In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates on ad tech from around the Asia-Pacific region – and in this edition: TubeMogul rolls out integrated Digital Ad Ratings in SEA; StarHub launches TV audience metrics; Vietnam wants functional mobile video ads; and Outbrain appoints APAC head of publisher platform.

TubeMogul rolls out integrated Digital Ad Ratings in SEA

The video ad services provider says it has embedded Nielsen's desktop measurement tool into its platform, ready to be delivered to advertisers in this region.

The TubeMogul integrated programmatic offering is available in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, and Japan. It said Digital Ad Ratings offers an audience age and gender verification tool for digital campaigns targeting desktop websites, enabling marketers to tap Nielsen's measurement methodology to track campaign performance. The metrics measure reach, frequency, GRP, and consumer demographic data to evaluate the impact of digital ad campaigns.

TubeMogul's Asia vice president Susan Salop said Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings provides advertisers an "independent" verification tool to determine whether they have reached their targeted audience and to better measure the performance of their programmatic desktop video and display ad campaigns.

StarHub launches TV audience metrics

Nielsen also inked a deal with Singapore pay TV operator, StarHub, to offer an audience measurement system that taps return path data (RPD) technology.

Dubbed StarHub SmarTAM, the new service provides advertisers, agencies, and publishers granular insight into the types of content households and consumers are watching, according to the pay-TV operator. It added that Nielsen will support the subscription and sales of SmarTAM data.

RPD will be collected via StarHub's two-way digital set-top boxes – which can be found in 545,000 Singapore homes – from a selected sample size of 5,000, and analysed using Nielsen's TV viewership measurement algorithm. The metrics system monitors real-time and time-shift viewing as well as advertising spots across more than 200 channels offered on the pay TV network.

The sample size of 5,000 had been "carefully selected to be statistically representative" of StarHub TV households in the country, the operator said, providing insights that would help advertisers and publishers make better informed decisions, create ad campaigns, or schedule content effectively.

"TV viewing behaviour, in recent years, has drastically changed; and StarHub saw the need for a big data-driven system to generate more accurate and in-depth audience viewership analysis for ourselves and our clients," said Germaine Ng Ferguson, StarHub's general manager of integrated solutions and analysis.

Vietnam wants functional mobile video ads

Marketers in the Asian country should ensure their mobile content offers "functional purpose" as well as entertainment to better engage the local audience, according to Omnicom Media Group's research arm, Epinion.

Citing new research, the firm said Vietnamese smartphone consumers were more likely to engage with ads that offered a functional return, such as a tutorial on make-up tips or mapping tool, compared to content that simply delivered entertainment.

With 69% never turning off their smartphones and 44% unable to take their eyes off their devices for one hour, Epinion said the opportunities for brands were "huge". It added that if ads were mandatory, 55% of mobile users in Vietnam would prefer content that was personalised to their interest.

The market research firm further noted that brands should offer rewards, free entertainment, or loyalty services to enhance mobile ad engagement.

Outbrain appoints APAC head of publisher platform

The ad tech firm has announced Sigrid Kirk as its new head of their Engage product in Asia Pacific and EMEA.

Based out of its Sydney office, Kirk has more than 10 years experience in digital product roles, including a stint as chief product officer of News Corp Australia and Fairfax.

With the newly created role, she will support premium publishers in the two regions and drive innovation and adoption of Outbrain's publisher platform, Engage.

Kirk said: "Having worked in publishing for many years, I'm a big believer in the power of great content, for publishers, brands, and consumers. I also understand the importance, and challenges, around content distribution and amplification – the best content in the world has no value unless it is found and consumed, shared, and acted upon.

"In an increasingly cluttered and fragmented media landscape, that challenge is only getting harder," she said. "I'm really excited about the opportunity to work with some of the world's best publishers and brands on helping them to get the right content, to the right people, at the right time."

Reporting to Outbrain's vice president of global product marketing, Matt Crenshaw, Kirk is the ad tech company's first senior product hire for the region, it said.