Speaking today at ILM Asia in Singapore, Google’s James Sanders made a very direct appeal to directory publishers to resell Google advertising products to SMB advertisers in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Globally, Yellow Pages companies are our most successful partners,” Sanders said.

Sanders tried to address one of the biggest concerns Yellow Pages companies have about Google, namely that Google is simply biding its time working with partners until it can build or buy its own local channel.

Sanders addressed this head on during Q&A.

When asked if Google would buy a directory company, something that has been rumored from time to time, his response was an unequivocal “no.”

He added that Google has no plans to build a local sales force, noting that it would be too formidable a task to build an SMB sales force with tens of thousands of sales reps worldwide.

Both Google and Microsft are present at ILM Asia and actively seeking reseller partners among Asia-Pacific directory publishers. It’s a testament to the fact that directory organizations, despite their challenges, remain crtical partners for any organization looking to reach the SMB market.

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Just before lunch at ILM Asia, Sidharth Gupta, CEO of Getit Infoservices, shared his company’s vision of the future. It was comprehensive and holistic.

In his talk, Gupta spoke of the evolution that is occurring around the world and in India as it relates to the directory space. Gupta’s vision embraces a much wider swath of media options that his sales representatives can and should be selling to their advertising customers.

These range from traditional directive advertising products and extend back into television and other traditional media. He also emphasized the important opportunity of building a strong consumer brand.

Getit, currently a know media brand in 50 states within India, intends to extend this coverage to more than 100 states. This is a lofty goal and one that will certainly require significant resources, precise marketing and operational excellence. Gupta promised to return to ILM Asia in 2012 and share how Getit Infoservices is doing on its aggressive and aspirational path.

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My colleague Charles Laughlin kicked off ILM Asia — a conference organized by BIA/Kelsey and the Asian Directory Publisher Association (ADPAI) — with the results of a survey of business leaders operating in the local search space in Asia.

Among the most interesting findings is that 92 percent of the respondents believe publishers must “transform now, or die.” If we think mobile is a key trend in the U.S., it is even more pronounced here in Asia. When compared with mobile users in the U.S. and Europe, Asian mobile users are significantly more mobile savvy and demonstrate a greater willingness to use their mobile device to:

–        Check their bank account

–        Make a purchase

–        Use a QR code

–        Transfer money

–        Accept location centric ads

–        Accept personal centric ads

It should be an interesting two days here in Singapore with the directory publisher leaders.

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ILM Asia has added two exciting speakers to its lineup. Adrian Tan, COO of Groupon Singapore, will join our special Deals Forum on day 2 of ILM Asia.

Meanwhile, Michelle Sherwood, exec VP of strategic marketing at the Australian directory giant Sensis, will talk about that company’s transformation journey.

We’re very excited about our full lineup of speakers at ILM Asia, which takes place Oct. 25-26 at the Regent in Singapore.

The event will be a compact two-day exploration of the emerging social, local and mobile digital advertising ecosystem in Asia. Anyone interested in doing business in Asia, or publishers already operating in the region looking for insights and best practices, should attend.

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Today we posted a detailed agenda for ILM Asia 2011, which takes place Oct. 25-26 at the Regent Singapore.

The event will include a heavy focus on many of the key elements driving the transition from traditional to digital marketing for SMBs worldwide — including social media, mobile advertising and search, and the emerging deals category. In fact, the morning of the event’s second day will include a special forum on deals, featuring a presentation of BIA/Kelsey research and analysis on deals, plus an address by Jonathan Marchbank of Dealised, a leading while-label deals platform based in the region.

The event will bring together leaders in directories, search, mobile and social, as well as investors and partners focused on the local social mobile opportunity in Asia. For more information and to register, check out the ILM Asia website.

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Jonathan Marchbank, the CEO of Dealised, an Australia-based leader in providing social commerce and deals software, will address a special forum on the deals space at ILM Asia, Oct. 25-26, in Singapore. 

Marchbank will speak on Oct. 26 during a morning session devoted to the emerging global and Asian deals market. He will offer a perspective on what works, and what doesn’t, in building a successful deals business, and will give his take on some of what he believes are the myths surrounding the highly competitive deals industry. Before joining Dealised in April 2011, Marchbank worked for Virgin Group in the United States, Australia and Singapore, including a stint as COO of Virgin Mobile USA.

Leading off the deals forum will be BIA/Kelsey President Neal Polachek, who will share BIA/Kelsey’s viewpoint on the deals market, including ideas on how deals will evolve into a central component of SMB marketing.

Deals are already popular throughout the Asia-Pacific region, with active competion in markets that include Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and others.

The Australia directory publisher Sensis is among the operators in the region that have gotten into deals with its Yellow Pages Offers product. Worldwide, directory publishers active in deals include AT&T, Yellowbook, DirectWest, Yellow Pages Group (Canada) and PagesJaunes, among others.

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James Sanders, head of Channel Partnerships, Google Asia Pacific, will keynote the first day of ILM Asia, a conference that BIA/Kelsey and ADPAI are jointly producing Oct. 25-26 in Singapore. The event will attract directory publishers, as well as new media pioneers from around the region, and will be modeled after BIA/Kelsey’s successful U.S.-based Interactive Local Media (ILM) events.

Australia-based Sanders manages Google’s channel partnerships business in Asia Pacific, which sells Google’s full range of advertising products through partners to small and mid-size businesses. The business started in 2010, and is now one of Google’s fastest growing business units in the Asia-Pacifc region.

Sanders has been with Google for three years. Prior to his current role he worked in the channel partnerships business in Europe, where he managed relationships with Europe’s leading directories businesses. Sanders is a Chartered Accountant, with an M.B.A. from the University of Cambridge and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Nottingham.

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BIA/Kelsey is expanding the geographic focus of its conference business with the addition of ILM Asia 2011, which takes place Oct. 25-26 Singapore. The event is a joint production of BIA/Kelsey and the Asian Directory Publishers Association.

ILM Asia will focus on emerging opportunities in local and mobile search, social media, deals, verticals and online directories.

The Asia-Pacifc region includes some of the world’s largest economies, as well as some of the most advanced markets in terms of consumer adoption of digital media. There is a great deal of activity across the full spectrum of BIA/Kelsey’s coverage areas, and we are excited to be partnering with ADPAI to produce this event. One key feature of the show will be an extended forum on the deals space, with a particular focus on how deals are developing in the region.

The conference venue is The Regent Singapore. Stay tuned for more details on how to participate in this groundbreaking event.

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