Fiona Harkin looks at how new technologies and new consumers are changing the way companies access the emerging markets of Asia Pacific. Elsewhere on the site, we look at the challenges and opportunities presented by Asia's developing economies, and ask how best to do business in the world's most dynamic region.

The global financial crisis (GFC) caused many shockwaves, not least of which is the breakdown of consumers' views of the status quo. Post-GFC, traditional, trusted institutions and brands could no longer automatically expect consumer loyalty. When combined with developments in mobile technology (the Asia-Pacific smart phone market is expected to double to 200 million by 2016, according to telecoms consultancy Ovum), widely available Internet access and the growth of social media, the result is a world of frontiers. Old ones are razed, others transcended, and new frontiers - both public and private - are being forged.

In this new world order Asia no longer looks to the West for its guidance. The dynamism and flexibility of the developing world's emerging markets stand in stark contrast the relative stagnation of the old world order. In the recent Singapore Sessions, Scott Anthony, Managing Director at consultancy firm Innosight Ventures, sat down with three other leading experts, to make sense of the challenges new markets present. Conducted by Harvard Business Review, the Session panellists discuss how companies can best access new, emerging markets, and whether companies should adapt or innovate their business models to do so.

In Asia, the rise of the middle class has created a sophisticated aspirational consumer with a high disposable income. In the EDB study on consumer insights, 'Understanding the psychology of new-Asia consumers' - it looks at how companies from Nestle to Proctor & Gamble have appealed to the asian consumer's unique needs. The article asks how companies can access the emerging markets of Asia Pacific, and looks at the arguments for establishing a regional base of operations to better understand the drivers behind consumer purchasing options in Asia.

This consumer pressure means companies cannot underestimate the focus on technology, especially given Asian consumers' ever-increasing access to it. A 2010 survey by market research company Synovate showed that young Singaporeans have the highest laptop ownership in the region, and the world's highest penetration of Apple devices, while Indian youth are the most likely in Asia to own a mobile phone.

This access to the Internet has shifted consumers' buying habits. Asian consumers, for example, are receptive to online advertising via mobile devices, as long as they are incentivized. These new ways of buying and interacting with brands and business are offering an opportunity for alternate entrepreneurship. Based around technological innovation, it ranges from contactless payments in the retail sector, to utilizing community and social networks to harness funds and investment.

In the knowledge sector,

The message? Build and maintain a continuous presence on all platforms, making products and services experiential and accessible. Regional hubs, such as Singapore - with disproportionately heavy penetration of digital and mobile device users - mean that consumer segments there are one of the most 'reachable'. These environments allow companies to test bed innovative web-based solutions before rolling them out to the region. This is about 'everywhere shopping', 'everywhere information', 'everywhere access' - without boundaries, whether online or bricks and mortar - and even mixing the two.

Fiona Harkin is Managing Editor - Culture at leading global forecasting site Stylus.com. She has been a regular contributor to The Financial Times' Style pages since 2002.