GroupM's Xaxis debuts in Indonesia and Philippines

GroupM has officially announced the launch of its audience buying unit Xaxis in two new markets in Asia Pacific, adding Indonesia and the Philippines to its regional footprint.Former regional director for Innity in Southeast Asia, Arshad Rahman (pictured), has been appointed to lead strategy and operations in both these markets for Xaxis as director. His role includes account management, trading, publisher relations and partnerships.The debut augments the company’s ongoing APAC expansion. It currently has offices in China, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Vietnam.“The digital landscape in APAC is evolving as digital penetration rapidly increases and audiences begin to shift to digital platforms,” said Michel de Rijk, managing director of Xaxis Asia Pacific.“We are the first large-scale audience buying platform in both markets, with more reach and more touch points than any other solution in the industry,” he adds.Commenting on the launch, GroupM CEO Indonesia, Ed Thesiger said; “Xaxis will be a unique selling point for GroupM. We will be the first agency in Indonesia to have this capability. We anticipate Xaxis to be an incredibly valuable media partner for our existing clients and to assist in driving new business.”Puneet Arora, GroupM CEO Philippines, also described the launch as a competitive advantage, sharing that several of its regional and global clients are already inquiring about Xaxis.The development follows the company’s announcement last week that it is merging with 24/7 Media, creating what it calls as the “world’s largest programmatic media and technology platform.”The merged firm will continue to be known as Xaxis, led by current Xaxis CEO Brian Lesser. David Moore, chairman and CEO of 24/7 Media, will become Xaxis Chairman, and take on a dual role as president of WPP Digital.Xaxis was launched in 2011 to offer marketers direct targeting through audience buying instead of purchasing placement on websites, apps or other plaforms, also known as contextual buying.