Can APAC firms dedicate resources to own and run their own DMPs? How much value will it bring to their business, and how will they make the platform available to any agency or activation channel? These are questions brands, publishers, and agencies should ask themselves before deciding if they should, and are ready to, build their own DMPs, according to Lotame Asia-Pacific Managing Director Alex Sibois. Noting that it involves a complex piece of technology, deploying a DMP will prove challenging unless companies have the in-house expertise and deep pockets to support such endeavours.

ExchangeWire: What questions should publishers, agencies, and brands in Asia-Pacific ask themselves before deciding if, and how much, to invest in a DMP?

Alex Sibois: Programmatic trading is a reality for both sides – demand (brands and their agencies) and supply (publishers) – within the online advertising ecosystem. But technology companies, such as telcos and Internet of Things services providers, also are quickly realising how valuable data created by their audience can be with regards to revenue.

Therefore, the question should be when these companies need to invest in a DMP; and this is exciting for anybody involved in data management because it has led to rapid growth and will continue to do so for years to come.

However, some companies are not yet ready to dramatically change the strategy to which they have adhered for years – buying or selling an audience, as opposed to trading volumes of impressions and specific placements. The only way to change this mindset is to allocate dedicated resources in the long term, supported with specific key performance indicators (KPIs) that focus on audience targeting, or ultimately a final conversion, in mind.

Alex Sibois

To help them assess if they're ready to deploy a DMP, companies should ask themselves if they can dedicate resources to own and run the platform and whether they, as a business, are willing to commit to change and evolve from behavioural to audience data. Also, they need to determine the kinds of problems they face winning new business and converting users into loyal followers; and identify goals they want to achieve from their DMP.

Should brands even be thinking about building and maintaining their own DMP?

Because it is a complex piece of technology, building a DMP is difficult unless you have in-house expertise and deep pockets. Some companies, such as Amazon or eBay, do have these, but few can do it right. If the option is available to your company, then you need to ask how valuable a DMP can be to the business and if it will be worth making, buying, or outsourcing it.

Another important question for brands is whether they want to choose an independent DMP as opposed to a full-stack solution, whether they want full control over their data, and how will their platform be made available to any agency or activation channel. It is important that data analysis is the main factor in any programmatic decisions and done in a fully transparent way.

What are the key components that should be part of an Asia-Pacific publisher's data strategy?

Publishers need to understand their own audience, including prospective ones, such as who they are, what they do, and where do they go. They also should centralise their data as well as its activation with other channels.

Their data strategy should seek to improve user experience by leveraging audience intelligence, or content personalisation, and facilitate private data exchange; for instance, by co-operating with other publishers via a private marketplace.

They also should aim to increase sales and CPMs by selling to new industry categories and improving campaign outcomes. Furthermore, their strategy should seamlessly facilitate data exports through audience extensions or data sales.

How does the region's highly fragmented mobile landscape impact data collection, and how should DMPs be deployed here?

Fragmentation between devices and multiple consumer journeys highlight the need for a DMP. It must be technically advanced enough to incorporate cross-device capabilities and probabilistic algorithms in its standard offering. This way, users can be engaged regardless of the device they are on, and even if they don't use the same identification parameters, such as login, along their journey.

With such device matching in place, a publisher, marketer, or brand need not worry about collecting data from disparate sources, as they will all be linked to a universal profile for reaching and converting in the end.

Highlight some key gaps in most DMPs in the market today.

The lack of cross-device, conversion optimisation tools, extensive access to third-party data, and customer support to help the client during, and after, the on-boarding process.

What unique challenges does Lotame face as a DMP provider in Asia?

In general, DMP providers in Asia have to deal with the region's fragmentation and recognising each market's diversity. This requires local strategies that look at varied aspects, such as level of pricing, accessibility to data, or type of services in demand.

You just joined Lotame as its Asia-Pacific head. Can you highlight your top priorities for 2016 and how you plan to achieve these?

Our Asia-Pacific business has been growing steadily since it was first established in the region more than two years ago. My priority is to take it to the next level while scaling it faster. Existing clients, such as MediaCorp in Singapore or Seven West Media in Australia, are large organisations that require support to push their data strategy across all their properties, and we are here to help them along the way. We also power many of the top publishers in each market, including the Times of India, Sanook in Thailand, or The Star in Malaysia.

I am also looking to consolidate our relationship with brands and agencies, as we are seeing a lot of interest from them. We are already working with clients, such as AXA or EA, but we are seeing specific industries that are particularly keen to engage with us, such as banks, airlines, and hotel chains, and this is very exciting for us.

What challenges do you expect to face and how will you address these?

I'm working to raise awareness in the market on what data can bring to the table and to ensure both brands and publishers are aligned with similar metrics and agree on how to measure success. After all, it is mainly about ROI. Both sides need to see the value in adopting a data-centric strategy and they need to work together in partnership. I would like to bring more brands, agencies, and publishers to the same table to facilitate this understanding.

I am also looking to recruit more skilled people to accompany our rapid growth and I'm struggling to find the right talent – so anybody who is interested should reach out.