Tech talk: Multi-device identity and reach, video content, in-flight hackathon

Discovery platform Taboola announced expansion in Asia Pacific, signing its first premium publisher partnership with Newshub at MediaWorks in New Zealand.

The two-year exclusive agreement will see Newshub intergrating Taboola’s personalized content recommendations, Full Page Personalization, Newsroom and Read More features. Taboola is also opening a seventh location in the region, with a new office in Sydney.

MediaWorks is New Zealand’s largest independent broadcaster, reaching 96 percent of Kiwis through its extensive portfolio of premium brands across radio, television, digital and live platforms. The deal is focused on Newshub, a news and current affairs brand that spans television, radio, web and mobile.

Shaun Davies, head of digital, Newshub:

All publishers are in a battle for attention and mobile is the key fighting front. Taboola’s capacity to drive strategy in a way that is personalised and meaningful to readers will help us achieve growth on the metrics that matter to us.

ComScore announced the launch of MMX Multi-Platform and upgrades to Mobile Metrix in Indonesia with the introduction of data from its recently launched mobile consumer panel.

The introduction of Android mobile panel data expands the measurement of mobile audiences in Indonesia to enable more robust reporting of visitation, engagement and demographics, including new segments for age and gender.

ComScore was appointed as the online audience measurement partner in Indonesia by the Indonesian Digital Measurement Consortium (IDMC) and Bekraf.

Joe Nguyen, senior vice president, Asia Pacific, ComScore:

We are committed to bringing robust solutions to Indonesia, and are delighted to announce the introduction of mobile panel data which will enable more granular insights into audiences and their content consumption across smartphones and tablets. This development marks a key measurement milestone in Indonesia. We look forward to delivering even more data and insights that media buyers and sellers need, to optimise their digital strategies and better understand the competitive advertising landscape.

MMX Multi-Platform and Mobile Metrix combine data from desktop and mobile consumer panels with data from the comScore census network to provide unduplicated, persons-based measurement of total digital reach, according to the company.

According to MMX Multi-Platform, the total digital population in Indonesia reached nearly 63.6 million unique visitors/viewers in January 2017, with 14.8 percent of that population accessing the Internet from both desktop and mobile platforms.

Mosaicoon, which helps creators monetize original videos while allowing brands and media agencies to choose, customize and efficiently plan video strategies, has launched in Singapore. The company is headquartered in Italy and now has eight offices worldwide: Singapore, Seoul, New Delhi, Isola, London, Madrid, Milan and Rome.

The company says it offers brands and media companies a quick, simple and cost-effective platform to accelerate their video content strategy and maximize performance. 

Mosaicoon’s proprietary platform draws on a worldwide network of video creators to produce professional, ready-to-use videos and video formats. Clients can browse, select and customize these pre-made videos for specific brand or marketing campaigns. The compay also claims to help clients conceptualize and plan their video strategy by identifying themes that will effectively capture and engage their intended audience. It also offers a proprietary pricing model that allows brands to pay for their content according to effective views, rather than a fixed price.

Mosaicoon is a Facebook Marketing Partner on Video Content Marketing. Current and previous clients include Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Alitalia, Microsoft, Jaguar-Land Rover, Warner Bros and Samsung. SInce its 2016 soft launch in Asia, it has worked with Korea’s Woongjin, Microsoft and Sentosa Resorts World in Singapore and Uber India. 

Krishna Krovi, MD, Mosaicoon, Asia Pacific:

Brands have a great potential to engage customers through video in Asia with over 8 billion videos shared daily, but content has to be authentic, relatable and entertaining to be truly effective. Mosaicoon allows brands to empower their communication potential and effortlessly accelerate their video marketing with guaranteed performances.

Krishna Krovi

Dotmailer, an email marketing automation platform, and ecommerce agency SmartOSC announced a partnership in Southeast Asia. The partners will provide online marketers and merchants throughout the region with marketing automation tools enabling them to "think smart, act fast, scale quickly, and get dramatic results", they said.

The partnership will enable SmartOSC clients to use Dotmailer's Magento integration with a single sign-on, and real-time data synchronisation, enabling faster and smarter predictive email marketing.

We look forward to working closely with SmartOSC to enable leading online retailers in Southeast Asia to create and send smarter emails with fast, intuitive tools. SmartOSC is a Magento enterprise solutions partner in the region and we are eager to help their customers extend their Magento 1 & 2 platforms with our world-class premium integration.

AOL Platforms partnered with USP Studios to host USP Studios’ video content and provide ad-serving, monitoring and data analytics through its ONE by AOL: Publisher suite, across desktop, mobile and VOD platforms.

USP Studios focused on animated characters that make learning fun for children. Its channels, including ‘Kids TV’, ‘Kids Channel’ and ‘Farmees’, produce content in more than 24 languages.

Alex Khan, managing director AOL Platforms Asia:

We have a resilient end-to-end solution, that makes inventory available to multiple partners, through our open platform. Through our technology, USP Studios are making their inventory available to quality advertisers, with real-time insights and yield optimisation controls at their fingertips, in multiple markets.

Jaskirat “Kabir” Singh Gill, CEO, USP Studios

The partnership enables us to monetise our content effectively, while broadening our reach to include third party VOD services. AOL has a complete, scalable end-to-end solution that allows for an efficient and adaptable service to drive engagements globally.

More than 650 people have applied to take part in the inaugural Hack Horizon, a travel-tech hackathon that will take in airports and various modes of transport including a British Airways commercial flight between Hong Kong and London in May. 

The aim of the hackathon is to immerse the brightest minds in the travel experience and alloe them to connect with industry leaders to develop new products and services that could go on to make a positive impact on the international travel experience, according to the event organisers. The hope is that the best ideas will be taken forward and grown into fledgling companies.

Thirty-two participants will be selected, and will be given the opportunity to work with some "of the best industry technologies and APIs" and with mentors and experts.

Hack Horizon was conceived by Kostadin Kolev, Kristy Hart, Johannes Jaeger and Sandra Sobanska, a "team of four inquisitive global-trotting millennials based in both London and Hong Kong".

The hackathon ends at the iconic London Transport Museum, where the participants will pitch to a judging panel of serial entrepreneurs, industry experts and media.

Kolev:

Asia has moved beyond imitating the West and has developed into a home of world-class talent, innovation and startups. Hack Horizon will not only help secure Hong Kong’s position as the region’s leading technology hub but also help break down potential silos in the ecosystem. 

Drawbridge, a digital identity company, announced that Adform selected the Drawbridge Connected Consumer Graph to help its agency and brand clients better reach audiences across devices through the Adform DSP.

The Drawbridge Connected Consumer Graph includes more than 1.3 billion consumers across more than 3.3 billion devices—representing 75 percent of the global active devices used by consumers to access the internet, according to the company. In addition to its scale, the Connected Consumer Graph is also extremely precise, having been found by Nielsen to be up to 97.3 percent precise in connecting consumers across devices, according to the company. 

Jay Stevens, Adform’s CRO:

Drawbridge’s solution provides a powerful extension of the cross-device options available to our clients and we know they are going to enjoy the extensive identity data that Drawbridge provides. A central focus for Adform is delivering the world’s leading open and independent full-stack platform, and Drawbridge embodies how this opens up the opportunity to team up with leading data providers. We look forward to a successful partnership that delivers value to advertisers worldwide.