Unruly launches emotional targeting tool across Southeast Asia

Video ad tech company Unruly has launched a new targeting capability which helps advertisers across Southeast Asia connect with consumers most likely to emotionally engage with a specific ad.The company said its Unruly Custom Audiences (UCA) can help marketers target light buyers of a brand; consumers who have a preference for competitors’ brands and hard-to-reach, customised audiences such as business decision-makers and movie-goers. Campaigns using UCA have seen significant uplifts in campaign performance, up to more than 74% in brand favorability and over 80% in purchase intent.UCA uses data from the company’s content evaluation tool Unruly EQ which was created using almost 2 million consumer data points - to target people most likely to engage emotionally with a specific video. This leads to an increase in earned media impressions, brand recall and purchase intent, an Unruly spokesperson said.GroupM is the first agency group to use new tool, with ten of its clients already adopting this new targeting technology. They include leading multinational FMCG, QSR, automotive and financial service brands, across multiple markets including Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.Matt Wigham, GroupM deputy head of investment for Asia Pacific (APAC), said: “One of the key areas of focus for our business is to find innovative and ground-breaking solutions for our clients.[...]Data insights and targeting capabilities are core components of our agencies offerings enabled by [m]PLATFORM, and this partnership signals our intent to remain at the cutting edge.”Wigham also added that its clients are in the midst of trial and evaluation stages on this new methodology - to identify and target key audiences at a campaign level, enhance brand impact and drive greater returns in their campaigns."In today’s frenetic media landscape, brands that want success on social media and memorability at the point of purchase need to create and distribute contagious content that makes a deep emotional connection with their audiences," Unruly’s chief commercial officer for APAC, Phil Townend (pictured), said.