The industry is expected to outpace global economic growth despite the eurozone and US woes

THE outlook for the Malaysian advertising market for 2012 is positive even with the problems besetting the eurozone and the United States. In fact, even globally, the ad market is expected to grow at a faster rate than the world economy next year, according to media service agency ZenithOptimedia, which forecast a higher 4.7% growth in 2012 compared with 3.5% this year.

Domestically, ad spending on media grew by about 13% in the first 10 months of 2011 to RM8.7bil, according to market research firm Nielsen (see table).

Industry players estimated the year would finish with a 12% to 15% advertising expenditure (adex) growth.

The local advertising market is expected to be supported by seve-ral events next year, including the general election, the Olympic Games and the UEFA Football Championship.

In terms of the economy, Starcom MediaVest Group and Optimedia Malaysia chief executive officer Ranganathan Somanathan says private capital spending, driven by initiatives such as the Economic Transformation Programme, expansion of capacity and investment in new growth areas will help Malaysia sustain its gross domestic product growth at 5% plus in 2012.

“However, given the headwinds in external market conditions, consumer worries over inflation and softer consumer sentiment, the real’ adex in 2012, adjusted for media inflation, is expected to grow 8% to 10% over 2011,” he says.

Aegis Media Malaysia executive chairman Margaret Lim expects adex to be “slightly lower” in the first half of next year as advertisers grapple with cautious consumer sentiment, local political uncertainty surrounding the election and the global economic uncertainty emanating from Europe.

However, by the second half, adex would pick up speed by increasing at a higher rate.

“Overall, there should be a slight absolute increase in adex next year because of several events that are believed to historically draw increased adex: the general elections, Olympics and Euro 2012,” she opines.

The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) president Tony Savarimuthu says there should be a mid single-digit adex growth in media measured by Nielsen. But he notes that there are a lot of marketing communication activities that are not measured: investments in retail experiences, digital marketing, sponsorships, shopper marketing, applications and content.

“There are more Malaysia-based brands involved in important sponsorship vehicles like the EPL (English Premiere League) and F1 (Formula One) than our regional counterparts,” he points out.

Savarimuthu: ‘There are more Malaysia-based brands involved in important sponsorship vehicles.’

Savarimuthu says competition is keen in key sectors such as technology, telecommunications, financial services, consumer goods, electronics, broadcast and print media.

“There are many key brands in each sector and no one wants to slip behind or lose their place,” he adds.

He says that while there seems to be some nervous tension due to the eurozone crisis and the US economy, there is enough liquidity in the market and the banking sector is strong.

Lim of Aegis Media says that inflation as well as local and global uncertainties, which affect employment, put consumers in a cautious mood when spending.

“Local advertisers that pick up on the cautious consumer sentiment may reduce spending in anticipation of a period of tepid market demand. Advertising by multinational companies that receive their marketing budgets and directives from a global head office may be more affected by what is going on in Europe.

“Of greater concern to us in Malaysia is the lowered GDP (gross domestic product) projection for next year because experience has demonstrated that the growth of adex and GDP is highly correlated,” she says.

On marketing trends, Ranganathan and Lim both cite the increased reliance on technology and the digital platform to reach out to consumers.

“Search, social and mobile media have grown significantly in the last 12 months. These interactions with consumers are not captured by Nielsen adex data. Online adex by Nielsen only covers selected websites/publishers,” Ranganathan says.

Lim says that the number of media owners covered by Nielsen under digital barely covered 40% and this did not give a full view of the digital market. “We project real digital spend by advertisers to grow to the tune of 15%.”

In addition to relying on “bought, owned or paid” commercials, advertisers cannot overlook the importance of “earned media”: the new and powerful digital version of word-of-mouth, says Lim.

“Consumers’ opinions online can be powerful enough to make or break a brand,” she says.

Innity, South East Asia’s premier advertising ad network, today announced that it has completed the certification process to become a certified Rich Media and Ad Network vendor for Google’s DoubleClick Ad Exchange Platform – the Real-Time Bidding platform for the world’s buyers, creators and sellers of digital media, enabling Innity to provide more effective media planning and buying, improve on targeting, and reach a wider audience across thousands of relevant sites for its clients.

Launched in 2009, Google DoubleClick Ad Exchange is a marketplace that can optimise the effectiveness, relevance, and profitability of advertising campaigns across the Google digital inventory (Google Display Network, Youtube, AdMob, etc.). Through this agreement, Innity will utilize open real-time bidding systems to leverage on bidding algorithms for a better control over media spend, which in turn enhance and improve clients’ ROI. Innity’s clients will see a definite surge of increase in their return on investment through precise targeting, defined bids, defined budgets and frequency caps on inventory purchases. Innity will implement Google’s DoubleClick Ad Exchange platform across its ad network, which reaches more than 50 million unique internet users and serves 2 billion monthly ad impressions.

The Google Ad Exchange Certified Vendor status is only granted to selected list of companies who meet the requirements of possessing dynamic, innovative technologies as well as a strong commitment in confidentiality management by meeting the standards established by global privacy protection organisations.

By utilizing Google’s Ad Exchange, Innity is capable of:

• Using delivery controls to improve relevance and performance

• Leveraging the real-time bidding for improved efficiency and effectiveness

• Employing dynamic selection to get only the impressions advertisers need, when they need them

In addition, as part of the company’s continuous efforts to strengthen its lead and reputation in the industry, as well as to reiterate its assertion to advertising quality, Innity signed the Facebook Platform Terms for Ad Providers that governs advertisement quality and data use to prevent the collection of any personal information from users, to be listed as one of Facebook’s Advertising Providers, joining the other big names in the industry such as Ad.com (Aol), Fox Networks and ValueClick.

Innity’s CEO, Mr. Phang Chee Leong, said, “We’re very excited about this certification as it grants us the opportunity to increase our ad network reach in Asia and incorporate the effectiveness of the marketplace into our dynamic ad capabilities. This is part of our ongoing commitment to delivering data-centric targeting strategies and meaningful advertising solutions to our clients.”

Measuring brand effectiveness with clicks reminds me of so many other well-known fallacies: Home prices will always continue to skyrocket, nuclear energy is relatively safe, and one can quit smoking in a day. Likewise, advertisers seem to keep convincing themselves that clicks are a good measure of online branding. Unfortunately, when brand advertisers only focus on this metric, they are actually stifling creativity and harming their own brand. The emphasis on clicks has created ads that serve more as street signs to direct users to their site, instead of encompassing an overall memorable experience.

Advertising agencies do what they are paid to do, and if you pay them to deliver clicks, that’s what you are going to get. Why bother with creativity, witty copy, glaring images, and innovative formats, when you can get clicks by just placing cheap standard banners at high volume on long tail placements?

The problem this type of thinking is that while you may have achieved the stated campaign objective, your brand could suffer in the long run. Instead, what you should be aiming for is for users to freely engage with your brand while receiving a memorable and positive experience in return. This is why brand advertisers should define campaign goals as engagement, rather than clicks.

Where did this click come from?
The inventor of the click-through rate couldn’t have possibly imagined that CTR would serve as the currency for online advertising. At face value, clicks appear to be a powerful concept. They are intuitive, require active participation from the user, and generate valuable traffic. But what is missing from this perfect picture is that the link between the click-through rate and branding effectiveness is not grounded in research. In fact, research shows that online display advertising is effective even at low click-through rates.

comScore maintains that the primary effect of online ads is the exposure itself and not necessarily the act of clicking on it. In ”How Online Advertising Works: Whither The Click?” comScore demonstrates that two-thirds of internet users do not click on any display ads over the course of a month and that only 16 percent of internet users account for 80 percent of all clicks. Furthermore, clickers tend to be younger and less affluent than non-clickers. comScore confirmed that there is a latency effect and branding effect to online advertising, in which users arrive at the advertiser’s website even without clicking.

However, the research by comScore also indicates that display advertising has an effect on user behavior even at low click-through rates. In the research, which included 139 display campaigns from seven verticals, comScore has shown substantial effects on traffic, sales and branding despite the lack of clicks. According to comScore, the display campaigns yielded a 46 percent lift in advertiser websites visits, over a four-week period. In addition, over a four-week period, exposed users are 38 percent more likely to conduct an advertiser related branded keyword search and are 27 percent more likely to make a purchase online. Furthermore, exposed users are 17 percent more likely to make a purchase at the advertiser’s retail store.

Engagement demystified
What is engagement and how can we measure it? To measure the proportion of impressions that were engaged and the duration of engagement, MediaMind uses a metric called dwell. The metric measures the proportion of rich media impressions that were intentionally engaged with by touch, interaction, or click and the duration of the engagement. Unintentional dwell lasting less than one second is excluded.

This measure of engagement provides an estimate of the share of impressions that were seen by users with high likelihood. The users’ natural tendency is to follow the mouse cursor movement with their eyes. Dwell measures the proportion of impressions that had a meaningful mouse-touch, lasting more than one second. While there have been users who have seen the ads and have not touched them with their mouse, dwell allows us to gauge the number of users that are very likely to see the ad.

Furthermore, research by MediaMind, Microsoft Advertising, and comScore shows that engagement does have an actual effect on brand metrics. The results of the joint study indicate that users who were exposed to campaigns with high dwell are three times more likely to search for brand related keywords as compared to users who were exposed to campaigns with low dwell. Moreover, campaigns with high engagement boosted advertisers’ site traffic by 69 percent and improved brand engagement — increasing page views and time spent on the brand’s site.

How to increase engagement?
There are myriad rules and techniques that can help advertisers increase user engagement and dwell. Some of the more successful ones include embedding video into banners, creating in-banner games, using expandable banners to allow users to explore the brand, and delivering visually appealing ads both in terms of size and creativity. Thus, the rule of thumb is to create ads that deliver experience, and not just signs that send you somewhere else.

Here are three examples:

HBO’s “True Blood” homepage takeover is a great example of how to hook users to your ad and keep them engaged to create a memorable experience. Homepage takeover is a very visible format that takes advantage of the full canvas to expose users to the brand message. Homepage takeovers achieve dwell rate of slightly more than 5 percent and 46 seconds of dwell duration.

The ad starts with a quick three-second video to get users to notice the ad. Then users are invited to choose the colors of the wallpaper ad that surrounds the content, making this a customizable ad that increases engagement. The sensual ad truly delivers the appeal of “True Blood.”

This Nike ad takes engagement to a whole new level. It starts as a small 234×60 messenger ad. However, when users click on it, it becomes a truly full-screen experience of an app that allows users to explore the brand. It includes multiple screens, videos, and more. The visual implementation is simply eye candy. This ad is a revolutionary way to say bye-bye click-through rate, and hello engagement and phenomenal user experience.

H&M decided to put the term “direct response” advertising on its head, while letting users engage with its catalogue directly on the banner. Instead of grabbing a fraction of the users to go to the brand’s actual site to view the entire catalogue, this ad took out the unnecessary step and allowed users to view and flip the collection on the banner itself.

These advertisers didn’t settle for clicks. They wanted engagement. Imagine if TV ads featured a call to action like “click on channel 2983 for more…” It’s highly unlikely that the viewers would leave their programming to click on the ad. So, why would online users behave any differently? Once you realize that the aim is to impress rather than making users press a button, there is no limit to creativity.

Introduced in 2009, we rolled out the Lightbox to excited clients and eager publishers. Armed with a range of interactive features in Rich Media format, the Lightbox ad is perfect for Brands to reach out and engage with their target audience.

The Lightbox ad unit can be creatively furnished with videos, photos, games, sign-up forms, social sharing tools, and much more, providing all the elements a user needs to fully interact with the Brand.

How it works:
When the user mouse over the ad, a countdown will be triggered to ensure genuine interest in the ad. The Lightbox will then appear at the center of the page against a black tinted background, offering maximum communication for the advertisers’ brand message, or promotion. Cost per Engagement (CPE) is the payment model used to deliver the creative, ensuring a more cost-effective option for the advertiser. Once the Lightbox is shown, it is counted as an engagement.

What can the Lightbox do for you?

Make the first impression count – Build awareness with standard, high impact IAB ad formats

Engage your target audience’s interest with Unique Selling Points (USPs) for a better brand recall.

Enhance the knowledge of the brand – Rich Media elements such as video, games and interactive gallery helps to create a more favorable perception and loyalty towards the brand.

Let your audience be your brand ambassador – In every Lightbox, we will incorporate Social Sharing features to enable users to share the ad with their peers on Facebook or Twitter.

Additionally, upon closing the ad unit, a pop-up alert appears to remind the audience to visit the advertiser’s site, increasing the chance for conversions.

Here are some samples of the Lightbox that we’ve worked on.

So there you have it. One of our best propriety ad formats that we’re sure advertisers and publishers alike will benefit from

If you’d like to know more, write to us at media@innity.com. We’d love to help you!

Innity is introducing the newly created Universal Tag – an easy to use standard approach for delivering the ad tags, a tool for improving the overall performance of publishing ads across the web.

The Universal Tag is specially created for Innity customized ad tags to be generated in a consistent and easier way. So instead of generating codes for individual ad formats, publishers now only need to generate one universal code for all Innity’s propriety ad formats.

The formats involved are Innity’s propriety ads such as Site Take Over, Balloon, and Bottoms Up.

What are the benefits?

• Easy to handle – Less hassle of dealing with various tags. Everything can be effortlessly managed in Advenue.

• Time-saving – By using only one tag, there will be fewer scripts, thus, speeding up the loading process.

Step 1:

• 1. Go to Manage Ad

• 2. Select ‘Create New Zone’

Step 2:

• 1. Create Name of Ad Zone

• 2. Select ‘Universal Tag’

• 3. Save & Generate Code

Step 3:

• 1. Tick your desired ad formats

• 2. Save & Generate Code

Step 4:

• 1. Copy and Paste the code on your site

We’ve tried our best to make this switch as seamless as possible for you. If you have any further questions, drop us a line at media@innity.com.

Thanks!

By Matt Sutton, CEO Aktiv Digital

According to the IAB report internet ad revenue for 2011 is expected to cross a record $30 billion this year. 15 years ago this number was a mere $267 million. This phenomenal growth can be attributed to only one factor, change.

What has changed? Everything has! the audience, the medium, the message and the delivery.

Internet advertising as we know it, started with the first web banner sold by HotWired paid for by AT&T, and put online on October 27, 1994. Today digital advertising encompasses multiple channels including email, display, search, mobile, social, video, etc.

Each of these channels in itself has evolved; display advertising now operates through ad networks, ad exchanges, demand and supply side platforms. The creative execution has kept up as well, today IAB recognizes more than 20 types of formats.  Generic content has given way to socially customized content. Advanced tracking has taken marketing intelligence to a whole new level.

The underlying factor is of course the way people use technology to consume media, Nielsen’s recent Digital Consumer Report about Malaysians revealed the average time spent online was 19 hours and 48 minutes each week. The report also found out that more than half (53%) of Malaysian digital consumers surf the Internet on a daily basis.

What does this mean for the marketers, media agencies, brand and campaign managers and supply side vendors like ourselves in Asia?  I guess it means we need to avoid looking at the digital canvass through the rear view mirror. We need to embrace the new; whether it’s retargeting campaigns and integrated media buys or video seeding and blog sponsorships.

Present day technology and digital media in its various shapes and forms is now ready to cover the entire customer journey from acquisition to sales to post-sales.  The closer we work together on this, the quicker we’ll grow the industry …

Men in Asia are more likely to prioritise their jobs over love and are extremely focused on their work, career and earning money. Brands need to provide a distraction, or assistance needed to make tough choices if they want to reach them, says a new study.

The new study by Microsoft Advertising and MEC showed that bachelors in Asia use an average of eleven email addresses, three smartphones, and various social channels to stay connected to their first loves: their jobs.

The study spanned six markets in Asia – China, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Indonesia and Australia and interviewed 4,200 young male bachelors between the ages of 21 to 39 to better understand their online behavior. The results show how men use many different devices daily to engage and support their digital activities online for work, socializing and entertainment. The study also revealed how pre-family men plan their time online and use digital content and technology to help them achieve their goals.

In addition to a strong purchasing power, the study proves that the pre-family man is influential and digitally savvy – almost one out of five is labeled as an innovator or early adopter of technology.

Importantly for marketers, this segment is also becoming increasingly larger as the marital age of men in Asia continues to get delayed. The median age for first marriages of men in Asia rose to 32 in 2011.

“The pre-family man study provides marketers with tremendous insights into the online behavior of this prized segment. Because the digital world is in a constant state of evolution, understanding how pre-family men access information can help marketers enhance their storytelling experience in creative and relevant ways,” said Heidi Lau, head of research, Microsoft Advertising Asia.

The study concluded that brands need to break through an information glut to reach these men and engage with them by providing a distraction or assistance needed to make tough choices, being wary of adding more information sources unless it is for a very specific need complementing the existing sources.

It also advised appealing to their competitive nature and select the right content, by device, by time of day, and by mindset to maximize accessibility and engagement.

Other findings in the study showed that while men in the EMEA regions prioritised love, men in Asia chose their jobs. The pre-family man in Asia puts his job or career ahead of his other priorities (29%). This is followed by money (17%), love (17%), family (12 %) and friends (8%). Surprisingly, pre-family men in Europe, the Middle East and Africa highlight love as their first priority (75%). Within Asia-Pacific, Australian men follow the Westernized trend, prioritizing love over their career (32 compared to 14%).

Pre-family men use technology to manage their daily online activity such as communication, entertainment and organizing finances, showing that their online behavior is often planned, even down to what they use the Internet for at different times of the day.

They also get competitive when it comes to games and social networking as social connectivity provides them with the platform to not only play games but communicate their competitiveness among peers.

Innity advertising network has launched its ground-breaking pre roll video advertising offering through its partnership with RazorTV and Stomp. This will enable brands to reach their audiences with highly effective video and display advertising, ensuring the best results possible for both advertisers and marketers.

According to eMarketer, nearly one third of all online ad dollars is expected to go to video in 2011 and by 2014, video is set to be the third largest online ad format. With video ads, marketers are able to generate the same emotional response from their audience as a TV ad is able to. Video ads are also measurable and allow for the implementation of targeting techniques as opposed to TV ads. With the launch of its new network, Innity is perfectly positioned to take on the opportunities offered by this exciting medium.

Innity’s Premium Network of video publishers currently includes the likes of AdapTV, Veoh, eBuddy, RazorTV, and Stomp and is set to expand significantly over the next few months. Comprehensive data indicating how customers utilized the video ad will be provided to existing and potential customers with the new format. Additionally, brands will be billed on a Cost Per View basis whereby they will only be charged if the pre roll ad is viewed for more than 3 seconds.

By guaranteeing quality, user-initiated video campaigns to the right target audience and optimizing performance facilitated by in-depth consumer insight, Innity’s new offering will help drive consumer engagement and superior levels of brand recall. “We are very excited about this partnership with RazorTV and Stomp, especially considering their leadership and reach in the local market,” said Phang Chee Leong, CEO, Innity. “The combination of pre-roll video and display advertising across our premium network of publishers will enable brands to leverage Innity’s sophisticated tracking and reporting features, highly developed consumer insights and improved levels of targeting to make informed decisions about brand strategy.”

Innity is now introducing this offering to advertisers in Singapore followed by advertisers across other countries in Southeast Asia.

In their recent October issue, a+m Magazine highlighted a bunch of companies that made it into the Digital Media Company of the Year 2011. And we’re excited to revealed that Innity’s part of that list! The results were derived from questions in Boardroom Research’s annual Digital Media Rankings survey and the respondents comprised of client advertisers and marketing services agency professionals who are genuine advertising decision-makers and influencers across key agency-using industries.

iCatcha Digital Asia and Better Digital Solutions were ranked third and fourth respectively, followed by Admax Network at fifth place.

This means a lot to Innity and we can’t express how grateful we are for your continuous support and trust in us.

So here’s a huge Thank You, from all of us at Innity!