Tag: Programmatic advertising

Advertising is increasingly being shaped by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Particularly, it is changing programmatic advertising, for the right reasons. 

The rise of advanced advertising technologies has streamlined many processes, particularly in the diverse and complex Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. With each market in APAC presenting unique challenges, these innovations have enabled advertisers to navigate and optimise their strategies more effectively.

In MARKETECH APAC’s latest What’s NEXT in Marketing interview, Joyce Seah, Head of Client Success, APAC at Quantcast, explores the role of AI in programmatic advertising. She highlights how technology is transforming essential processes, enabling marketers to succeed amidst the highly nuanced APAC market.

Impact of AI on programmatic advertising 

“AI is no longer just a buzzword, it is reality,” says Joyce. All executions and activations in the marketing landscape are integrated with it, ultimately enhancing every part of the process brands use to engage with their prospects and customers.

One of the largest impacts AI has made is normalising hyper-personalisation. This used to be merely a goal for advertisers before, but is now achievable with relative ease.

“AI and machine learning is enabling advertisers to deliver highly tailored messages to individuals, and this is also something individuals have come to expect,” she said.

Essentially, advertisers today can create more relevant marketing experiences using accurate insights about their audiences’ interests, reach them on platforms they natively use, and deliver seamless messaging while adhering to global consumer privacy laws.

“We’re able to leverage real-time data to predict user preferences, and this is paramount because we know users change their preferences ever so often,” Joyce explained.

And it’s not just in advertising, technology is enabling teams to be more efficient in their jobs. According to a Deloitte Gen AI survey, 80% of Gen AI users said that it’s improved the speed at which they can complete tasks; leading to time savings of approximately 6.3 hours per week, for example.

“With AI and machine learning, we’re able to free up a lot of these people’s time to do actual creative and strategic work because we’re going to be able to remove a lot of the manual lever pulling,” she said.

Navigating APAC’s cultural nuances is key

While AI makes targeting easier, advertisers in the APAC region must take into account the region’s nuances if they are to use it effectively.

“When working in the APAC region, brands should consider localising creatives and messaging to align with the regional preferences for greater advertising impact,” Joyce said.

“Brands also have to realise that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to APAC, because of language and cultural differences,” she added.

As an example, Joyce shares how visual storytelling strategies would most likely resonate with audiences in Southeast Asia (SEA) and Australia, while those in Japan and South Korea would prefer direct messaging. 

“They will need to take a tailored approach which includes exploring and adopting technologies that can help them unify their marketing tactics and measurement efforts, including programmatic,” she said.

Drivers of innovation in APAC

Joyce also points out other ways in which APAC is leading innovative thinking for the rest of the world, for instance with the significant use of mobiles in the region.

“In APAC, especially in Southeast Asia, high mobile penetration and preference for mobile-first internet usage are the drivers of innovations behind mobile advertising technologies. Because of that, we are setting trends that influence mobile ad strategies globally,” she explained.

Joyce points to the popularisation of super apps as an example, citing the success of Grab and Gojek in SEA. Additionally, she comments on the proliferation of retail media networks.

“It’s part of our daily life. Consumers are more and more mobile in this region. Live commerce and retail media networks are part of our ecosystem now, we realise it’s one and the same,” she said.

In essence, the future of programmatic advertising lies in advertisers’ understanding and adaptability in markets that are increasingly becoming more bespoke, dynamic and customer-centric. 

“Using AI and machine learning is going to help advertisers in APAC uncover deeper insights into our very diverse cultural background, understand diverse consumer behaviours and therefore be able to generate and develop hyper-targeted campaigns that resonate across this very complex but wonderful region,” Joyce said.

While the highly nuanced cultures of APAC present challenges alongside opportunities, advertisers can gain an edge by harnessing technologies towards the right goal. Ultimately, most businesses aim to forge stronger connections with their audiences, and AI is one way to make the process easier as the media industry becomes more complex and diverse to navigate.

To view the full discussion, watch the video interview here:

Canada – StackAdapt has secured a $235m growth capital investment led by Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), the late-stage venture and growth arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, with participation from Intrepid Growth Partners and four other investors.

Founded in 2014 by Vitaly Pecherskiy, Yang Han, and Ildar Shar, StackAdapt built a next-generation programmatic advertising platform focused on solving customer challenges, leveraging AI and automation, and delivering a fast, seamless self-serve experience.

With this funding, StackAdapt will strengthen its presence in programmatic advertising while expanding into marketing technology. Headquartered in Toronto with a global team of over 1,300, StackAdapt supports modern marketers across 19 markets worldwide.

Vitaly Pecherskiy, co-founder and CEO at StackAdapt, said, “The challenges marketing teams face are vast and evolving rapidly. Much of the pressure to drive growth rests on their shoulders as they work to reinvent operations and discover new ways to reach customers effectively, profitably, and predictably.” 

“To help them stay ahead of the curve, we are relentlessly focused on building the most advanced, intelligent, and automated platform to make their success inevitable. We are excited to partner with TVG and the other great investors in this round to drive growth and innovation within StackAdapt, continuing on our mission to transform how marketers use technology to create value within their companies,” Pecherskiy added. 

This round follows Summit Partners’ $300M investment in 2022, bringing StackAdapt’s total funding to over $500M. The investment comes as the company expands its research and development, enhances its technology capabilities, and grows its global presence.

J.P. Morgan served as lead placement agent, with RBC Capital Markets as co-placement agent for the raise.

“We are proud to support StackAdapt, a leading Canadian technology company, on its trajectory to becoming the global leader in AI-driven, end-to-end advertising,” said Rick Prostko, senior managing director at TVG. 

He continued, “The company has been able to demonstrate consistent growth and profitability while building the future of advertising and marketing technology. We have been impressed by their exceptional team, visionary leadership, and relentless focus on delivering customer value.”

“Intrepid is thrilled to make StackAdapt its first investment. Vitaly, Yang, and their team have built a remarkable company that highlights the tremendous potential of AI,” Mark Machin, managing partner and founder of Intrepid, added. 

Context-driven advertising strategies are reshaping the way brands connect with their audiences, ensuring campaigns resonate in environments that amplify their message. Programmatic advertising, long heralded for its precision and scalability, is evolving beyond basic targeting to embrace the nuances of context. 

By aligning ads with content that complements a brand’s identity and objectives, advertisers can achieve a deeper, more meaningful engagement with consumers. As audiences grow increasingly savvy, context becomes a critical differentiator, bridging the gap between delivering ads that disrupt and those that add value.

For marketers and advertisers, embracing context is no longer optional; it’s necessary to foster trust, safeguard reputation, and drive results that resonate. As the industry moves forward, the ability to align messaging with the right environment will be pivotal for navigating the complexities of the digital advertising ecosystem.

In this case study, we explore how Samsung and Mindshare Indonesia sought cookieless solutions via Integral Ad Science’s (IAS) Context Control Targeting product to propel Samsung’s programmatic campaign goals while prioritising budget efficiency.

The Challenge

Despite Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold4 achieving stunning results in 2022, Samsung Indonesia recognises that reaching its core Gen MZ target audience will be more challenging in 2023 due to the fast-paced environment and evolving consumer behaviour. Samsung has consistently employed sophisticated targeting strategies, incorporating first-party data with retargeting, maintaining a presence with premium publishers, and utilising keyword targeting.

The Objective

Samsung aims to launch its latest foldable phone and use programmatic advertising to target Gen MZ precisely, particularly during the sustenance phase of the campaign. Applying lessons from previous campaigns, Samsung adopted a more granular targeting approach for the new foldable phone. This is to ensure the delivery of relevant messaging to the target audience while simultaneously improving efficiency in terms of quality website traffic by 20%.

The Solution

As Samsung’s campaign transitioned from awareness to performance, the focus shifted to driving quality traffic and conversions. Display advertising, representing 12% of the budget and executed programmatically, emerged as a key driver of high-value site visits. 

To maximise the effectiveness of this channel, Samsung implemented IAS’s contextual targeting with sentiment detection. This technology layered an additional level of precision, enabling Samsung to refine its audience targeting beyond traditional methods like DSPs, DMPs, Floodlight, and PMPs. 

IAS’s predictive science pre-screens and categorises pages using emotion & sentiment analysis, enabling the brand to target the most desirable and relevant content.

To drive campaign efficiency, Samsung implemented a three-layered optimisation strategy within programmatic display and its targeting setup. This strategy encompassed audience segmentation, budget allocation, and creative optimisation.

  1. Audience Level: In addition to standard DSP audiences, floodlight, and PMP, Samsung leveraged third-party audiences through IAS’s contextual targeting with sentiment detection. This included segments like:
    1. Consumer Electronics – Samsung 
    2. Consumer Electronics – Smartphones, Tablets
    3. Consumer Electronics – Wearables
    4. Tech Enthusiasts
  2. Budget Optimisation: Budgets were dynamically adjusted based on weekly performance. DSP audience budgets were reduced and reallocated to resources directed towards higher-performing third-party audiences by almost 66%.
  3. Contextual Relevance and Asset Optimisation: To maximise impact, Samsung prioritised contextual relevance and optimised asset size for message delivery. 

This three-layered approach provided Samsung with detailed metrics on inventory quality, traffic quality, and click-through rates. The contextual targeting layer offered deeper insights into page sentiment and emotion, enabling more precise campaign alignment. This cookieless targeting strategy fostered confidence and provided valuable data to drive superior campaign results.

The Results

The campaign was able to drive efficiency for Samsung Indonesia. Testing new audience targeting delivered 57% lower cost per quality traffic, 300% higher CTR, and 65% lower cost per click compared to the second-best targeting alternative. 

  • Volume of measured impressions: 39 million impressions 
  • 300% higher CTR than the next best-performing line item (data hub)
  • 57% cheaper cost per marketing visit compared to the next best-performing line item which is PMP Premium Publisher

IAS’s contextual targeting solution managed to deliver the ads to the relevant content, which aligns with research showing that relevant ads have higher receptivity, favorability, and memorability for the audience. This means that the audience will tend to interact more with the ad, giving Samsung ads a higher chance of being clicked. This resulted in higher traffic and quality traffic for Samsung. 

Post the campaign, IAS’s analysis found that the contextual targeting managed to deliver the best results, across all media metrics: CTR, cost per visit, cost per quality traffic, and even cost per add-to-cart.

California, USA – The Trade Desk has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Sincera, a digital advertising data company known for delivering objective and actionable insights to the advertising ecosystem.

Sincera has been a trusted partner of The Trade Desk in recent years, providing advertisers with tools to assess the quality of data from publishers and content providers. By enabling more accurate valuation of ad impressions, Sincera’s objective insights have become essential for optimising campaign investments as digital advertising channels and data sources continue to expand.

With this acquisition, Sincera’s tools will integrate into The Trade Desk’s platform, giving advertisers clearer insights into their purchases. It will also help publishers optimise data signals to boost advertising demand and fill rates, highlighting which signals are most valued by advertisers.

“In recent years, the digital advertising landscape has expanded rapidly with the emergence of new channels such as streaming TV, digital audio, and retail media. Sincera has done an amazing job of serving this expanding ecosystem with the right data that can improve performance for all participants in the ad tech supply chain,” Jeff Green, founder and CEO of The Trade Desk, said. 

“With this acquisition, we will scale the impact of Sincera in a way that will upgrade programmatic performance for everyone, and especially the quality of data signals that advertisers get from publishers,” Green added. 

As part of the acquisition, Sincera co-founder and CEO Mike O’Sullivan will report directly to Jeff Green. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to finalise in the first quarter of 2025.

Commenting on the acquisition, O’Sullivan said, “Sincera has become the go-to resource for advertisers and publishers looking for objective data on advertising value. We have retained that objectivity by ensuring our focus on being an expert data company, rather than a data provider.”

“We’re excited to bring our perspective and insights to The Trade Desk. We have a shared belief that trust and growth in the programmatic ecosystem will be fuelled by a transparent and fair marketplace based on objective data,” he added. 

Singapore – Global adtech firm Quantcast released its ‘Asia Pacific 2023 Advertising State of Play Report’, which discussed the future of digital advertising, the challenges and opportunities lie ahead for advertisers and agencies, where brands are planning ad spend this financial year, and what barriers stand in the way of programmatic video adoption.

In the report, Quantcast found out that key challenges and barriers were the need to prove return of investment (ROI)/performance and effectiveness, while personalising ads and finding new audiences amidst the global economic downturn.

APAC marketers and agencies identified and are looking to invest in several opportunities including performance-led advertising, business growth, and investing in easy-to-use tools, with programmatic video and search expected to grow significantly in APAC over the next year, particularly as social channels remain critical in countries including Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

With this, data suggests that OTT investment in APAC is expected to grow from US$4.3 billion to US$7.2 billion between 2020 and 2026 – a 67% increase within six years. Linear TV and radio are likely to see the largest decline in media investment, as advertisers lean towards digital experiences. 

Preparing for a cookie-less world is also a priority, with nearly 60% of agencies and just under 43% of brand-side marketers naming it as their top priority for FY 23/24, focusing on cookie-less advertising solutions and getting audience insights through first-party data over the next 12 months.

Sonal Patel, vice president of Quantcast, APAC, said, “In the coming months, we’re expecting to see advertisers continually asked to deliver more value, navigate more technological changes, and get on top of changing consumer behaviour to maximise advertising outcomes. To get ahead, APAC marketers will need to seize the opportunities to build their brands now. Businesses that increase advertising activities during downturns can snag market share from more conservative brands.

Singapore – Mintegral, a programmatic ad platform, has announced today that it joined Google AdMob as a bidding and waterfall SDK network with supported ad formats of interstitial, rewarded, and banner ads. Mintegral’s bidding solution simplifies in-app advertising, connecting premium demand to app businesses looking to scale their revenue worldwide. 

With the support of both in-app bidding and waterfall, developers are able to adopt a flexible bidding strategy to make the most of their inventory and maximise their ad revenue. Integrating with Mintegral’s SDK via Google AdMob, publishers can gain access to Mintegral’s premium global ad demand. Mintegral’s SDK is currently integrated with over 10,000 top publishers, including Voodoo, Azur Games, CrazyLabs, SayGames, Outfit7, PeopleFun, Easybrain, and more. 

Mintegral’s partnered advertisers will also benefit from more high-quality traffic across various verticals, including utility apps, e-commerce, mid-core and hardcore games, hyper-casual and casual games, and more – scaling their UA campaigns to the next level. Powered by leading AI technology such as Dynamic Creative Optimization, Mintegral is dedicated to acquiring the right users by delivering tailored creatives based on their interests and needs, improving UA effectiveness with ease.

“Google AdMob is a powerful tool for app developers’ monetization. Mintegral is excited to participate as a bidding and waterfall SDK network partner within AdMob to help deliver the most competitive demand to global developers,” said Jeff Sue, GM of the Americas at Mintegral.

Along with Google AdMob, Mintegral has integrated with mediation partners, including AppLovin MAX, Unity LevelPlay, DT FairBid, TopOn, and Yandex. Mintegral’s UA and monetization capabilities have been recognized across the industry, with mobile measurement platform, AppsFlyer, recently noting its increased market share and naming it a Top 3 ad network globally. 

Besides Google AdMob, Mintegral will soon join Google Ad Manager as a bidding and waterfall SDK network, empowering a wider range of developers to boost their ad revenue.

Singapore – Lemma, an independent omnichannel Supply Side Platform (SSP), has announced the appointment of Charles Less as regional head for Southeast Asia. Less is formerly of Pancast and in the new role at Lemma, he will be helping to grow its programmatic DOOH business in the SEA region and increase its local presence.

The company said Southeast Asia is a crucial market for its business owing to the growing demand for programmatic DOOH technology in the region. Less’ primary role in the expansion plan will be to define the go-to-market strategy, optimise business models and processes, and cultivate relationships with digital agencies, direct brands, and DOOH screen owners throughout the SEA.

A seasoned sales & advertising business leader with over two decades of experience, Less brings with him a proven acumen in scaling businesses across agencies, corporate media houses, and start-ups. At Pancast, he served as director of revenue and, throughout his career, he’s also held other leadership positions at companies like Iflix, ESPN Star Sports, A+E network, and others.

“Joining Lemma is an exciting opportunity to be part of an organization that is at the forefront of programmatic DOOH technology,” said Less. “I am looking forward to working with the team to drive growth in Southeast Asia and help our clients leverage the power of programmatic DOOH to reach their target audiences effectively.” 

Meanwhile, Gulab Patil, Founder & CEO of Lemma, commented, “Programmatic DOOH continues to scale worldwide, and this media has enormous potential in Southeast Asian markets. Lemma has launched numerous first-to-market programmatic DOOH campaigns and envisions using its technology platform to transform DOOH into mainstream digital. With the addition of Charles to the team, we intend to scale our business to new heights with a powered-packed team, ready to take on a new market.” 

Lemma has over 350k connected screens globally, including a significant share in the SEA region. Notable brands such as HP, OLX, and Guinness have onboarded Lemma’s programmatic DOOH platform, which is integrated with leading global demand-side platforms (DSPs).

Auckland, New Zealand – The privacy-first location-powered programmatic advertising partner Blis has announced the launch of its new product suite, Audience Explorer, into New Zealand, enabling brands and agencies to target their customers to drive key outcomes in the post-cookie world. Launched in 2021 in response to privacy changes by major tech companies, Audience Explorer is made available in the UK, US, Australia, the Netherlands, Italy, and now New Zealand.

Audience Explorer is a visual, real-world planning tool that combines precise location data with hundreds of rich and anonymised third-party signals, ranging from lifestyle characteristics and affinities to browsing and shopping habits, giving brands and media agencies the most holistic view of their customers. Using Audience Explorer, brands are able to discover richer audience insights, ready for activation at scale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W_iWK7Q70A&t=29s

Emma-Jayne Owens, managing director APAC of Blis, commented, “With market challenges around reach, relevance and measurement set to continue, there is no better time for brands to look to partners who can still deliver the audiences they would otherwise miss. We are delighted to bring Audience Explorer to New Zealand, enabling privacy-first audience insights and campaign scale without the reliance on personal data.”

As the industry pivots away from targeting based on IDs and personal data, brands need to find new ways to drive key business outcomes through personalised and high-performing digital advertising. To address this, Audience Explorer combines data from Blis’ global panel of 370 million opted-in consumers with precise location data and anonymized rich third-party signals.

Based on a deep consumer understanding, brands can serve up relevant ads to customers by understanding consumers’ needs, lifestyles, spending habits, competitor landscape and interests based on privacy-first, anonymized data – what Blis dubs as ‘Dynamic Audience Targeting’.

This new Dynamic Audience Targeting enables Blis to continue developing highly accurate, targeted campaigns for some of New Zealand’s biggest brands without reliance on personal data. Programmatic traders at agencies and brands can also activate these audiences via our self-serve platform or work with Blis on a managed service basis.

Hong Kong – With a greater focus on the Hong Kong and Thailand market, martech and adtech Maadtech is launching its Programmatic 2.0 solutions, featuring new  technology features and campaign performance optimization.

With the latest launch, Maadtech is integrating their data management platform-customer data platform (DMP-CDP) as well as media and campaign optimization tools made available through global partnerships with Adzymic Singapore, Sublime Paris, and others.

In a statement, Wilson Chan, executive director of Maadtech Programmatic, said that the latest product launch aligns with ‘the golden era for Programmatic trading’ as 5G connectivity will lift the programmatic ad spend in Asia from currently USD30Bto over USD50B. 

“Our solution is not only about technology and features. Our mission is to help Asian marketers and advertisers to adopt Programmatic best practices and remain competitive globally, which we are very much behind the western markets in this field,” Chan stated.

He added, “We are currently in development of a client CPD platform solution which will complement our existing products and offer marketers a truly data-driven Programmatic Marketing ‘end-to-end’ solution starting from zero base. We aim to launch this later in the year regionally across Asian markets.”

Founded in 2019, Maadtech integrates adtech and martech solutions under one platform in enabling effective adoption of programmatic advertising in display, social media, and other channels.

Singapore – The Singapore arm of advertising company JCDecaux has launched its programmatic OOH media across various advertising channels, including bus advertising screens and airport advertising screens.

The company is launching first this strategy to 38 digital bus advertising screens. With these buses traveling along prime areas of Orchard Road the Central Business District, it is expected to generate 66 million impressions across the digital bus shelter inventory. 

Furthermore, the advertising inventory is connected to global demand-side platforms through supply-side platform VIOOH, which allows advertisers planning for offline+online campaigns within a single platform, and allowing them to manage their advertising inventory.

“Programmatic OOH is at the cusp of sea change in Singapore and the region. Many advertisers have expressed interest in our programmatic OOH offering and are keen to explore this to its fullest potential. We are thus delighted to work with VIOOH to launch our programmatic out-of-home media offer beginning with digital bus shelter screens. As we intensify the education journey and transition from traditional mode of buying and selling to a programmatic one, we will also be adding more diverse audiences to our offers by including a wider array of our digital OOH inventory,” said Evlyn Yang, managing director of JCDecaux Singapore.

The company will also roll out digital out-of-home (DOOH) across the Orchard Road and in the Central Business District, and in premium shopping malls namely ION Orchard, Funan, Raffles City, and Jewel, as well as Changi Airport by 2021.