Interview with Adstars about Digital Advertising Market in Indonesia in 2012

Adstars was recently appointed as the exclusive country reseller for ads on ÜberSocial, a popular third party Twitter app that leads the Indonesian market. ÜberSocial is made by UberMedia and is available in three major platforms: BlackBerry, Android and iOS. Additionally, Adstars had also been appointed as a country exclusive reseller for Multiply.

We talked via email to Chief Commercial Officer of Adstars, Mr. Yazid Faizin, about the digital advertising market in Indonesia, his predictions for 2012, the cooperation with UberMedia and favourite mobile platforms that will be the next big thing.

Q: Can you explain about the break down of Adstars business and what kind of clients handled by Adstars?

We are a premium ad network. We work with 500 local websites and mobile sites in Indonesia with a total inventory of 1.3 billion impressions per month. Website and mobile site incorporated in our network are including Kompas.com, Vivanews.com, Kapanlagi.com, Multiply.com, Metrotvnews.com, and some blogs.

We work closely with multinational media agencies and local media agencies such as GroupM, MPG, OMD, Starcom, Carat, Isobar, Optima Media, Fortune, DM Pratama, and Dentsu.

Brands that have ran campaigns on our network include Telkomsel, Visa, AirAsia, Nokia, Blackberry, Standard Chartered, XL, Indosat, AXIS, ESIA, Samsung, AQUA, MIZONE, Huawei, Rexona, HSBC, Nutrilon, bebelac, and Allianz .

In addition to running an ad network business, Adstars also has been appointed by ÜberSocial (UberMedia) as the exclusive country reseller for Indonesia.

Q: According to Adstars, what is the digital advertising market condition in Indonesia now and what is Adstars’ prediction about the trend in 2012?

Digital advertising market in Indonesia is relatively large in terms of advertising budget and it showed a significant growth. Based on developments in 2011 and some references from clients, we predict that in 2012, the advertising market growth (in terms of total ad spending) will rise by 100%.

Q: What is the uniqueness of the digital marketplace in Indonesia compared to any other country and how brand can take advantage or convert that to digital campaign?

As we know, Indonesia has 230 million people. According to several sources, 11% are PC internet users and 90% of the total population are mobile users. The dat also show that the growth of local handset manufactures in Indonesia is now dominated by S Nexian, Blueberry, Tiphone and others. All handsets are sold at a very affordable price and can be used to access the Internet.

We know that Indonesia has the second largest number of Facebook users after the United States and 70% of our Facebook users use mobile internet. This means that the Indonesian market is very unique and mobile internet penetration is very high.

This fact shows the potential for brands to take advantage of this new medium because mobile has several advantages comparing to other media. The advantage is "personal mass medium, always on and always carried everywhere". Even with mobile phones we can make payments.

Q: In relation to to the partnership with UberMedia, mobile media is the most widely used in Indonesia to access the Internet. Is there a different approach to the mobile market (rather than the desktop) and how it affects the digital campaigns effectiveness conducted by Adstars?

Of course, because by using the mobile medium, campaign conducted by the brand will be more effective. The ability of targeting audiences will become more specific, such as target costumer location and the ability of costumer making payments and purchases.

Q: If you must choose, among all existing mobile platforms, which is (according to Adstars) becoming " the most interesting" from the perspective of digital advertising in Indonesia in 2012? And why?

Android. As we know that almost all types of manufacturing handsets offer their latest handsets using the Android OS at an affordable price. I can even say, it's cheap smartphone with features in it. Therefore, this is a great potential for brands to reach a large audience and be more specific.