Light Reaction switches on in Vietnam

VIETNAM - Light Reaction, a performance advertising business that is part of Xaxis, has launched in Ho Chi Minh City. The company is now present in 32 markets in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

In an interview with Campaign Asia-Pacific, Auke Boersma, APAC managing director, said that with an internet population of 50 million, the majority of whom are millennials, the Vietnam market “is ready” for performance/outcome-based advertising.

Boersma added that the company’s ability to reach these audiences across all devices, combined with the growing demand from advertisers for measurable results (clicks, leads, sales, app installs, engagements) makes Vietnam an ideal market to launch.

“Knowing that currently about 52 percent of the country’s population is online shows that there is a massive growth to be expected,” he added. “Our priorities will be delivering the full app marketing product suite, engagement, re–engagement and multi-screen performance products delivering clicks, leads and sales.”

The company declined to share names of brands it is working with but said that at launch, notable clients in Vietnam's portfolio include "a global consumer electronics company, a multinational automobile manufacturer and a well-known soft drink". In all 32 markets globally, Light Reaction works for a mix of local, regional and global clients.

Trang Nguyen will head the Light Reaction Vietnam team, which currently numbers 10. She will be working closely with director of Xaxis Vietnam, Huyen Doan and Xaxis senior manager Thuy Uong, all reporting to Boersma.

Boersma said being part of GroupM gives Light Reaction access to exclusive, premium and ‘first-look’ inventory and audiences. He added that direct publisher relationships ensure the highest level of brand safety and reduce the risk of fraud and non-human traffic and improve confidence in inventory. In Vietnam, notable media outlets include Dantri, VNExpress, Zing, 24h, Kenh14, Yan, Webtretho and NhacCuaTui.

“We leverage proprietary technology, data and an array of partner technology to shape and optimize traffic before being exposed to buyers,” said Boersma.

The company’s pay-for-performance media model is touted to provide advertisers with a risk-free way to drive real outcomes such as sales, subscriptions and other concrete forms of engagement.

It claims to achieve the best outcomes possible by optimising for a host of key performance factors including optimal exposure time to drive conversions, geography, time, and device to ensure that the right customer is being reached in the right place at the right time, and lastly, placement ID—locating the best-performing spot on the webpage or app for the specific campaign goal.

In addition to leveraging robust audience data, high-performing media inventory and real-time programmatic technologies, Light Reaction’s products are positioned as channel agnostic. Advertisers are able to run coordinated campaigns across multiple channels to capture outcomes wherever they may be.

In statement, Michel de Rijk, CEO of Xaxis Asia-Pacific, said traffic is important, but factors like sales, margins, and repeat business are the drivers of business success.

“The beauty of Light Reaction is that we and our ads continually get smarter," he said. "Each audience outcome is rated in terms of how successful it was in delivering the expected value and fed back into the system as a learning event. This continuous data stream allows us to refine our accuracy in matching audiences to desired, high-quality outcomes on an ongoing basis.”