In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates on ad tech from around the Asia-Pacific region – and in this edition: Singapore marketers heavily reliant on print ads; Machine learning can improve audience targeting in Asia; Investment in customer experience yields higher revenue; Dentsu buys majority stake in AU performance marketing agency; Near launches mobile-first audience cloud; Always acquires MY brand activation firm; and IPONWEB appoints new Asia head.

Singapore marketers heavily reliant on print ads

Consumers in Singapore spend just 10% of their media time reading printed content, but this medium accounts for 42% of overall advertising spend in the country.

According to a survey conducted by Econsultancy, in association with Datalicious, this was the highest discrepancy between media time and ad spend per channel across the five markets included in the study. The report polled 700 senior executives with responsibility in allocating media spend and included respondents in Australia, New Zealand, UK, and US.

The figures in Singapore also were contrary to the print ad decline noted in the Western nations, according to the study, which noted that TV accounted for 26% of overall spend in the city-state, with 38% of marketers planning to increase their budget on the medium this year.

Their focus on traditional media meant a smaller expenditure on digital platforms, which accounted for just 13% of total budgets. In comparison, online ads accounted for 27% of US budgets, 38% in the UK, and 43% in Australia and New Zealand.

Singapore respondents pointed to legacy systems and siloed department structures as the main barriers that were pulling back spending on digital platforms.

Noting that the country's sluggish move to digital would negatively impact marketing efficiency, Datalicious CEO and Founder Christian Bartens said: "Singaporeans are spending 38% of their media time online, but the spend commitment falls a long way short of this. It's a curious finding in a nation that is a rapid adopter of technology [but] sees a more traditional approach to media spend.

"I expect with greater adoption of sophisticated attribution methodologies, marketers will be able to see where success is coming from and adopt a more balanced approach to media planning", Bartens said.

More marketers in Singapore, however, were tapping tracking and analysis tools. Some 61% used attribution to measure marketing effectiveness, compared to 39% in Australia and New Zealand, and 34% in the US. In addition, 20% of digital media spend in Singapore was based on ROI reports from attribution modelling, which matched the US's adoption, but slightly lower than the UK's 24%.

These stats indicated Singapore's approach to digital was based on "sound reasoning, rather than a cautious attitude", the report stated.

Machine learning can improve audience targeting in Asia

There are gaps in audience targeting today that can be improved with more intelligent machine learning and allow for speedier deployment of data-driven campaigns.

The ability to learn would provide marketers the ability to establish a more accurate, 360-view of their customers, according to delegates at Haymarket's Data Marketing Analytics Conference held this week in Singapore.

They noted that the main challenge facing organisations today was not the lack of data, but their ability to process the data and filter relevant information from data that offered little value.

Data science, or big data technology, was evolving faster than marketers' ability to use it, they observed, adding that the challenge then was for marketers to develop the right skills to identify the opportunities, finetune their use of data-driven campaigns, and "institutionalise the habit [of using data to improve campaigns]".

Adoption was often the bottleneck, the delegates said. Marketers in the region simply did not have a lot of trust in big data, with most doubting the accuracy of using data analytics to target the right audience.

In addition, even when relevant data insights were available, marketers usually took too long to apply these to execute campaigns, or it would cost too much to create one around the datasets.

More intelligence machine learning, however, could help automate more processes needed to run a marketing campaign, including creative, and these would improve the cost economics of using data to drive marketing initiatives.

Investment in customer experience yields higher revenue

For each dollar invested in improving customer experience, brands would generate three dollars in return and could expect a 11% increase in revenue over the next 12 months.

According to research released by Avanade and Sitecore, 65% of respondents expected more opportunities to improve profitability by focussing on enhancing the overall lifetime value of their customers. Conducted by Vanson Bourne in February and March this year, the study was based on responses from 880 decision-makers in six countries including Singapore, Australia, Germany, and UK.

Some 96% of respondents had, or were developing, a customer experience strategy; while 92% of those who already implemented a strategy ranked it as one of their top three priorities.

Sitecore CMO Scott Anderson said: "For brands to truly succeed, they need to move beyond standalone marketing tools and shift marketing to their customers in context across every brand touchpoint.

"Companies need to understand that customer experiences are now built around knowing what each individual is trying to achieve at that very moment in time and create the right brand experience around those insights", Anderson said, adding that almost half of respondents said prioritising their customer experience strategy led to an increase in customer loyalty over the past year.

Near launches mobile-first audience cloud

Singapore-based location platform, Near, has unveiled the global launch of its mobile-first audience cloud offering, Allspark.

The new product taps public and proprietary datasets to help organisations analyse audience location, behaviour, demography, and interests, the ad tech vendor explained. These insights would then be used to support their business strategy, marketing activities, and operations.

Allspark used data points, such as places and pre-built audience sets, to curate audiences into 'AudienceCard', which would provide marketers with real-time insights, Near said, adding that they could then tweak their targeting according to the updated data.

Near CEO and Founder Anil Mathews said: "Allspark redefines how brands gather insights about their consumers and interact with them in real-time. It enables you to measure and compare the impact of your business decisions across different audience and locations, and optimise your investment."

Dentsu buys majority stake in AU performance marketing agency

Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired a 51% stake in Melbourne-based performance marketing agency, Scorch, in a deal touted to beef up the former's capabilities in search, as well as content and web development, among others.

Scorch would be renamed Scorch iProspect, joining the agency's performance marketing business, and its founders Terence Hooi and Kevin Hooi would continue managing the company's operations, which included offices in Sydney and Manila. Both executives, who would retain their roles as CEO and COO, respectively, would report to iProspect Australia CEO Dan Kalinski.

Nick Waters, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific, said: "Scorch adds further to our group's performance leadership in Australia, with specific capability in user experience, content and social search. The agency has deep specialist capability that will provide further competitive advantage for our clients."

Always acquires MY brand activation firm

WPP's Always Marketing Services has acquired Malaysian brand activation agency, ePromode, which is recognised for creating consumer experiences using retail technologies.

Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, the company was founded in 2000 and offered services encompassing in- and out-of-store brand activations, as well as events and product roadshows.

Majority owned by J. Walter, Always is the largest field marketing services agency in China; and its latest acquisition would help expand its presence in Southeast Asia, according to WWP.

IPONWEB appoints new Asia head

The media trading platform has named Ryan Pestano as its new Asia general manager, pulling the executive from Singtel's Amobee, where he served as Asia-Pacific vice president of product and operations.

Pestano will be responsible for IPONWEB's operations in the region and focus on the company's expansion and market development in Asia.

"As the programmatic space continues to grow and open-up new media channels, Asia is well poised for significant innovation", he said. "Across the ecosystem, from television to advertisers and publishers, there are opportunities for regional companies to leverage their unique data and deploy technology to create significant competitive advantage."