What's NEXT Archives - MARKETECH APAC

Many recent technology developments such as generative AI and enhanced customer engagement strategies. are greatly improving the marketing and advertising environment and providing several advantages in a variety of fields. For instance, businesses are analysing customer data in a new way thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which allows for accurate targeting and personalised content distribution.

With the use of these technologies, marketers can better target their ads to specific audiences, anticipate their behaviour, and increase engagement and conversion rates. Large data sets must be swiftly processed and interpreted in order for marketing tactics to be both more successful and flexible enough to respond to shifting consumer patterns.

Moreover, as these technologies develop further, they give marketers strong tools to design dynamic, captivating, and tailored campaigns that increase consumer loyalty to brands and broaden their consumer base. In the future, incorporating these state-of-the-art technologies is expected to further enhance the efficacy and originality of marketing campaigns, establishing new benchmarks for success in the sector.

To further explore more industry insights on the future of marketing and advertising this 2024 and beyond, MARKETECH APAC has announced new updates to its industry-leading What’s NEXT series, with more expanded plans targeted to reach more marketers in the Asia-Pacific region, giving industry leaders a platform to highlight their insights and advice on the latest trends in marketing and advertising.

What’s NEXT in Marketing: Indonesia 2024

Kicking off this year’s instalment is MARKETECH APAC’s debut conference in Indonesia with its What’s NEXT in Marketing: Indonesia 2024 which will be held on November 7 at Pullman Jakarta Indonesia. This inaugural flagship event will offer industry leaders with a platform to exchange experiences, knowledge, and foresights that will shape the future of marketing in Indonesia.

Our initial roster of speakers include:

Bharat Buxani, Senior Vice President, Marketing at 99 Group Indonesia
Kelvin Hong, Director of Brand Marketing at A&W Restaurants Inc
Gita Rostika, Group Head of Marketing at bank bjb
Mediko Azwar, Chief Marketing Officer at Blue Bird Group
Ilham Pratama, Head of Marketing at Chery Motor
Irfansyah Kurnia Putra, Country Head of Marketing at IKEA
Rajesh Grover, Group VP – Digital and Omnichannel at Kanmo Group
Yosua Tanuwiria, VP of Marketing at Pluang
Ryan Dawa, Head of Marketing at Reku
Asnawi Jufrie, VP & GM of Southeast Asia at SleekFlow

What’s NEXT in Marketing: Malaysia 2024

Later this year, What’s NEXT in Marketing: Malaysia 2024 will also kick-off on December 3-4 at Sheraton Petaling Jaya. This conference is the second time a What’s NEXT conference has been held in Malaysia following the successful launch of the 2023 conference back in December 5, 2023.

Our initial roster of speakers for this 2024 conference includes:

Andrea Chuang, Campaign Marketing Head at AirAsia MOVE
Huey Ying Leong, Head of Marketing at Burger King
Xing Jun Khoo, Head of Digital, Media & Insights at Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad
Evelyn Lee, Head of Marketing at Secret Recipe Cakes & Cafe
Asnawi Jufrie, VP and GM of Southeast Asia at SleekFlow
Mun Yee Lau, Head of Branded Content and Social at TIME dotCom
Jason Yong, CEO and Founder of Unicom Marketing
Alyaa Ramlan, Head of Social at Unifi

What’s NEXT in Marketing: Singapore 2025

Kicking off in 2025 as well is our What’s NEXT in Marketing: Singapore 2025 which will be held from February 19-20. This is the second What’s NEXT conference in Singapore following the 2024 edition on March 7 and saw an attendance of 150 delegates.

What’s NEXT in Marketing: Philippines 2025

For 2025, MARKETECH APAC kicks off its first What’s NEXT conference of that year with What’s NEXT in Marketing: Philippines 2025 which will be held on March 26 to 27, 2025 at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria. This is the third time What’s NEXT will cater to the Philippine market following huge success on its first instalment of the conference in 2023 with more than 200 in-person attendees, while the second one earlier this year had 219 in-person attendees.

What’s NEXT in Marketing: Hong Kong 2025

For the first time ever, MARKETECH APAC will also be bringing the What’s NEXT conference in Hong Kong with its What’s NEXT in Marketing: Hong Kong 2025 happening in April 24, 2025. More details will be announced.

Joven Barceñas, founder and CEO of MARKETECH APAC, said, “Since its launch, What’s NEXT has always set its vision to ignite powerful conversations that will shape the future of marketing in Asia-Pacific. From emerging technologies to shifting consumer behaviours, What’s NEXT is where industry leaders, visionaries, and trendsetters will come together to explore new frontiers, redefine strategies, and inspire groundbreaking ideas. These conferences are more than just events—they are catalysts for change, empowering us to stay ahead of the curve, anticipate trends, and lead the charge in transforming the way we connect with consumers. We are thrilled that this year’s series, we are expanding the conversations in Indonesia and Hong Kong.”

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Joven Barceñas at [email protected].

For speaking opportunities for these conferences, contact Katherine Sy at [email protected]; and for registrations, reach out to Hans Policarpio at [email protected].

A while ago, an ex-client approached, seeking assistance with their organisation’s marketing data strategy. What began as a routine data audit turned into a thrilling journey through a labyrinth of data chaos. Each team had a tech solution for practically ‘everything,’ resulting in a heavily siloed data landscape. Despite having an abundance of data, they couldn’t leverage it. They were bloated!

The martech bloat

Gartner research tells us that martech investment takes up 25% of marketing budgets but just 33% of features and capabilities are actually utilised. Now, assessing utilisation objectively and realistically is a challenge but it paints a picture of brands being over-sold to by vendors, making buying decisions without really understanding the customers experience they want to deliver, and propagating siloes and operational inefficiency.

With predictions that CMOs will continue to increase their martech investments in 2024, this problem will likely only get worse.

What causes MarTech bloat at organisations?

Reasons aplenty, but it mostly boils down to 3 things:

Strategic goals and martech misalignment a.k.a Did not need this tool:

Poor martech investment decisions are often driven by “love this cool feature” rather than strategic objectives. The investment decision rarely involves taking a step back and assessing if the feature or capability aligns with their customer experience goals, or with the stated business and marketing objectives. Reality catches up in a few quarters when it’s time to demonstrate ROI from the investment.
Marketers could perceive martech as a silver bullet that can solve marketing and growth problems. A prevalent example is solving for poor lead conversion rates by onboarding a leads management platform, while the real solution could be fixing the quality of leads generated.

Lack of a framework to evaluate, compare and select the right martech:

The proliferation of martech tools and solutions brings with it the problem of too many choices for marketers. Finding the needle in the haystack is already quite challenging but finding the ‘right’ needle is exponentially more complicated. Without a solid evaluation and governance framework, it can go awry.
Lack of a framework lets subjectivity creep in. Choosing a martech platform because the person selling it was nicer and amicable sounds trivial, but it happens more often than most people think. There’s a reason why sales and account managers form a majority of the workforce at martech companies.

Internal integration and adoption challenges:

Lack of an organisation-wide tech governance strategy looping in cross-functional stakeholders – Without cross-functional buy-in or visibility, every team tries to solve their problems their own way leading to redundancy.
Incompatibility with internal systems and data architecture because the IT team was not in the loop or was brought in too late.
Lack of enthusiasm from other functions because they had very little say in the choice of platform.
Lack of expertise to drive adoption and usage or attrition.

How could CMOs leverage their martech for better customer & brand outcomes in 2024?

Simon Spyer, CEO – Data Driven Marketing at Iris says, “We’re now in the Post martech era – brands have made choices on their tech stack and, with the sector increasingly commoditised, now is the time to double down on building audience participation through compelling customer experiences enabled by martech. Setting this as the north star will help brands shorten the path to value on their tech investments and most importantly deliver brand-led experiences that get their customers doing their marketing.”

Here are 5 things CMOs and marketers should do to make the right martech choices:

Envision a 3-year marketing roadmap, set high-level goals to be attained by the end of each year, and identify capabilities needed to achieve those goals. Evaluate every martech choice in the context of these identified capabilities. The three-year view forces long-term thinking, helps commit resources, while allowing enough time to measure ROI at scale. Importantly, percolate the process down to your team at different levels.

Develop a unified Customer Experience and Marketing data strategy encompassing the views and needs of stakeholders across the organisation. Map out the customer journey, identify internal (Ex: Customer support, Account management) and customer-facing touchpoints where martech is expected to play a role. Having this worked out drastically reduces the time for new platform adoption and utilisation.

Devise a framework to measure success and ROI – Create your own heuristic. Share them with the martech vendor to set expectations and understand what it takes to achieve the outcome. Set up a governance process to review progress monthly during the early stages and every quarter once things stabilise. Some key questions you might want to ask yourself:

What’s the capability or key decision enabled by this martech solution?
Does it work well with current tools and systems?
Do any of the current tools offer the same capability?
What are the expected outcomes if this were to be successful?
What KPIs are expected to improve? By how much? In what time frame?
Projected ROI in terms of money, productivity, and opportunity cost?

Engage with key cross-functional stakeholders at every step. Involve them early. These stakeholders could be the ones contributing to the platform (Ex, data team), the ones supporting the implementation and integration of the platform (Ex, IT team), or the team that’s ultimately going to be using the platform and be responsible for outcomes (Ex: Creative team or Customer Support). While a user-friendly interface might be necessary for one stakeholder, performance and latency might be critical factors for the other. The earlier these priorities are identified, the better.

And finally, resist the urge to go after the latest in town. Encourage team members to think of What-if scenarios or the next best alternative.

2024 is going to be a year of reckoning for martech. To leverage its full potential and demonstrate value, CMOs and marketing leaders must step back, create a martech framework that works for them and be the person to champion it at their organisation.

This article is written by Sathya Anand, Digital Strategy Director at Iris Singapore.

The insight is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series under What’s NEXT 2023-2024. What’s NEXT 2023-2024 is a multi-platform industry initiative which features marketing and industry leaders in APAC sharing their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year.

While there’s no shortage of uncertainty as we countdown to 2024, the crystal ball seems to have a few things in focus for the next trip around the sun. From the long-anticipated shift from third-party cookies to first-party data to the harnessing of AI and the evolution of e-commerce, here are five key tech trends set to shape how brands connect with customers.

The race for first-party data

2024 is set to be the year of first-party data with Chrome deprecating third-party tracking cookies over 2024, following the lead of other browsers having already implemented similar changes. Brands will be focused on strategies to build their own valuable first-party data, built up from purchasing signals tracked via loyalty programs, registered users, CRM and so on.

Brands will be turning to publishers to harness their vast contextual and enriched datasets from either registered users or gleaned from the type of content being consumed in real-time. Combinations of both publisher and advertiser data via data cleanrooms have been a topic of interest and will be interesting to see how this is picked up over the year.

The shift promises contextual interest targeting, enabling a more precisely tailored match for brands between creative and audiences. The focus on sharper targeting translates into reaching the right audience with specific intent, ultimately, leading to increased conversion rates and effectiveness.

Focus on innovative advertising

The ongoing adoption of more premium and effective ad solutions is a growing trend, which is only set to continue from an effectiveness and a user experience perspective. Clients are reporting that campaign budgets can be extended up to seven times more just by using more effective formats.

Brands are demanding more premium sponsorship opportunities and publishers are accommodating via a range of high-impact and bespoke formats. This means more curated and higher quality ad experiences on-site, resulting in a longer-lasting impact from awareness to engagement through to conversion. We’re seeing a further development toward solutions overlaying first-party data or contextual insights with premium ad formats. This delivers more personalised and relevant experiences, which are particularly effective for eCommerce.

And as smartphone users worldwide reach an estimated 4.6 billion, with expectations of surpassing 5.1 billion by 2028, mobile internet traffic already claims nearly 60 per cent of total web traffic. In response to this unprecedented growth, there’s the need for a more expansive, premium mobile ad format that would not only extend the in-ad experience via a seamless, scrolling user experience; it would also drive brand awareness and communicate additional product information in an unobtrusive, impactful way.

Innovative new ad formats like BrandStory outshines competitors with triple the ad space and 2.8 times greater time in view than single scroll ad formats. This addresses the surging demand from brands worldwide for more real estate to drive real results by seamlessly intertwining awareness, exploration and action within one comprehensive solution.

e-commerce to continue upward trajectory

We’re witnessing the takeoff of e-commerce across the board, supercharged from the shift during lockdown as businesses of all sizes realised the value of having a direct relationship with their consumers. On top of the sale, e-commerce is allowing advertisers to own the data relating to the customer and the sale, which is a huge factor in the boom.

e-commerce will see sustained growth as brands demonstrate a willingness to invest in channels that streamline the conversion process and build that direct line to their customers. We’re seeing a take-up of in-banner transactions, shoppable video, contextual targeting and dynamic e-commerce ads already playing a pivotal role in the transformation.

Harnessing AI

AI is quickly moving from a novelty to being embedded within a multitude of platforms to increase effectiveness and revolutionising the landscape, both on the overall marketing function and the specific ways we engage with technology. This includes from a generative perspective of creating content and messaging to getting a better handle on insights and planning, particularly with the abundance of first-party data. The wealth of information from this data will serve as a fertile ground for extensive learning and the development of models tailored to audience insights.

Surge in digital outdoor and connected TV channels

In the coming year, brace for a significant expansion in alternative advertising channels, particularly digital outdoor and connected TV. We anticipate substantial growth and innovative strategies as these channels evolve to become pivotal players in the advertising landscape. We have even been seeing clients connecting their digital out-of-home and digital display campaigns with live data, meaning interactions with the digital campaign can be relayed to the digital out-of-home screens – another space to watch.

The future of consumer-driven digital experiences

As we step into 2024, the world of advertising is gearing up for some exciting opportunities for publishers, advertisers and consumers alike. The strong focus on first-party data, the use of AI, the evolution of online shopping, the rise of different advertising channels and the march toward new ad formats are all painting a picture of innovation, integration and adaptability. It’s a call for advertisers and publishers to work together, align their strategies with what consumers are looking for and create a landscape where creativity, data insights and modern technology come together for a more engaging advertising experience.

This article is written by Harley Ramien, Director for Asia Pacific at Bonzai

At the intersection of technological innovation and evolving consumer behaviours, 2024 is set to be a dynamic year marked by transformative trends that will shape the retail media and advertising landscape. From free ad streaming TV’s (FAST) exponential growth to the impact of AI in advertising, Let’s take a look at some strategic shifts poised to define the year ahead in an interview with experts from Nexxen.

“FAST” growth

For Tanja Williams, director of client success at Nexxen, as media consumptions continue to evolve we expect to see the momentum of connected TV (CTV) viewership continue.

“Advertisers will spend more time and resources understanding what their audiences are watching in this fragmented space. We will see increased investment in CTV advertising, especially in the free (and ad-funded) services as the economic situation forces people to evaluate their expenditures and the Hollywood strikes affect new programming being produced,” she says.

She added, “Free Ad streaming TV (FAST) services will continue to grow exponentially as users see the benefits in niche channels, as well as their savings. We expect that these services will also evolve in 2024, engaging users and keeping them coming back. Advertisers will see the benefits by leveraging programmatic and data-driven targeting and converged insights.”

AI to significantly impact the scope of advertising in 2024

Meanwhile, Jay Kim, director of analytics and platform solutions for APAC at Nexxen said that AI will have significant impacts on the scope of advertising in 2024. “But we should specifically focus on AI Modelling, which we’ll be utilising quite heavily next year across our VIDAA ACR data activation and measurement,” he explains. He identifies three key AI trends impacting retail media:

Personalisation at Scale: AI algorithms excel at processing large data sets to identify patterns and preferences among consumers. By 2024, these algorithms will have become more sophisticated, allowing for even more granular and personalised advertising experiences without manual segmentation.

Predictive Analytics: AI’s predictive capabilities are expected to improve, allowing businesses to anticipate consumer needs and trends more accurately. Advertisers could leverage these insights to target users with the right message at the right time, potentially even before the consumer has fully recognised their own needs.

Predictive analysis and AI data modelling are advanced techniques that leverage statistical algorithms and machine learning to identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data. They are critical in various sectors, including digital advertising, where they can forecast trends, user behaviour and the impact of different advertising strategies.

“Furthermore, attention measurement in digital advertising is a critical aspect of understanding the effectiveness of ads,” he says. “By 2024, the methods and technologies to measure attention are likely to have advanced significantly, incorporating more sophisticated data analytics, biometric measures and AI-driven insights.”

Location-based targeting for retail media

According to Andrew Dixon, vice president of sales for APAC at Nexxen, several key trends are shaping the future of location targeting for retail media.

“As location-targeting technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovative and effective ways to reach consumers with relevant advertising. Nexxen Locate helps brands to drive sales by using geo and hyper-local targeting,” he explains.

Below is an example of how Nexxen’s location targeting is being used in retail media:

Omnichannel targeting: Location targeting is becoming increasingly integrated with other marketing channels, such as social media and email marketing. This allows brands to create seamless and personalised experiences for their customers across all channels.

Increased use of first-party data: Retailers are collecting more and more data about their customers, including their purchase history, location data, and browsing behaviour. This data can be used to target ads with greater precision and relevance.

Use of AI: AI is being used to develop more sophisticated location-targeting algorithms that can identify patterns and trends in data. This can help brands target their ads more effectively and reach a wider audience.

Geofencing combined with contextual targeting: This powerhouse duo not only refines the precision of advertising but also creates a dynamic interplay between location and consumer context. By seamlessly merging real-time adaptability, hyper-local engagement and insightful foot traffic analytics, a geofencing strategy ensures that each interaction is not just targeted but tailored to the nuanced preferences and behaviours of its audience. It’s more than advertising; it’s about creating personalised, memorable experiences that resonate with customers wherever they are.

Interoperable identity solution

Janice Chan, director and vice president of platform and client services for APAC at Nexxen reveals ehile the deprecation of third-party cookies is a tired topic, it will remain a significant talking point in the coming year.

“Google has outlined its plans to migrate 1 per cent of Chrome users to the Privacy Sandbox, disabling the third-party cookies for this segment starting early 2024. The full deprecation is scheduled to conclude in the latter half of 2024, marking a pivotal moment for the industry,” she explains.

“However, thanks to Google extending the cookie deadline multiple times since early 2022, the majority of market players have developed more integrated identity solutions over the past few years, reducing their reliance on third-party cookies.”

In 2024, Chan anticipates there will also be stronger asks in the market for higher interoperability between different identity solutions, on both the demand and supply sides, to enable more seamless audience planning, activation and measurement across different mediums.

“However, there is still a long way to go for a truly interoperable identity ecosystem, especially with the rise of CTV and walled gardens. As identity solutions gain more traction, advertisers will start demanding a more interoperable identity solution to understand, share, activate and measure audiences in a unified approach, helping to unlock the full benefits of cross-channel advertising,” she adds.

“Apart from enriching and advancing the use of first-party activation via identity partners, contextual targeting will stay as one of the most popular tactics for brands to engage with audiences on the right content at the right time. Contextual targeting also has a lower activation barrier since it doesn’t rely on cookies and can deliver strong performance with cost efficiency.”

Growing reliance on ACR

For Josif Zanich, managing director for JAPAC at Nexxen, as 2024 approaches, Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) is poised to become a pivotal tool across the dynamic Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

“ The scarcity of ACR data at scale has made it challenging for brands to truly understand how users interact with their Smart TVs and associated apps. However, ACR technology steps in as a catalyst, providing a wealth of insights that were previously elusive,” he says.

“Furthermore, by leveraging its sophisticated content recognition capabilities, ACR not only bridges the data gap but also adds valuable colour and depth to planning, buying and analysis at scale. As we move forward, we anticipate a growing reliance on ACR in the APAC region, not as a replacement but as a complementary tool that enriches the planning and buying processes.”

The ad server evolution in CTV and BVOD environments

Lastly, Adam Hunt, vice president of partnerships and business development for JAPAC at Nexxen reveals as the gap between streaming and linear audiences closes, publishers are placing increased importance on ensuring their tech stacks are set up to perform with the inevitable demands of a streaming-first future.

“One of the main areas of focus is ad serving, as the “broadcast quality” experience that BVOD publishers strive for becomes increasingly important to manage effectively with more eyeballs. The ability to monetise these digital audiences through advertising remains a key component for success for all broadcasters, which is expected to grow in importance as streaming audience share continues to shift,” he says.

“Many CTV publishers are choosing to test and onboard secondary ad servers that have been purpose-built with the demands of CTV ad serving at the core of their functionality, best achieving the linear viewing experience for their audiences and maximising programmatic revenue through unified auctions.”

“Unified auctions that allow multiple demand sources to compete simultaneously for the same ad slot, ensure back-to-backs and competitor clashes are avoided, as well as lower page latency, higher inventory yield and increased fill rates. Combined with growing advertiser sentiment towards programmatic and an increase in CTV ad inventory, the role of programmatic is expected to gain a crucial role in monetising CTV and BVOD environments.”

Singapore – The dynamic landscape of marketing in Southeast Asia is continually evolving, driven by rapidly changing consumer behaviours, technological advancements, and a diverse, vibrant market. As we venture into the future, the region is poised for a marketing revolution that will reshape the way businesses connect with their audiences.

This transformation is fueled by several key factors, including the proliferation of digital channels, the rise of e-commerce, and the increasing demand for personalised, culturally relevant content. Nonetheless, given the ongoing complexities associated with these developments, how can brands and marketers adopt strategies to successfully navigate current and forthcoming technologies and integrate them into their marketing initiatives?

In order to provide brands and marketers with the most up-to-date knowledge, best practices, and resources to ready themselves for the forthcoming industry trends and forecasts, MARKETECH APAC officially completes the trilogy of its What’s NEXT 2023-24 Conference Series by bringing it to Singapore for the first time, as well as returning to the Philippines as well.

Both of these conferences add up to the upcoming What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Malaysia conference this December 5 at Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur.

The upcoming Malaysian conference features a diverse lineup of marketing leaders across Malaysia, representing local and international brands including AEON, Atome, Astro, Axiata, CelcomDigi, IHH Healthcare, InterContinental, Gentari, MR. D.I.Y., PropertyGuru, Secret Recipe Cakes & Cafe, Sunway Malls, Touch ‘n Go Group, and Valiram. The conference has been sponsored by Adobe, CleverTap, Adzymic, MassiveMusic, SleekFlow, and Teads.

Interested parties are encouraged to request the agenda here. This conference is HRDF claimable.

Moreover, MARKETECH APAC’s debut of its What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Singapore conference will be held on March 7, 2024, and marks the first time it will be hosting a conference in the country. Meanwhile, the return of the What’s NEXT series conference in the Philippines through What’s NEXT 2024: Marketing in the Philippines will happen from March 19 to 20.

This follows the successful hosting of the What’s Next 2023: Marketing in Asia Pacific 2-day hybrid conference in the Philippines from February 28 to March 1 at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria. The conference was attended by more than 200 in-person attendees and more than 100 virtual attendees including a diverse pool of Philippine and international brands and agencies.

To learn how to be a part of this conference, click HERE for details on the Singapore conference, and HERE for details on the Philippine conference.

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Joven Barceñas at [email protected].

Meanwhile, please contact Katherine Sy at [email protected] for speaking opportunities; and Jizelle Barceñas at [email protected] for registrations.

The original vision was simple: Programmatic technology was introduced to solve challenges of scale and efficiency across the open internet. DSPs arose to facilitate and optimize all aspects of buying, and SSPs were introduced to facilitate and optimize all aspects of selling. We are still operating within this overly simplistic, category-based view of the digital advertising supply chain, and it’s time to put the days of ‘one-size-fits-all’ behind us.

While the current construct has been great for some companies, particularly those operating within a walled garden context that can use this dichotomy structure to validate their control of the entire tech stack, others in the ecosystem should think about whether they have actually benefited from this model. Rethinking the supply chain will create new opportunities for differentiation and value creation, all while better aligning with the needs of publishers and advertisers and creating a more sustainable ecosystem.

Programmatic is now being applied to a growing number of use cases. Buyers and sellers of digital media should no longer be limited to the previously identified set of constraints. They need the ad tech ecosystem to evolve to put their needs where they always should have been—at the center of tech solutions.

It’s time to cast aside the buckets—and the corresponding terminology—we’ve been using for programmatic technology. Rather than thinking about the alphabet soup of company types, such as DSPs, DMPs, CDPs and SSPs, we should instead start thinking in terms of supply chain components, including:

Media planning
Dynamic bidding
Audience ingestion
Audience targeting
Audience matching
Bidder management
Outcomes delivery
Inventory curation

By shifting to a capabilities versus a business model mindset, we see how the programmatic ecosystem can accommodate a wider array of use cases—a pivot that is long overdue in today’s dynamic digital ecosystem.

Expanding Use Cases, Expanding Capabilities

As programmatic advertising embraces its next evolution—one in which we pivot from delivering on efficiency alone to delivering true customization and added value—the way in which we think about the ad tech stack is going to shift, both in terms of the use cases accommodated by programmatic, as well as how traditional programmatic media buys are executed. Consider:

Open Market Media Buy

In an open market programmatic buy, advertisers aim to reach their target audience for a set CPM. While this typically includes traditional DSP and SSP capabilities, to bid and scale campaigns effectively we are seeing buyers evolve their supply chains amid increased signal loss. As the ecosystem has shifted away from cookies and other identifiers, the buy side has been feeling the impact in terms of audience matching capabilities. As a result, some buyers shifted audience onboarding and targeting to the sell side, where they’re finding better results. Which begs the question: Do our traditional notions of the supply and demand sides of the equation still hold up?

Maximum Monetization

Publishers should also think about their supply chains and how they can best leverage various technical components to achieve their objectives. Depending on a publisher’s demand strategy, their ideal ad stack setup may differ. One CTV publisher might lean on programmatic technology to automate a successful direct IO business, while another might add a wrapper to their supply chain to unify bidding across multiple SSPs and exchanges. All publishers are not created equal, and their supply chains should not be either.

Commerce and Retail Media

Finally, let’s not neglect the immense impact that the growth of commerce and retail media platforms is having on the programmatic industry. These days, retailers might find themselves in the role of an advertiser, a data owner and a media owner, and programmatic ad tech should be equipped to switch hats right alongside the retailer as needed. In other words, success in commerce and retail media requires a consolidated tech offering featuring a complex set of capabilities that have historically existed across multiple company types. As the programmatic ecosystem evolves to address this increasingly important use case, we will likely find that the traditional constructs are suboptimal.

The simple fact is that publishers and advertisers can each have countless different use cases when it comes to their business needs and advertising objectives. They shouldn’t have to shoehorn these needs into a static, one-size-fits-all tech solution. This is 2023. Programmatic has come a long way and should be expected to adapt to the needs of the customers it serves, not the other way around.

Learn more about the new opportunities in the digital supply chain of the future in our new report.

This article is written by Sudipto Das, Vice President, Advertiser Solutions, APAC at PubMatic.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – In the evolving landscape of marketing, innovation and connectivity come together in order to shape the future of consumer engagement. As such, data-driven insights, artificial intelligence, immersive experiences, and purpose-driven strategies are taking center stage, guiding brands towards more personalized, authentic, and impactful connections with their clients.

However, since these advancements continue to be quite challenging for many in the field, what strategies can brands and marketers employ to effectively traverse present and upcoming technologies and incorporate them into their marketing campaigns?

To equip brands and marketers with the latest insights, strategies, and tools to prepare for the upcoming trends and predictions in the industry, MARKETECH APAC’s What’s NEXT Series returns with a hybrid conference this December 5 at Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur. Titled “What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Malaysia.” This conference brings together some of the brightest minds and thought leaders in the Malaysian marketing industry to share their experiences, knowledge, and insights on what the future holds for marketing.

The hybrid conference will be hosting keynote presentations, as well as multiple panel discussions and fireside chats by Malaysian industry leaders covering industry topics such as emerging technologies like AI, customer experience, influencer marketing, digital advertising, amongst others.

Furthermore, the conference features a diverse lineup of marketing leaders across Malaysia who will be sharing their insights on how the industry should move forward in terms of building effective marketing strategies and future-proofing them. They include:

Ngai Yuen Low, Group Chief Merchandise And Marketing Officer of AEON
Norsiah Juriani Johari, Director of Group Marketing at Astro
Daphne Lourdes, General Manager, Malaysia at Atome
Fernie Jasmine Abdul Ghani, Head, Group Strategic Communications & Marketing at Axiata
May Ling Chan, Head of Brand and Marketing Services of CelcomDigi
Dheeraj Raina, Chief Marketing and Strategic Communications Officer at Gentari
Dipika Singh, Chief Commercial Officer at IHH Healthcare Malaysia
Jessica Jenna Tan, Director of Marketing Communications at InterContinental
Tynn Tan, Head of Growth (Content) at PropertyGuru Group
Evelyn Lee, Head of Marketing at Secret Recipe Cakes & Cafe
Adrian Burton, Senior Vice President Marketing of Valiram

Joven Barceñas, founder and CEO at MARKETECH APAC, said, “We are thrilled to introduce the What’s NEXT Conference to Malaysia, offering a unique platform to showcase the innovation in Malaysian marketing and ignite visionary discussions within the dynamic intersection of marketing and technology. This presents an exciting opportunity for Malaysian marketing leaders to spearhead conversations on the future of marketing in the region, driving the dialogue about what lies ahead.”

Earlier this year, MARKETECH APAC also hosted What’s Next 2023: Marketing in Asia Pacific, which was held as a 2-day hybrid conference in the Philippines at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria from February 28 to March 1. The conference was attended by more than 200 in-person attendees and more than 100 virtual attendees including a diverse pool of Philippine and international brands and agencies.

What’s NEXT Conferences will also be held in Singapore and in the Philippines in March 2024.

What’s Next 2023: Marketing in Malaysia is part of the conference roadshows under MARKETECH APAC’s What’s NEXT Series. To learn how to be a part of this conference, click HERE for further details.

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Joven Barceñas at [email protected].

Meanwhile, please contact Katherine Sy at [email protected] for speaking opportunities; and Jizelle Barceñas at [email protected] for registrations.

Manila, Philippines – Every time a year nears its end, marketing and advertising leaders are always on the lookout for what they must anticipate next. And whilst challenges may be ahead – especially coming from a post-pandemic era – come with them are also fresh opportunities raring to be activated. Nonetheless, for both to be conquered, we would need a deeper understanding of strategies based on the forecasted trends and behaviours in the industry this coming 2023.

As the world begins to open from the folds of the pandemic, marketers need to take in the learnings of the past two years and use it to push forward. But in an industry increasingly shifting due to the fluidity of consumer behaviour, marketers need strategic and intelligent foresight to ensure that the right direction is being coursed through.

For the first time ever, marketing-centric digital media for APAC, MARKETECH APAC, launches What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Asia Pacific – its first foray into a hybrid conference. The 2-day conference, which will be held from February 28, 2023 to March 1, 2023, aims at gathering some of the biggest marketing leaders in Asia-Pacific to discuss the various opportunities across a wide range of marketing sub-industries.

What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Asia Pacific is part of MARKETECH APAC’s What’s NEXT 2023, a four-month-long festival that discusses how marketers can prepare for the upcoming year of marketing opportunities and challenges through the perspective of various marketing leaders and through various mediums.

Some of the topics included in the conference are neuromarketing, composable commerce, customer engagement, metaverse marketing, cookie-less advertising, branding strategy, content marketing, and influencer marketing, among others. The first day (February 28) will be held both at Crowne Plaza Galleria in Manila, Philippines and virtually at the same time, while the second day (March 1) will be held virtually only.

The lineup for the marketing leaders that will be speaking at the conference includes:

Gino Riola, chief marketing officer at Allianz PNB Life
Mary Eunice Lodripas, associate director for marketing at Ascott International Management Philippines
Diana Boo; chief marketing officer at Boost
Bea Atienza; impactful brand experience lead at Colgate-Palmolive
Denice Sy, chief sales and marketing officer at Ever Bilena Cosmetics
Sheila Paul, chief marketing officer at Home Credit Philippines
Mark Opao, communications planning partner for APAC and META at Kaspersky
Waikuan Wong, global head of marketing at Malaysia Airlines
Weldon Fung, social solutions lead for Southeast Asia at Meltwater
Anna Henwood, chief executive officer at Stickybeak

What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Asia Pacific is sponsored by Carousell, Hubilo, Meltwater, and Stickybeak.

Check out the full agenda of the What’s NEXT 2023: Marketing in Asia Pacific conference here.

Interested industry leaders may contact Katherine Sy at [email protected] for speaking opportunities and Joven Barceñas at [email protected] for sponsorship opportunities. For general inquiries, contact us at [email protected].

This month, we saw how the community is eager to have a better year in marketing, with a slew of our What’s NEXT contributor pieces coming out on the list.

We launched What’s NEXT last December 2021 as a collection of thought leadership by marketers in the region in order to better equip the marketing industry with future-proof strategies for 2022.

This month, three of our top stories are all marketing leaders who shared their insights on various domains in marketing such as conversions, social advertising, and the metaverse.

Meanwhile, in the part of Southeast Asia, a tech-forward coffee brand emerges as one of the top for launching its new in-app delivery service in Singapore.

Top 4: What’s NEXT: Top tips for CRO this 2022

Coming out on the list is Charlotte Ward’s insight for What’s NEXT, the director of Agnes media. In her piece, she talks about the various ways brands can have better conversions this 2022.

In an interview with MARKETECH APAC, Ward shared that the very first step in generating more conversions is analytics.

“The very first step which is extremely important is for the brand to review the analytics, and really understand their customer journey,” said Ward.

“What people are engaging with, what are they converting on, what pages are driving the greatest results on-site – really getting a full understanding of the first interaction through the last interaction, and identifying where [are] these drop-offs, or if something’s working really well, “ she further shared.

Ward said that the next important step is researching and identifying different elements you can test on-site. According to her, these could entail shortening a landing page, changing colours, and testing different ways of communicating their product solution.

Top 3: What’s NEXT: Why brands must adopt a multi-platform strategy for social advertising

One of our top stories for the month is the What’s NEXT article of Stewart Hunter, director for customer success of Smartly.io for APAC, where he shared the number one strategy on social advertising today: a multi-platform strategy.

In an interview, we asked what he thinks are the various ways brands can communicate effectively today, and he shared, that as a status quo, there are many choices now since there are a lot of channels that consumers are going to today for their digital lives, “looking at their phones.”

“Brand should really follow their consumer, and also adopt a mindset of trying to communicate [with] their consumer in a different way, depending on where they are within their social media, social advertising daily journey,” shared Hunter.

He said that different platforms will require brands to communicate in a different way

“you have to be across platforms, you have to be multi-platform, and you have to think individually about how you’re delivering advertising, delivering effective content on those individual platforms,” said Hunter.

This April 6, Hunter will be one of the speakers in our upcoming webinar, ‘Social Advertising Trends in APAC 2022’. David Lim, HappyFresh’s VP of marketing, and Chan May Ling, KFC Malaysia’s CMO, will be joining the panel.

Top 2: What’s NEXT: How businesses and brands can thrive in metaverse

What’sNEXT contributors are on a roll in this month’s top stories. Coming out as our top 2 is the insight of Cheelip Ong, chief creative officer of Lion & Lion, who shared his top pieces of advice on how businesses and brands can jump into and eventually thrive in the metaverse.

In an interview with MARKETECH APAC, he explained further one of the insights he imparted in the piece which is urging brands to move from being corporation-first to community-first.

“Most brands and organizations are conglomerates, they have an official brand agenda and brand purpose to push. But for brands to actually navigate the space on the metaverse wisely, they got to understand that metaverse will be a result of communities coming together,” he said.

Ong further shared that people will gravitate towards their interest points and their passion points and as a result, people in the metaverse will be leading double or triple lives where who you are in reality may not be who you represent in the metaverse because we’re all gonna have our avatars.

“We need to allow brands to understand that you need to hand the power back to the community, to engage the community so that the community can serve your purpose and they can believe your brand purpose and believe your agenda,” said Ong.

Top 1: Flash Coffee launches new in-app delivery service in SG

Flash-Coffee-SG-new-in-app-delivery — Flash Coffee launches new in-app delivery service in SG

For our Top 1 story for the month, we have coffee chain Flash Coffee which partnered with pandago, foodpanda’s on-demand express delivery service, to launch a new in-app delivery service for its Singapore customers.

The brand, which describes itself as a tech-enabled coffee chain, shared how it leverages tech for both on the consumer front and on the back end.

In an interview with Sahil Arora, Flash Coffee’s managing director, he shared, “At the same time that we allow consumers to order coffee for pick-up in 10 minutes, that’s also [a] trickling and [rippling] effect into our back end operations. Our baristas have a little bit more time to prepare drinks when orders are coming in ahead of time.”

Arora said that as peakiness is one of businesses’ biggest challenges, data it receives from the pick-up functionality allows them to know when orders are coming in the most, and in turn, helps them to inform their strategies.

“The most important way that tech is enabling our operations is through the wealth of information that we’re collecting, that we’re able to use and analyse to make smarter business decisions. For customers ordering through our app, we can ask and answer questions like, what customers are ordering in different areas of Singapore, what times of day, [and] typically, what drinks they are ordering,” said Arora.

“Delivery has become a way of life, whether it’s food, groceries, [or] coffee; so I think to be a tech-forward chain, delivery had to be part of the proposition,” he adds.

Rankings‌ ‌are‌ ‌based‌ ‌on‌ ‌Google‌ ‌Analytics‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌period‌ ‌of‌ ‌16th‌ ‌January to 16th‌ ‌February.

Watch our exclusive interviews with the brands themselves on the latest episode of MARKETECH APAC Top Stories, now live on our YouTube channel.

Businesses that have been receptive to the various shifts in market demand and have effectively pivoted their corporate strategies are well-equipped to ride the economic upswing expected in 2022.

The ride-sharing industry in particular has had to contend with the massive setbacks that were precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the onset of the pandemic, a survey by market research platform Milieu Insight showed that 45 per cent of people in Singapore were spending less on ride-hailing services than usual, while a significant 36 per cent were increasingly concerned about the COVID-19 situation. Travel restrictions, compounded by lockdowns, circuit breakers, and stringent safety management measures, have and continue to disrupt regular consumption habits.

The ‘modern’ rider

Ride-hailing itself continues to be a viable service as consumers turn to mobility apps to book rides and avoid the crowds in public transportation.

The ability to move from one point to another, be it through private rides or small-group carpooling, proves to be a boon for those who prefer not to worry about braving crowds. A McKinsey report on shared mobility showed that during COVID-19, ridesharing is a preferred option to trains and buses, in which social distancing is challenging.

We believe that this is due in large part to the consistent emphasis on health and safety standards within the ride-hailing industry, even prior to the pandemic. Consumers have immense trust and confidence that they are more safe and secure when using ride-hailing services. With the onslaught of the pandemic, the industry has taken even greater measures to ensure the health and safety of its riders by committing to regular wipe downs and mandated mask-wearing.

These steps have further solidified the public perception that private rides offered by ride-hailing apps are safer than public transit. A Singapore Management University survey found that Singaporean commuters were more likely to opt for private-hire cars and/or taxis over public transportation. With the looming threat of the more easily transmissible Omicron variant, we expect the use of this service to grow in 2022 as consumers continue to prioritise their health and safety.

There is also a shift in mindset that we increasingly see in people today. Private rides are not a matter of luxury anymore, but rather about comfort, practicality and reliability. Discerning consumers are able to weigh the pros and cons of each viable option. While public and private transportation each has their merits, ride-hailing services offer the midpoint of being hassle-free and fairly priced.

Revving forward

With Singapore treating COVID-19 as endemic and the country’s gradual transition to a hybrid work arrangement, consumers could strongly benefit from the advantages of ride-hailing. As the daily commute becomes an antiquated concept for many of us, ride-hailing is now an attractive, stress-free alternative for the cost-conscious, given the irregularity of in-office work.

At present, ride-hailing providers have gone on to offer subscription plans that are a cost-efficient, practical option to those who need more of these services. Subscription plans not only come with discounts or cashback but also with bonuses and special offers that give consumers more bang for their buck.

As two of the major market demands from the industry currently are the incorporation of food delivery services and a safe, worry-free ride-hailing experience, subscription plans have likewise come to reflect these consumer appetites. In Singapore, several ride-hailing companies have started offering bundled subscription services that combine both food delivery and ride-hailing services in a singular monthly plan. This is made even more practical as riders can adjust these monthly plans in accordance with their consumption patterns. Through these subscription plans, ride-hailing companies are able to provide a convenient and reasonably priced alternative for working commuters who are currently adjusting to the novel idea of hybrid working.

As the practice of hybrid work and the demand for food delivery remains stronger than ever, subscription plans will serve as a strong foundation for the ride-hailing industry to grow in 2022. With more of these plans emerging in the future, it is up to service providers to offer increasingly more attractive, competitive plans that consumers could adhere to for a long period of time.

Riding into the future

It has been roughly two years since everyone had to do an almost complete overhaul of their routines. However, this also means everyone had two years to adjust and embrace this new environment.

The changes in consumer behaviour offered ride-hailing providers several windows of opportunity they can leverage on, and the continuous rise in the number of users and increased appreciation of the convenience and practicality of the services these companies offer are to be expected. We’ve seen that the ride-hailing industry, in particular, is not only in lockstep with the shifting market demands, but is also proactive and strategic in its handling of the distinct challenges brought about by the pandemic.

Ride-hailing companies changed gears as they saw fit, and the road seems well-paved for them to continue to do so in the future.

This article is co-written by Terence Zou, CEO and founder of Ryde, and Katrina Adrianne, PR & communications lead at Ryde.

The article is published as part of MARKETECH APAC’s thought leadership series What’s NEXT. This features marketing leaders sharing their marketing insights and predictions for the upcoming year. The series aims to equip marketers with actionable insights to future-ready their marketing strategies.

If you are a marketing leader and have insights that you’d like to share with regards to the upcoming trends and practices in marketing, please reach out to [email protected] for an opportunity to have your thought-leadership published on the platform.