AppNexus is to double its operations in Singapore, including the transfer of senior employees from its European and US operations, reflecting similar moves by programmatic players in APAC – a market estimated to be worth in excess of $1,892m by 2016.

The manoeuvres come as ExchangeWire prepares to host its second annual ATS Singapore event in July, where experts from leading programmatic advertising companies will share insights on successfully tackling challenges in this vast and intricate region.

AppNexus has announced it is to open new offices in Singapore after initially launching its presence in the region last year, in a move that will double its headcount in the region, bringing its global footprint to 53 markets across the globe.

This regional charm offensive will include the hiring of locally-based employees, as well as the transfer of existing AppNexus veterans from elsewhere in the globe, including Andrew Lenehan and Jenny Mizusawa who will relocate to APAC from New York.

Dave Osborn, VP Sales for APAC at AppNexus said: “By bringing the skill and expertise of tenured AppNexus colleagues from America and Europe together with outstanding local employees, we are able to deliver a valuable, consultative service for our customers.”

AppNexus quoted figures from Magna Global’s The International State of Programmatic research study which suggests the volume of ads bought using Real-time bidding (RTB) in Malaysia and Singapore will grow to 30 percent by 2018 – eventually surpassing the Chinese market, according to its figures.

The report further predicts that total programmatic spend in developing Asian markets – including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand – will reach $501m in 2014. A separate market analysis by IDC estimates the total digital ad spend using RTB in APAC will grow to surpass $1,892m in 2016, with the research firm asserting that Japan and China will be the two biggest markets driving the increase (see chart).

Importance of mobile
AppNexus has issued a press release announcing the move which also contains quotes from Millennial Media’s Robert Woolfrey, Millennial Media, managing director, APAC (both companies have operated the “world's largest premium mobile ad exchange” in the guise of the Millennial Media Exchange since 2013).

This reflects the APAC region’s tendency to be a ‘mobile first’ market (i.e. many web users there will have their first online experience via mobile devices as opposed to desktop), and underlines the importance of having a significant quotient of experienced in the intricacies of mobile.

In fact, Millennial Media itself is currently looking to make senior level appointments in the region according to two jobs ads (one for a head of programmatic and the other for a head of marketing in the region) currently circulating on LinkedIn.

Similarly, Pubmatic (which itself has made several announcements in the mobile sector in the last two weeks, including the purchase of mobile ad server Mocean Mobile, as well as the launch of a location-based mobile advertising marketplace with xAd) is also expanding in APAC.

Importance of 'localisation' in APAC
A little under a month ago Pubmatic announced the appointment of Jason Barnes as its VP for the region, as well as the promotion of Dylan McBride to be Pubmatic’s country manager, for Australia & New Zealand, to take advantage of a regional RTB market it estimates to be worth $276m in 2014 alone.

With interest in the market clearly palpable, ExchangeWire is gearing up to host its annual APAC-focused event ATS Singapore – a day-long conference that will focus on the intricacies of the expansive region.

Earlier this year, Stuart Bartram, Rubicon Project MD, APAC, told ExchangeWire readers how many global firms, attempts to ‘crack’ APAC fall short due to failure to tailor their approach sufficiently to individual countries, as well as not having the right staff on the ground to advise and consult with local clients directly and effectively.

ATS Singapore discussions
To accommodate this, ExchangeWire has partnered with Google to poll programmatic practitioners in the region to gain further insight into attitudes and levels of expertise towards programmatic advertising there, the results of which will be demonstrated at the conference.

State of the market
ATS Singapore will further assess the State of Programmatic market in the region with participation from Jeff Green, The Trade Desk, CEO, as well as a keynote speech from Greg William, MediaMath, co-founder, SVP, Open partnerships.

Mechanics of data strategy
The event then further subdivides the region looking at Data Management & Strategy in a Programmatic World with separate panels that will focus on the South East Asian and Australian & New Zealand markets respectively.

The second half of the day will look at The Next Wave of Programmatic in the region with a focus on mobile and video with participation from TubeMogul and Twitter, before taking a look at Programmatic Publisher Solutions, with The Rubicon Project.

ATS Singapore takes place on Monday July 7 ATS Singapore 2014, at Marina Mandarin Hotel, Singapore, click here to learn more.