attention, interest and desire” and removed the “action” and then replaced that with LIRA which is “like,” not for Facebook, “interaction, recommendation and action.” So you see that latter part as a “funnel” and if you believe in Steven Cowe’s principle, of starting with the end in mind which is the “action.” But it is the recommendation part which is really important because it taps right into the consumer’s mind. It is highly underutilized but it’s very efficient.

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BBF: Please share with us your thoughts on Digital Marketing Summit 2014.

Michael Leander: As somebody who visits a lot of conferences, I have to say I am impressed. First of all the organizer, Bangladesh Brand Forum, has taken a risk in putting together this event and inviting someone like me here and others. To get 400 people to sign up is amazing, in a country like Bangladesh, considering where Bangladesh is right now.

I think the program will improve as years go by to being more and more relevant to broader audience as opposed to being relevant to those who are already interested in digital marketing. The venue is fantastic. The logo is wonderful. I hope that this will be a yearly event.

I also hope that Bangladesh Brand Forum will think about how you can have satellite events. Maybe more training focused events, because in a market where you are right now, there is a huge need for that.

I think it’s wonderful what you’re all doing and the magazine, is a wonderful thing as well and over 7000 people get it. I wish you all the best in the future.

Interviewed & Compiled by Meer Farhan Shahriar