Mobile video: APAC’s fastest-growing ad format
Smartphone usage in Asia Pacific continues to grow at a pace on par with the rest of the world, with page-view volume on mobile websites and apps approaching global averages, according to a Opera Mediaworks and Mobile Marketing Association report.
There is high demand for and rapid adoption of mobile video-ad units globally. Within what Opera Mediaworks calls the Power Four (P4) region of India, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, the latter leads with the highest ratio of video-ad impressions served in its market, exceeding the expected global standard (ratio of 1:1). Both India and Vietnam have exceeded the Asian average (0.41:1).
There was a dramatic 545 per cent increase in smartphones since 2013 in the P4 countries. This can be attributed to the rapid adoption of Android devices.
Android took the number one position in market share of impressions served to mobile devices, accounting for more than 60 per cent of traffic in APAC and approaching 70 per cent in the P4 region in Q2.
“It’s an exciting time to be a mobile marketer in Asia Pacific right now. The region is predicted to have 2 billion smartphone users by 2019, and APAC’s mobile screen minute average is higher than global averages, thanks to the higher demand for mobile video. This is due in part to publishers creating more video-friendly environments and mobile audiences surpassing TV-like scale. Since growing our team in Asia, Opera Mediaworks is poised to meet the demands of mobile-video advertising in this region,” says Vikas Gulati, Managing Director, Asia, Opera Mediaworks.
High-frequency users, or those who access mobile sites and apps five or more days each week, are common in Indonesia and Vietnam — even more than the global average. Data consumption in Vietnam is among the highest in the region, with each user in Vietnam using 85 MB per month – very close to the global average of 90 MB/month. In terms of data usage, The Philippines and Indonesia exceeding the global average by four times in Q2.
In terms of demographics of the users, male users predominate across the region. In India, 9 out of 10 mobile users are male. The average user age in P4 is under 24 while in Vietnam, 50 per cent are 19 years old or younger.
Social networking sites are the most visited, the consumption of which is led by the Philippines, which shows an extreme preference for this category, even compared to high global averages.
Indian prefer sites and apps that serve music, video, media & entertainment content, while Indonesians are consuming far more business, finance & investing content than the rest of the world.
When it comes to revenue winners and emerging mobile ad formats, publishers in business, finance & investing fared well, accounting for a whopping 42 per cent of revenue paid to mobile publishers across the P4 region. The report highlighted that communication services is clearly differentiated in the P4 region compared to global performance; its impression volume and revenue generation is much higher than global averages by four times for impressions and as much as 15 times for revenue.
“We believe marketers in Asia are best positioned to be leaders in global mobile innovation, building campaigns that harness the potential of the medium and the mobile audience. Opera’s stunning data proves that the future of mobile lies in Asia,” added Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association APAC.
