Massive mobile use in Asia spurs activity in digital marketing space

Vungle, the company behind the performance marketing platform of the same name for in-app video ads, has just opened an office in Singapore. The Singapore office will be instrumental in driving the development, sales and marketing of the mobile platform across Southeast Asia, India, Australia and New Zealand, Vungle said.

Source: Vungle. The Vungle team in Singapore. The Singapore office is their 4th in Asia, and their 8th globally.

The move is backed by sales potential. Revenue from publishers based in the region grew by 177% in Q217 when compared to the prior year, outpacing Vungle’s worldwide growth rate in the same period. “App Annie projects that APAC will outpace other regions and hit US$77 billion by 2021. Based on similar reports and what we’re experiencing in the region, we know APAC is poised for significant growth,” said Zain Jaffer, CEO of Vungle.

Vungle’s investment in the Singapore office, expected to grow to 25 people by 2020, has support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). The company made prior investments in the region which began with opening an office in Beijing, China in 2014. Vungle has seen great success in the Chinese market, which grew from 7% of global revenue for the company at the beginning of 2015 to 20% in recent months, a rise of over 1,000% in absolute dollar terms in the same period.

Anton Fok, GM of Vungle's regional business said, “By opening the office in Singapore we will be able to work more closely with publishers and advertisers across all of Southeast Asia, India, Australia and New Zealand. With this office opening and the strong support from EDB, we hope to be able to lead the way in transforming Singapore into a truly Smart Nation.”  

The digital ad market is also heating up in India and is expected to surpass the US$1 billion mark in 2017. Vungle has seen explosive growth in this market as well, with a 181% increase in revenue and a 172% increase in user growth in Q2 compared to the prior year.

Ang Chin Tah, Director, Infocomms and Media, Singapore Economic Development Board, said, “We are delighted that Vungle has chosen to expand their Asia Pacific operations from Singapore. This will add to our base of digital capabilities across different infocomms and media sectors, such as ad-tech. Vungle will also groom hybrid talent – individuals with both technical and creative skillsets, capable of designing user-centric and commercially successful products.”

ComScore releases measurement of mobile audiences in Malaysia. The Y axis tracks various consumer segments by age ranges.

ComScore, the cross-platform measurement company, released insights on Malaysia, India and China recently in conjunction with CTR Market Research that underline how Asia consumes desktop and mobile content. According to the companies, over half of Malaysia’s users consume online content on both the desktop and mobile platforms in a month.

Analysis of recent multiplatform and mobile data from its digital audience measurement and media planning solutions for Malaysia shows that the most multiplatform-savvy demographic are people aged 35–44, with nearly three quarters of this segment using a combination of desktop and mobile devices. Key findings include:

- In Malaysia, multiplatform users form the largest segment, with just over half of the total digital population accessing the Internet via both desktop and mobile devices in a month.

- At the same time, just over one in five users no longer rely on desktop, becoming part of a ’mobile only’ audience that appears to be growing globally.

- Users aged 15–24 are most ‘mobile-only’, while the 25–34s are least reliant on desktops. Younger demographics are more likely to be mobile-only when accessing digital content, with around a third of 15–24s and 25–34s abandoning desktops and laptops altogether. The 25–34s age group are the least reliant on desktop, with only 3% using it as their sole platform.

- Almost three quarters of total online minutes in Malaysia are spent on smartphone or tablet devices, with the bulk of this extensive mobile time spent within apps. As expected, younger demographics spend the largest share of their time on mobile.

- On the other hand, users aged 45 years and above spend almost one third of their time on desktops and laptops, the highest proportion among all age groups.

ComScore tracks India travel consumers. The X axis tracks various consumer segments by age ranges.

When it comes to travel, mobile plays an increasingly important role in how digital content is being consumed. In July 2017, 68% of travel category visitors in India accessed content via mobile devices only, and almost two thirds of total digital time in the category is spent on smartphones or tablets, said comScore. Using insights from comScore MMX Multi-Platform and Mobile Metrix, the company shared that:

- India’s travel category is dominated by mobile audiences, with 68% of travel users choosing to access content only through their smartphone or tablet devices in a month. With only 22% of users accessing travel content exclusively through desktop computers in a month, the importance of smaller screens for publishers and advertisers is clear.

- For 10% of users, brands have multiple potential touchpoints, as they access travel content across both desktop and mobile platforms in a month.

- The top travel entities in India include diverse brands, including rail transport, cab booking sites, online travel agents and travel information sites. Across nine of the top 10 travel properties, mobile is the primary platform in terms of unique users. Cab booking and ride-sourcing users are almost exclusively using mobile, accounting for 97% and 98% of traffic for Ola Cabs and Uber respectively. Expedia users buck this trend, choosing to access primarily through desktop.

- The share of total minutes on mobile peak with younger users, and decline with older age groups.
Millennials rely heavily on mobile to consume travel content, with mobile representing over 70% of their time spent online.

ComScore chart showing the percentage of unique visitors in China to online sites by category and platform.

In China, comScore figures show that:

- Mobile apps account for six in 10 digital minutes in China. The majority of mobile app minutes are in the portals, retail and instant messenger categories.

- Just 18% of China users now rely solely on desktop access, driven largely by the 45–54 age bracket. In contrast, 20% of China Internet users access content only via mobile devices in a month.

- Broadly speaking, mobile-only audiences are larger for close-ended or location-sensitive tasks, whereas browsing of sites in the retail and portals categories still have significant desktop and multiplatform audiences. The exception is the banking category, where the proportion of mobile audiences is double that of desktop audiences.

- Mobile-only consumption varies dramatically through age ranges, meaning that advertisers and publishers must think carefully about the platform mix to reach their target customers.

The digital marketing world has been particularly active. This week, artificial intelligence (AI) company Appier announced a new Chief Strategy Officer, as well as plans to expand its operations in Japan to better support existing customers as well as drive demand for Appier's AI solutions in the country. The newly-appointed Chief Strategy Officer, Sean Chu, will also head Appier's operations in Japan.

In April, advertising technology company AdAsia Holdings closed US$12 million in Series A funding from JAFCO Asia, the largest single investment that JAFCO has made in a company in one investment round. At the time, the company said it would use the funds to expand into new markets such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia in 2017, as well as grow headcount to 400 by end-2018. Part of the money was also earmarked for a new product development centre in Vietnam.

The Singapore-headquartered company began operations in April 2016, and currently has seven offices in six countries, with Shanghai soon to follow. The company has a global headcount of over 90 staff and more than 300 clients globally.

Interested?

Download the comScore Introducing Expanded Mobile and Multi-Platform Measurement in Malaysia with Mobile Consumer Panel Data presentation

Download the comScore Mobile's Hierarchy of Needs report for insights into key behaviours that have propelled mobile to a primary platform in global markets including China.

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about Appier's new Chief Strategy Officer