SPH, Mediacorp tie up to offer programmatic advertising

Singapore

SINGAPORE Press Holdings (SPH) and Mediacorp on Monday announced an alliance to create a new digital advertising marketplace using programmatic solutions, and to offer brands access to a wide audience of consumers in Singapore.

The new outfit will focus on offering clients more choice, improved brand safety, and greater scale. Tentatively named Singapore Media Exchange, it will see the commitment of at least two billion display and video impressions annually across a selection of SPH and Mediacorp platforms. The inventory for this private marketplace resides across desktop, mobile web and mobile applications.

The two media giants have established credibility and influence on a local scale, being among the top five digital properties with the highest traffic in Singapore, according to ComScore, an American media measurement and analytics company.

Using a leading data management platform to consolidate data resources from both companies, the alliance aims to provide richer targeting capabilities to pinpoint the right audiences and meet the needs of specific campaigns.

The two companies said in a joint press statement that the alliance hopes to create an environment where "brands can feel safe knowing that their creatives are appearing next to quality content".

Offering value and choices to clients, both advertisers and agencies, Julian Tan, executive vice-president of SPH's digital division, said: "We will be able to aggregate our audiences to create scale for quality local content, offering access to local news, lifestyle and entertainment content."

Parminder Singh, chief commercial and digital officer at Mediacorp, said the alliance would provide "a gateway to the most high quality sites available in Singapore", with an overall "high quality experience".

"Trust is paramount for brands," he added, "coming together in this venture enables SPH and Mediacorp to scale the benefits of our trusted media environments."

The alliance will be managed by an independent team led by a chief executive who they will be hiring. A board will be appointed with the two companies having equal representation and the chairperson role alternating between them every two years.

To be fully launched in 2018, this alliance of two leading local media organisations aims to innovate and solve challenges in today's digital age. "We will have a single, easy-to-use programmatic solution with extensive scale and reach that will allow them to drive their desired impact using the latest ad serving technology," Mr Tan said.