RTB House COO Daniel Surmacz on building a global ad tech business | M&M Global

RTB House COO Daniel Surmacz on building a global ad tech business

With recent launches in APAC, Latin America and the Middle East, RTB House chief operating officer Daniel Surmacz discusses the firm’s ambition to become a global ad tech player.

Daniel Surmacz, chief operating officer, RTB House
Daniel Surmacz, chief operating officer, RTB House

M&M Global: Why are you looking to expand internationally?

Surmacz: “Right from the very start we aimed to develop an outstanding product that will pave our way to global presence. We were well-aware of real-time bidding’s rapid development in the US and believed that we can build something which would leverage the rising demand for programmatic advertising on our side of the globe. That was the starting point of our work on expansion which rapidly evolved from a plans to enter new markets of Europe into a strategy of global development, with a goal to establish our branches in new regions like APAC and LATAM, MEA.

“The reason of worldwide investments is pretty simple – we are sure that our technology and innovative retargeting scenarios will help clients, regardless the region, to reach the most promising buyers, higher returns on their online marketing, advertising and sales revenues. We can see on many markets that our solutions are way ahead ongoing trends so we bring new possibilities and in the end of the day we are able to deliver much better results.

“Now, after four years of operations, we run campaigns on 40 markets worldwide and believe that there is still a lot to do, many markets to enter and opportunities to take.”

Which markets have you prioritised for expansion?

“With an internet population of nearly 1.5bn people and a billion social media users, the Asia Pacific region has enormous business potential for retargeting technologies, and that was the reason to extend our international operations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.

“The time when Western Europe and the US were unsurpassed [in programmatic] are almost gone”

“Almost in parallel with the development in the APAC region, we decided to start building our sales and tech structures also in Latin America and currently concentrate on business development in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. Both regions are our priority at the moment. Our future plans concerns Japan, China and Australia but let’s not spoil the news and wait till next year.”

Why choose these markets?

“Our global business expansion is based on solid foundations. We analyse each market separately to make sure that the investments are worth taking risk. For example, Asian markets are very technologically developed and they quickly adapt to the latest innovations, which is precisely the reason why we decided to launch our operations in Indonesia or Malaysia. Both countries are part of ASEAN – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and as ASEAN’s third largest recipient of foreign direct investment. Moreover, Malaysia has the potential to become a technology hub by which investors can reach other nations.

“On the other part of the globe, the Brazilian market is huge and already well developed, so our solutions are complementary and competitive. We bring different values but just as needed for marketers all over the world. Our aim has always been to catalyse digital innovation, market growth and value creation, and in conjunction with the experienced managers who have the necessary knowledge of the local e-commerce needs, we can be sure our launch in new markets will be successful to head them.”

How is programmatic developing in these markets, and how does this differ from more established markets like the UK and the US?

“We see a great potential in developing markets in general. The time when Western Europe and the US were unsurpassed are almost gone, and LATAM and APAC markets are more and more developed to adapt the latest innovations. The need for advanced solutions is the same everywhere, but, of course, it has to be adapted to concrete environment. Countries in these regions are eager to keep up the latest trends and we take it as a big chance to develop our business.”

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