To kick-start the build of a regional ecosystem for networked advertising, Ericsson Argentina staged a “Mobile Advertising Week” in March, inviting regional operators and advertising players. 

Patrik Hedlund, Director for Business Innovation at Ericsson Argentina, says the events during the week are part of a larger program around networked advertising, focusing on new business opportunities, innovations, and involvement of the developer community. 

“We have seen that operators are very interested in advertising right now, and our ambition is to build a regional ecosystem around networked advertising, where Ericsson has a central role,” Hedlund says.

During the week, a seminar was held for operators. The agenda included a demo of an advertising application that was built using the Ericsson Composition Engine. 

“In a second event, we met with selected players in the media and advertising segment,” Hedlund says. “An important part of that get-together, which took half a day, was a workshop where we discussed how to use the mobile channel for advertising. 

“Many of the players in the advertising industry do not know how the mobile channel can be used to promote their business, so this event was highly appreciated. And we are now in the process of signing partner agreements with some of those who attended the event.”

Hedlund and his colleagues will soon head for Chile, where they will host similar events. “We want to build an advertising ecosystem covering our entire market, involving both regional and local partners,” he says.

There is a need for a broker type of role, Hedlund says, which supports operators in networked advertising. His ambition is to establish Ericsson, in an ecosystem approach, as a leading provider of such a service throughout the region. The role of the company, he explains, will be defined on a case–by–case basis, ranging from just hosting the technical platform to providing a full-blown service together with partners that includes media planning and inventory sales.

The cornerstones in the company’s advertising offering are the Ericsson Ad Orchestrator tool and the Ericsson Internet Payment eXchange (IPX), which together allow customers to sell ads over all channels.

“There are lots of opportunities to build innovative services in the advertising space, exploiting enablers such as IMS and web services, and we encourage developers to go for it and help us create a rich advertising ecosystem,” Hedlund says. 

By Benny Ritzén

Ericsson’s advertising offering
IPX
Ericsson Composition Engine