Asia is increasingly shifting away from site-level targeting to targeting audiences when buying display advertising. This leads to the rise of programmatic trading, which industry players say will improve performance and reduce media wastage.
The latest annual report commissioned by Rubicon Project also states that advertisers and media agencies have increased their display ad investments by 62 percent in Asia Pacific.
Pushkar Sane, CEO at Convergination sat down with Rahul Garg, Google AdX (ad exchange) Asia Pacific head for India and Southeast Asia, to discuss how marketers in the region could use first-party and third-party data more effectively and if current data infrastructure supports RTB (real-time bidding) activity to work seamlessly in real-time.
The video interview was held following a keynote panel discussion on Mad Men to Machine Mavericks at SES Hong Kong.
First, marketers should ask a critical question: How do you identify your audience?
The most powerful data marketers have and the best way to understand your audience is to look at your own (first-party) data, either from your websites, CRM (customer relationship management) systems or those hiding behind your enterprise data warehousing solutions, Garg says.
Before looking at third-party data, marketers should first unlock, capture, and classify the data in their own systems to understand customers better and optimize their ad campaigns as well as set marketing objectives, he adds.
Sane asks what the barriers are to leverage first-party data effectively as there aren’t many good examples in the region.
Online travel agencies (OTAs) and e-commerce websites are savvy with their first-party data but some advertiser verticals are still grappling how to use them, Garg notes.
The mindset to understand the value of data and the need to work closely between marketing and technology to make sure both departments are able to bring the data pieces together are barriers to effective use of first-party data.
From the Rubicon survey, the proportion of ad planning and buying that are based on data in Asia Pacific shows:
- First-party data: 48 percent
- Third-party data: 38 percent
- No data: 43 percent
In the video, Garg also advises marketers how they could ensure the third-party data they’re getting from data providers is of value and good quality, as well as an update on the infrastructure for programmatic trading to work seamlessly in real-time in the region.
Panelists Peter Burton, head of operations for Accuen Asia Pacific and Mikko Kotilla, CEO at Statsit, also discussed programmatic trading issues from how it’s redefining partnerships among publishers, media traders, and advertisers, moving from the art to science in advertising and how they’re building talent in the space.