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Tag: Criteo

  • Akshay Mathur’s new venture promises to turn platform ambition into cold, hard cash across Asia

    Akshay Mathur’s new venture promises to turn platform ambition into cold, hard cash across Asia

    MUMBAI: After two decades of making other people’s platforms profitable, Akshay Mathur has decided it’s time to build his own money-making machine. The adtech veteran has launched Unpromptd, a revenue infrastructure firm targeting digital platforms across Asia’s most lucrative—and complex—markets.

    Mathur, who recently departed his role as chief revenue officer at Tyroo after six years, believes platforms have had quite enough strategy presentations, thank you very much. What they need, he argues, is someone who can actually turn their grand ambitions into recurring revenue streams.

    “Platforms don’t need more strategy decks,” Mathur declared while announcing t the launch. “They need real execution, revenue accountability, and a partner who understands the complexity of scaling in markets like India, southeast Asia, and the Middle East.”

    The timing is hardly accidental. Asia’s digital advertising market has been on a tear, with platforms scrambling to monetise everything from social commerce to gaming. But many stumble when it comes to the nitty-gritty of revenue generation—precisely where Mathur sees opportunity.

    His pedigree suggests he knows whereof he speaks. At Komli Media, Mathur was part of the managing board that engineered a 10-fold jump in net profits before the company’s eventual acquisition by Dentsu Aegis Network in 2017 for an undisclosed sum. At Tyroo, he built monetisation partnerships with the likes of Meta, Twitter, Snapchat, Outbrain and Criteo, helping these global giants crack complex Asian markets.

    The 22-year industry veteran has witnessed first hand how the right operating model can unlock value that often sits tantalizingly out of reach. His new venture promises to be the bridge between platform potential and profit realisation.

    Unpromptd’s mission is straightforward: become the monetisation partner of choice for every digital platform serious about growth in Asia. It’s an ambitious target in a region where local nuance can make or break even the most sophisticated global strategies.

    Mathur’s approach combines hard-won experience with what he calls “precision execution”—a recognition that Asia’s next growth wave will belong to those who move first and move smart. With platforms increasingly desperate to prove their business models beyond user acquisition, Unpromptd arrives at a moment when such expertise commands premium prices.

    The venture launches from Gurugram, positioning itself at the heart of India’s digital economy while eyeing expansion across the broader Asian market. For platforms tired of beautiful presentations that fail to move the revenue needle, Mathur’s promise of accountability over aspiration may prove irresistible.

    Whether Unpromptd can deliver on its bold promises remains to be seen. But with Asian digital advertising spend continuing its relentless march upward, the demand for Mathur’s particular brand of monetisation magic has never been stronger.

  • Sukesh Singh promoted to managing director at Criteo for southeast Asia

    Sukesh Singh promoted to managing director at Criteo for southeast Asia

    MUMBAI: Sukesh Singh, a seasoned leader with over two decades of experience in business development, sales strategy, and strategic partnerships, has been appointed managing director for southeast Asia at Criteo, a global leader in commerce media and technology. In this role, Singh will spearhead the company’s growth strategy across the region, fostering innovation and strengthening relationships with key partners.

    Singh’s promotion follows a successful tenure as director of agency and global brands for the south Asia Pacific region since January 2024, where he played a pivotal role in driving new business and strengthening agency partnerships. Prior to that, he served as head of activation for Criteo in a hybrid capacity, overseeing agency holdco partnerships and key brand collaborations while driving commercial success.

    Since joining Criteo in May 2021 as head of large customers for southeast Asia, Singh has demonstrated a strong capability to deliver strategic growth, develop customer-focused solutions, and manage high-performing teams. His efforts have consistently driven value for both clients and the organisation.

    Beyond his contributions at Criteo, Singh is actively involved in the professional community as a mentor with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Alumni Association in Singapore, where he supports undergraduate and graduate business students with a focus on venture building and digital transformation. He is also the founder and principal consultant at Conduit Consulting, which specialises in growth strategies for media and tech startups.

    Singh’s professional journey includes leadership roles at top organisations such as Adform, MediaMath, Phunware, and BBC Worldwide. His expertise spans multiple regions, including Australia, India, and Southeast Asia, where he has built and expanded businesses, launched innovative products, and driven profitability for leading media and technology brands.

    In addition to his business acumen, Singh is known for his communication and presentation skills, as well as his ability to build strategic alliances and implement impactful sales strategies. His leadership philosophy centres on innovation, collaboration, and fostering a results-oriented culture.

    With his vast experience and forward-thinking approach, Singh is expected to play a key role in strengthening Criteo’s position as a leader in commerce media solutions across the dynamic southeast Asian market.

  • MIS 2024: The power of personalisation: Strategies for creating a seamless customer experience

    MIS 2024: The power of personalisation: Strategies for creating a seamless customer experience

    Mumbai: The Media Investment Summit 2024 which is being held on 4 April at Novotel, Mumbai is a dynamic platform that aims to bring together minds from the brand, media, advertising, digital & TV fraternity to explore the ever-evolving landscape of content, Adtech, Martech, metaverse and Web 3.0, the evolution of traditional media planning and buying, data and privacy infringement and ROI on advertising.

    The day-long affair is to make sure to tantalise the thoughts of those looking for answers to myriad topics under the branding, advertising, TV, digital media planning, and buying roof.

    The session can provide valuable insights into the strategies, challenges, and future trends associated with creating a seamless customer experience through personalized marketing.

    The session of the event was chaired by Wavemaker India chief digital officer Sairam Ranganathan and consists of panellists including – Dr Reddy’s Laboratories India director head digital omnichannel & transformation Rupali Krishna Digrajkar, Shemaroo Entertainment COO, digital Saurabh Srivastava, MiQ MD and global board member Siddharth Dabhade, Criteo country head, India Medhavi Singh, Interactive Avenues VP, media, Priyanka Mohanty Nayudu.

    Here are the quotes from various industry experts on the power of personalisation: Strategies for creating a seamless customer experience:

    MiQ MD and global board member Siddharth Dabhade

    I think the evolution we’re witnessing involves a convergence of media and data, with companies worldwide, including those in India, consolidating functions like data science, marketing, and business priorities. Those who’ve successfully integrated these elements have outperformed because marketing can’t solely focus on one aspect; it must combine media and data. Many companies possess vast data, but it often remains fragmented. Thus, the challenge lies in consolidating this data to establish a unified consumer view. Additionally, families are accumulating more first-party data, which is crucial. Moreover, macro trends significantly influence consumer behaviour and brand perceptions. The ongoing challenge is integrating all these elements effectively. For instance, in a recent case study, we targeted consumers interested in inverter solutions while considering the macro trend of power outages driving inverter sales. It’s about merging data from various sources, deriving actionable insights, and ensuring data privacy. Another case study involves an auto player, where we analyzed dealership sales and inventory levels in real time to optimize marketing campaigns accordingly. personalisation should benefit both consumers and advertisers, enhancing relevance and efficiency.

    Shemaroo Entertainment COO, digital Saurabh Srivastava,

    One business I represent that’s highly relevant to this topic is Shemaroo, which operates a direct-to-consumer OTT business. Effective personalisation is crucial for us as it enhances consumer engagement and drives loyalty, ultimately impacting our business model, especially considering the high cost of acquiring consumers. When content is personalized based on data analysis, it sharpens our proposition and improves user engagement. For instance, our collaboration with Amazon Personalize has led to a significant shift in how users consume short-form video content, demonstrating the power of data-driven recommendations. This collaboration has become a noteworthy case study, indicating potential for further expansion beyond short-form content. Loyalty is paramount for every brand, as retaining consumers is key to maximizing lifetime value. Additionally, the OTT market in India is poised to double, creating opportunities for both global and local players. However, achieving this growth requires significant efforts in storytelling, data utilization, technology, and personalisation to meet the diverse needs of consumers. Ultimately, the collective integration of these elements will contribute to the expansion of the market, albeit with considerable effort.

    Dr Reddy’s Laboratories India director head of digital omnichannel & transformation Rupali Krishna Digrajkar

    We’re currently in the data-driven era where across various industries like pharma, media, entertainment, and telecom, customers demand both convenience and quality interactions with brands. This emphasis on convenience and expectation highlights the importance of personalisation. At Dr. Reddy’s, we engage with two main segments: B2B/B2B2C customers, such as doctors who then convey information to patients, and the over-the-counter (OTC) segment for direct consumer products. personalisation relies heavily on understanding data and deriving insights from it. Defining customer personas and understanding their needs, triggers, and barriers are essential for delivering targeted experiences to micro-segments. In our case, since we interact with diverse sets of doctors within specialities, influencing their perceptions about our products is key to driving prescriptions. This requires continuous relationship-building and content-based marketing to engage doctors effectively. While the theory is clear, executing personalisation at scale is complex and requires expertise in various elements such as data analytics and customer data management. Dr. Reddy’s is actively involved in orchestrating numerous initiatives due to the breadth of our business, which includes 74 brands. Personalisation efforts extend to content production, which must be customized and distributed modularly across different formats and geographies. Visualization plays a critical role in data-driven decision-making, and defining use cases and selecting the right toolbox are crucial aspects of implementing personalisation effectively.

    Criteo country head, India Medhavi Singh

    In today’s landscape, personalisation isn’t just about attracting more customers and boosting conversion rates. It’s also about fostering long-term customer relationships and maximizing lifetime value. Some may think personalisation is about individualising every interaction, but it’s crucial to understand that true personalisation occurs at scale. This necessitates investing in the right technologies to enable widespread personalisation efforts across various verticals. For instance, consider streaming platforms that recommend content based on users’ viewing history; this is made possible by their vast user bases. Similarly, at our company, leveraging our extensive data—over 720 million videos and 5 billion products—enables us to achieve personalisation at scale. Across the user journey, from acquisition to engagement, personalisation plays a pivotal role. For example, in collaboration with Clinique, we targeted audiences with high purchasing power, tailoring our approach to appeal to premium and luxury segments. Likewise, in the gaming vertical, we personalize ads to encourage user conversion. Personalisation extends to minute details, such as tailoring ad formats based on user preferences—be it single-window or scroll-based views. Moreover, real-time adaptation is crucial; algorithms must dynamically adjust based on user behaviour shifts, ensuring a personalized experience at every touchpoint. Therefore, creating personalised experiences at scale is paramount in today’s context.

    Interactive Avenues VP, media, Priyanka Mohanty Nayudu

    From initially attracting consumers to actively engaging with them and ultimately retaining their loyalty, personalisation plays a pivotal role throughout the entire journey. Take Spotify, for example, one of our brands during its launch in India. Globally recognised for its personalized approach, Spotify’s DNA is infused with personalisation. Therefore, our launch strategy had to emphasize personalisation from the outset, incorporating the “person, place, moment” framework along with extensive data analysis to understand our target audience’s preferences. This journey encompasses capturing audiences through media campaigns, acquiring them, engaging them with content recommendations tailored to their tastes, and retaining them by continually adapting to their usage patterns. Remarkably, leveraging personalisation has led to a significant increase in streams—up to 30 to 40 per cent more compared to regular usage. This underscores the critical role personalisation plays throughout the consumer journey.

  • GroupM and Criteo partner to drive commerce media innovation in APAC

    GroupM and Criteo partner to drive commerce media innovation in APAC

    Mumbai: Criteo the commerce media company, and GroupM, WPP’s media investment group has announced the first partnership in Asia Pacific (APAC) to strengthen omnichannel commerce media capabilities for GroupM clients in the region.  

    The partnership brings together product sales data and the proprietary media solutions of GroupM, with privacy-safe commerce audiences and proximity-based insights provided by Criteo. Criteo’s insights technology will further enhance media planning, budget allocation, and best-in-class activation, enabling new levels of relevance, optimisation, and conversion for GroupM clients across all channels.  

    “The innovation in commerce that will be made possible through this collaboration with Criteo is a  significant and hugely exciting development for advertisers in APAC, and for our industry as a whole,” said GroupM APAC chief investment officer Anita Munro. “Combining Criteo’s commerce media capabilities  with our own not only strengthens our commerce offering in the region, but also allows us to set a new  standard for what’s possible in advertising by bringing products, media, clients and consumers closer than  ever before.”

    The partnership between Criteo and GroupM will also expand access for GroupM’s clients to Criteo’s holistic omnichannel monetization solution. This solution allows retailers to manage their entire media inventory across both e-commerce and physical retail while enabling brands and agencies to seamlessly discover and purchase omnichannel media from leading retailers. Tools available to GroupM clients include 360° media asset activation, ranging from in-store activations such as point-of-sale displays to out-of-store activations like inbox sampling, and online activations such as email and social.  

    “Together with GroupM, we are honored to usher in the next era of omnichannel marketing in the region,” said Criteo MD enterprise APAC Taranjeet Singh. “This partnership represents a union  of industry leadership, and we are optimistic that it will drive greater integration across omnichannel  campaigns and elevate success for brands and advertisers.”

    As commerce media continues to accelerate, Criteo and GroupM plan to evolve the partnership by looking at strategic opportunities across media-buying capabilities and insights to drive predictive decision-making. Further collaborative efforts to develop best practices in the area aim to unlock many exciting possibilities.

  • Criteo unveils commerce Max DSP and next-gen retailer monetization suite

    Criteo unveils commerce Max DSP and next-gen retailer monetization suite

    Mumbai: Criteo (Nasdaq: CRTO), the commerce media company, today announced the general availability of its self-service demand-side platform (DSP), Commerce Max, giving brands and agencies a single point of entry to retail media inventory onsite and across premium publishers offsite. Complementing Commerce Max, Criteo is also expanding its retailer monetization solution suite, offering retailers the means to tap previously unattainable demand by paving the way for the integration of marketplace and in-store monetization technologies.

    Retail media has proven extremely successful for retailers looking to grow additional revenue streams and brands and agencies looking to engage consumers actively in a buying mindset. Until now, however, fragmentation across the industry has held retailers, brands and agencies back from reaching their full potential with retail media.

    “Our focus is enabling all commerce-driven companies to buy and sell audiences engaged in shopping. The process has to be frictionless, and it has to solve for fragmentation,” said Criteo CEO Megan Clarken. “With today’s launch, we’re equipping our clients with the right tools to cut through and connect in a more unified retail media ecosystem that ultimately creates more unity across the broader advertising marketplace.”

    Driving Commerce at Scale

    Commerce Max entered market testing in 2022 with leading consumer electronics retailer, Best Buy, and the world’s foremost media investment company, GroupM, as exclusive Alpha partner. Over this period, Commerce Max enrolled 10 retailers including Best Buy, Macy’s and Shipt. Retailers who have completed campaigns have more than doubled conversion rates on average when running both onsite and offsite advertising through the platform.

    Industry Praise for Commerce Max

    “Through Criteo we now have one point of entry to a pivotal retail media network, all within a single platform – Commerce Max – that applies the same KPIs to retail media as those we use for our programmatic buys,” said Unilever club team shopper marketing lead Billy Dyer following another successful test with GroupM and Unilever in which the brand’s conversion rate rose by over 400 per cent.

    “Combining onsite and offsite targeting enables us to focus media spend across a broader part of the shopper funnel while finding the most suitable audiences wherever they are.”

    “Shipt is known for having a unique member community that is loyal to our platform, and when coupled with Criteo’s onsite and offsite products and enhanced personalization features in our full-funnel offering, advertisers have found it to drive an ever greater return for their ad spend,” said Shipt VP, CPG partnerships David Young.

    “We’re excited to be at the forefront of the rollout of the Commerce Max platform, starting with its initial testing phase and now its general availability,” said Mark Heitke, Director of Ad Products and Audience Strategy at Best Buy Ads. “The platform offers a variety of onsite and offsite capabilities, giving our brand partners even more options to reach our audiences in meaningful ways.”

    Now in general availability, brands and agencies across the globe can use Commerce Max to access data and inventory across multiple retailers and marketplaces, finding valuable audiences on these sites and extending these audiences offsite. This is underpinned by closed-loop measurement, enabling advertisers to quickly and efficiently determine the effectiveness of campaigns and optimize accordingly.

    Criteo is a leader and one of the first to bring digital measurement standards to retail media with Commerce Max. Criteo’s partnership with Integral Ad Science allows brands and agencies to measure viewability and invalid traffic on a retailer’s site across all ad formats, including native and sponsored products by 2024.     

    A Unified Approach for Retailers

    The second component of today’s launch is the unveiling of Criteo’s retailer monetization solution suite. This suite marks the next phase in the development of Criteo’s core monetization technology, Commerce Yield, which will not only provide retailers and marketplaces with a complete media toolset but also serve commerce companies such as automakers, movie theatres, transportation services, airlines and more.

    Commerce Yield combines Criteo’s former Retail Media Platform with several solutions derived from recent strategic acquisitions, including

    Commerce Yield Marketplace: Through Criteo’s strategic acquisition of Mabaya, Commerce Yield Marketplace will help monetization officers integrate marketplace tactics and formats.

    Commerce Yield In-Store: The powerful union of Brandcrush and Criteo’s in-store monetization technology, providing advertisers access to a wider range of offline inventory.

    Commerce Yield Insights: Previously called Gradient, a cutting-edge suite of insight and data tools which provides digital-shelf insights to support enterprise-level retail media buys.

    Criteo’s leadership team will unveil more details during a hosted event today, 12 September at 12p.m. Eastern Time. To watch the broadcast, click here.

  • “MiQ’s secret sauce is our partner-agnostic, tech-enabled and people-powered approach to programmatic:” MIQ’s Siddharth Dabhade

    “MiQ’s secret sauce is our partner-agnostic, tech-enabled and people-powered approach to programmatic:” MIQ’s Siddharth Dabhade

    Mumbai:  Today we are seeing the rise in programmatic advertising and MiQ  (www.wearemiq.com) is a programmatic partner for marketers and agencies combining industry knowledge with technology and data analytics to offer better-connected marketing solutions for over 1,100+ clients globally. We are experts in data science, analytics, and programmatic trading, and are always ready to solve challenges quickly and ensure our clients always spend their media investments on the right things in the right places. They’re present in 22 cities across 9 countries, with over 1,000 people. The company has a Center of Excellence in Bengaluru, with a global technology, analytics, and innovation base, where it develops cutting-edge programmatic advertising products for India and the rest of the world.

    Siddharth Dhabhade is a luminary of the technology and internet industry with over 21 years of experience across management, business development, digital marketing, key customer relationship management and business advisory roles with global technology giants.

    As managing director, Dhabhade is responsible for the growth of MiQ’s programmatic and analytics solutions, relationships with brand and media agencies, revenue growth and P&L management and strengthening the company’s leadership position across India, China and SAARC countries. He is also a part of the global operational board and helps drive the global strategy and operations for MiQ.

    Prior to joining MiQ, Dhabhade held a variety of technology, business development and management roles with industry giants such as Google, Microsoft and IBM, with his most recent position leading the Indian business of global retail technology and advertising leader, Criteo. At Google, he scaled the business 11x, and at Criteo he made India region as the fastest-growing region for Criteo worldwide with innovations in mobile/apps solutions.

    Indiantelevision .com in conversation with MiQ (India China and SAARC) managing director Siddharth Dabhade on the growth of MiQ from a start-up to a Unicorn, on data privacy, use of AI, MiQ innovation in data science, programmatic talent and much more…….

    Edited excerpts

    On the journey of MiQ

    Our growth story has been extraordinary; we have grown from a few hundred to over 1,000 individuals globally. We’ve had stupendous growth in the UK, US, and Canada markets, and we are expanding in emerging markets including India, China, APAC, and MEA to chart out our next wave of growth. India is a key market for us globally, and we continue to invest in adding more agencies, clients, partners, and talent to our India portfolio.

    MiQ has been present in India with our Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bangalore since 2012, and it has been an integral part of our global operations, serving as a hub for technology, data science, analytics, and innovations. We launched the India commercial business during the pandemic in 2020, but over the past couple of years, we have grown nearly 10 times more than the industry average. We’ve always been focused on growing profitably, and today we work with over 300 brands and almost every digital media agency in India.

    On the funding front

    Our founders, Lee Puri and Gurman Hundal, initially bootstrapped to grow in the UK and Europe but MiQ was first funded by ECI back in 2017, and that was our first foray into private equity. It was beneficial to us on a strategic level. We’re really proud to share that in ECI’s 40-year history, they have made the best ever return with us, making nearly 6.1x return on their initial investment.

    Last year, we partnered with private equity firm Bridgepoint to fuel our long-term growth strategy to deliver the next phase of programmatic media solutions, with a focus on continued international expansion and client growth.

    On advertising unfolding globally and in India

    Data privacy is the foundation on which future-proofed, privacy-centric advertising solutions are being built. Globally, the entire AdTech and Digital marketing ecosystem is gearing up for a cookieless world. This means advertisers and marketers are investing in technology that will help them identify, target, and measure without using third-party cookies. Brands are investing to bolster their first-party data, and enrich it with second- & third-party data to succeed in their marketing and advertising campaigns.

    Cookieless measurement is one of the most challenging aspects facing advertisers as we move toward a privacy-forward future, as the AdTech industry is heavily fragmented – consider all of the media channels, formats, ad exchanges, ad servers, demand vs. supply-side platforms, and the different data, measurement, and analytics available within walled gardens versus on the open web.

    Virtually all channel marketers utilize today will be impacted by the deprecation of cookies, including measurement data. Household reach, IP-based conversions, footfall, incremental lift, ROAS and CPA all currently rely on cookie-based attribution for measurement of the interlocking key between channels.

    Technology companies will embed AI into their products and solutions, which will have a transformative impact on personalization, media planning, unlocking consumer insights, campaign optimization, and measurement. We’ve been using AI, and data science algorithms to programmatically do things differently than our competitors.

    On that secret sauce that makes MIQ stand out in terms of technology, data science and programmatic talent

    MiQ’s secret sauce is our partner-agnostic, tech-enabled and people-powered approach to programmatic. In India, we have a team of over 400 data scientists, analysts, technologists, and programmatic traders, which gives us a winning edge in doing programmatic differently.

    .   Custom Analytics Solutions: MiQ offers bespoke data analytics solutions that go beyond traditional media campaign analytics. We leverage our expertise in data analysis to help businesses address major challenges such as reducing breakage and churn, identifying high-converting customers, and solving supply chain issues. This ability to apply analytics to various business aspects sets us apart by providing valuable insights and driving better performance.

    .   Data Science Expertise: At MiQ, we have a team of skilled data scientists who possess a deep understanding of data analysis, modeling, and statistical techniques. These experts are proficient in extracting meaningful insights from complex data sets, enabling them to provide valuable recommendations before the campaign begins and drive data-driven strategies to achieve campaign goals.

    .    Programmatic Trading Capabilities: MiQ has a pool of programmatic talent comprising expert traders and professionals well-versed in the programmatic advertising ecosystem. Our programmatic trading team understands the intricacies of media buying and optimization, ensuring efficient and effective campaign execution.

    .    Partnerships and Collaborations: MiQ has established strong partnerships and collaborations with data providers, technology platforms, and industry experts. Our strategic alliances allow us to access diverse data sources, cutting-edge tools, and specialized knowledge, enhancing our capabilities and enabling us to provide comprehensive solutions to clients.

    By combining our custom analytics solutions, advanced technology, data science expertise, programmatic trading capabilities, and valuable partnerships, we offer a unique combination that sets us apart in the realm of technology, data science, and programmatic talent. This comprehensive approach allows us to deliver impactful insights, optimize performance, and drive business outcomes for our clients.

    On India today making a name for itself in the global arena for its creative work

    With a large talent pool of tech, digital and creative professionals, India has the potential to become a global hub for digital and programmatic advertising akin to IT and technology services. Most global organizations (including MiQ) have their centre of excellence, captive and capability centres in India as it offers them significant advantages in terms of skills, costs and infrastructure. I personally believe that with investments in upskilling, digital infrastructure, new technologies and industry collaboration, India will become a digital advertising hub for the world over the next few years.

    On concepts such as connected television, cookie-free and sustainable advertising, data clean rooms evolving in the startup ecosystem

    In the advertising ecosystem, challenges and trends catalyze the creation of new solutions and channels. Take the connected TV ecosystem for example, which has evolved into the new fastest-growing advertising channel and has the potential to uproot the dominance of linear TV by bringing digital-like capabilities to TV advertising. MiQ’s breadth of industry-leading programmatic TV solutions enables brands to unlock incremental reach with campaigns that marry first-party linear TV data with over-the-top streaming content, a full range of devices across manufacturers, and contextual and behavioural audience analytics to give brands scale.

    With increasing concerns over data privacy and most web browsers phasing out third-party cookies, cookieless solutions are gaining popularity and more data will live inside clean rooms – a platform where advertisers and agencies can perform analysis and data science on any dataset in an aggregated way (meaning, at a group level rather than data that can be linked to specific individuals), and without moving it out of the platform.

    MiQ is also bringing the sustainable advertising solution to India, through its partnership with Scope3 and Seen This. This is the first such offering in India.

    While there are many point solutions in this space, the programmatic ecosystem is very fragmented and requires a specialist like MiQ which can help brands connect the dots between technology, partnerships and people.

    On CTV or digital advertising is the go-to medium for brands today

    With a boom in CTV/OTT platforms, FAST channels, Smart TV manufacturers and ISPs jumping into the CTV advertising space, the complexity of this platform is increasing. Advertisers have many options to buy, activate and measure their campaigns but an integrated, data-driven approach is often missing. To make media buying on platforms like CTV or digital advertising more transparent, MiQ employs various approaches and tools. These include:

    .    Authorized Digiadvertising,, or ads.txt is an IAB Tech Lab initiative that helps ensure that your digital ad inventory is only sold through sellers (such as AdSense) whom you’ve identified as authorized.

    .    Our campaign manager tool is available to all clients to ensure transparency of inventory

    .    Third-party brand safety – IAS (pre-bind and post-bid)

    .   Supply path optimization

    .    Fraud detection through internal algorithms

    On sustainability today as many brands have climbed on the sustainability bandwagon

    If the internet was a country, it would be the third largest polluter in the world – after the US and China. MiQ aims to be a game changer in the field of sustainability by offering carbon footprint measurements of brands’ digital campaigns. We recognize the significant environmental impact of online activities, and by combining data partnerships, technology, and programmatic approaches, we can help brands reduce their carbon footprint without compromising performance.

    To achieve this, MiQ has set off on a mission to understand how to minimize carbon emissions associated with programmatic advertising. We have developed a tool called the “Green Score” that allows brands and their agencies to assess the environmental impact of their programmatic advertising campaigns. The Green Score provides insights into campaign emissions compared to industry and vertical benchmarks. By analyzing the Green Score, brands can gain a better understanding of their environmental impact and build more sustainable campaigns.

    MiQ’s approach involves standardizing measurement and providing benchmarks to help brands improve their sustainability efforts. By measuring the carbon emissions resulting from various actions in programmatic advertising, such as running devices, connecting data, and powering servers, MiQ enables brands to identify areas where emissions can be reduced. By implementing sustainable practices based on the insights provided by the Green Score, brands can effectively reduce their carbon footprint.

    The way we use the Green Score Report is simple so that every advertiser can benefit from adding this to their campaigns risk-free, with no impact on performance. We use it to:

    .    Inform tactical day zero planning (before your campaign goes live);

    .    Adapt mid-flight media mixes; and

    .    Dynamically optimize to greener supply using the Green Score as a secondary KPI

  • Criteo appoints Manuela Montagnana as chief people officer

    Criteo appoints Manuela Montagnana as chief people officer

    Mumbai: Global technology company Criteo on Thursday announced the appointment of Manuela Montagnana as chief people officer. In this role, Montagnana will lead the company’s people team, driving talent strategy and playing a key role in defining the future of work for Criteo’s global workforce of more than 2,500 employees. Montagnana replaces Denis Collin, who held the role for three years and will assist in the transition.

    In her new roleat Criteo, Montagnana will be responsible for leading the people team, ensuring equitable, transparent and inclusive processes and practices to support an engaged and high-performing team. In addition, she will drive the strategy and execution of attracting, engaging, developing and retaining top talent by ensuring that Criteo remains an employer of choice, now and in the future, said the company in a statement. 

    She will be based in New York with global remit and will report to Criteo CEO Megan Clarken with plans to relocate to Paris, it added. 

    Montagnana brings more than 20 years of experience as a people executive, leading global teams in the manufacturing, service and technology industries. She has a proven track record of accelerating performance through human capital management in a transformation context in both highly matrixed organisations and those undergoing hyper-growth. 
    “In the last year, the workplace as we have known it has undergone massive change and I’m thrilled to have Manuela join Criteo to help provide a flexible, hybrid workplace that cultivates a culture of inclusivity, innovation and collaboration,” said Clarken. “She will be a crucial part of our leadership team as we continue to invest in our most valuable asset, our people, in order to power the world’s marketers and media owners with trusted and impactful advertising.”

    Most recently, Montagnana was with Compass as vice president, head of human resources for product and engineering division, where she was the business partner to the chief technology and chief product officers. While at Compass, she led major transformational projects including the opening of a new development center in India and completing the talent integration following the M&A of two tech startups.

    “What attracted me to Criteo was its people-centric culture, strong company values, global footprint and powerful mission,” said Montagnana. “It’s an exciting time to join the company in a year of growth momentum, and I look forward to optimizing the people program to create an engaged and productive employee experience that attracts top talent and nurtures development in today’s hybrid work environment.”

  • Criteo appoints Taro Fujinaka as MD – retail media, APAC

    Criteo appoints Taro Fujinaka as MD – retail media, APAC

    Mumbai: Criteo, the global technology company that provides the world’s leading commerce media platform, on Tuesday announced its expansion to offer retail media solutions across six markets in the Asia Pacific region (APAC).  Since its regional launch in Japan in 2019, the Criteo retail media solution is now available in five more markets, including Korea, Australia, South-East Asia, Taiwan, and India.

    The company appointed Taro Fujinaka as managing director, retail media, APAC. In this role, Taro will work to drive the regional retail media ecosystem and deliver value to Criteo’s customers and partners as they continue to utilise retail media.

    The solution enables retailers and marketplaces to generate new revenue from their brand partners. Brands can also reach shoppers at the digital point of sale and have complete visibility into the impact of media spend on product sales. This has proven instrumental in providing an optimal user experience, with shoppers able to receive relevant ads on the retailers’ own websites, while they shop conveniently online, said the company in a statement.

    “We were quick to expand our retail media offerings here in Asia, a key growth market for Criteo. In Q1 this year, our retail media business grew 122 per cent year-over-year, and we are excited to see increasing demand for our technology, especially here in Asia,” said Criteo’s EVP & general manager, growth portfolio, Geoffroy Martin. “A key component of our commerce media strategy, retail media is also an addressable market expected to grow quickly. According to McKinsey, Retail Media is a $17B market today, excluding Amazon and China, and will grow at a 22 per cent CAGR to $32 billion in 2024.”

    Since joining the team in March, Taro has worked with the team to drive awareness and adoption across the region. “As brands prepare for the post-cookie world, Retail Media will play a pivotal role in empowering brands who seek new addressable media opportunities in the evolving identity landscape. Combining a highly differentiated ad inventory with unique first-party data, we are confident that its availability and the strengthened capacity of our regional team will help with driving the industry forward in the years to come,” said Taro.

    Globally, Criteo’s retail media solution powering over 100 retailers and 120 agency customers, and it is expected to drive nearly $700 million in media monetisation for retailers and $3.3 billion in product sales for brands in 2021, the company said.

  • Festival season will be the golden quarter for ecommerce players: Criteo Report

    Festival season will be the golden quarter for ecommerce players: Criteo Report

    New Delhi: Criteo has released its Holiday Report 2020 highlighting key trends in the online e-commerce industry in the much-awaited festive season including Rakshabandhan, Big Billion days and Diwali. The report highlights the top trends observed for the highly thriving e-commerce market in India. Criteo regards this as the ‘Golden Quarter’ of 2020 as e-commerce clocks significantly high growth. 

    Overcoming such unprecedented times, online retail is back to pre-Covid2019 numbers, and steadily growing upwards since then. As 2020 sales are increasing progressively; 2019 data provides relevant  context and describes the strong seasonality expected in the coming weeks. According to the report, there has been a 28 per cent year-on-year increase in the overall online retail sales.

    Criteo MD southeast Asia and India Taranjeet Singh said, “During these trying times, the Indian e-commerce industry has been on a steady upward growth trajectory showcasing a gradual shift of consumers towards e-commerce websites for purchases. Consumers have moved onto a stage where purchasing online has become their daily routine in order to fulfil all their demands for food, beverages and festive gifting. Expanding businesses on e-commerce platforms is the need of the hour. This golden quarter signals a revival in demand and consumer sentiment at large on ecommerce platforms.”

    Read more news on ecommerce industry

    With the festive season around the corner, the daily sales of flowers, gifts, food and beverages increase manifold. Individually flowers and gifting categories witness a boost in their numbers by more than 343 per cent in August 2019, compared to its average in July.

    Additionally, statistics according to Criteo Holiday report reveal 70 per cent increase in sales in the food & beverage category observed during the festival of Raksha Bandhan.

    During the time of Big Billion Days on Flipkart, overall, retail sales were up 39 per cent showcasing an average of 27 per cent for the entire week compared to average in August 2019. As traffic generates more sales the conversion rates remain above usual as sales increase more than traffic during the four weeks leading to Big Billion Days. The report quotes that for every 1,000 visitors to Indian retailers, there are significantly more transactions than usual. The week of Big Billion Days represents e-commerce traffic increased by 19 per cent, followed by a sharp rise in sales (+27 per cent).

    As people spend most of their time at home, especially during the most anticipated festival like Diwali; the share of transactions completed on app increased consistently before and following the festival in  2019, with an acceleration of In-App sales just before the event.

    Read more news on Criteo

    For all retail combined, during the weeks following Diwali, sales remain 6-8 per cent above average in August with a 32 per cent increase in sales in the food & beverage category. This festival of Diwali also marks the onset of the travel season with an uplift of bookings to 16 per cent in the week following Diwali.

  • Criteo appoints Taranjeet Singh as MD for Southeast Asia, India

    Criteo appoints Taranjeet Singh as MD for Southeast Asia, India

    MUMBAI: Criteo, the global technology company powering the world’s marketers with trusted and impactful advertising, has appointed Taranjeet Singh, as managing director, Southeast Asia (SEA) and India, to lead this critical market for the company. Singh will steer Criteo’s business strategy for the region, driving continued growth and building on the company’s current portfolio of customers which include Love, Bonito, Shopback, K&K Fashion, Tugo.vn, Tata CLIQ, and NYKAA.

    Starting in New Delhi, Singh will oversee Criteo’s operations in SEA and India. He will work closely with the company’s regional leadership to strengthen Criteo’s current advertiser and partner relationships and spearhead new business development.

    “Taranjeet brings a rich experience of more than 17 years of leadership experience within the media and technology industry in Asia Pacific,” said Kenneth Pao, executive managing director for Asia Pacific, Criteo. “This pandemic has transformed many businesses. It has caused brands big and small to quickly pivot their marketing strategies to adapt to this new normal and social distancing economy. We are fortunate to be able to add Taranjeet to our leadership bench as we help our customers and partners provide as much value to their customers as possible during this time. We are also excited to have him on board to help propel the company’s vision to power marketers globally with trusted and impactful advertising.”

    “Online commerce is now the lifeblood for consumers. Online retail sales in SEA are experiencing a higher uplift in 2020 compared to last year, with peak sales growth of 141 per cent seen the week of 23 March. According to a consumer survey conducted by Criteo, the India report shows that half of consumers say they’ll purchase more online because of COVID-19 especially the millennials.  The need for the internet is more pronounced than ever during this period. As brands adapt their marketing strategies to meet the current online demand, they need to continue to be customer-centric and focus on providing solutions for consumer concerns and pain points,” added Singh. “I look forward to working with some of the best talents in the industry to leverage Criteo’s scale and expertise to help our customers and partners be trusted brands to their consumers.”

    Singh joins Criteo after nearly two years at ZEE5 India, an online video-on-demand platform. He was Chief Revenue Officer and Business Head, where he helped establish the revenue and business operations in the company. Prior to ZEE5, Singh’s leadership roles included serving as India Country Director for Twitter and Sales Director for BBC News, where he was responsible for commercial operations.

    Criteo ended the first quarter 2020 with over 20,000 commerce and brand customers, adding close to 1,000 new clients (net) compared to Q1 2019, while maintaining close to 90 per cent client retention rate. Criteo’s header-bidding technology now connects to over 4,600 publishers across the Web and App and reaches about 40 per cent of all its publishers via Criteo Direct Bidder.

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