DoubleVerify has released the findings from its report, Raising the Bar in APAC: How Media Quality and Performance Drive Outcomes.
The report, developed in conjunction with WARC, explores the impact of media quality and attention metrics on driving performance for advertisers in APAC. It found that 91% of Asia-Pacific (APAC) marketers agree that measuring media quality is important, 98% use ad verification tools and more than half are confident in measuring that quality.
Of surveyed marketers, only 17% evaluate media across the four key metrics of fraud, brand safety, viewability and ensuring the ads were served in the intended geography. In addition to this, one in three marketers only use verification tools on an ad hoc basis.
The report noted that APAC’s unique local ad ecosystem is rapidly developing; consumers are using incumbent global platforms to discover brands and purchase products while making social connections, and local super apps and marketplaces are becoming retail media networks.
Ali Bremner, media lead at TPG Telecom and a contributor to the report, shared his thoughts on how his brand was experimenting with emerging channels like gaming and CTV.
“As the digital landscape and media consumption becomes increasingly fragmented, test and learn strategies must diversify and embrace new frontiers. The continued development of brand metrics in reporting has been instrumental in enabling advertisers to better understand how new media channels perform compared to more traditional mediums,” Bremner noted.
Imran Masood
Imran Masood, country manager of ANZ at DoubleVerify, said: “Media quality is a prerequisite for media effectiveness, allowing advertising to cut through, drive performance and not waste money. This report shows that traditional metrics such as viewability barely scratch the surface when measuring media quality. Marketers must consider the nuances of our local digital media ecosystem to effectively deploy ad verification across all campaigns and digital environments.”
DoubleVerify’s report also highlighted key findings, include:
• According to the report, a wide range of attention metrics are used across the region. While 98% of marketers surveyed claimed to measure attention through a range of metrics, the metrics used varied greatly based on channel, format, and desired KPIs. This points to the importance of considering all metrics in their entirety for more accurate attention measurement.
• AI will profoundly impact the scale of content creation and may introduce new forms of unsafe content, making it even harder to find quality inventory that is brand safe and suitable.
• The global digital media duopoly is less relevant in APAC, with growth in the local media ecosystem driven by the post-pandemic digital commerce revolution.
• Local e-commerce platforms, such as Lazada, are replacing traditional search-led discovery, with 57% of shoppers in the region now searching for products on these platforms.
• Retail media networks in APAC, including retailers like Woolworths, super apps like Grab and e-commerce marketplaces such as Lazada are poised to grow. 99% of APAC marketers indicated they plan to increase retail media spend over the next twelve months
• CTV and gaming were identified as the new ad frontiers in the region, with local video services beating international streaming giants in some instances and many streamers preferring free ad-supported television content (FAST) instead of subscribing to an ad-free platform.
• In fact, 94% of Australian gamers noted watching an ad is their preferred method of progressing in a game than making in-app purchases, with 52% recalling that ad.
The DoubleVerify and WARC report was developed to understand how media quality impacts performance outcomes across the region. It draws insights from 329 brand marketers responsible for media buying in India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, and the Philippines.
It incorporates insights from in-depth interviews with brand marketers and industry experts and a review of WARC’s global data, DV’s data and examples to help marketers raise the bar of media quality in APAC.