Matthew Miller
Aug 21, 2014

Programmatic mobile buying rises sharply in SEA, for good reasons: TubeMogul CEO

ASIA-PACIFIC - Adoption of programmatic buying, especially for mobile video, continues to chart impressive growth in Southeast Asia as brands and agencies wake up to the benefits of the technology, according to TubeMogul CEO Brett Wilson (pictured).

image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading
image.Heading

The company is set to release its latest statistics for the region, including some eye-popping numbers. Mobile inventory available through TubeMogul's network across Southeast Asia grew 720 per cent quarter-over-quarter, while individual countries racked up growth rates that look like typos: 5,820 per cent in the Philippines, 2,950 per cent in Indonesia, 2,800 per cent in Malaysia and 1,600 per cent in Thailand. (See additional details in the table below.)

Granted, these meteoric percentage gains come from a small initial base. But Wilson argued they still signify a real change.

"In many other parts of the world, programmatic buying of mobile video is nascent," Wilson told Campaign Asia-Pacific in an exclusive interview. "Southeast Asia is one of the few markets where brands are closer to actual [media] consumption trends."

Wilson argued that programmatic tools are particularly suited to helping brands and agencies crack new and unfamiliar markets. "Now they can log in from anywhere and put a plan together in minutes that used to require a lot of local knowledge," he said. Looked at another way, the advantages of programmatic buying are magnified in complex markets, he said. Having "boots on the ground", or intimate knowledge of each market, isn't necessary when software can help a brand gain scale and fine-tune its approach through optimisation.

Programmatic buying also levels the playing field for smaller agencies, added Phu Truong, TubeMogul's Southeast Asia MD. "A lot of smaller agencies in the past did not have the resources to have a media department," he said. "What we've seen is some of them are able now to compete with large, GroupM agencies. They have the ability to buy media in the exact same way at the exact same scale as GroupM. They don't have to build a team in every single market anymore. They can have a team of five people and one login."

Wilson, like other executives in the programmatic space, asserted that it's past time for brands and agencies to put aside preconceptions about the technology.

"Many people's perception of programmatic is that it's technology that allows you to buy remnant inventory cheaper," he said. "But increasingly, brands are using it to automate and streamline their entire buy."

In addition to scale and efficiency, programmatic video buying offers increasing knowledge of whether consumers are actually viewing an ad, and the industry is investing heavily in making de-duplicated cross-screen buying a reality, he said.

TubeMogul statistics comparing Q1 to Q2
  Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam
Desktop pre-roll auctions +23% to 16.2 million +10% to 22.4 million +52% to 35 million +33% to 22.2 million +47% to 51 million +15% to 16.1 million
Average desktop pre-roll CPMs 7% 47% 1% 17% 20% 23%
Mobile auctions +2,950% to 97.5 million 2800% 5820% 723% +1,600% to 98 million 1.95%
Mobile CPMs 54% 57% 37% -4% 14% 40%
 

 


 

Campaign Asia-Pacific has two upcoming events on programmatic buying that may interest you:

In addition, you might be interested in this white paper provided by TubeMogul and SpotXchange:

Source:
Campaign Asia

Related Articles

Just Published

7 hours ago

Agency Report Cards 2024: We grade 25 APAC networks

The grades are in for Campaign Asia's 22nd annual evaluation of APAC agency networks. Subscribe to read our detailed analyses.

7 hours ago

Publicis Groupe acquires influencer agency Captiv8

Captiv8 will join forces with the group's Influential and Epsilon.

8 hours ago

Agency Report Card 2024: EssenceMediacom

In a difficult year underlined by restructuring and turmoil within parent company GroupM, the world’s largest media agency still holds many of the keys to mount a stronger rebound in 2025.

8 hours ago

Disney sets sail: VP Sarah Fox on the brand’s ...

With localised strategy, strong fan engagement, and Disney’s knack for storytelling, Cruise Line will make its maiden voyage in December 2025. Campaign speaks exclusively with VP and regional GM Sarah Fox ahead of Campaign 360 next week.