How Video is Becoming an Advertising Super Power in Asia

“The art of advertising is entrenched in a marketer’s ability to read trends and create marketing campaigns that capture what users want to watch, read and talk about” [1]

In the vast region of Southeast Asia, a whopping 83% of online viewers [1] are enjoying the flexibility of platforms such as OONA Mobile TV. - OONA is the cool Entertaining & Messaging platform which empowers users to enjoy online AVOD and premium option live & on-demand videos and interaction 24/7, on up to 300 top national and international channels.

OONA goes way beyond TV and OTT – it is a World 1st platform with an AI Genie in the App who regularly chats with users to give them the content and ads they desire, and a fun environment that gives consumers an ultra cool way of choosing, sharing and editing their fab entertainment and ads, while being rewarded with tcoins that they can redeem for branded good just for watching and sharing ads and content, and interacting with the AI genie. And very importantly, OONA offers transparency and protects users' private data.

“Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate of 16.1% resulting in a market volume of US$20,421m in 2022” [2]

Because of this latest online viewing trend which looks set to skyrocket even more: “marketers are incentivizedto shift their attention to create video ad campaigns that will reach consumers wherever and whenever they are consuming content”[1].

An Up Close Look at Video Advertising

According to Statistica: “Video advertising considers all ad formats within web or app-based video players. These formats are typically video ads that appear before, during or after the streamed video (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll video ads)”[2].

How Do Brands Take a Quantum Leap & Plan More Strategic Video Campaigns?

The SpotX Asia team who were involved in the last Digital Masterclassing event in Singapore, concluded that after numerous discussions with B2C brands: despite the latter's understanding of the immense value of programmatic video, [such as that offered by OONA], this lack of video advertising strategy and apprehension about several road blocks, was holding them back [1].

When lecturing on “How Brands Can Ride The Online Video Wave” SpotX's MD, Gavin Buxton, who heads the Asia region, made the case for why employing online video is a key to success and the best way forward for Asian brands. And on the subject of driving video advertising, the Masterclassing attendees representing various brands, showed different degrees of understanding video advertising strategy. A number of them had very little knowledge on the subject, while others were clear about what it takes to have a powerful plan of action. Further, a number of them were motivated by their international teams, and conducted global buying in Asian media, with a small local input to help with the creativity of the adverts [1].

There's No One-Size-Fits All!

As Katherine McHugh, the demand facilitation director, JAPAC at SpotX, notes, with video advertising: “there are different KPIs to align with different goals, and what might be considered “brand-safe” by one company may be deemed unsavoury by another”[1]. The SpotX team's discussions with various brands, highlighted a number of crucial points, including:

Number 1: There's No General Size for Brand Video Key Performance Indicators

Due to the significant long-term relationship that advertisers can establish with the audiences they target, video serves as one of the greatest strategies to generate brand awareness [1].

Number 2: Re-purposing TV Ads for the Digital Environment

It is essential to design advertisements which are compatible with a digital setting. Consumers, such as those using the OONA platform, enjoy their videos on various different devices including smart phones and tablets. Digital video ads which have compatible formats, differ according to the environment; moreover, an optimal advert length is variable [1].

Number 3: OTT Opportunities for Brands

When it comes to brands and advertisers: OTT offers an added reach to viewers who do not have representation in broadcast channels. Moreover, first party information can empower brands to connect with appropriate audience groups, and give them full control over which message the audience segment sees [1].

Number 4: Programmatic Video is No Longer Solely for Remnant Inventory

Over the last few years, there has been a remarkable advancement within the realms of programmatic advertising. Due to its ability to use data to inform buyers, it now delivers enhanced efficiency across the full range of digital advertising formats. Now, the sought after 'premium' placements, along with all forms of inventory can be sold programmatically, due to the new wave of exchanges, both programmatic direct, and private [1].

Number 5: What Should the Video Campaign CTR Be?

Because there are a number of KPIs for advertisers to take into consideration, measuring how effective digital video campaigns are, can be extremely difficult. Depending on what they want to gain from their promotions, some advertisers like to click-through rate or look at post-view metrics, while others prefer to frequency and track reach against target audiences, or look at completed view rates [1].

OONA & the Rock & Roll of Programmatic Advertising

OONA recently reported that globally, “Programmatic advertising has risen to dominate the digital display market in just a few years, having accounted for just 13% of display ad-spend in 2012. Programmatic ad-spend grew from US$5bn in 2012 to US$39bn in 2016, at an average rate of 71% a year”[3]. And the spending for programmatic digital display advertising: “is projected to grow to 45.72 billion in 2019”[4]..

OONA FREE TV offers AVOD (advertising-based video on demand). It is set to serve over 185 million Indonesians, and is on course to deliver its exciting high quality entertainment over hundreds of channels, to other parts of Asia, Africa, South America, the Middle East, the US and Europe. OONA focuses on user experience for competitive advantage, so naturally, it is very geared towards programmatic advertising which employs various parameters including viewers' historical data and advanced algorithms in order to calculate real time bids for each advert that is placed by channel owners and content holders. The purchasing transactions are immediate [5].

OONA offers a strong revolutionary business model to channels and content holders via its OTT monetization methods. Programmatic advertising is a highly successful advertising option on the OONA platform. It effortlessly streamlines the process of ad buying via the use of automated data-driven, technology. There are three platforms involved in this type of marketing automation: 1. DMPs (data management platforms) which analyze and collect the users' information to drive specific targeting. 2. SSPs (supply-side platforms) which maintain the publishers' ad inventory, and 3. DSPs (demand-side platforms) which provide ad purchases on the open market [4]. OONA's advertising options include: 1. A programmatic advertising video (30 seconds), CMP and CPC revenue; 2. Programmatic display advertising (30 seconds), CMP and CPC revenue; 3. Programmatic advertising short-video (pre-roll 6 seconds); and 4. Pay per view micro-transactions [6].

Programmatic marketing empowers channel and content owners so they can target specific audiences. This can cover various demographic segments including location, social standing, gender, age and interests. Moreover, ads can be limited to certain frequencies and specific times in the day to coincide with target markets, such as in between OONA's live sports specials. With this method, channel and content owners are only paying for hugely effective adverts, delivered at the right time to the right people [6].

The Future of Programmatic Advertising Looks Exciting

There are a number of predictions:

Number 1: Purchases of programmatic advertising will skyrocket, and ultimately, purchasing will surpass conventional, manual ad purchasing. Furthermore, industry experts predict that leading up to 2020: “programmatic advertising will drive 100% of advertising purchases. Organizations not championing automation will fall behind those that do”[7].

Number 2: Traction will be gained in the field of DCO (dynamic creative optimization), the cutting-edge display advertising which delivers automatic multi-variate testing, namely, algorithms which interpret results and ascertain how to deliver advertisements for the most optimal performance [3].

Number 3: There will be more header bidding [3] such as that offered by the OONA platform. This empowers channels and content owners with a high tech method so they are able to offer inventory to multiple advertising exchanges at the same time [7].

Number 4: Personalisation will become more intelligent. When channels and content owners are able to laser focus their programmatic ads towards individual viewers, then they can leverage strategies including explicit demographics and geographical location [7].

Empowering Channel & Content Owners

Programmatic marketing empowers OONA's channel and content owners so they can target specific audiences. This covers various demographic segments including location, social standing, gender, age and interests. Moreover, ads can be limited to certain frequencies and specific times in the day to coincide with target markets, such as in between OONA's live sports specials. With this method, channel and content owners are only paying for hugely effective adverts, delivered at the right time to the right people [7].

The bottom line is that programmatic advertising increases efficiency and saves money - two very valuable advantages. By opting for automation, it puts human beings out of the equation, and buying ads becomes less expensive and more dependable. Also, very importantly, program channels and content holders are able to optimize their KPIs (key performance indicators), and attain a deeper insight into the behavior of consumers [6].

The Way Forward

“The rise in cross-device video consumption in this region shows that the viewing habits of Asian consumers are evolving. Brands must not ignore programmatic video advertising and OTT if they plan to compete on a larger scale”[1].

In summary, the statistics clearly show that video is well on its way to becoming an advertising super power. When there is a winning combination of two companies like SpotX - the cutting-edge global video ad serving platform, plus OONA, the fun interactive platform which works to entertain, engage & reward users all day every day, Mars is the limit! Stay tuned!

References

[1]. McHugh, Katherine (2018). Mobile Marketing. “Harnessing the power of video advertising in Asia.” Retrieved from:http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/harnessing-the-power-of-video-advertising-in-asia Accessed 12 May, 2018.

[2]. Statistica (2018). “Video Advertising.” Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/outlook/218/101/video-advertising/asia Accessed 12 May, 2018.

[3]. Zenith Media (2017). “Programmatic ads to grow 31% in 2017, ahead of all other channels.” Retrieved from:https://www.zenithmedia.com/%EF%BB%BF%EF%BB%BF%EF%BB%BFprogrammatic-ads-grow-31-2017-ahead-channels/ Accessed 27 Mar. 2018.

[4]. Statistica (n.d.).“Programmatic digital display advertising spending in the United States from 2013 to 2019 (in billion U.S. Dollars).” Retrieved from:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/278727/programmatic-display-ad-spend-in-the-us/ Accessed 27 Mar. 2018.

[5]. OONA Free Mobile TV (2017). “Mobile is the Fastest Growing Advertising.” http://oonafreemobiletv.blogspot.bg/2018/05/mobile-is-fastest-growing-advertising.html Accessed 13 May, 2018.

[6]. OONA Free Mobile TV (2017). “The Rock & Roll of programmatic Advertising.” Retrieved from: https://oonafreemobiletv.blogspot.bg/2017/12/the-rock-and-roll-of-programmatic.html Accessed 13 May, 2018.

[7]. Kloefkorn, Sheila (2017). “Trends In Programmatic Advertising To Watch This Year.” Forbes. Retrieved from:https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/05/16/trends-in-programmatic-advertising-to-watch-this-year/#781cb7cf7f11 Accessed 12 Dec. 2017.