Mindshare finds some local markets not ready to provide programmatic planning

A lack of understanding of the programmatic function in certain local markets has prompted Mindshare to centralise its Southeast Asia planning operations in Singapore. “Our planners weren’t ready,” said Sanchit Sanga, chief digital officer, Asia Pacific, speaking at an event organised by the Mobile Marketing Association and InMobi. “We had to break that thinking at the core and take some hard decisions. So we��ve taken away planning from markets, and everything is now run from Singapore.” These markets include Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. “The planners were doing lazy planning, so we decided to build it out first, after which we will eventually send it back,” he said. According to him, the markets were overly reliant on Google and Facebook and were not using the entire ecosystem. Sanga puts it down to a talent challenge in the local markets. “There’s generally a shortage of programmatic skill sets in local markets," he told Campaign Asia-Pacific on the sidelines of the event. "Also most of the technology partners are based in Singapore, creating an easier and smoother workflow.”