Taro Fujinaka of IPG’s Mediabrands Audience Platform Japan -- The Jay Sears Interview

This is the first in a three-part series on “Programmatic in Japan” with leading buyers. The “Programmatic in Japan” conversations will continue at the Rubicon Project Marketplace Summit at the ANA Intercontinental Hotel in Tokyo, Japan on Friday, September 19, 2014. Guests interested in attending must contact Tomoyuki Ikeda at tikeda@rubiconproject.com.

Your Name: Taro Fujinaka

Your Company: Mediabrands Audience Platform Japan

Your Title: Managing Director

SEARS: Where do you read your daily news?

FUJINAKA: I am not a big fan of paper, mostly I turn to various industry specific apps though for more general news consumption I do enjoy aggregation apps like Pulse. [Regarding] social media, I have to admit to being a bit of a Luddite after experiencing the fire hose that is Twitter.

SEARS: Today on average across Japan -- out of each $1.00 spent on media (all media, not just digital) by one of your advertisers -- how much is spent on automated or programmatic channels?

FUJINAKA: As William Gibson said, “The future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed.” You will have some advertisers well ahead of the curve and others who aren’t even familiar with the acronyms. On average in Japan we are probably looking at somewhere between $.03-$.05 cents on the dollar if we’re talking strictly about RTB. 2013 was about gaining initial traction; in 2014 we’ve started to see more aggressive investments from market leaders so I expect 2015 will be the year we see rapid growth as programmatic becomes mainstream.

SEARS: What was this number in 2012?

FUJINAKA: $.01-$.02

SEARS: What will this number be in 2016?

FUJINAKA: $.08-$.12

SEARS: What is the mission statement of Cadreon and Mediabrands Audience Platform Japan?

FUJINAKA: Cadreon’s mission to clients is very simply to discover and deliver the target audience efficiently and at scale. I do feel we also can’t ignore the other side of the coin, the users; our other mission is to try to deliver advertising that’s relevant and useful.

SEARS: Please tell us:

SEARS: Percentage increase, managed budget (media spend) 2013 vs. expected 2014 across Japan:

FUJINAKA: Answer: 2x

SEARS: What are Cadreon and Mediabrands Audience Platform Japan's three biggest initiatives in Japan in 2014?

FUJINAKA:

1. One : Video

Mediabrands is perhaps the only significant player in the traditional media space in Japan that has prioritized programmatic publicly in concrete terms. With the changes in user behavior of the last few years online video is fast becoming a no-brainer supplement, and programmatic TV buying may prove to be a major driver towards those goals as it has elsewhere already.

2. Two : Private Exchange

As long as quality content remains king, publishers remain in the driver seat, but with so many alternatives advertisers naturally want to leverage all the tools available to buy as efficiently as possible. Private exchanges done right in a scalable way represent a win for everyone.

3. Three : DMP and Attribution

We simultaneously face a paradigm shift away from last click conversion towards visibility into the more complex multi-touch reality of actual online journeys, and access to tools that allow us to act on these insights. This will challenge marketers and agencies alike to be more sophisticated in their approach, but ultimately far more effective at achieving results.

SEARS: By 2016, what percentage of your holding company’s Japanese media spend will be automated or programmatic?

FUJINAKA: With a narrow definition of programmatic as RTB $.12-$.15

SEARS: In your view, how advanced is the Japanese market with respect to advertising automation and programmatic compared to other leading advertising markets in the world? What markets does Japan look at for best practices? What is unique about the Japanese market?

FUJINAKA: Japan is still somewhat behind the US and Europe but the gap is closing more rapidly than we’ve seen in the past. Japanese players have become a lot quicker to see trends in other markets and build out their own local solutions though in many cases those might not be as robust as the originals. With global players also rapidly entering the market from last year from a technical perspective the market is catching up quickly. Advertiser and publisher acceptance still takes time though so in that respect Japan somewhat trails.

SEARS: On the subject of business models, the best way to describe your trading desk or automated advertising effort is:

a) Product organization -- i.e. you curate a media product for your agencies and advertisers

b) Service organization -- i.e. you recommend and manage best practices and best of breed products for your agencies and advertisers

c) A combination of both

d) Other

FUJINAKA: C. MAP really does both, for larger scale clients we negotiate private exchange deals to allow purchase of premium media programmatically. Of course we also are very systematic about selection of best-of-breed technology selection and global best practices.

SEARS: What percentage of your agency or advertiser’s site direct budget (direct orders) has been automated? [Pick one and explain in 1-2 sentences]

a) Less than 10% (of site direct dollars)

b) 11-20%

c) 21-50%

d) Over 50%

FUJINAKA: B, 11-20%. This year I expect this will grow as more deal ID based infrastructure becomes available in Japan and it becomes easier.

SEARS: Which of the following will accelerate the automation of site direct (direct orders) budget? Pick all that apply

a) Dynamic access to all publisher inventory [vs. just “remnant” or “auction”]

b) Ability to leverage publisher first party data

c) Ability to leverage advertiser first party data [against all publisher inventory, especially premium]

d) Availability of rich media, expandable units and larger IAB Rising Star formats

e) Ability to more easily curate audiences for specific advertisers across the premium content of multiple publishers

f) All of the above

FUJINAKA: F, all of the above. At this moment these types of tactics are not yet well known. MAP started doing more of these types of buys in 2013 at the behest of our more advanced clients. We are at the point now where there is a fair amount of client awareness of these tactics’ existence, but the tools to make implementation scalable are only just now becoming available.

SEARS: Tell us a bit more about you.

SEARS: Who was one of your first mentors as a child?

FUJINAKA: I would love to say the Dalai Lama but it’s probably more accurate to say Dr. Seuss: e.g. you should try stuff before making judgments (green eggs and ham), but on the other hand you shouldn’t just do things on the basis of what everyone else is doing (star-bellied sneetches).

SEARS: Money is not a concern. You no longer work in advertising or technology. What would you choose to do for work?

FUJINAKA: Write and/or teach.

SEARS: What is your favorite restaurant in the entire world?

FUJINAKA: I really enjoy eating at the New York Grill in Tokyo though that’s probably more for the atmosphere than anything. There are so many good places in Tokyo it’s really hard to make a choice. In San Francisco I enjoyed the Bourbon Steakhouse.

SEARS: Thanks Taro-san!

Jay Sears is Senior Vice President, Marketplace Development for the Rubicon Project. Sears workswith leadership and business unit heads across the company to expand Rubicon Project’s potential market. Sears has also served as General Manager, REVV Buyer, where he was responsible for global relations with the buy side including ad holding companies, ad agencies, agency trading desks and demand side platforms headquartered in North America. Jay can be reached at jsears@rubiconproject.com.

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