In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates on ad tech from around the Asia-Pacific region – and in this edition: Ads boost AU economy; Ooyala expands into India; Dentsu picks up agency in AU; BBH India unveils content unit; and Blueshift appoints new APAC executives.

Ads boost AU economy

Advertising spend contributed AUD$40bn (£21.23bn) to Australia's economy, or about 2.5% of the country's GDP (gross domestic product) in 2014, according to a report by Deloitte Access Economic.

Commissioned by The Communications Council, the study found that advertising also supported 200,000 jobs, either through direct employment in the industry, or associated employment in ad-supported sectors, and roles such as media and content.

Of the AUD$40bn (£20.8bn) value added to the economy, AUD$8.7bn (£4.5bn) went towards the retail sector, while AUD$4.6bn (£2.4bn) was in automotive, and AUD$3.9bn (£2bn) benefitted finance and insurance.

Actual ad expenditure in 2014 totalled AUD$12.6bn (£6.5bn), which meant that for every dollar spent on advertising, some AUD$3 in added value were generated for the Australian economy.

The report also noted that ads influenced purchasing decisions among 63% of TV-viewers in the country, while it did likewise for 42% of newspaper-readers.

In addition, mobile ads enabled marketers to better target their audience, with 35% of Australians tapping ads on their device if these were specific to their needs.

Ooyala expands into India

The video ad platform has opened an office in Chennai, effectively launching its business in India.

The Telstra-subsidiary said it was planning to build up its local headcount, which would include skillsets in engineering, product development, operations, and professional services. Ooyala added that the Chennai office would play a key role in expanding the company's global presence and supporting its clientele in Asia-Pacific.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, its offices in this region included Singapore, Tokyo, and Sydney.

The ad tech vendor's local customers included Viacom18, which was tapping the Ooyala Pulse ad server to manage and serve video ad campaigns across desktops and its mobile app.

Ooyala CEO Ramesh Srinivasan said: "TV is changing dramatically, with several mega-trends at play. Viewers are increasingly getting their news and entertainment from a greater variety of devices. Advertising is evolving to follow suit, and video production is being pushed towards the cloud."

Dentsu picks up agency in AU

Dentsu Aegis Network has made yet another acquisition in Australia this week, buying digital marketing agency Search Factory.

The Brisbane-based agency will be folded into the group's performance marketing brand, iProspect, which last week also took on newly acquired Scorch.

Founded in May 2011, Search Factory specialised in search engine and content marketing, as well as analytics.

Dentsu Aegis Network Asia-Pacific CEO Nick Waters said the search and performance markets were seeing robust growth in Australia and would continue to develop rapidly. "Acquiring Search Factory enables iProspect to scale in Brisbane, extending its national coverage, and further enhances the group's leadership position", Waters said.

Search Factory's founder Nic Blair would become director of the merged entity after the acquisition had been completed, while co-owner and CEO Michael Bell would be appointed managing director. Both executives would report to iProspect ANZ CEO Dan Kalinski.

BBH India unveils content unit

The Publics Groupe ad agency has launched a new business unit offering branded content and entertainment marketing services in the local market.

These would include film placements, brand films, TV show placements, and various other branded content and sponsorship of entertainment platforms such as games and events.

BBH India CEO and managing partner Subhash Kamath said: "Entertainment is becoming very big today. Whether through cinema, television, radio, or digital, good entertaining content is something consumers are yearning for – and they are willing to pay for it.

"With this new offering, we want to help brands enter this exciting world and create more engaging experiences for their consumers", Kamath said.

The new business would be headed by newly appointed executive, Pranay Anthwal, who previously held roles in Starlight 108, Starcom, Times of India, and Star TV.

Blueshift appoints new APAC executives

The marketing automation platform has appointed two new senior executives to drive its operations in Singapore and India.

Based in Singapore, Dhruv Shanker is the new vice president and head of Asia-Pacific, and will be responsible for leading Blueshift's expansion in the region. Shankar will be joining the company from Groupon, where he was head of affiliate marketing for Asia-Pacific, and previously had held various positions at Yahoo, Google, and Dell.

Blueshift also appointed Nipun Bhatia as its vice president of engineering, responsible for the company's technology direction. He also will be leading the launch of Blueshift's operations in India. Bhatia was previously senior director of engineering at @WalmartLabs, where he led the team that designed and managed the Walmart's e-commerce pricing platform.

Singapore-based online supermarket, Redmart, is among Blueshift's customers in the region, which also include India's Snapdeal and Shopclues.