In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates on ad tech from around the Asia-Pacific region – and in this edition: Anypoint Media & SpotX ink programmatic TV deal; DCMN opens first Asian outfit in Bangalore; Dentsu adds B2B to acquisition spree; Taptica & Adways Korea partner in mobile marketing; and Ad-supported music app launches in Indonesia.

Anypoint Media & SpotX ink programmatic TV deal

The two companies have announced a new partnership to help advertisers buy TV ads programmatically.

Advertisers would be able to purchase ad space targeting households, which have IPTV and CATV services running on Anypoint's linear TV ad platform. SpotX then would push dynamic ad insertion to households that match the ad's audience targeting parameters.

This was different from other programmatic TV offerings in the region that sold ad units on broad audience estimates, providing a more targeted level of household addressability, said SpotX's Asia-Pacific senior director of supply, Daniel Rowlands.

"The promise of programmatic TV has been top of mind for much of the industry, but has yet to come to Asia. Our partnership with Anypoint will enable true programmatic TV to be executed in Asia for the first time", Rowlands said.

Korea-based Anypoint Media has access to more than six million set-top boxes in its domestic market, and offers a cloud-based technology that allows linear TV feeds to switch to digital feeds in the same set-top-box to play targeted ads, said its CEO Won Baek.

"Set-top box addressability creates thriving, data-driven TV ad markets that maximise the holistic audience value of linear TV inventory", Baek said.

DCMN opens first Asian outfit in Bangalore

Weeks after acquiring Indian attribution platform 1SDK, DCMN has now set up an office in Bangalore, marking its first presence in the Asian region.

The German ad tech firm pointed to India's bustling startup ecosystem, tech-savvy citizens, and large venture capital investment as key reasons why the Asian market was an attractive location for international companies.

Bindu Balakrishnan

India offered fertile ground for marketers focused on digital brands and provided an "ideal entry for Asia", said DCMN co-founder and CEO Andreas Dengler, adding that the company was focused on "going international" this year. "[India] has a large internal market with a lot of buying potential, a tech-savvy population that is increasingly going mobile, and a large number of digital brands that are multiplying at a breath-taking speed", he said.

"With all the venture capital flowing into the country, competition is high and many startups face pressure from investors to scale fast. This is where ROI-driven marketing comes in", Dengler added. "They not only need to get their brand in front of the right audience on the right platform and at the right time, they also need to make sure they're investing their marketing budgets where it counts, resulting in measurable growth for the business."

Citing industry figures, DCMN said USD$9bn (£6.81bn) in risk capital went towards Indian startups last year and advertisers were expected to spend USD$7.41bn (£5.61bn) on paid placements this year.

Bindu Balakrishnan had been appointed to lead DCMN's local operations, armed with experience in business development for digital startups.

She noted that while many local brands were focused on TV campaigns to capture consumer attention, few were tapping measurability compared to Europe and US.

"Indian digital brands are spending huge budgets on TV campaigns, but there is often no analysis of how effective these campaigns are at driving sales", Balakrishnan said, adding that DCMN was looking to fill this gap with its TV tracking tool.

Dentsu adds B2B to acquisition spree

Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired business-to-business (B2B) creative agency, gyro, snapping up yet another company in its latest buying spree.

The Japanese agency group said it had launched its own B2B media house, Interprise, earlier this year, which would now be folded into gyro. The two B2B agencies, however, would continue to operate as two standalone entities in the Asia-Pacific region, where the official name for Interprise was BandInterprise.

The companies did not reveal financial details involved in the buyout.

Headquartered in New York, gyro has offices in Amsterdam, Dubai, and Singapore, among others, and offers B2B service in several areas including programmatic, content, and media planning.

Dentsu Aegis Network APAC CEO Nick Waters said: "The acquisition of gyro strengthens our offering, bringing in a new creative skill set in this area of advertising that's growing significantly."

Christoph Becker, global CEO and CCO at gyro, added that the merger would drive a "much-needed reinvention of the B2B space".

This was the latest in a string of acquisitions Dentsu Aegis Network as well as its subsidiaries had made this year, including Taiwanese search agency WIS Performance Media, Merdeka and Consider Digital in Malaysia, and Barnes, Catmur & Friends in New Zealand.

Taptica & Adways Korea partner in mobile marketing

Mobile advertising and marketing vendors Taptica and Adways Korea have inked an agreement to jointly target the mobile games market, offering products and services aimed at app developers.

Lee Hoon, Taptica's Korea general manager, said: "Together, we aim to serve the rapidly-growing Korean mobile app business and lead the market expansion. We believe the Asia-Pacific region, facilitated by this partnership, will be a significant contributor to Taptica's 2017 revenues."

The company in June opened an office in Seoul, Korea, as part of efforts to expand and support its operations in Asia-Pacific.

Adways' vice president Jeon Soonam added: "Adways has consistently supported global marketing campaigns for mobile developers to gain an entry into the domestic Asian markets. Through the two companies' global marketing know-how, we hope to achieve a very fruitful partnership."

Ad-supported music app launches in Indonesia

Australia-based Tuned Global has roped in six of Indonesia's largest independent music labels to launch ads-supported free music app, Nada Kita.

The labels would be able to tap the app to monetise their music content based on a shared revenue model, while consumers would gain free unlimited access in exchange for ads engagement.

SPC Mobile was the first local partner to sign on, pre-installing the music app on its new devices, Tuned Global said, adding that mobile users would not need to consume their own data allowance to access the app.

SPC Mobile General Manager Raymond Tedjokusumo said: "We have been using music for many years to build our brand awareness and to create emotional connections with our customers. Nada Kita takes that to the next level.

Nada Kita also can be downloaded via Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
"While associating our brand with an innovative free music app, we'll also benefit from an always-on channel to communicate with our clients and the data we gather will help us to segment our client base so we can stay relevant," Tedjokusumo noted.

Tuned Global's managing director Con Raso added that the company was currently speaking with "a number of" telcos, banks, and retailers in the country on potential partnerships.

"We are very excited to launch Nada Kita in Indonesia. We want to partner with brands and labels to increase engagement in order to drive additional revenue for the music industry and to create more relevance for music fans, while sharing the risks", Raso added.