In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates on ad tech from around the Asia-Pacific region – and in this edition: India ad spend to see strong growth in 2016; GroupM inks Line partnership to boost APAC campaigns; AU ad market worth AUD$7.9bn in 2015; Mediaocean acquires Australia's BCC AdSystems; and Mindshare appoints APAC innovation head.

India ad spend to see strong growth in 2016

Advertising expenditure in India is estimated to reach ₹57,666 (£6bn) this year, growing 15.9% from 2015.

Last year's ad spend clocked ₹49,752 (£5.2bn), up 14.2% from 2014, according to GroupM's latest biannual ad expenditure futures report.

GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas said: "India is the fastest growing ad market among all the major markets of the world, [with] 2015 the best year for ad spend growth we've had in the last five years."

"While global headwinds are building up in the new year, there are a number of positive factors that will help the Indian ad sector grow at higher levels in 2016", Srinivas said, pointing to FMCG, auto, and ecommerce as the top growth sectors last year.

While these segments would continue to invest in ads, he noted that the telecom, BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance), and the government sectors also would ramp up their ad spend this year. In addition, upcoming events, such as the T20 World Cup, IPL, and state assembly elections, were expected to further boost ad expenditures.

Srinivas said digital would remain the fastest-growing platform in the country, but noted that India was one of few global large markets where traditional media platforms were expected to enjoy positive growth.

The most dominant sector, FMCG, accounted for almost 30% of overall ad spend and was expected to continue investing, fuelled by falling commodity prices. In addition, leading traditional retailers would look to expand their ecommerce presence this year amid ongoing market consolidation. And, with the opening up of ecommerce as an advertising platform, GroupM said this sector would see further adoption in 2016.

GroupM South Asia chief growth officer, Lakshmi Narasimhan, also highlighted the increasing adoption of smartphones, which would drive ads in this space. "With a significant number of users accessing the internet primarily from a mobile device, ad spend on mobile will become as large as the digital ad expenditure from two years ago.

"With digital media achieving audience reach numbers that are next only to television, multiscreen planning is the order of the day", Narasimhan said. "We have seen focused targeting of digital and native advertising with programmatic buying over the last two years, and this momentum will continue in 2016 as automation increases."

According to GroupM, digital ad spend would grow 40% this year, to ₹6,525 (£678.2m), fuelled by higher investments in cross-screen campaigns, and account for 11.3% of overall spend.

GroupM inks Line partnership to boost APAC campaigns

In a separate announcement this week, the media agency said it inked a deal with Line Corporation of Japan to provide its advertisers better access to the messaging platform's 212 million monthly users.

Most of that user base resides in Asia-Pacific markets, including Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia.

In what it touted as "a landmark media partnership across Asia-Pacific", GroupM said: "The deal offers clients of GroupM agencies a competitive advantage through efficient pricing, quick access to new advertising products, and specialised training to support appropriate implementation based on unique platform characteristics and user preferences."

It noted that since Line was a closed social networking service, for which users used it mostly to communicate with personal acquaintances, the messaging service was an "intimate source of reliable information" for the user and a trustworthy environment for brands. Furthermore, GroupM noted, advertisers would benefit from Line's "strict policies" around user eligibility, eradicating fake accounts.

GroupM Asia-Pacific CEO Mark Patterson said: "Line is one of the fastest-growing natively developed social media platforms in Asia and is undeniably an important new vehicle for consumer engagement. Our agencies are already helping clients to leverage the platform within media plans, and we engineered this partnership to make Line's digital products work harder for their brands."

Line's senior vice president and head of corporate sales, Sintaro Tabata, added that the company would provide training sessions to help agencies build effective marketing campaigns around its messaging platform.

"Today, it is a worldwide trend to utilise messenger apps for consumer communications and customer relationship management, connecting brands with their audiences", Tabata said. Through this partnership with GroupM, we will connect even more brands with consumers."

AU ad market worth AUD$7.9bn in 2015

Australia chalked up AUD$7.9bn (£3.8bn) in advertising expenditure last year, clocking a 4.5% growth, despite the country's lower economic growth.

The Australian economy grew just 2.5% last year, indicating advertisers were willing to invest at a higher rate, according to the Standard Media Index. In fact, ad spend grew each month throughout the year, pushing 2015 overall gains by AUD$338.6m (£164.2m).

The index revealed that outdoor, digital, radio, and cinema saw record levels in ad spend in 2015, which also saw increasing online bandwidths drive significant competition for TV eyeballs in the ads-free subscription video-on-demand market.

TV media saw a 0.2% growth in agency ad bookings, according to the index, which monitors ad spend across all media, media sectors, and 39 product categories. Higher competition from key market segments, such as automotive, gambling, and movies, pushed overall 'new' ad spend in Australia by 57%.

Describing 2015 as a "standout year", in terms of ad spend, the report said further growth was expected this year, fuelled by the Rio Olympics and Census.

Mediaocean acquires Australia's BCC AdSystems

The ad tech vendor's purchase of Australia-based BCC AdSystems is part of efforts to improve the media buying process for its clients, offering agencies a streamlined financial system to support complex campaigns across international business units.

No financial details about the deal were provided, but Mediaocean said the acquisition would provide a "global workflow, billing, and payments software" platform to enable advertisers and agencies to "plan, manage, and reconcile media anywhere".

It added that agencies would be able to run financials and ROI (return on investment) reports across Asia, including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Singapore. Furthermore, BCC AdSystems' customers in the region also would have access to Mediaocean's global product investment, industry expertise, and service support.

Mediaocean CEO Bill Wise said: "Advertising is a global enterprise, and our clients need a software solution that enables them to do business across the world – the addition of BCC will allow Mediaocean to provide just that.

"The combined strength of BCC products and Mediaocean's expertise will help our clients capitalise on the enormous media opportunities offered by new and growing global markets", Wise added.

James Lewin

Mindshare appoints APAC innovation head

The WPP media agency has unveiled James Lewin as its new head of innovation for Asia-Pacific, where he will oversee adaptive marketing efforts and drive agility within the company.

Effective immediately, the newly-created role will see Lewin establishing key technology alliances to better support Mindshare customers, including partnerships that involve wearable tech, Internet of Things, and data visualisation.

He will collaborate with the agency's various specialists in the region such as heads of content, digital, and strategy, as well as expand its innovation talent pool in local markets.

Mindshare Asia-Pacific chief client officer, Karl Cluck, said Lewin's "keen strategic insight, deeply creative mindset, strong technical understanding", and vast experience in Asia will help drive communications and partnerships to deliver the agency's adaptive marketing strategy across the region.

Lewin added: "Despite their size, scale, and leadership position, Mindshare treats itself as being in a state of perpetual beta – forever pushing the boundaries, challenging convention, and constructively disrupting."