Custom-built ad formats drive engagement and performance: Outbrain
Outbrain continues to build an approach through established platforms and traditional publishers in India
The below Q&A was conducted with Sandeep Balani, Head of India, Outbrain.
Outbrain has been in India for over 5 years now. How do you see 2020 and beyond for Outbrain?
India continues to be a fascinating market for Outbrain, and, globally, it’s the second-largest market in terms of page views. So far, it has been a volatile journey with the market being very fragmented and diversified.
We have always looked forward to turning massive challenges into meaningful changes. India is unquestionably more developed in the digital evolution curve from a consumer perspective, and it is gaining speed in terms of more advertising budgets moving to digital.
How has COVID-19 impacted the business and how has the reinforcement been so far?
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought fast-paced and unanticipated variables to the business across all verticals. It created circumstances that were challenging for our partners, both publishers and advertisers. The focus was to ensure that we work collaboratively and creatively with all our partners and protect their businesses with continuity that strengthens the provision of our services to them. We worked tirelessly to focus our internal efforts on innovation, protecting our employees and positively influencing the ecosystem. We're pleased that with a forward-thinking approach we could bring in newfound opportunities and were able to continue to grow through this challenging year. As we emerge from this unprecedented global crisis, we're proud to have been a trusted ally of our partners throughout that time. We also saw a quick recovery in the second quarter, with many advertisers and newer business categories opening up to digital. We’ve also seen expanded growth opportunities in categories such as Ed-tech; OTT; Gaming and others given today’s environment. We are looking forward to the festive season to help reinforce further.
What are the key products that advertisers need to look out for?
The steps for innovation remain unchanged at Outbrain. We continue to accelerate developments in the digital ad experience with Outbrain Smatads. The custom-built ad formats are proven to drive increased engagement and performance from high-value target users across a broad set of premium publishers. The multiple interactive features create a positive user experience by reaching the right consumers in an organic environment determined from true interest and intent.
What are going to be the key drivers for the development of India business in Outbrain now?
We continue to build an approach through established platforms and traditional publishers in India. Now is the time to shift focus to efforts that support our teams, while tending to required changes in the months ahead. We're working closely with our advertiser partners to implement Outbrain's innovation (Carousel, Conversion Bid Strategy and of course App Install Smartad) to support them in achieving their goals. Our reseller partners SVG Media, Momentus and Httpool will continue to cover the Indian market for us and strengthen our teams.
