Singapore – PubMatic has announced that Peter Barry will be returning to Australia to serve as its vice president for addressability and commerce media for Asia-Pacific. He was previously based in New York as PubMatic’s global vice president for addressability and commerce.

Barry will report directly to Jason Barnes, chief revenue officer for APAC at PubMatic.

In his new role, he will be responsible for rolling out PubMatic’s commerce media solution, Convert, across the APAC region. Convert provides retailers, brands and advertisers with a unified audience monetisation and acquisition platform to maximise the reach and revenue of commerce media, one of the fastest-growing media channels. 

In addition to this, Barry will be responsible for working with publishers, advertisers, identity vendors and industry bodies to ensure PubMatic’s customers are maximising addressable opportunities across their businesses as signals shift and regulations change.

During Barry’s time in the U.S., he led multiple cross-functional teams, helping PubMatic’s partners to execute against addressability strategies to drive monetisation today, as well as future proof of their business. He helped launch the Convert platform in 2023, opening up a new set of opportunities for PubMatic and its customers. Prior to that, Barry was PubMatic’s regional director for Australia and New Zealand, leading the rollout of the company’s Addressability Suite across the region and working with data and APAC identity partners.

Speaking on his new role, he said, “I am excited to work with PubMatic’s APAC team again to drive the addressability and commerce media businesses across the region. I’ve learnt a lot from my time in the US, and now I’m looking forward to ensuring PubMatic’s customers make the most of both the onsite and offsite opportunities through our Convert product.”

Meanwhile, Barnes commented, “We’re delighted to see Peter return to APAC following his time in New York. His wealth of experience is invaluable and I look forward to seeing how his expertise impacts our ever-expanding commerce media offering in the region.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Local content and entertainment company Astro has unveiled its new addressable advertising service, which leverages Astro’s first-party data, advertisers and brands will be able to showcase different advertisements to different households who are watching the same programme.

To reach the right consumers and capture their attention against a vast landscape of evolving media, as consumption habits become increasingly sophisticated, Astro’s addressable advertising combines the unparalleled scale of attention and emotional engagement of TV with precise targeting and advanced campaign measurement focusing on the audience, delivered at scale in a premium brand-safe environment.

With this service, advertisers have a data-driven targeting and measurement capability to boost ad performance through audience data expansion, giving brands the opportunity to access a richer set of audience descriptors, based on first party data. Meanwhile, viewers enjoy a more personalised and relevant experience as they see ads that reflect their local community and profile.

Henry Tan, group chief executive officer at Astro, said, “As part of our transformation plan to deliver an all-new Astro experience, we are reinventing our advertising proposition to make it attractive for marketers in an increasingly digital-dominated advertising world. We are excited to usher in Astro Addressable Advertising, the next-level TV Advertising that merges the best of TV’s emotional persuasive power with smart data presenting new opportunities for marketers by creating a better, more personal TV experience.”

Meanwhile, Shafiq Abdul Jabbar, croup chief financial officer at Astro, who also oversees Data and Advertising for the group, commented, “We are excited to see the combination of quality and reach of TV with Astro’s rich first party data being used to build the ideal audience segments based on income, location, dwelling type and purchasing behaviour, thus creating a highly relevant context for advertisers and personalised ads for viewers.” 

He added, “With the increased targeting capabilities of data-driven TV, Astro addressable advertising can scale to suit various industries and business sizes, and for the first time, made it possible for small local enterprises (SMEs) to access TV inventory.”