Airtel Africa has today launched Airtel Ads, Africa’s first integrated Demand-Side Platform (DSP) aimed at empowering advertisers and agencies to efficiently manage, purchase, and optimize digital ad inventory across multiple ad exchanges in real-time.
What is a Demand-Side Platform?
A Demand-Side Platform (DSP) is an automated advertising system where marketers can purchase and optimize ad inventory from multiple sources through one interface.
DSPs make ad buying more efficient by consolidating different ad networks like Google, Facebook, Instagram, and more into one platform.
Instead of managing multiple campaigns, marketers can target audiences, adjust bids, analyze performance, and create reports from a single dashboard. DSPs also leverage real-time data and machine learning to optimize ad placement and spend.
How Airtel Ads Works
Powered by Intent.ai, Airtel Ads is designed for media agencies and businesses, streamlining the process of purchasing advertising space.
This feature enables advertisers to make informed ad placement decisions by combining various tools and functionalities within a single platform and offers a comprehensive solution for digital advertising management.
The platform will leverage Airtel Africa’s extensive customer base of more than 150 million customers, utilizing data from both telecommunications services and mobile wallets.
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This approach aims to not only target digitally engaged individuals but also include those traditionally excluded from the digital realm through its 2G and feature phone user base.
Additionally, through the integrated Airtel Voice Reward Ads, the platform has the capability to reach consumers on various devices.
Since its inception, the platform has achieved a weekly audience reach of 27 billion impressions, 23.5 million in-app daily impressions, and over 200 million daily SMS notifications with end-of-SMS tag messaging potential.
Why Africa Needs Its Own Ad Tech
Africa’s rapidly evolving digital landscape comes with huge opportunities, but also distinct challenges for marketers. Language diversity, varying connectivity speeds, limitations in tracking resources, and differences in consumer behavior patterns all make precision targeting difficult.
Payment options remain restricted as well, with the predominance of mobile money wallets over credit cards. By building its own tailored ad tech, Airtel aims to help African marketers cut through these barriers and effectively engage both established and emerging consumer markets across sub-Saharan Africa.
Speaking at the launch, Airtel Africa’s Chief Commercial Officer, Anthony Shiner said, “We are excited to introduce Airtel Ads in Africa. This innovative platform will support advertisers and businesses to gain unprecedented control over their marketing campaigns, leveraging Airtel Africa’s extensive customer base and world class technology. Airtel Ads is a testament to our leadership in shaping the communications landscape in Africa, ensuring businesses are supported to achieve their objectives using data first tools to inform their business decisions.”
