• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, December 19, 2013

Dentsu, the Tokyo-based parent of 360i and Aegis Media, this morning announced the launch of the Dentsu Audience Network, a new agency trading desk in Japan, that taps the trading technology resources of operating units such as Aegis’ Amnet, Cyber Communications Inc. and Nexage Dentsu.

Dentsu said the “driving force” behind the launch was the widespread adoption of real-time bidding (RTB) for buying online audience delivery.

“In order to provide the best performance from programmatic buying through RTB for its corporate clients, Dentsu has set up an in-house trading desk consisting of highly qualified and experienced staff, and, in cooperation with the three above-mentioned group companies, established a system that will offer best-in-class services,” Dentsu said in a statement released early this morning.

Among the new trading desk’s features, Dentsu said, will be the ability to target audiences more effectively by mining consumer insights from the audience trading data, as opposed to simply buying more efficiently.

“In programmatic buying to date, the general method used was the pursuit of a reduction in the costs incurred in bringing users to the point where performance targets are met, such as the cost of attracting visitors to the website or the cost of creating the ads,” the agency holding company said, adding, “In programmatic buying through RTB, however, since the precise behavior of the users can be ascertained (what kind of people visited the site; what kind of reactions they showed to the ads they looked at; and so forth), consumer insights with regard to commodities and brands can be ascertained. Dentsu will use the consumer insights grasped through RTB as the basis for planning advertising communications, thereby increasing the accuracy of a brand's approach to its target audience.”

While it is new to the programmatic audience-buying game, Dentsu said it has a key advantage because it can leverage “state-of-the-art technology” and business practices already developed in mature trading markets in the North American and Europe via its regional operating units.

“In this context, through collaboration with Amnet and [demand-side platform (DSP)] companies that offer leading-edge technology, Dentsu has established a system that will provide world-class services to its clients in Japan,” it asserted.

Dentsu cited an array of suppliers of DSP bidding technologies, as well as data management and analytics that will support its new trading desk, including Turn, MediaMath, Google's DoubleClick Bid Manager, IgnitionOne, Rocket Fuel, as well as leading Japanese DSP MicroAd BLADE and other undisclosed Japanese DSPs.

“In an increasingly data-driven environment, the 'Dentsu Audience Network' will empower our teams to deliver strategic, measurable and sustainable business outcomes for brand and direct-response clients,” stated Ashwini Karandikar, President, Amnet Global.