Tag: Channel Factory

Singapore – Technology and data platform Channel Factory has announced the recent appointment of Kartik Mehta as its new head of Asia – growth markets amidst the company’s goal of expanding growth in India and Southeast Asia this 2024.

In his new role, Mehta will be solidifying Channel Factory’s position in emerging markets, whilst aiding Channel Factory’s sustained global growth through enhancing and localising its global strategy. 

He was most recently Silverpush’s chief revenue officer and chief operating officer, where he played a pivotal role in establishing and growing the global business from its inception in 2017. Under his leadership, the company expanded its footprint to over 15 geographies, achieved double-digit million-dollar earnings, introduced new revenue streams through programmatic partnerships with the likes of IrisTV and Pubmatic, and garnered multiple industry awards. 

Since 2013, Mehta has gained invaluable experience across technology sales with his most notable achievements centering around market expansion. This includes launching and building out emerging markets in Asia/Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa for the likes of Vserv and YouAppi, as well as the expansion of Silverpush into North America and the UK. 

Prior to this extensive experience in technology sales, Mehta spent over a decade in global advertising agencies such as JWT, Ogilvy and Cheil. He is also a sought after speaker, having appeared at the likes of iMedia and MMA, so this role is the perfect culmination of over 20 years’ of strategic experience relevant to Channel Factory.

Speaking on his new role, Mehta said, “Channel Factory has undergone some really impressive growth over the past few years, but there are still so many opportunities ahead to expand upon this. It’s the opportunity to implement new strategies across emerging markets in order to drive growth that pushed me to join Channel Factory. I’m looking forward to taking this exciting challenge head on, and seeing, in real-time, the impact our team can deliver in these markets.”

Meanwhile, Robin Zieme, chief growth officer at Channel Factory, commented, “Advertising is one of only a handful of industries that is seeing continued and sustained growth in emerging markets, despite macroeconomic pressures. As such, it’s important that you seize the opportunities with many companies vying for dominance.”

He added, “Having Kartik join our global management team, with his impressive experience in expanding businesses into emerging markets, will enable Channel Factory to identify and grab as many opportunities as possible across India and Southeast Asia. I look forward to having Kartik elevate our global strategy in order to drive the greatest growth possible.” 

Singapore – Global brand suitability and contextual advertising platform Channel Factory has strengthened their APAC operations, recently appointing Kevin Rooney to managing director for Southeast Asia and India, and Kriti Jetley to head of sales SEA.

In their new roles, Rooney will be assuming overall responsibility for SEA and India and collaborate with other APAC leaders, whilst Jetley will be instrumental in driving Channel Factory’s sales efforts and building on key client relationships in the SEA region. 

With an impressive career spanning over 20 years, Rooney brings extensive expertise in sales, leadership and marketing, having over 19 years across WPP agencies with his former role being APAC CEO for mSix and Partners. His notable achievements include winning Campaign’s New Business Team of the Year and setting two ‘R3 new business leagues’ records.

On the other hand, Jetley brings with her 14 years of experience in the dynamic digital landscape of the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently Head of Product Marketing at TikTok SEA, she has also held senior sales roles at Criteo and Outbrain, bringing with her an extensive knowledge of the digital ecosystem. 

Speaking on his appointment, Rooney said, “I am honoured to join Channel Factory as Managing Director for Southeast Asia and India, and I look forward to driving the company’s growth in these vibrant markets. Channel Factory’s commitment to transforming the media landscape through brand suitability and advanced technology aligns perfectly with my passion for innovation and business development.”

Speaking on her appointment as well, Jetley also mentioned, “I am proud to now be a part of Channel Factory, a company that is at the forefront of revolutionising brand suitability by aligning content seamlessly with advertisers’ needs.”

“In the era of burgeoning User-Generated Content, reaching in-target audiences at scale has become a challenge for brands and the demand for effective brand suitability solutions has never been more critical. I am thrilled to extend my expertise across the digital landscape and contribute to Channel Factory’s mission in this regard,” she added. 

Meanwhile, Alex Littlejohn, managing director of APAC at Channel Factory, commented, “We are delighted to welcome Kevin and Kriti to the Channel Factory team. Their wealth of media and industry experience will contribute significantly to our growth in the APAC region, and we look forward to achieving great success with this robust team.”

Singapore – Contextual-driven ads on YouTube have been observed to drive 28% more attention in contrast to other industry benchmarks, according to the latest data from Channel Factory and Playground xyz.

According to the data, these contextual-driven ads generate nearly 70% more attention for skippable ads. Both non-skippable and skippable ad formats consistently demonstrated ideal performance, exceeding benchmarks 97% and 95% of the time, respectively. 

Moreover, curated activity for these types of ads delivers above benchmark more than 80% of the time. The data also revealed that such tech delivers 28% more attention than the industry norm, on average more than one second of extra attention per placement.

Alex Littlejohn, managing director for APAC at Channel Factory, said, “Every second of attention on an ad has a huge impact for brands, which makes these results incredibly powerful. They prove beyond doubt the direct relationship between contextual relevance and increased user attention metrics.”

He added, “While it stands to reason people will engage more with advertising that’s relevant to their interests, too many advertisers are still ignoring this fact and blindly spraying ad placements in non-curated environments. Channel Factory technology helps brands deliver their campaigns more efficiently and in contextually relevant environments and now with the added benefit of attention measurement and reporting incorporated in their buys.” 

Meanwhile, Rob Hall, CEO of Playground XYZ, commented, “Attention metrics give brands the key to understanding how their campaigns are resonating with customers. Our partnership with Channel Factory gives advertisers the ability to understand their YouTube campaigns on a deeper level and drive ROI.”

Vietnam – Channel Factory, a global brand platform for YouTube, is strengthening its presence in the APAC region, with the opening of a dedicated office in Vietnam. Said expansion show’s the company’s dedication to strengthening their commercial strategy and making expenditures in the area.

The newly established office in Vietnam will be managed by country manager Khanh Ngo, whose responsibility is to serve media agencies and direct brand clients by providing targeting, brand appropriateness tactics, and campaign optimization solutions.

Ngo, who has a decade of experience collaborating with media agencies across the APAC region, leads the team alongside Hoang Luong as sales manager, Van Tran as client partner, and Duyen Thao as account manager.

Speaking about the newly established office in Vietnam, Khanh Ngo, country manager of Channel Factory, expressed, “I’m thrilled to play a pivotal role in setting the foundation for Channel Factory in Vietnam. With an already distinguished roster of global clients, the opportunity to deliver localised brand suitability strategies directly to agencies and brands allows us to deepen our existing partnerships and, over time, expand our esteemed client portfolio even further.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Wong, VP, APAC of Channel Factory, commented on the launch, “Local market experience and support is imperative for what we do for our clients. The establishment of our office in Vietnam serves as a vital step in solidifying our position, providing us with a distinct competitive advantage in the region.” 

He added, “We are incredibly fortunate to have already cultivated extensive expertise in the area through our teams in Australia, Singapore, India, and the Philippines, and view the Vietnam office as a natural progression in this ongoing evolution.”

Wong also expressed, “This is an exciting time for Channel Factory as we continue to expand across markets and support our clients with contextual and suitability solutions that protect brand reputation and ensure businesses are adhering to the recent changes to government regulations around misleading and unethical advertising practices.”

Long Pham, managing director of Dentsu iProspect Vietnam, remarked on the expansion, “We are excited about Channel Factory’s expansion into Vietnam, as we believe it will greatly enhance our ability to deliver exceptional brand suitability and contextual targeting strategies to our clients in the region.”

“Our partnership with Channel Factory, not only represents our commitment to stay at the forefront of industry innovation and provide our clients with the best solutions for their advertising needs, but also maximise ROI in this dynamic market,” Pham said. 

Singapore – Marcus Pousette, formerly the country manager for Southeast Asia, Greater China and Korea at PubMatic, has been appointed by brand suitability platform and YouTube measurement program partner Channel Factory as its newest managing director for Southeast Asia. In his new role, he will be working closely alongside Channel Factory President, Alex Littlejohn, to drive business growth across the Asia-Pacific region.

As he brings into the company an 11 year-track record in revenue growth and in managing large accounts across enterprise verticals, Pousette will be leading the company’s go-to-market strategy, sales, and operations teams across Southeast Asia and India. 

The latest appointment move comes as Channel Factory scales up its efforts in the region by leveraging Asia’s growing online advertising market. 

Speaking about his appointment, Pousette said that he is excited to join Alex and the team in building a better digital advertising ecosystem, especially in a market that is rapidly evolving in the region.

“Furthermore, in a region that is extremely diverse, there is the added challenge of brands relating to the right consumers. Our goal at Channel Factory is to enable brands and marketers to consciously connect with their audience in the right context, and align with their brand values,” he said.

Meanwhile, Littlejohn commented that someone with such calibre on board like Pousette is crucial as they gear towards the continued expansion of their business heading into this year.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity of working alongside brilliant people like Marcus, and push for progress, further transparency and conscious advertising across the industry. Marcus’ experience in scaling a company for international success will be invaluable to us as we continue to focus on the importance of brand suitability and elevate online advertising standards for our clients,” he added.

Along with Pousette, Channel Factory has made a number of hires to its Southeast Asian team including MediaCom’s Dhanesh Tarani, AnyMind Group’s Dawn Lee, and dentsu’s Tom Yap. This is in line with Channel Factory’s business plan in expanding its operations across the region, specifically in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Sydney, Australia – Global brand suitability platform Channel Factory has announced that it will be expanding its operations in Australia, and has hired Kevin Wong, former head of product marketing at TikTok, to be Channel Factory’s new vice president for Asia-Pacific. This new development will help Australian brands have greater control over contextual targeting and conscious advertising on user-generated content platforms.

Wong will be working alongside Alex Littlejohn, managing director for APAC at Channel Factory, to spearhead the growth of Channel Factory in Asia-Pacific. Wong will also be responsible for leading operations, product strategy, development, and driving sales growth.

Channel Factory’s technology allows brands to contextually target audiences on user-generated content platforms, brands have greater control over ad placements in a way that aligns with their brand values and eliminates reputational risks.

In addition, with the company being a YouTube measurement program partner, Channel Factory focuses on maximizing brand suitability, turning YouTube’s five billion videos and 500 hours per minute of new content into efficient advertising opportunities.

Speaking about his appointment, Wong said that he is thrilled at joining the company, adding that they want to achieve their mission of building a better digital advertising ecosystem by connecting brands with the right consumers in the right context; content that incorporates a brand’s definition of what is and is not suitable for that brand to be running adjacent to.

“Currently, there is a disconnect between the level of investments brands are making in user-generated content platforms, and the level of contextual targeting of audiences. Our goal for Channel Factory is to eliminate this reputational risk [while] maintaining the ROI of their campaigns across YouTube today and all platforms in the future,” Wong said.

Meanwhile, Littlejohn commented that their expansion to Australia is a step further in their mission to enable CMOs to consciously connect with consumers. He also added that Wong has a wealth of international experience and they are delighted to have him spearhead their operations in Australia and the wider APAC region.

“Channel Factory’s brand suitability solution goes far beyond traditional brand safety technologies and brings the contextual alignment of traditional TV and broadcast environments to user-generated content, while embedding its own brand values into the media planning strategy. Brand suitability is the metric that marketers need to work towards, in making sure they maximize their return on ad spend,” Littlejohn said.

Along with Wong, Channel Factory has made a number of diverse experienced hires, including Zenith’s Rhys Bennett as sales solution director.