OMG Asia-Pacific drops 'digital' from its vocabulary

Its 'digital specialists' are now referred to only as 'platform specialists'.

OMG Malaysia, which completed the transition last week, explained that the concept of digital marketing as a separate and specialised function was now redundant. 'Platforms', according to OMG, "are communications channels that allow advertisers to create, deliver and measure the success of a message to a consumer".  Some examples of these 'platforms' within OMG are search, social media and mobile.

"From the beginning, we never believed that digital teams should be 'siloed'. Instead we have created digital units that are part of every team," Andreas Vogiatzakis, managing director for OMG Malaysia told Campaign Asia Pacific.  "Now, we have platform experts who offer cross-functional learnings, processes and applications."

Although talk of this move has been in the media since November last year, the changeover region-wide has just been completed.

Lee Smith, CEO of platforms for OMG Asia-Pacific, says 'digital' has become a "convenient catch-all phrase" under which the industry lumps non-traditional media. "As an approach, it doesn't leverage on all capabilities or allow flexibility in adapting to each new platform that emerges," he wrote in Campaign last year. "Platform experts are our future... they have change inherently built in."