Online video viewed daily by 83% of mobile-loving Southeast Asians
AOL's recent State of the Video report shows 83% of regular internet users in Southeast Asia watch online video every day, with nearly 75% watching on their smartphones. Around 48% of publishers in the region expect spend on video to rise by over 25% in 2017, roughly inline with the global average of 46% of publishers but behind the US at 63%. However, despite being bullish on the future of video, advertisers and publishers there registered higher levels of concern over the tracking, safety and quality of campaigns.
AOL’s State of the Video Industry Report 2017 has found that 83% of online consumers in Southeast Asia watch online video every day, while 71% prefer watching videos online or via a connected TV due to its flexibility.

This reflects AOL's owner Verizon's focus on online videos.

The findings are also reflected in media buyers’ budgets, as two thirds are moving broadcast TV spending to online video, as well as slashing from online display, according to the report.

Slightly under half (48%) of advertisers and publishers expect to see video spend increase by more than 25% this year, in line with the global average (46%), but trailing the US (63%).

A tiny fraction (7%) of publishers in Southeast Asia expect revenue from programmatic video to fall in the next 12 months, despite the rise in video consumption.

“As the region is one of the most obsessive when it comes to watching online video every day, there is a real opportunity for publishers if they are able to make further premium video inventory available to advertisers. The demand is there from both consumers and advertisers,” said Alex Khan, AOL’s Asia & ANZ Managing Director.

The industry have mixed opinions about what is driving digital video advertising, according to the report, with 56% of buyers citing “better quality creative,” and the most popular reason, the availability of vide on social media platforms (60%).

This skews differently from the global response, with only 46% considered availability of video on social media platforms as a significant factor. The report attributes this difference to the region’s almost fanatical use of mobile phones and higher than average social media consumption. Better targeting and personalisation of video ads was the third most common reason globally and in Southeast Asia.

Many factors can influence the success of an online video campaign, such as avoiding heavy files, as 66% of consumers tune out a video after two buffering interruption, and 82% leave after three. The length of the video campaign is important as well, as 68% of consumers expect pre-roll ads to be less than 15 seconds for a short video (one minute or less). The interactivity of mobile ads are important to consider as well, as 71% of consumers would like to have some control over which ads they watch.

“The report highlights that we love our mobile devices more than most other parts of the globe – almost three quarters of consumers are watching video on their smartphone every day. Sure, there’s a learning curve to ensuring you enjoy the best return and deliver an optimum customer experience, but the payback is worth it,” said Khan.

The majority of advertisers and publishers (70%) believe that digital video is the future of advertising, but 63% believe there is a growing number of concerns and obstacles to overcome. The region skews above the global average of 53% of respondents who share the same concern.

Concerns such as the lack of existing processes and systems to use programmatic technology to build and track campaigns are amplified in the region (55%), compared to the global average (44%). Safety and quality concerns round up the major factors for the region.