Control v. Exposed (CvE) Expands APAC Presence with Current Asia Strategic Partnership

Digital experts join forces to provide programmatic and consulting services to Asian brands

Singapore/London  – Control v. Exposed (CvE), a division of US-headquartered, independent company Goodway Group, today announces that it is expanding its operations in the Asia Pacific region through a strategic partnership with digital marketing and media firm Current Asia.

Formed in early 2019, CvE established a regional presence in Singapore last year as part of a plan to deliver digital campaign consulting and buying capabilities to brands in the region. The company said its partnership with Current Asia would involve expansion into Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Australia and New Zealand. 

The partnership will offer programmatic and performance media services to brands and agencies across the region. CvE has already developed relationships in the region with a number of programmatic and data companies, including The Trade Desk and Oracle. It also plans to bring its own proprietary technology Real Value Platform that has a proven track record of delivering significant performance uplift for programmatic media buying across display, video, audio and CTV.

The company deploys data, technology and consulting services to identify the right audiences that generate business returns for brands. CvE brings international expertise in all digital media, with a focus on programmatic channels ranging from display and video to CTV and audio ad formats.

Programmatic advertising is growing in Asia Pacific; Boston Consulting Group estimates that the video ad and display market will reach US$19 billion in 2020, up from US$14.5 billion in 2017. Programmatic’s share of ad spend is up from 19% in 2017 to 36% in 2020.

Paul Frampton, President, CvE International said: “APAC is a really exciting region for us with a ton of growth potential. We are excited to support our international clients in the region but also to have the opportunity to work increasingly with Asian brands that are looking to global markets for expansion. I am really excited to be partnering with Current Asia CEO David Ketchum and his team as they deeply understand the nuances of the different Asian markets and bring compelling technology and content solutions to the table.”

Ketchum, who has been appointed head of CvE Asia said: “CvE has built a powerful engine for brands and agencies to effectively deploy programmatic advertising. CvE’s consultative approach to digital marketing has been highly valued by clients in the US and Europe, so we are excited to bring this specialist expertise to marketers and senior media executives in Asia Pacific.”

Current Asia, established in 2015 by Ketchum, creates data-driven campaigns that engage customers at each stage of the marketing funnel. The partner agency’s regional customers are located across the region, from Singapore and Hong Kong to mainland China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and Australia.

The company has undertaken multiple digital marketing and transformation projects in sectors such as media and entertainment, professional services, insurance and FMCG. Current Asia’s clients range from early stage start-ups to global brands, and include CLSA, EY, Flexport and professional services provider TMF Group

Ketchum has worked in Asia since 1992, when he was appointed to run marketing services for Burson-Marsteller in China. He was also formerly Senior Vice President for Calvin Klein in the nineties, responsible for marketing, advertising, promotion, retail POS and public relations in the Asia Pacific.

About Control v. Exposed (CvE)

Control v. Exposed is a challenger brand: a new global agency purpose-built to deliver measurable business success through advertising whilst always maintaining client trust and transparency. It partners with like-minded clients who seek truth, answers and performance from their advertising in the form of measurable business outcomes. CvE is a division of Goodway Group, a 90-year-old privately-owned, US marketing services provider.

Control v Exposed refers to the practice of analysing a control group who have not been exposed to a certain variable within advertising versus an exposed group who have been and the obsessive focus on analyzing the lift and the incremental impact of the right message in the right place at the right time. CvE takes a highly analytical approach to strategy and execution in digital using data science techniques to establish exactly what does work, do more of that and remove budget that is spent on tactics that simply don’t drive incremental value. CvE first launched in the US in 2018, in Asia in early 2019, and in Europe in September of 2019. See: https://controlvexposed.com/  

About Current Asia

Current Asia helps clients do marketing and customer engagement better using automation, platforms and media. We create and implement business solutions starting from strategy, through to customer interaction, to sales, and optimization, underpinned by analytics and technology. We achieve results by engaging customers throughout their journeys with compelling data-driven content at the right times and in the right channels.

We’re the experts on finding very specific personas online and engaging them in Asia Pacific – from insurance to FMCG, from professional services to media & entertainment. We go beyond just creative strategy and media planning/buying to create hyper personalised campaigns to reach and nurture prospective customers for companies and brands. See: https://www.currentasia.com/