AdRoll assembles a team of former Google and Yahoo! executives as they expand into Japan
In an effort to meet local demand for high-performance marketing solutions, AdRoll, has announced the expansion of its global presence to Japan with the opening of its Tokyo office. This newly established local team will provide full-service account management to Japanese customers. In addition to the team on the ground in Tokyo, AdRoll’s self-service solution has been fully translated and localized for the Japanese market. This is the company’s sixth office, after opening regional offices in New York, Dublin, Sydney, and London.
The company has assembled an all-star team of industry heavyweights, including Makoto Arima as VP and chairman of AdRoll Japan and Luciano Kohmura as managing director of AdRoll Japan. Arima was the first employee at Yahoo! Japan, where, as managing director, he grew the business to a billion dollars in revenue during his six-year tenure. Most recently, he served as managing director of Google Japan for the past four years. Kohmura, who will lead day-to-day operations, also joins from Google where he held multiple roles during his nine-year tenure. Most recently, he served as director of new product sales across Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
“As one of the largest advertising markets in the world, Japan represents a massive opportunity to scale performance marketing across brands of all sizes and verticals,” said Aaron Bell, CEO and co-founder at AdRoll. “Having respected, experienced leaders such as Makoto and Luciano at the helm shows our commitment to building a world-class organization in Japan and delivering a fully localized solution tailored to the Japanese market.”
AdRoll’s entry into Japan comes at an opportune time. Digital advertising spend in Japan now exceeds $9 billion and is projected to grow to over $11 billion by 2018. Mobile advertising spend represents a third of total spend today and is growing quickly, reinforcing the demand for AdRoll’s cross-device capabilities.
At launch in Japan, AdRoll has signed on 11 Japanese digital agencies and 2 media reps to participate in a pilot program. This gives them the ability to deploy sophisticated retargeting campaigns across multiple platforms and devices. Partners include CyberAgent, OPT, Septeni, iRep, TransCosmos, Vixia, Microad Plus, Adways, United, Cyber Consultant, GMO Nikko, CCI and DAC.
The newly established AdRoll office, located in Tokyo’s thriving Roppongi district, will be hiring more than 25 new employees throughout 2015.