Pubmatic (NASDAQ***PUBM), an independent technology company dedicated to providing cutting-edge digital advertising** chains, today released its latest report on in-app advertising trends in Asia Pacific, "Brand Advertising and Mobile Gaming: What Publishers Need to Mean for Publishers to Shift Brand Ad Spend to Gaming." The report surveyed brand owners and advertising companies** in Singapore, Japan, and South Korea about their preferences for mobile in-app and in-game ad purchases, the challenges they face, and their plans for 2024.
The study, commissioned by Pubmatic and conducted by Milieu Insight, found that 70% of marketers in the countries surveyed currently incorporate in-app advertising into their marketing strategies. 88% of ad buyers in Singapore are running in-app ads, the highest percentage in the survey group, while Japanese buyers are relatively low at 47%. By country, performance-focused buyers are more likely than brand-focused buyers to advertise in-mobile apps, at 77% and 60%, respectively. Despite this disparity, marketers across regions say that the main benefit of in-app advertising is the ability to increase brand awareness, regardless of their primary advertising objective.
In the case of mobile game advertising, the study shows that more than half of marketers who currently incorporate in-app advertising into their marketing strategy also run ads within mobile games. Fifty-two percent of APAC marketers surveyed are adopting in-game marketing strategies, with significant differences across countries: 15% in Japan and 77% in Singapore. Many advertisers say that the main reason they are reluctant to run in-game advertising is that the advertising strategy does not align with the company's or brand values, or does not align with the target audience. In Japan, for example, marketers misconceptually believe that the gamer audience is predominantly young and mostly male, when in fact women make up 55% of the mobile-first gaming population in Japan.
62% of advertisers choose programmatic advertising as their preferred method of buying in-app ads, demonstrating the critical importance of achieving campaign agility through data-driven accuracy, adaptability, and cost-effectiveness. The rest of the advertisers chose to deal directly with publishers, mainly because of the need for "precision in audience targeting", "more control over ad delivery" and "solutions tailored to the brand's specific goals".
Looking ahead to 2024, 86% of advertisers in Singapore plan to increase or maintain their budget spend on in-game advertising, while 80% of advertisers in South Korea are doing the same. This shows that brand buyers will present a huge business opportunity for game publishers. At the moment, only marketers in Japan are hesitant to go all-in on in-game advertising, mainly due to concerns about audience targeting. According to marketers, the biggest appeal of in-game advertising is its ability to make mobile gamers positively associate with brands.
Lashanne Phang, Vice President of Mobile at PubMatic, said: "The findings show that in-app publishers have a better opportunity than ever to attract brand buyers looking to invest in advertising in the mobile gaming space. But in today's increasingly complex and ever-changing environment, it's critical to unlock the full potential of in-app and in-game ads and unlock more revenue across channels and geographies in 2024 by partnering with a technology partner who provides transparency, control, flexibility, and expert guidance. When selecting an ad tech partner, app publishers need to ensure that they offer unique needs and effective measurement tools, as well as a highly customizable inventory auction package that gives them control over their audience, placement, and data. ”