Turn Opens Asia HQ in Hong Kong, Eyes Japan and China

The Silicon Valley-based ad tech firm brings its data management platform to the region as Asia warms up to programmatic buying.

Turn, a U.S.-based demand-side platform (DSP) with data management capabilities, has expanded into Asia Pacific with the launch of its regional headquarters in Hong Kong and is rapidly setting up a local presence in Australia and Singapore.

The Silicon Valley ad tech provider is also eyeing Japan and China.

Turn has been busy preparing its Asia expansion since a year ago, setting up an infrastructure in the region to support a long-term growth strategy.

Cindy Deng, APAC MD at Turn

The DSP has hired former Yahoo exec, Cindy Deng as managing director for Asia Pacific to lead day-to-day operations and grow its customer base and solutions throughout the region.

In addition to its DSP solution, Turn also offers data-management capabilities, which Deng told ClickZ.asia in a phone interview it is the only company in the region that could offer either an integrated or standalone solution.

Its data management platform adds value to the display ecosystem by aggregating data from proprietary first-party data through to third-party data, meaning the ability to target beyond potential customers visiting the sites. It would then analyze those data and create specific audience profiles for marketers to execute campaigns at scale, she explained.

Potential customers that will use its integrated solution would include media agencies, telecom groups, and publishers.

To provide Asia specific inventory, Turn has partnered with Emerge Digital, an independent sell-side platform (SSP) for premium publishers from Australia, which will allow its customers in the region to access 17 inventory and six data services at launch.

Turn’s inventory will include video, display, mobile, as well as Facebook Exchange.

Currently, performance-based marketers such as those in e-commerce, travel, finance, and automobile sectors would be more inclined to use programmatic buying, but FMCG (fast-moving consumer good) clients are finding video attractive, Deng noted.

In Asia, Turn has signed on iClick Interactive, a regional performance-marketing provider, as its new customer.

“Consumers in the APAC region drive some of the highest online usage numbers and this creates a huge demand for brands and marketers looking for insight about the behaviors of their target audience,” Sammy Hsieh, founder and CEO of iClick Interactive said in a press statement.

The Hong Kong-based company, which received funding from Japanese equity firm Sumitomo Corporation and has presence in Mainland China, will be adding Turn’s cloud platform solution to its media network.

Turn will also leverage on its existing global partnerships with major media agencies such as IPG Mediabrands, OMG’s Accuen, Aegis Group, and WPP among others in the region.

Because Turn has opened its fifth data center in Hong Kong, it is one of the key reasons that the U.S. DSP has based its regional HQ in the city.

The company has also named Bernard Chan, another former Yahoo exec based in Asia, now the co-founder of Koi Creations, an Asian digital publisher platform, as an adviser to its Board of Directors.

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