Location-aware targeting in Asia ready to rise

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In conjunction with PwC, the IAB has measured the size of the digital advertising market in the UK since 1997; in the 2014 study, mobile display advertising accounted for 47 per cent of all mobile display spend, up 96.2 per cent from the previous year. Mobile accounted for one fifth of all digital advertising. It’s fair to expect usage to increase further as the industry continues to evolve on a global scale.

Knowing the location of target audiences, and where they have been, gives marketers an insightful view into purchase intent. In addition, having the ability to understand audience movements and reach them at multiple touch points throughout the day provides effective engagement from an ROI perspective. Interacting with consumers on the go is contextually relevant and should therefore create less media wastage, which in turn can add real performance ROI to media spend.

While the likes of the UK and US markets tend to set global industry trends, demand for location-aware targeting is also picking up in in Asia. Research firm eMarketer predicts advertisers will spend over US$13.6 billion on mobile advertising across Asia-Pacific by the end of 2015, with that number surpassing US$25.4 billion by 2017. APAC is a fast-growing market with technology advances coming online at an exponential rate.

BlisMedia’s proprietary real-time bidding (RTB) platform, serves display ads using location and behavioural data, collects information on ad campaigns and has witnessed a common trend among a select group of brand verticals that are more likely to reach audiences profiled using location insights, or using real-time, location-based campaigns. Top among these are telecommunications and automotive verticals.

Why are these verticals demanding location-aware campaigns?

Many brands in the top categories for successful location-based ads tend to have physical locations. This makes evaluating the devices present in-store a relatively feasible task and helps derive insights based on actual consumer movement before, during and after a shop visit.

For example, users located within close proximity to a nearby fast-food restaurant could be sent a time-sensitive coupon only valid at a local outlet. Coupon redemption then becomes a way to measure performance. Using footfall-attribution technology also allows brands to observe movement and frequency and in-turn evaluate any uplift in activity from a selected group of people.

The importance of real-time tracking has created a need for technology advancements across the industry, where demand for highly accurate targeting is clearly growing. BlisMedia’s patented footfall-attribution tool tracks devices in store, in real-time. If a consumer has previously been served a related ad and their device is seen again, connecting to a nearby publisher or present in a particular store, their activity becomes part of the data available to advertisers.

To further drive engagement and brand recall, the technology has the ability to re-target consumers after they have visited a particular location. Using additional location insights and IP matching technology, BlisMedia can ensure that the re-messaging only occurs when the users are in their private residence, a location and time where they would be more likely to be receptive to the messaging.

Campaign results can be used to accurately measure traffic uplift with consumers exposed to a particular ad. BlisMedia also works with consumer retail research companies such as IRi who track uplift in retail sales at the till, relating to an active campaign. The combination of these granular data sets provides brands clearer insight into the customer journey and what drives overall campaign performance.

Demand for location-aware campaigns across Asia is poised to climb over the next 12-18 months as advertisers begin to understand their true power and how intelligent targeting can also drive consumer demand.

To find out more about BlisMedia’s services, visit the company’s website.

Regina Goh is managing director for Asia at BlisMedia