Wendy Hogan, ExchangeWire APAC contributing editor, and IAB Singapore, chairperson emeritus, outlines efforts in the region to help advance the digital advertising sector there, under the banner of the trade body.   

I’ve been involved in various industry bodies for many years, including the IAB, MMA, AIIA, SITF and AIMIA. The most often asked question by a company is, “why should we join?” and “what’s the ROI?” Our current IAB Singapore chapter chair, Olivier Legrand, recently penned an excellent piece answering that question - The IAB: Asia’s Secret Weapon to Push Digital Forward.

In this piece, Legrand highlights that what you get is what you put into it. In evangelising the IAB here in Asia, I’ve explained this time and again – we get further as an industry when we work together; educating the market from a neutral position is more credible; pooling resources helps achieve more; the industry needs a unified 'voice'.

In a region as complex and diverse as Asia, where some markets are only just seeing ad spend migrate online or straight to mobile, where mobile application developers have far more reach than traditional news publishers, where consumers access to credit cards is sometimes minimal and where missed calls are a legitimate marketing tactic, there is a desperate need for collaboration and shared insight.

Earlier this year, Brian O’Kelley talked about the lack of global standards for ad tech and the fragmented nature of the IAB. The IAB franchise model is indeed something that needs to change, however, the standards set in the US are generally being replicated across the world. More recently, the IAB USA announced it would be offering ad tech companies full membership status. This has been widely reported as a positive move, and certainly something we in Asia can attest to being a good step.

In 2013, here in Singapore, we opened up IAB membership to everyone involved on the 'sell-side'. This coincided with the Asia market-entry of most of the ad tech and social marketing platforms. In a market where local publishers far from dominate, and where digital advertising spend is still estimated to sit below 10%, this has led to a much more representative and robust industry platform.

Given the convergence, and likely dominance, of programmatic in the future, I’d argue it’s best to expand the remit of the IAB to fully encompass any company involved in helping power the internet – which may eventually include brand marketers as brands build out their trading stacks and content production capabilities.

Digital isn’t just about just advertising – it’s technology, it’s content, it’s mobile, it’s video, it’s social, it’s data-driven and volumes and volumes of data-production. A 'publisher' no longer is restricted to big media companies and an advertiser not always restricted to media buying through agencies. SAAS and managed service models are almost as prevalent as CPM-based products. In Asia, everything is different. The measurement tools are not the same, the rules of engagement vary by market and the ethics to can be grey.

In 2014, the IAB SG added sub-committees to help cover the breadth of issues relevant to our industry and our marketplace. They are focused on content, social, measurement, video, mobile, marketing, ad tech and innovation. The ad-tech committee has been one of the most active, conducting bespoke training sessions, driving thought leadership and releasing a much-needed landscape explaining who sits where in the display advertising ecosystem here in Southeast Asia (for more, refer here)

Most of the brands on the map above have only been present in this market for a few years; and some still don’t have real offices here. This is driving scarcity in terms of digital talent and resources equipped to understand the regional and global opportunity. Industry bodies work with government and the private sector to develop a pipeline of talent as digital technology becomes pervasive across all sectors.

Industry bodies also help develop education and thought leadership that’s unbiased and not just specifically from the brands with the resources to provide it. Most importantly, these bodies are helping the industry understand the region's nuances and how it functions, which is essential so businesses. Both MNCs and local can better compete in an increasingly fast-paced environment.

Finally, industry bodies like the IAB need to provide a collective voice around the issues that matter. At a recent event, the main topics of concern from marketers around programmatic are transparency, brand safety and fraud. While as an industry we’re constantly talking about fixing these issues, the onus is on us to clearly communicate how, so that the people spending the budgets have a clear perception of what we’re doing about making things better.

If you’re new to the APAC region, check out IAB.sg and get involved.