In conversation with Sandeep Balani, Outbrain
Sandeep Balani is the Head of India at Outbrain. With over 19 years of experience in the media industry, spread across print, digital as well as ad-tech, Sandeep in his current role is responsible for growing and scaling India Business for Outbrain and Zemanta.
How has 2021 started for Outbrain in India?
The growth momentum has continued to be significant ever since we partnered with Network18. We have built a strong premium publisher network and our recent additions – Hindustan Times, Bollywood Hungama and Jagran New Media – gave us good diversification in terms of audience for our advertisers in India. These partnerships have increased Outbrain’s reach, allowing it to tap into a key regional audience through News18, LiveHindustan and Jagran New Media.
Our reach in the finance category has deepened through our association with Moneycontrol and LiveMint thus allowing marketers to reach highly qualified audiences. We currently serve over 12 billion personalized content recommendations every month in the region.
How are businesses reacting to the second wave of COVID?
We do feel there is maturity and preparedness in the way businesses are handling the situation currently, compared to what we saw last year. There is a continuity in online advertisers who are increasing their spends with us and driving brand awareness and sales. Also, the government is not instituting a nationwide lockdown, which is helping businesses function in most states. The vaccination drive is continuously upscaling. We are optimistic that we will settle down in the coming quarters and see a steady rise in demand coming up again.
What are the key products from Outbrain that advertisers need to look out for?
Traditional advertising formats are being left behind and advertisers are now looking for constant innovation to improve the end user experience. We have strengthened developments in the digital ad experience with Outbrain Smartads.The two popular and most heavily adapted ad formats are the CTA and the App Install. Advertisers have found the experience a lot more engaging and impactful. Our advertiser partners continuously depend on advanced tech and audience solutions rather than targeting only publishers.
We are further looking at the Carousel and the CTA products to gain traction with brand and performance advertisers in India.
What are going to be the key drivers for the development of India business in Outbrain?
We continue to strengthen our team and enable the market and our partners to function smoothly with us. This year, we welcomed Tyroo as our partner and the collaboration shows good signs of penetration in the top agencies. Tyroo will support Outbrain with their expertise on sales, operations and collections in India.
On the supply side of our business, we have strengthened our portfolio of premium publishers with Network18, Hindustan Times and Jagran New Media. We continue to have a balanced approach between platforms and traditional publishers.