Sydney, Australia – Adtech Kargo has announced that it is bringing its video advertising product suite to Asia-Pacific, more specifically in the markets of Australia and New Zealand, India, and Southeast Asia. Said solutions put brands front and centre with optimised creative ensuring that they are seen with the intended visual impact. 

Kargo currently has three video advertising solutions which includes:

  • ‘Branded Canvas’ – squeezes video back with additional product imagery and messaging, driving deeper awareness and memorability.
  • ‘The Split Card’ – offers large real estate next to the video ad, ideal for product showcases, promotional offers or oversized call-to-action prompts.
  • ‘The Interactive’ – adds subtle branding elements on top of the video for playful motion and bonus attention. 

According to the company, its video advertising solutions have the capability to deliver experiences on the small screen using proprietary technology design and deep integrations into their curated supply.

Neill Pitt, sales director at Kargo APAC, said, “Kargo understands what works for consumers and brands. Enhanced video ads make brands relevant, capturing attention and increasing performance against key metrics, even above industry standards. We’re thrilled to offer our video advertising in APAC, where digital advertising, particularly video, is in a growth phase. APAC advertisers can make a better impression with Kargo enhanced video ads.”

Kargo recently acquired connected TV (CTV) and over-the-top (OTT) platform VideoByte, as part of its mission to deliver differentiated interactions to audiences through various platforms.

Online video consumption reached new heights as a majority of people were forced to spend a greater amount of time indoors. According to Limelight’s State of Online Video 2020, viewers spent almost eight hours per week consuming various types of online video content.

In Southeast Asia, a majority of this growth is being driven by mobile video consumption. No surprise then, that mobile video advertising spending grew by 65 percent in this region.

Premium video advertising’s popularity continues to soar. According to Verizon Media’s Video Advertising Study in January 2020, two-thirds of marketers said that video will continue to offer a higher return than other ad formats.

OTT and short-form social video are the platforms of choice for a majority of video consumers today. But there is another platform that offers marketers with an avenue to reach consumers with premium video content outside of the internet: Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) media.

DOOH screens are now present across every possible consumer touchpoint outside the home. There are now millions of public screens installed in venues like shopping malls, transit hubs, bus shelters, office buildings, residential lobbies, and more. This is in addition to the roadside and building facade screens that have been replacing static billboards.

DOOH ads have not traditionally been considered part of video marketing budgets but it is now starting to achieve a scale of presence and automation that will enable it to challenge for a share of the pie. The following is a summary of the biggest shifts happening in this space.

More than Just Billboards

Enough has been said about the impact of pandemic-battling lockdowns on the outdoor advertising industry. One good thing to come out of this was that it pretty much forced the hand of industry stakeholders to embrace data and technology to change the narrative around DOOH media.

By embracing dynamic movement data, DOOH providers are now able to show the potential of audiences exposed to the site for upcoming campaigns. One of the trends that emerged during some forms of lockdowns was that people were still moving about but these journeys were taking place closer to home, where they would still come into contact with some form of DOOH screen.

This repositioning exercise showed marketers that DOOH screens are ever-present and that there are opportunities to reach audiences with video assets in contextually relevant environments like grocery stores.

Growing Availability of Programmatic DOOH Solutions

While DOOH screens have been available for quite some time now, it is only possible to consider them for premium video campaigns when the inventory is accessible at scale.

Advertising technology solutions that make automated buying and selling of DOOH inventory possible are now mainstream and the connected assets are available for buyers to activate from anywhere in the world alongside other digital video platforms.

Digital marketers are now starting to leverage the unique characteristics of DOOH as a video advertising platform. For example, DOOH ads are always 100 percent viewable and make a bigger impact simply due to its large physical presence.

For example, this Snickers Hunger Bars Campaign in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia amplified an online campaign by featuring real user-generated content on premium digital billboards.

Non-Traditional DOOH Screens Lead Shift to Impression-Based Buying

Large digital billboards, which basically replaced static billboards in the same locations, heralded the arrival of DOOH media as a marketing channel. However, it is the incredible growth of indoor digital screen networks that have helped it achieve the scale it has now.

Traditional billboard media owners were just that – media owners. Today, any physical establishment that has installed a digital screen can become a DOOH media owner. This could be an independent gym owner with one screen or a nationwide supermarket network with 10,000 screens across their locations.

The interesting thing about these non-traditional media owners is that advertising revenue was not the primary goal of their screen installations. They were installed to enhance communication with the establishment’s visitors or even engage them with entertainment content.

This is a medical supplier in Indonesia which installed hand sanitizers that now double up as ad screens

There is now a growing trend of these players partnering technology providers to equip their screens with programmatic ad-serving technology to make the space available to potential video marketers.

A smart vending machine in Singapore went with the same route with machines now displaying video ads

A recent example of this in Southeast Asia is a medical supplier in Indonesia who installed hand sanitizer stations in retail spaces that now double up as advertising screens. Another is a smart vending machine operator in Singapore whose screens can now serve contextual video advertisements when not being used to purchase a product.

Delivering Incremental Video Reach

Since DOOH screens are present outside the home, they don’t directly compete for audience attention with personal screen time. They are also non-intrusive as they are not consumed at the beginning or in-between other video content.

Cross-media planning tools can now ingest DOOH audience data and available inventory information to identify opportunities to allocate an effective portion of video spends to deliver incremental reach. With the growth of new screen networks, the potential DOOH media reach now surpasses broadcast and cable TV in some cases.

These critical developments – positioning of DOOH as a video medium, availability of data, and automation technology, along with the scale achieved by non-traditional advertising screens – could not have come together at a better time. As global markets reopen and screen-fatigued consumers start going outdoors again, DOOH will be more visible and impactful than ever. Now marketers have the right tools to run effective ‘video outside’ campaigns as well.

This article was written by Mehul Mandalia, Co-Founder and Head of Demand Platform at Moving Walls.

Singapore – As cities went into lockdown and public gatherings grounded to a halt, mobile device usage has been the daily centerpiece of people’s lifestyle last year, evident with the latest statistics from independent marketing cloud company InMobi that video streaming in the Southeast Asian region has clocked in around 657 billion minutes of views during the second quarter last year.

In its latest report on programmatic video advertising, InMobi reveals that 93.5 million of those views originate from Indonesia, signifying a 57% increase in video streaming in the country, and a 65% growth in mobile video ad spend.

The report also notes that the industries of retail andfast moving consumer goods (FMCG), shopping, e-commerce, gaming, banking and other financial services dominate the mobile video advertising scene in SEA, thanks to fueled growth by advertisers in this sector. Said industries are also benefiting high video ad engagement.

On a general note, the report also found that that 36% of all in-app programmatic spends is accounted for by video, and that 179% of higher click-through rate (CTR) are driven by video compared to other formats.

In terms of video advertising format, the report states that there has been a 47% higher CTR driven by landscape video compared to other formats. Yet this still doesn’t fare well to the vertical format, which has seen an impressive growth of 196% year on year, which is 2x higher CTR driven on vertical video compared to other formats. Vertical videos are the preferred format for marketers from the shopping, social, and gaming industry.

According to Rishi Bedi, vice president of Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea at InMobi, mobile devices are now able to deliver a near-seamless video experience to users, which is especially significant in Southeast Asia due to the size of the market in the region.

“Brands are realizing the inherent potential of video marketing in creating real connections with their customers. From screen orientation and precision targeting to the best time of day and placement, adopting the right programmatic video ad strategy will be crucial for companies to stand out in the eyes of the mobile-first consumer,” Bedi stated.

Singapore – Over-the-top (OTT) video streaming reaches 392 million people across Asia Pacific, according to a new report from global video advertising platform SpotX.

According to the report, over two thirds (69%) of video viewers in the region watch streaming video at least once a week, confirming that both the audience size and regularity of OTT viewing have matured and entered the mainstream. The top three markets for OTT viewing were Singapore (91%), Australia (81%), and Indonesia (76%). 

In terms of daily streaming, OTT viewers watch more than two hours of content a day, often out-stripping traditional TV and video-sharing platforms. The leading markets for OTT consumption are the Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia. 

The majority of OTT streaming is done through mobile devices, evident across developing countries. However, smart TV viewership is growing quickly, especially in Australia, Singapore, and Vietnam, where at least one in five video viewers streams through a smart TV.

Meanwhile, most video viewers (67%) prefer to watch free, ad-supported content versus only 23% who prefer to pay for an ad-free service. There is also a clear acceptance of ads in exchange for viewing free content, with 86% of viewers saying they don’t mind watching ads – provided the ad loads are kept light. Also, streamers say that OTT ads are more effective than TV ads at attracting their attention across Southeast Asian countries.

“We are only scratching the surface of the possibilities in OTT. Not only have users grown due to the stay-at-home regulations, but it is a habit that Indonesians will continue to pursue post-pandemic,” said Crisela Magpayo Cervantes, principal partner at Mindshare Indonesia

“Local original series and movies, Korean drama, and sports are driving OTT growth as are different acquisition strategies, through telco partnerships, and new funding models,” she added. 

The research was conducted across the markets of Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Australia through the help of Singapore-based research firm Milieu Insights, which conducted a quantitative survey of 7,000 people across the aforementioned markets.

California, USA – Global media platform Digital Turbine has announced that it has recently entered a signing of definitive agreement in acquiring mobile game advertising platform AdColony, through its mother company Otello Inc.

The acquisition value was disclosed to a total of US$400M, and will add value to Digital Turbine through AdColony’s brand and user acquisition, as well as its publishing businesses to expand its collective experience, reach and suite of capabilities to benefit mobile advertisers and publishers around the globe.

“We look forward to welcoming the AdColony team to the Digital Turbine family and believe that this strategic transaction accelerates our growth and is a positive for our partners, advertisers, employees and shareholders. AdColony saw the secular tailwinds toward mobile, video and high-speed networks like 5G before most and has been able to capitalize on its vision,” said Bill Stone, CEO of Digital Turbine.

Meanwhile, Jude O’Connor, AdColony’s chief revenue officer commented, “Digital Turbine offers many complementary and additive solutions to AdColony’s performance business, while we bring an industry-leading SDK footprint and a mature and thriving brand and agency team to the partnership. When you combine the reach and capabilities of both companies, you have a powerful platform that will drive growth and outcomes for any buyer that participates in the mobile app economy.”

AdColony has a large presence in the Asia Pacific, also recently partnered with blended in-game advertising platform Anzu.io to expand presence in the region in November last year. AdColony has also recently won an exclusive sponsorship deal with mobile game Mobile Legends.

“We believe that Digital Turbine, with its massive user base, extensive global relationships and distribution, will be uniquely positioned to benefit via the seamless integration of AdColony’s mobile video advertising expertise and global brand advertiser awareness. The combination will yield a highly-differentiated and more vertically-integrated solution for the mobile advertising industry. We look forward to joining Digital Turbine to help navigate this innovation,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO of Otello and AdColony.

Singapore – Video advertising solutions Aniview has partnered with global cybersecurity company White Ops to protect its client’s ad inventory through White Ops’ ad verification feature.

Through the partnership, Aniview will integrate the White Ops Advertising Integrity solution to help optimize protection and ensure its customers’ safety from malicious and sophisticated cybersecurity risks. As a result, publishers and advertising networks have another avenue by which they can access White Ops protection for their inventory. 

Furthermore, Aniview and its customers can leverage White Ops’ privacy-sensitive detection technology to identify threats and automated fraud attempts, ensuring their advertising inventory can be trusted and fraud-free. This then allows Aniview to provide its clients an effective solution to identify and prevent malicious video-bot traffic. The partnership represents the next step in Aniview’s mission to provide verified traffic and protection against video ad fraud. 

“The most common types of video fraud occur when malicious fraudsters misrepresent their display units as video inventory in programmatic exchanges. These sophisticated bots are deployed through malware embedded in software, essentially performing device-hijacking on a mass, organized scale. With the significant dangers ad fraud poses to the video supply chain, safety has become an increasingly critical issue and, as such, dangers are being met with innovative solutions,” White Ops said in a press statement.

White Ops operates two key features for video advertisers to use: White Ops Advertising Integrity, where platforms can tap into comprehensive pre-bid prevention and post-bid detection capabilities to verify the validity of advertising efforts across all channels, and the White Ops Fraud Mitigation Platform, which spots and stop sophisticated bots and fraud by using technical evidence, continuous adaptation, machine learning, and threat intelligence. 

“We’re excited to join together with Aniview in the optimization of fraud-free video advertising solutions. This partnership strengthens our presence in digital video while providing easier access to our platform for publishers and networks. The more partners that we have in this fight, the bigger our knowledge base grows and the better we can optimize our tactics against potential new threats from bad actors,” said Ellie Windle, vice president, global strategic partnerships and alliances at White Ops.

Meanwhile, Roy Cohen, CTO of Aniview commented that the recent partnership with White Ops responds to the greater need for protection against ad fraud as online video content is booming.

“Working with White Ops and our internal fraud detection tools, we will develop greater application integrity by identifying and blocking bot traffic with the highest degree of accuracy and speed to stay ahead of adversaries,” Cohen added.