Tag: Advertising

Bangkok, Thailand – Hivestack, a global programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising technology, has expanded its presence in Thailand through a strategic DOOH partnership with Up Media, a local media owner specialising in elevator screens.

This partnership will involve the integration of 2,000 Up Media DOOH screens located in upscale shopping malls, office buildings, hotels, and residential complexes into the Hivestack supply side platform (SSP). Through private marketplace (PMP) and open exchange agreements, these screens will be made available to local DOOH buyers in Southeast Asia as well as global advertisers.

Hivestack incorporates Up Media’s most recent elevator screens, providing DOOH buyers in Thailand with a new form of audience engagement while also providing Up Media with an additional revenue stream through global “outside-in” purchases.

Speaking about the partnership, Joey Zhou, founder and CEO of Up Media, expressed, “We are excited to collaborate with Hivestack and we are going to scale up our inventory – aiming to triple it in the next 12 months. Exciting times ahead as we are offering advertisers impactful media for high end audiences in the best locations across Thailand.”

Also speaking about the partnership, Jan Harling, CEO of Virtus Asia Consulting, remarked, “I am confident that many marketers with a focus on premium audiences will view the availability of this inventory, now accessible programmatically, as a game-changer in Thailand. This opportunity aligns perfectly with Thailand’s recovery, marked by bustling shopping malls and offices returning to their full-capacity state. It promises a significant shift in the landscape of impactful media opportunities.” 

Meanwhile, Matt Bushby, managing director ANZSEA, Hivestack, said, “It’s been an incredible journey for us in Thailand with the amount of growth we’ve achieved with our partners. We’re so proud to be building the largest DOOH inventory network with the addition of Up Media’s elevator screens, and are proud of the large number of successful brand campaigns we have under our belt already in the region.”

He added, “Our partnership with Up Media comes at an exciting time for our business as we onboard more screens in different formats across Thailand, located in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phuket.” 

Indonesia – The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) has released a study with Milieu Insight to understand the usage of different video services in Indonesia and consumer attitudes towards them. The study looked at video across social media, user-generated content (UGC), linear TV, messaging services and premium OTT.

Data given by AVIA and Milieu Insight suggested that amongst Indonesians, UGC and social media content garners more attention in audience engagement and advertising, but premium OTT has the best content according to 75% of respondents.

Indonesian consumers also associate premium OTT the most with positive emotions. When asked about feelings after watching an hour of different types of content, premium OTT services significantly outscored user-generated content and social media in eliciting happiness (51%) and amusement (73%).

According to the study, while premium OTT is still at an earlier stage of development in Indonesia than free UGC and social media services like YouTube and TikTok, it is clear that those who use premium OTT value it more. When asked what video services they would first be prepared to forego, only one in the top ten services was premium OTT, and the top 4 were all social media or UGC services.

Talking about the results, Louis Boswell, CEO of AVIA, said, “We believe the power and opportunity of premium OTT is hugely significant and offers a real and relatively untapped opportunity for advertisers in Indonesia. The proven quality of the environment, the stickiness of the content and the positive emotions created by it are critical for advertisers, and this study clearly demonstrates that.”

“Given the dominance and high penetration of UGC and social media video services in Indonesia, the fact that this smaller but growing category of premium OTT performed so well in these categories is quite remarkable. We believe advertisers need to sit up and take note,” he added.

Singapore  – FCB SHOUT recently made important strategic hires and promotions in its operations, creative, and brand management divisions, which took effect in September 2023.

Jonathan Chan, James Voon, and Suah Boon Chuan have been promoted from associate creative directors to creative directors, taking on expanded roles that involve managing essential client relationships and leading new business endeavours in the creative department.

Along with these internal promotions, Anndrea Lye and Tan Lai Kuen have been appointed senior copywriters and senior designers. FCB SHOUT has also grown its team by adding Choong Eu Jin and Raphael Castellano as senior copywriters.

Jin brings a wealth of experience from network agencies across the region, while Castellano, recruited from the Philippines, brings a distinctive perspective to the agency’s creative endeavours.

Melanie Mustapha has been promoted to brand director in the division of brand management. In her role, she will be tasked to improve the agency’s brand management abilities. 

FCB SHOUT also welcomed Mandy Chock back as a creative strategist. Chock will work closely with the brand management team to provide FCB SHOUT’s clients with efficient solutions.

Furthermore, Adrienna Ooi has been elevated to the role of operations manager.

Speaking about the promotions and appointments, Tjer, head of creative at FCB SHOUT, commented, “We are delighted to announce these key promotions and the addition of new talents to the creative team. They are the cornerstone of all that we do in the agency, and being able to bolster our pool of creative talents will enable us to continue navigating an increasingly challenging landscape; I strongly believe that these future leaders are pivotal in ensuring the agency’s growth in the years to come.” 

Meanwhile, Syahriza Badron, general manager and Jamie Tan, head of operations of FCB SHOUT said, “These strategic moves mark a significant step in strengthening our team. We are confident that these promotions and new hires will enable us to continue delivering exceptional results for our clients and driving our agency’s growth.”

Shaun Tay, co-owner and chief executive officer of FCB SHOUT, remarked, ”Our enduring dedication to excellence continually compels us to implement strategic enhancements within our team. These transformative changes solidify our steadfast commitment to delivering outstanding results to our clients and further cementing our agency’s reputation as the #1 Malaysian agency.” 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Locations Media Xchange (LMX), an enterprise software provider for out-of-home (OOH) media owners, announced its integration with Xibo’s SSP Connector, empowering Xibo users to access and execute advertising demand directly from the LMX platform.

This integration bridges the gap between Xibo and LMX, enabling Xibo users to access advertising demand from the LMX platform and streamline the supply path for advertisers, ensuring greater transparency and efficiency on a global scale.

Moreover, the integration also marks a step forward in enhancing monetization capabilities for Xibo users while providing advertisers with a direct route to a diverse and comprehensive digital signage network.

Talking about the integration, Srikanth Ramachandran, CEO of the Moving Walls Group, said, “With this integration, Xibo users gain direct access to our expansive advertising demand network. We are excited to offer this opportunity to Xibo users, allowing them to tap into premium advertising demand effortlessly.”

Meanwhile, Dan Garner, director of engineering at Xibo Signage, commented, “We are delighted to add LMX by Moving Walls as a partner via our SSP connector; representing an exciting opportunity for Xibo networks in the region to unlock the power of programmatic DOOH.”

With this integration in mind, LMX and Xibo Signage said in a press release that they will continue in their goal to enrich the capabilities and opportunities available to digital signage networks, to ensure that both advertisers and media owners can seamlessly and efficiently connect within the evolving digital out-of-home landscape.

Singapore – Nativex has been appointed as Baidu’s marketing agency. The partnership aims to create growth and development for companies who work with Nativex. 

With Nativex’s integration, Baidu’s advertising platform will have access to a higher level of innovation from a global marketing authority. Nativex is in a good position to take full advantage of its progress in global localization.

Nativex is offering assistance by leveraging their capabilities in conjunction with Baidu’s extensive traffic coverage. This will be used for international companies and developers aiming to achieve sustainable growth in the Chinese market.

Cheryl Huang, senior vice president of Nativex, remarked, “We take immense pride in becoming an official certified agency within the Baidu marketing ecosystem. We are confident that by blending Nativex’s global perspective with Baidu’s industry-leading position, we are poised to deliver exceptional services to our global clients, facilitating business growth.” 

Meanwhile, Yan Fei, director of overseas channels at Baidu, said, “The addition of Nativex to the Baidu Advertising ecosystem is a source of honor for us. As a renowned figure in the marketing industry, we believe Nativex will infuse our advertising platform with innovation and vitality. We eagerly anticipate close collaboration with Nativex, as together we drive advancements within the digital marketing domain, crafting additional growth value for brands and developers.” 

Sydney, Australia – Ad platform Good-Loop and Yahoo have recently announced a global partnership offering carbon neutral private marketplace (PMP) media opportunities to advertisers, in order to help them become more sustainable. 

Through this partnership, advertisers and agencies buying through Yahoo’s DSP will now have access to the PMPs that rank in the top 25%, helping them ensure their ad campaigns are in line with their larger sustainability efforts.

Good-Loop achieves this by ranking domain in supply-side platforms (SSPs) based on their carbon score, allowing advertisers to easily find and buy low carbon emission supply, joining brands who are prioritising climate-friendly media with Good-Loop. 

On the other hand, Yahoo recently introduced its direct-to-publisher platform, ‘Yahoo Backstage,’ which serves as a reliable MFA-free supply source on the open Web with ‘Made for Advertising’ (MFA) sites consuming 21% of all programmatic ad impressions, leading to significant waste and carbon emissions.

Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, chief revenue officer at Yahoo, said, “Good-Loop’s carbon scoring provides advertisers with information about each publisher’s carbon footprint, allowing them to make more informed choices when it comes to the environmental impact of their ad campaigns. This improves the advertiser’s decision process, while also acting as an incentive for publishers to reduce carbon emissions, whether through supply path optimisation or improving infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, Amy Williams, CEO and founder, Good-Loop, commented,  “Now, Yahoo is also driving the industry toward more sustainable advertising habits by expanding advertiser awareness of low-emission PMPs—just one of several reasons we’re thrilled to partner with Yahoo. Together, we’re bringing the industry one step closer to its sustainability goals, giving advertisers around the globe the power to minimise their carbon footprint by evaluating the carbon cost of their campaign when media planning.”

APAC – Global creative agency Amplify, has announced two new key appointments namely, Sabrina Khong as the new associate creative director and Caitlin Todd as a new business lead.

These appointments follow Amplify’s vision of diversifying and strengthening their offering and expertise across multiple fields as an advertising agency. 

Khong joins from Foxtel, where she was an Art Director working on conceptualisation and creative strategy for Foxtel campaigns. Previously, she was an associate creative director at Section in Singapore where she worked with brands such as Uniqlo, PlayStation, Durex, and Nikon.She was also an art director at Publicis Singapore for three years, where she worked on winning pitches for brands including Tiger Crystal, Samsung, HPB and Disney.

On the other hand, Todd comes from three years at integrated social agency, Ground, in Sydney. Prior to that she was with Hill+Knowlton Strategies in London, starting as a junior consultant and working her way up. Throughout her career Todd has worked with a broad range of clients across the entertainment, tech and lifestyle space including Nike, Activision Blizzard, Huawei, Sennheiser, Intel, Oatley, and Team GB.

On these hires, Gareth Davies, managing partner at Amplify, said, “We’re truly excited to welcome Sabrina and Caitlin to the team. Sabrina’s experience delivering quality creative work across multiple mediums, from social campaigns to TVCs and augmented reality experiences along with Caitlin’s experience  across PR, strategy, social and digital makes them both a perfect fit for Amplify.”

Speaking on her appointment, Khong said, “I am thrilled to be collaborating with so many talented individuals in the Amplify team and I look forward to pushing the boundaries of creativity and contributing to the already impressive list of clientele.”

Meanwhile, Todd also commented, “I’m very excited to have joined Amplify and I’m particularly looking forward to working alongside such a talented team as we continue to grow our exceptional client relationships.”

Bangkok, Thailand – A large chunk of consumers in Thailand say that they have a negative perception towards a brand if their online ad appears alongside inappropriate content, with 74% saying they would trust a brand less. This is according to the latest data from Integral Ad Science (IAS).

For context, IAS notes thaat inappropriate content online for Thai consumers includes those depicting violence and human rights violations, spam or malware, piracy, explicit adult content, hate speech, illegul drugs, alcohol, smoking, terrorism, profanity, and debate on sensitive topics.

Data notes that around 71% of the respondents would feel less favourable towards a brand that advertises near inappropriate content, and 67% saying they are likely to stop using a product and/or service of a brand whose ad appears near inappropriate content.

In terms of brand accountability, 71% believe that brands are responsible for the content surrounding their ads, 74% say that the content surrounding a brand’s ads is a reflection of their values, and 72% believe that brands have a responsibility to publicly denounce offensive content online.

Lastly, both 70% of respondents agree that they are likely to recommend the brand to others when their ad appears near appropriate content and that they are likely to purchase a product and/or service from the brand whose ad(s) appear near appropriate content. 

In an exclusive interview with MARKETECH APAC, Megan Reichelt, country manager for SEA at IAS, stressed the importance of placing ads on safe environments, noting that they will be likely to be seen by the right people and have a positive impact on the brand. This in turn can lead to improved campaign performance in terms of reach, engagement, and conversions.

“Brand safety is important to Thai marketers because it helps to protect their brand reputation and avoid negative publicity. In recent years, there have been a number of high-profile incidents of brand safety breaches, such as ads appearing alongside inappropriate or offensive content. These incidents have damaged the reputations of the brands involved and led to calls for stricter regulations in the digital advertising industry,” Reichelt stated.

She also added that when a brand’s ad appears alongside inappropriate or offensive content, it can damage the brand’s reputation and make consumers lose trust in the brand.

“A brand safety breach can lead to negative publicity for the brand, which can damage its reputation and sales. In some cases, brand safety breaches have even led to legal action against the brands involved,” she noted.

Reichelt also added that stakes are high when the industry talk about keeping a brand safe, as a given brand’s image may have been carefully crafted over the years, only to be destroyed for a consumer in the milliseconds it takes for a display ad to render next to the ‘wrong’ content. 

“This damage can spread further in the time it takes to snap a screen grab and post it. So, what happens next? The digital version of guilt by association—your brand now appears to represent something that it probably does not,” she said.

When asked how brands can place their ads at the right place, she advises that aside from working with trusted publishers as well as third-party verification providers, it is also important to understand contextual advertising.

“Contextual targeting is a method of placing ads based on the content of the page where they are being displayed. This means that ads for cars will be more likely to appear on pages about cars, and ads for shoes will be more likely to appear on pages about shoes,” she said.

All of these advices fall under the goal of attaining brand safety, as well as an advertisement appearing in a suitable context.

“There is no shortage of misinformation and social media commentary related to any number of topics right now, so many regional marketers are actively looking to understand the facts associated with brand suitability. The conversation is indeed fast evolving from the binary focus of brand safety to the more nuanced and bespoke brand suitability. In today’s digital landscape, we are scaling successfully through the likes of programmatic—now we need to focus on quality,” she concluded.

Singapore – Marketing and monetisation technologies provider InMobi has announced its strategic partnership with climate action programme Ad Net Zero to strengthen its commitment to developing more sustainable advertising practices. 

The partnership comes as InMobi recognises the growing importance of including sustainability in business decisions. 

The tech company’s resolute commitment to sustainability aligns with Ad Net Zero’s mission to revolutionise the advertising landscape through decarbonisation initiatives spanning ad production, distribution, and publication.

By joining forces, InMobi will align its future actions with Ad Net Zero’s five-step plan designed to minimise the carbon footprint of advertising. The organisation’s five-step plan highlights the need to reduce the carbon emissions coming from media and advertising production and operations. 

This partnership also builds on InMobi’s sustainability commitments to the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), Givsly, and AdTechCares. It recognises the significance of demonstrating sustainability efforts to both its existing clients and potential partners. 

Further highlighting their commitment to sustainable ad practices, the company is putting the spotlight on their InMobi Exchange. The platform is powered by Microsoft Azure, which boasts complete carbon neutrality.

The data gleaned from the Microsoft Azure Impact Emissions Dashboard showcases InMobi’s impressive emission reduction metrics, ranking them in the top fifth percentile compared to average server emission factors.

The server usage also demonstrated a remarkable 80–90% higher green efficiency compared to alternative on-premise solutions, even high-efficiency ones. And direct SDK integrations, when paired with machine learning, have driven emission reductions of up to 30%.

Kunal Nagpal, chief business officer at InMobi, said, “InMobi’s partnership with Ad Net Zero symbolises our dedication to ushering in a more sustainable era for the advertising industry.”

“We are proud to stand alongside fellow tech companies and agencies, united in the pursuit of a greener, more responsible future. By fully embracing Ad Net Zero’s comprehensive plan, we are steadfast in our commitment to minimising our environmental impact while advancing the power of advertising,” he continued.

Commenting on the partnership, Rishi Bedi, managing director at InMobi Asia Pacific, also said, “Our partnership with Ad Net Zero strengthens and accelerates InMobi’s commitment to creating a more sustainable advertising ecosystem.”

He added, “By embracing Ad Net Zero’s comprehensive five-step plan, InMobi will be able to further reduce carbon emissions, minimising our environmental impact while advancing the power of advertising across the globe.”

Meanwhile, John Osborn, director at Ad Net Zero U.S., said, “Ad Net Zero is thrilled to work with InMobi as they support more sustainable advertising solutions, contributing to our collective global impact. InMobi’s commitment is another significant step towards an eco-friendly future for the industry.”

Singapore – Global unified adtech platform Nexxen has announced that it is expanding the offering of its free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) solutions for advertisers in Asia-Pacific. This will allow clients to run campaigns across this increasingly popular channel, in and beyond the region.

The company is working to ensure advertisers’ campaigns reach their target audiences, no matter the environment through a single destination for CTV inventory – including broadcaster video on demand (BVOD), advertising-based video on demand (AVOD) and FAST channels.

Further, Nexxen is updating its demand-side platform (DSP) to include a new storefront, focused on displaying broadcasters, FAST channels and additional premium publisher inventory. 

The storefront aims to provide brands and agencies with more direct and easier access to premium supply, thus streamlining digital campaigns. It also delivers increased visibility, transparency and control of inventory to publishers and broadcasters, enhancing their monetisation potential. The storefront is set to launch in 2024. 

Adam Hunt, vice president of business development and partnerships for APAC at Nexxen, said, “FAST channels have skyrocketed in popularity worldwide. As they continue to gain traction – particularly in APAC – we want to ensure our partners on both the buy- and sell-sides are empowered to make well-informed decisions regarding their inventory needs and capitalise on the highest yielding opportunities.”

He added, “We believe the storefront will be a welcome solution for agencies, brands and publishers alike, providing all parties with greater visibility and control as they navigate this ever-changing ecosystem.”