In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates on ad tech from around the Asia-Pacific region – and in this edition: Asean marketers want more help in digital; SEA moving towards video ads; ZenithOptimedia takes Blue 449 to HK; Tencent partners OMG for China consumer insights; Millward Brown acquires Indian marketing analytics firm; and Dentsu buys majority stake in NZ agency.

Asean marketers want more help in digital

Marketers in Asean are calling for more help to support their digital strategies, as they aim to better understand consumer behaviour and create content for digital screens.

This was part of various findings in a study by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), released ahead of its Global Marketer Week in Kuala Lumpur next week. It surveyed more than 100 marketers from 65 organisations with a global ad spend of more than USD$54bn (£38.02bn).

Respondents also wanted better capabilities in agencies, pointing to PR as the worst performing unit, followed by creative and digital. Media and marketing research providers received the best performance review, with 54% rating the latter as good to excellent.

Key challenges respondents said they faced with agencies were the high staff turnover, where 61% agreed that agencies could not retain their best employees. Some 63%, however, agreed that there were "exciting new agency startups emerging", WFA noted, adding that new agencies often popped up in new areas, such as social and content, where traditional agencies had been slower to adapt.

The report also revealed that the majority of respondents used, on average, five different tools to measure returns on marketing investment. Some 79% tapped internal sales data, while 74% used brand tracking and media tracking.

However, when asked, 58% agreed the lack of robust media audience data was "preventing us from investing more" in performance metrics. Another 36% agreed that it was "impossible" to accurately measure returns on marketing investment in their market or region.

With regards to generating actionable consumer insights, and delivering effective marketing solutions, marketers in Southeast Asia were less confident than their peers in Latin America. WFA noted that this contrast was likely to be cultural, as Asean was highly complex and had "little homogeneity".

"Such rapid changes might reflect the fact that no one ever feels they are fully on top of the challenges", it added, noting that only 29% of Asean marketers felt they were fairly advanced at generating actionable consumer insights, compared to 45% in Latin America.

WFA Asia Marketing Director Ranji David said: "Asean is a fast-moving and fast-changing region, with multiple markets and multiple ethnicities. Managing digital transformation in such a complex part of the world challenges even the very best marketers.

"The winners will be those who effectively deliver innovation, achieve data understanding, and maintain brand relevance with diverse target groups, while accessing regionally relevant experiences, insights, and case studies", David added.

SEA moving towards video ads

Media buyers and sellers in Southeast Asia are spending more on video, moving funds from other channels – including from TV, search, and display – to support the increase, according to research from AOL.

Conducted by Hall & Partners, the online study polled agencies, publishers, and brands in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. It revealed that some 75% of respondents currently involved with video ads had expanded their video budget last year.

Less than 10% said they cut their TV budget to support digital video ads, while one-in-seven said they slashed their TV spending by more than 15%.

AOL said the findings revealed the dominance of over-the-top video and connected TV as advertising media; both of which accounted for 25% of overall ad budget in Southeast Asian respondents. This was higher than just 5% in Australia and 16% in the US.

AOL Asia Managing Director, Alex Khan

Respondents in the region also pointed to an increased use of mobile video, with 25% of publishers indicating an increase in such sales by more than 25%. Buyers, though, noted several challenges to tapping mobile ads, pointing to issues related to demographic targeting, cross-device campaigns, and attribution.

According to the study, more than 50% of publishers said they were using programmatic to sell their premium video inventory.

AOL Asia managing director, Alex Khan, said: "In some parts of the world, in the early days of programmatic, it was seen as little more than a platform for real-time bidding. The respondents in Southeast Asia recognise the technology is capable of so much more, with a large proportion saying its key capability is for data-led audience buying and selling.

"It demonstrates the understanding this region has of the opportunity programmatic provides, [which] should make the next few years very positive for publishers with video inventory", Khan added.

ZenithOptimedia takes Blue 449 to HK

The media group has launched its ninth Blue 449 office in Hong Kong, a year after the agency network hit the global stage in March 2015.

The latest addition marks the agency's second in Asia-Pacific and serves as the regional hub for Blue 449, which also runs offices in Australia, UAE, and Germany, among others.

The Hong Kong outfit is headed by managing director, Nico Guiridlian, who joined ZenithOptimedia in 2000 and has been based in the Asian market for the past three years, serving as managing director of international clients.

Blue 449 Hong Kong will work closely with all specialist units within the media group, as well its global and local clients, which include Puma and Pimco.

Tencent partners OMG for China consumer insights

Tencent Online Media Group has inked an agreement to develop consumer analytics tools with Omnicom Media Group.

Both companies would create an "infrastructure for holistic data mining" that could offer advertisers consumer insights to support their media planning and buying. They also planned to develop data models for eight different industries in China.

Using its smart data tools, touted to use "intelligent calculation and accurate screening", Tencent would create target consumer portraits for Omnicom's clients.

"Tapping the power of big data is key to maximising marketing returns on investment", said Omnicom Media Group Greater China CEO Doug Pearce, who added that the group's partnership with Tencent would "uncover deeper data insights" and offer its clients "more accurate and efficient" data solutions.

Millward Brown acquires Indian marketing analytics firm

The WPP data research unit has agreed to acquire Indian marketing analytics company, Analytics Quotient, which will become part of Millward Brown Analytics.

Based in Bangalore, India, the firm was founded in 2008 and has offices in London as well as the US, employing some 400 people. It also offers tools in data visualisation and custom analytics. The company's unaudited revenue for 2015 clocked USD$12.3m (£8.66m), with assets totalling USD$9.5m (£6.69m).

Millward Brown Global CEO Travyn Rhall said: "Analytics Quotient has developed a unique storytelling approach that connects data from across sources and combines it with industry knowledge, analytics, and data visualisation to answer business questions."

Dentsu buys majority stake in NZ agency

Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired the majority share of Barnes, Catmur & Friends (BC&F), as it looks to bolster its presence in New Zealand.

The creative agency, which has 31 staff in Auckland, will become the flagship creative agency brand of Dentsu in New Zealand, marking the Japanese media group's first offering in the market.

BC&F's founders Daniel Barnes and Paul Catmur, will retain their roles as CEO and executive creative director, respectively, as will other members of its management team, including general manager Luke Farmer.

Takaki Hibino, Asia-Pacific CEO of Dentsu Brand Agencies and Dentsu Media, said: "This exciting new acquisition means we now have a strong presence in New Zealand, expanding our network in the region and becoming the first Dentsu agency in New Zealand. We look forward to working closely with BC&F Dentsu and, with the newly acquired BWM Dentsu, we will be able to offer our clients creative excellence in ANZ."

The group in February 2015 bought a 51% stake in Australian creative agency, BWM Group, which was later renamed BWM Dentsu.