Reach Savvy Southeast Asian Shoppers with ProductNation

Online reviews and buying guides have become more and more essential to shoppers looking to make informed decisions in an endless sea of products and brands.

We sat down with Denise Goh, Media Manager at ProductNation to learn more about the Southeast Asia-based media company, their savvy audience, top-performing categories, and what the digital media landscape looks like in their region.

Denise Goh, Media Manager, ProductNation

CJ: Tell us about your company/business model. How long have you been in business? What makes your brand unique? 

Denise: ProductNation is a Southeast Asian-based media company that is present in several countries, namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines since 2017. We specialize in producing local buying guides and product reviews to help our audience with their purchase decisions. 

CJ: What problems does your business solve for? 

Denise: Most, if not all, people would like to know which are the best products in a category before making the purchase. We spend hours researching these products and compile them into guides, providing them with quality choices according to their needs and budget. 

CJ: How does affiliate fit into your business model? 

Denise: Our buying guides and product reviews are centered heavily around products. Hence, we must recommend only the best products to gain trust and optimize conversions.

CJ: Who is your audience? What do they care about? What's their shopping behavior like? 

Denise: Our audience varies between countries. But, generally, most of our audience is between 25 – 34 years of age. Those in this age bracket are mostly tech-savvy and know how to surf the internet for more information about a potential purchase. That’s why they spend time comparing products, reading reviews, and watching videos instead of just listening to the salesperson or via word-of-mouth.

CJ: What types of products and categories do well with your audience? 

Denise: Overall, home and tech products are a favorite in all the countries we’re present in. Beauty products also tend to do pretty well with our audience. 

CJ: What trends do you see arising within affiliate or the digital space and how are you handling them?

Denise: As technology advances, so will the need for transparency. We believe that being as honest and transparent as possible with our audience would help us stay relevant and reliable to our audience.

[Digital media] might already be the norm in the West, but here in Southeast Asia, it’s only just the beginning. As more media turn digital, those in the industry won’t have a choice but to focus on creating quality content to stay relevant.

CJ: Where do you see the future of digital media? 

Denise: It might already be the norm in the West, but here in Southeast Asia, it’s only just the beginning. As more media turn digital, those in the industry won’t have a choice but to focus on creating quality content to stay relevant. This, in turn, will create healthy competition. As a result, there will be a pool of high-quality digital media striving to be the best.

CJ: What are some unique trends you have been seeing in the markets you currently operate?

Denise: Before Covid-19, our categories were constantly tech and beauty. During the pandemic, especially when our country (Malaysia) went into partial lockdown, our home category soared like never before. Our health category started gaining more traffic as well. Since things have normalized now, home and tech remain as the top categories. 

As most of us are spending more time at home and companies are required to work-from-home, we believe that there will be a constant interest in home and tech respectively. These are what we believe publishers and advertisers alike should focus on more for at least the first half of 2021.

CJ: Any insights or recommendations on working in the Southeast Asia market?

Denise: Top publisher types are probably coupon and cashback sites (Asians like to save!) and top advertiser categories are marketplaces. Southeast Asians love value-for-money products and won’t be afraid to stinge if they have to. As long as the brand’s products are not cheap and flimsy, it shouldn’t be a problem. 

CJ: What are next steps if a brand wants to partner with you in the CJ network? 

Denise: Brands can reach out to us for more information about the top categories in each country. For example, our top product categories in Malaysia might not be the same as Thailand. It would be best to push for the right category in the right market for optimal results.

Thanks, Denise!

ProductNation is your destination for all the latest product reviews and roundups that are at the right price, on-trend, consumer favorites, and timely in Southeast-Asia.