Programmatic platform Adform opens an Australian office
Programmatic platform Adform has appointed Angus Blackwood to lead its newly launched Australian office as it expands its presence in the local market.
The announcement:
Adform Australia Opens as Advertiser Demand for Programmatic Trading Expertise Grows
Independent adtech platform expands its global presence, launching in Sydney with Angus Blackwood at the helm
Adform, one of the world’s leading global independent advertising technology platforms, today announced the launch of Adform Australia, with the company’s first office in the country. The Sydney-based operation will provide on-the-ground support for many of Adform’s existing Australian clients, as the company supports the growing programmatic market in the region, which is worth in excess of $1 billion.
Angus Blackwood, who has more than seven years’ experience in marketing and adtech will be responsible for day-to-day operations, and will report into Sukesh Singh who heads APAC as VP in Singapore. Blackwood joins Adform from Canadian-based adacado inc. where he worked as Account Director, helping brands create engaging personalised ads to boost connections between advertisers and audiences through a real-time delivery and analytics tool.
His appointment will support the areas of sales and client services, and aims to strengthen Adform’s client relationships, while providing a physical presence.
For Adform – which is one of the fastest developing independent adtech outfits – the move into the Australian market represents many strong opportunities within an innovative, vibrant ecosystem. Led by mobile innovation, the Australian market brings opportunities for a large proportion of Adform’s existing business to develop in the region, and comes as a direct response from requests from many of the company’s global clients.
At a time where a skills shortage has lead to 61% of media professionals viewing the absence of programmatic expertise as an obstacle in selling video inventory in the market, 2018 is key for Adform to establish an on-the-ground presence. Adform’s efficient, full stack suite of enterprise trading tools offer advertisers support for an already strong programmatic uptake in the region.
Angus Blackwood, Account Director AU/NZ, Adform, comments: “It’s an exciting time to be investing in programmatic development and I’m looking forward to working with the Adform team to bring the company’s expertise to a very innovative market. Heading up the Australian operations is a great opportunity, as the market matures there is a strong need for established adtech platforms to support the evolution of programmatic uptake.
Sukesh Singh, VP APAC, Adform, comments: “As we continue to expand our presence globally, we made the strategic decision to open in Australia. The region is scaling quickly and we’re looking forward to developing our global partnerships, in addition to supporting new advertisers and agencies. We have entered the Australian market at this time as we feel we can add value, with our on-the-ground presence and investment in the region allowing us to meet the needs of the market as it continues to scale.”
Adform continues to report strong growth figures, with a 220% increase in employees in the last five years, adding to its 16-year track record of sustainable operations. The opening of the Australian office follows launches in India in December 2017, and China in August this year. The adtech company has more than 850 employees globally across 19 countries throughout Europe, North America, MENA, and APAC.
Source: Adform media release
You would think with the consolidation (and demise) of every other similar business in the AU agency market they would have been a bit more wary.
I dont foresee good news for Adform in 2019!
Agreed.
By way of example, Snakk Media went into receivership on Monday
Please add some context and supporting data to your claim
Independent performance / data providers are dead in Aus, with the exception of Quantcast. Agency holding groups and their trading desks made sure of that.
Probably best to research a region’s buying habits and agreements before moving in.
Adform are a buying and trading platform, Quantcast is a data source
Ok, so now you’re competing with every trading desk as well as the other (more established) local independent desks.
Congrats, again – good luck.
Any more you want to add? keep firing away and you might hit the spot
You started with a generalised statement; Adform are quite the business outside of Australia so by no means small. In this market they’ll be operating with global clients who have material size deals. There are a number of small companies doing well in this market, one such case Playgorund XYZ when everyone else killed creativity.
Secondly the reference to competitors with Quantcast, requires additional research to determine the nature of Adform’s business, the conclusion here based on that comment is. insular Australian only market knowledge
Lastly, as a major competitor in the ad stack marketplace global deals would make their business viable here.
Keep going if you like I can type for fays based on experienced not anecdotal jabs
Yes you’re correct – my knowledge is insular and Aus only, which is the only market that matters here and the one most of us are only concerned with.
Good luck conquering Oceania with your US based research and unbelievable tech stack.
I look forward to eating my words when Adform don’t withdraw out of this market within a year.
In general I feel is some of the challenge in this market, Australia focused (that’s where the pay check comes from) and the businesses coming in have had global focus). It;s a big wild world out there.
Going to be interesting to see what happens to them
This has been fun let’s do it again sometime
Good day sir