Indosat used the beehive environment of the Mobile World Congress last week to make an announcement. The company, a member of Ooredoo Group, will launch the Indonesia Mobile Exchange (“IMX”), a joint venture digital mobile-first Real-Time Bidding (RTB) Advertising Exchange.
The company is working in partnership with Smaato, a leading global mobile RTB Ad Exchange.
Indosat’s existing mobile advertising offering, i-klan, still a part of its Digital Services unit, will become part of the newly announced venture.
“IMX’s digital mobile advertising exchange will facilitate a portal that enables both local and global advertisers to connect with leading publishers in Indonesia and provide targeted programmatic advertising to Indonesian consumers,” according to a news release. “Indonesia is one of the leading digital advertising markets in the world in terms of number of impressions with double digit growth forecast for the foreseeable future.”
Nasser Marafih, CEO of Ooredoo, is optimistic, indeed.
“Digital advertising represents an important avenue of new business as we look for opportunities beyond our core services to support our customers’ digital lifestyles,” said Marafih. “Currently 25 percent of our customers actively use mobile content services and Indosat’s partnership with a leading global player like Smaato helps us to build products and capabilities that better serve both business customers and consumers alike. As smartphone use across our footprint increases we intend to extend this approach to the other markets that we operate in.”
IMX will have a base of more than 55 million mobile customers, Indosat’s business customers, as well as the global reach of Smaato’s mobile exchange technology through which it is already serving close to 5 billion impressions a month in the country.
“Indonesia, with its large population and high advertising spend, is one of the most important markets for Smaato globally,” said Ragnar Kruse, Smaato’s founder and CEO. “I believe that a combination of our world-class platform and Indosat’s strong in-market reach will help us create effective digital advertising solutions for both local and international brands.”
