French firm Havas sets up digital advertising firm in RP
By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 10:53:00 08/15/2008
Filed Under: Technology (general), Internet, Advertising
MANILA, Philippines -- France-based Havas Media is setting up a local office, foreseeing a growth in spending on digital advertising.
The company is opening Media Contacts Philippines through a joint venture with local online firm Yehey.com. Media Contacts is part of the Media Planning Group, the media division of Havas.
The local company will focus on digital advertising services, primarily for Web and mobile.
"The Philippine market is accelerating at a great pace. It is probably in the top 20 markets in the world in terms of potential spending," said Vishnu Mohan, Havas Media's Asia Pacific chief executive.
The company is counting largely on rising Internet usage in the country, forecasted to grow nearly 20 million in the next two years. Mohan expects companies to increase ad spending to three percent of total spending by 2010.
"Penetration will always be the primary driver," he said in an interview. "We would like to spur the Web as an advertising medium but what is lacking right now is local content (on the Web)."
"Content will increase in time as companies explore the Web more as a medium," he added.
Mohan is also counting on Yehey.com to help educate local companies. Yehey.com resells ad space for search engines Google and Yahoo.
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