How this Nielsen-backed platform aims to democratise media buying for SMEs in APAC

To democratise media buying for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) businesses in Asia Pacific, Nielsen has partnered with Malaysia-based media agency Reddoor to create Adwork.io, a media buying platform.

The platform, which will be launched in the second quarter of 2023, aims to provide real-time data outputs and address the misconception in the industry that ad giants Facebook and Google are the only way to advertise a company's brands or services.

Adwork.io will also be launched in other regional countries, including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar, and Australia. Malaysia will be the first country to set the benchmark for the platform's regional roll-out.

The self-served platform will allow SME advertisers to execute media buying directly with offline and online media owners like The Star, Astro and RTM. The platform is not part of Nielsen One, the measurement giant's cross-media solution that provides deduplication across all four screens (linear TV, connected TV, computer, mobile).

Yee Chong Moon, the managing director and head of agencies for Asia at Nielsen, tells Campaign Asia-Pacific the Nielsen Consumer Media View (CMV) is leveraged on the Adwork platform to provide SME advertisers with a comprehensive set of demographic and lifestyle data and detailed information on media habits, consumption behaviours, and attitudes.

"With Nielsen CMV, the Adwork platform will provide SME advertisers with analytics that enable them to make informed media buying decisions based on their target audience. As a result, we are confident that the advertisers will see even greater success in their marketing efforts," says Yee.

"The collaboration is a combined effort to provide SME advertisers with an option to make easy and quick data-backed decisions when buying media. Adding value by providing insights before ad spots are purchased would mean greater confidence in the success of their media buys."

Sivanathan Krishnan, the chief executive officer of Trapper Media Group, which owns Reddoor, points out to Campaign Asia-Pacific most large brands have had the benefit of using data from Facebook and Google in decisions on media planning, buying and management.

However, it has largely been left to gut feel for most SMEs, primarily because such insights came at a price beyond their reach. Krishnan claims Adwork.io will open doors for SMEs to new future possibilities.

"When digital platforms gave them insights, showing how and when to reach their audiences, it lifted a veil. However, they were still playing with one hand tied behind their backs, while the more prominent brands had the luxury of two!" explains Krishnan.

"This was because, for such platforms as TV, radio, in-store and out-of-home, they would still have to fly by the seat of their pants without the luxury of insights and miss out on optimising their reach to about 90% of the local populace that these platforms attract."

Krishnan cautions SMEs that Adwork.io will not replace their decision-making, marketing, or advertising team in strategising what is needed but will provide access to SMEs in any sector.

Having this access will give SMEs more knowledge to create a more compelling media mix for their respective campaigns, even if they're not experts.

"This game-changer answers the 'where to advertise' question that SMEs ask and offers them the opportunity to seal the deal immediately. Perhaps the question of 'what to put in the ad' will be around the corner in Adwork 2.0," suggests Krishnan.

Having Nielsen back Adwork.io means SMEs will now have the property data, analytics and consumer learnings of the measurement firm, which is reserved for brands using the services of larger media agencies that are beyond their reach.

The hope is that Nielsen's data will enable them to make more informed decisions when buying media, even without the luxury of a media agency.

(L-R) Sivanathan Krishnan and Yee Chong Moon

Krishnan compares Adwork.io to a virtual media sales representative for media owners, enabling them to free up resources for more demanding work while levelling the playing field against the insights-rich offerings of Facebook and Google that SME organisations have become accustomed to.

"Adwork.io is network-independent and media-owner agnostic. As such, its users are not limited by vested interests or inherent deals and can therefore make decisions based purely on what best fits their objectives from the ever-growing number of cross-media assets available on this innovative first-of-its-kind seamless platform," says Krishnan.