Dentsu launches Merkle in Indonesia

Dentsu International is launching the Merkle brand in Indonesia. Merkle is a leading data-driven customer experience management (CXeM) company that drives people-based marketing strategies and helps brands in creating competitive advantage through hyper-personalized experiences across platforms and devices.

With the addition of Merkle, dentsu Indonesia launches CXM to its business offerings along with Creative and Media, establishing its world-class integrated solutions into three service lines with multiple agency brands.

Merkle will commence operations with 30 experts (including data scientists, engineers, developers, and consultants) established for reimagining the Indonesian customer journey and strengthening customer experience through CX consulting, digital transformation and data transformation.

Maya Watono, CEO of dentsu International Indonesia, said: “There is no better time to launch Merkle in Indonesia. Customer Experience (CX) has become a critical component of businesses in Indonesia. Many Indonesian companies in multiple industries have started their CX strategies to boost their standing in the market and future-proof themselves to the demands of consumer experience in the digital world. Merkle Indonesia is ready to help brands innovate and map out their CX strategies to stay ahead of the curve.”

President of Merkle Asia Pacific, Zhengda “Z” Shen, said: “The Indonesian consumers and business community are making the world envious with their innovative digital solutions. We are extremely excited to launch in-market and bring our world class capabilities, experiences, and research into the country. We look forward to helping drive the future growth of the digital economy in Indonesia.”

Major forces shaping Indonesia’s marketing landscape.
Dentsu Indonesia introduces Merkle concurrently with three major forces that are changing the Indonesian marketing landscape:
• COVID-19 shifted Indonesian Consumer Behaviour. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst of digital transformation globally, and this also applies to Indonesia. According to an Indonesian consumer report by dentsu Insights, online consumption increased by 70% within 60 days after the pandemic hit Indonesia. 85% of consumers also reported a change in their daily life that came with Large-Scale Social Restrictions (LSSR, or popularly known as PSBB in Indonesian).
• Responsible Marketing for Consumer Data Privacy. The exponential surge of the digital economy in Indonesia is boosting the urgency to legally protect the privacy of data. While the government is in progress of finalising the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, brands need to pioneer and be aware of regulating their marketing efforts with a consumer-first mindset. This concern also resonates with how marketers are tackling the effect of the third-party cookies phase-out.
• Importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) continues to be a key focus area for most multinational brands to embrace an unbiased and anti-racist customer journey. Our local teams are highly accustomed to those needs. In fact, ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’ (means ‘Unity in Diversity’) was created in the 14th century and established as Indonesia’s national motto in 1945.

Merkle creates competitive advantage through people-based customer experiences that are hyper-personal, informed by data, powered by technology, and delivered through creativity. By adding Merkle to the network, dentsu Indonesia has taken one step ahead towards the future of customer experience management. The importance of data management for business is now crucial as consumers demand a seamless and connected experience.