topic : How mobile game developers can access global brand spend and improve profitability Speaker: Jung Sung Ho – Pubmatic / Business Development Director Field : mobile, marketing hour : 2022.11.18 (Fri) 15:00 ~ 15:50 summary : Pubmatic’s Business Development Director Jeong Seong-ho introduced how mobile developers can make money with brand . In addition, APAC Senior Marketing Director Emily Yri held a panel discussion with Business Development Director Jeong Seong-ho and Group M Korea Director Bae Jun-soo, and poured out various stories.
■ Importance of brand – Is there an ad that can make money just by looking at it?
Pubmatic’s Business Development Director Jeong Seong-ho emphasized the importance of brand throughout the lecture that preceded the panel discussion. He explained that many large companies are already moving from traditional TV to digital , focusing on brand .
This model, like any other , starts with the advertiser. It is common to entrust the budget for execution to large agencies. This is where you decide on a campaign plan and budget, and utilize the programmatic trading desk to execute the campaign through your preferred supply partner. In this process, capital moves toward the SSP. SSPs hold auctions, and this capital flows to mobile publishers.
Brand is important for three reasons. First, publishers earn money simply by displaying branded ads in their apps. This gives the effect of keeping already secured users in the game or app longer. In addition, since the quality of the advertisement itself is high on average because it consists of only selected advertisements, it is possible to create an effect of cutting out the user experience. Finally, the above effects also maintain brand stability.
In addition, Director Jeong Seong-ho introduced ways for mobile publishers to secure brand spending. The first thing I heard about OMSDK compliance. OMSDK is designed by iab to facilitate third-party visibility and validation measurement of ads served to web video and native app experiences. It also explained avoiding harmful ads, maintaining high ad quality, and adopting different ad formats.
He continued to talk about alternative methods to overcome the recent global economic crisis. Director Jung emphasized the use of private marketplaces, saying that it is important to implement various models as well as open markets. He also said he should increase his preference for programmatic rather than traditional .
■ 3-person panel discussion – Focusing on Director Junsu Bae’s answer
After the explanation by Business Development Director Jung Sung-ho, a three-person panel discussion was held with Emily Yri and Director Bae Jun-soo participating. The following is an excerpt from Director Bae Jun-soo’s remarks during the three-person panel discussion.
As you explained earlier, inventory is purchased not only through the open market but also through the private marketplace. Among them, the method we prefer is the private side. When purchasing from the open side, it is very difficult to control the supply chain. So there can be various brand risks, and there is also a price aspect.
We make direct purchases by selectively collaborating with trusted supply chains. In that case, we are adopting this method because it can reduce brand risk and increase price efficiency.
Since we have big challenges to overcome, I think we have to talk about heartbreaking but realistic things and move on. As many of you in the industry have heard, there are still many prejudices about game inventory in . Most of them worry a lot about brand risk.
I’m thinking a little differently. In fact, there is a risk that very provocative advertisements such as adult content or violence can be published not only on TV but also on social media platforms such as YouTube and Meta. Nonetheless, advertisers aren’t afraid of TV, YouTube, or meta ads. Because you believe you can control it.
I think the same goes for games. Many game titles are something that people of all ages can enjoy. If there is any risk factor in the game, it can also be advertised sufficiently technically and selectively by the brand.
We now prefer private markets. In fact, several years ago, we created a private marketplace with global game publishers and created premium inventory.
Speaking of premium inventory, you might think it’s for luxury brands, but it’s applicable to all categories of advertisers. Because advertisers see it as very clean, safe and reliable.
As you may have noticed, luxury brands have been investing heavily in gaming lately. For example, Gucci has been investing in advertisements for game inventory for a very long time, and recently made and sold products sold only in the metaverse. And in the case of Louis Vuitton, it is showing a variety of appearances, such as announcing a prestige skin in the 2019 World Championship finals.
In fact, about 40% of Group M Korea’s spending goes to luxury clients, and they are aiming to expand from the existing 40-50 female customers to the younger generation. And then I realized that these people are spending the most time in the game.
In my view, luxury clients will continue to invest in access to gaming inventory. The challenge seems to be how we can provide gaming inventory in a safe environment without harming their brand image.
Looking at it from the buyer’s point of view, I would like game publishers to actively invest. In fact, there was a limit that made it difficult to go consistently. In the end, we had to keep raising our position, but there was an unfortunate situation where we couldn’t get the position right because we didn’t have the right inventory to buy in Korea.
Another thing I would like to ask for is that I would really appreciate it if you would cooperate with third-party verification agencies, such as the OMSDK mentioned earlier, so that buyers can purchase with confidence, rather than just giving out ad placements.