SINGAPORE – CtrlShift, a Singapore-based audience solutions company, and iPinYou, China’s largest automated media buying technology platform, are joining forces to provide international brands and agencies access to Chinese audiences. This will be done via an integration of iPinYou’s automated media buying technology platform with The Hub, CtrlShift’s flagship media management and buying application. With this partnership, iPinYou clients will also be able to use The Hub to target global audiences outside of China.
The Hub is the first media management and buying app outside of China to be integrated with iPinYou, allowing international brands and agencies to identify, reach and engage the 731 million internet users in China[4]. With this integration users of The Hub can plan, manage and optimise China campaigns directly from The Hub, starting from early 2018.
The Hub is a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) app for automated media buying at scale, allowing users to simultaneously manage media investments across geographies, channels, platforms, as well as technology and inventory partners – DSPs, ad servers, data providers, exchanges and private marketplaces. It provides greater visibility into spends and performance of digital campaigns, and empowers brands to maximise returns on media investments with speed, transparency and intelligence. The Hub is currently integrated with multiple world-leading buying platforms in the open ecosystem, including major social and search platforms, to offer a complete solution to reach audiences worldwide.
China’s digital ad spending is poised to grow by 27% this year to US$50 billion and account for almost 60% of paid media spend[5]. Mobile ad spending, in particular, is rising at a staggering pace, up 90% in the first quarter of this year[6].
Commenting on the partnership, Reza Behnam, Co-founder and Executive Chairman at CtrlShift, said, “We’re truly excited about our partnership with iPinYou as it allows brands and agencies worldwide to broaden their reach by accessing China’s audiences, both inside China as well as the 100 million who travel abroad. This collaboration and technology integration is another key milestone towards building the world’s one-stop Hub for media allocation and optimisation, offering a streamlined channel to access audiences globally. Marketers using The Hub will be able to engage a growing set of audiences as we rapidly assemble the largest collection of media inventory, audience segments, and toolsets under one easy-to-use cloud-based software app.”
iPinYou, China’s largest programmatic ad buying demand-side platform (DSP) provider, dominates the market, with nearly 60 per cent market share among advertisers across a wide range of industries including consumer, finance and IT. The company’s digital advertising cloud platform integrates data from China’s leading consumer data providers, and offers clients a unique data-driven approach to market analysis, audience insights and product market fit assessment.
Sara Ye, President of International Markets at iPinYou, said, “China’s explosive consumer growth makes it one of the most enticing markets in the world for global brands, and we’re excited to be leading the charge with CtrlShift. Our primary goal is to ensure international companies that are launching and expanding their business in China, or targeting Chinese consumers globally, receive the greatest support from us.
“iPinYou has the expertise, the resources, and advanced technology to help brands achieve their business goals in the most effective way. This partnership between CtrlShift and iPinyou is a game changer, bringing greater accessibility for advertisers to enter China.”
Serm Teck Choon, Head of Product/Malaysia Country Head of CtrlShift, and Adrian Teh, General Manager, APAC of iPinYou were instrumental in forming this partnership.
