IAB Hong Kong’s Programmatic Survey Results Announced

On April 26, 2019, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Hong Kong held a member event for the digital marketing industry of HK at SCMP’s office in Times Square, Causeway Bay, to announce key findings of the IAB HK’s first Programmatic Advertising Survey. SCMP was the venue sponsor of the event. Over 100 people registered for the event.

“Programmatic” advertising buying utilises software to automatically and intelligently purchase and manage digital advertising, as opposed to the traditional process of humans manually performing the process. It is changing the face of online advertising, and promises to make ad buying more efficient and accountable than ever.

The event was sponsored by Verizon Media. IAB HK shared insights from the survey with IAB members and the marketing community at large, revealing how, what and why brands, agencies, publishers and ad tech platforms are using Programmatic.

Questions covered in the survey ranged from the generic (such as the respondents’ percentage of spending on Programmatic in 2018 versus 2019) to the more specific (such as preferred buying models and main reasons for buying among different categories of publishers).

Ian Hocking, SCMP’s vice-president, Digital for Advertising & Marketing Solutions, moderated a panel discussion to explore best practices and latest strategies.

Panelists included:

• Amy Ho, business development director, Integral Ad Science
• Timmy Kwok, Programmatic trading director, Omnicom Media Group
• Benjamin Li, chief commercial officer, MyTV Super
• Jenny Tsang, Programmatic advertising solutions lead, Verizon Media
• Alexis Wengraf, associate director, Programmatic at IPG mediabrands

Key findings from the survey were:

• 77% of respondents indicated they would spend more via Programmatic channels in the next 12 months. 33% of them will invest at least 40% more.
• Standard displays are still the most traded formats, but nearly 60% of respondents also buy video pre/mid-roll.
• Viewability continues to be a top concern for marketers, with 78% of all those surveyed ranking it “important” or “very Important”.
• Video and Connected TV are set to be the biggest areas of investment growth in the next 12 months.
• Performance and reach proved to be the main reasons buyers invest in walled gardens (Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, or “GAFA”).
• Brand safety and context proved to be the main reasons buyers invest in premium publishers.
• Reach and price proved to be the main reasons buyers invest in the long tail of sites.

Stay tuned for more SCMP updates and opportunities to meet our team leaders from different disciplines in upcoming events and conferences.