In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates on ad tech from around the Asia-Pacific region – and in this edition: Isobar China partners with UnionPay to develop DMP & DSP; GroupM galvanises AU publishers in bid to improve viewability; J. Walter Thompson & Mirum launches social unit in Singapore; 37% of AU mobile consumers will accept ads for rewards; Mindshare appoints APAC investment chief; and Taiwan's Appier gets chief data scientist.

Isobar China partners UnionPay to develop DMP & DSP

Dentsu Aegis Network's digital marketing agency, Isobar China, has inked a partnership agreement with UnionPay Smart to jointly develop and operate a marketing platform that offers data-driven services for brands.

A subsidiary of China UnionPay, UnionPay Smart builds big data applications and will be integrating its expertise with Dentsu's advertising and audience behavioural insights.

The announcement follows a one-year collaboration between the two companies; which allowed for closer integration between media and marketing data and with considerations for stringent privacy and data protection measures.

The partnership will now look to build a DMP for online advertising, tapping UnionPay Smart's consumer profiles with browsing and search data shared by publishers. "The platform empowers advertisers to map consumer insights with decision-making and buying processes, creating more accurate target-audience portraits", they said. "Specifically, the data exchange will prioritise automotive, finance, maternity, and infant as well as other key sectors."

The two companies also will jointly develop and own a DSP to facilitate programmatic buying, integrating online and offline behavioural data to provide better audience targeting across publishers.

Together, Isobar and UnionPay will offer customised services for media owners and brands that encompass CRM (customer relationship management) data tools for various verticals, including automotive and finance.

UnionPay Smart co-founder and CTO Kelvin Long said: "This partnership [marks] the first time we have collaborated with a market leader in advertising that has crossover connection of big data solution at its core.

"Big data is the future of marketing, but it cannot be achieved without massive real data, cutting-edge data mining technology, and expertise in data analytics", Long said. "Through the integration of our own strengths, on the precondition of protecting data safety and privacy, our shared vision is to enable brands to achieve new levels of efficiency, effectiveness and customer satisfaction."

Phil Teeman, Dentsu Aegis Network China's group managing director, added: "Data integration is critical and we have been working to bring all of our data together into one platform – consumer data, ad data, and performance data. Our partnership with UnionPay Smart will further reinforce that focus on big data."

GroupM galvanises AU publishers in bid to improve viewability

The WPP-owned media agency has unveiled new viewability standards to address ongoing concerns about ad fraud and has convinced Australia's major publishers to support its crusade.

The country's biggest advertising buyer, spending AUD$2.84bn (£1.39bn) on local media, GroupM, said there was a "serious trust issue" with online media as concerns grew over viewability, traffic fraud, and ad blocking.

Marketers were demanding proof that online ads they sold actually appeared on their audience's screens, rather than on bot traffic, and new viewability standards were necessary to ease their worries.

Under GroupM's deal, these would guarantee display and video ads were 100% viewed on key placements or its clients would not have to pay. Publishers that have signed up include Fairfax Media, News Corp Australia, Yahoo7, The Guardian, and Mamamia.

GroupM chief digital officer John Miskelly said: "Rightfully, confidence in digital advertising has been knocked over the last year due to issues such as brand safety, ad fraud, and viewability. GroupM's goal is to ensure the absolute best digital advertising for our agencies' clients."

In a Mumbrella Australia report, Miskelly noted that the recommended standards by Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) were inadequate, at 50% viewability for one second for display ads, and 50% viewability for two seconds for video ads.

Miskelly said: "The important thing for us is that the ad is seen for 100%, as opposed to 50%, and we will obviously build on top of that."

J. Walter Thompson & Mirum launches social unit in Singapore

The ad agency and its digital network, Mirum, have formed a new social media unit in Singapore that will operate across both agencies.

Called 'The Social Team', the new outfit was formed to meet strong demand for social media marketing across the region and will consist of employees from the two companies, including designers, analysts, and writers. It will offer digital, content, strategy, creative, and analytics services.

Mirum Asia-Pacific CEO Nanda Ivens said the move was a no-brainer since both agencies already had social media expertise, with J. Walter Thompson (JTW) running a content production unit and Mirum a digital and social analytics team.

JWT Singapore CEO Peter Womersley said: "The Social Team has been set up in response to the increasing clamour from our clients for a specialist team of experts who use data to inform content planning and manage real time engagement communications.

"Brands are finding it increasingly challenging to cut through the morass of information available in the social world, and I am incredibly excited by the unique service this new venture will offer."

37% of AU mobile consumers will accept ads for rewards
Some 37% of smartphone users in Australia said they would be keen to receive ads on their device if doing so could reduce their bill, revealed a survey by Roy Morgan.

The study polled 9,642 smartphone owners above the age of 14, and from 10 mobile operators, including Telstra, Dodo, iiNet, and Vodafone.

At 47%, Dodo subscribers were most interested in accepting ads if it could slash their phone bill, followed by 44% of Vodafone customers. Lebara Mobile, which runs on Vodafone's network, in October 2015 began offering plans that allowed mobile users to unlock their phones after accepting ads and receive a discount or extra data in return.

iiNet subscribers, at 27%, were least interested in following suit.

Mindshare appoints APAC investment chief

The WPP agency has appointed Jacob Kvist as its Asia-Pacific chief investment officer, where he is responsible for Mindshare's trading and investment strategy in the region.

He will work with trading teams at the various local officers of Mindshare and GroupM to ensure clients have access to quality local inventory, tools, and data.

Previously the CEO for GroupM Vietnam, Kvist also will work with regional media, data, and tech partners, as well as lead Mindshare's accountability teams and drive the supply side of the agency's adaptive marketing strategy.

GroupM's Indonesia CEO Ed Thesiger is double-hatting as Vietnam CEO, assuming the position vacated by Kvist.

Lin Hsuan-Tien

Taiwan's Appier gets chief data scientist

The Taiwanese-Chinese artificial intelligence developer has hired Lin Hsuan-Tien as its first chief data scientist, leading the company's intelligence research and development team.

Previously associate professor of computer science at National Taiwan University, Lin has earned accolades in machine learning and believes the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence should be "as natural as breathing".

"From medicine, to business strategy, to advertising, artificial intelligence has the potential to resolve some of the business world's most complex issues", he said. "I'm looking forward to joining the growing ranks of artificial intelligence scientists leaping from theory to practice, to confront some of the real world's problems."

Based in Taipei, Appier build data intelligence tools aimed at helping marketers push their ads to the right audience.