SPH Digital, a new division of media group Singapore Press Holdings, was officially launched to the trade on May 8.  

More than 500 advertisers who attended the SPH Digital trade event held at Swissôtel The Stamford were introduced to SPH’s comprehensive suite of digital advertising solutions across its portfolio of award-winning online media properties and also had first dibs on its latest offerings. 

SPH Digital was created in February 2014 and is the latest move by SPH to respond to fast-rising digital media consumption habits. The objective is to harness the growth potential of SPH’s various digital offerings, through concerted efforts to bring integrated solutions that are innovative, creative and enterprising to its advertisers and users.

The group's sites include the online and mobile editions of flagship newspaper The Straits Times, AsiaOne, The Business Times, Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao, as well as citizen journalism site Stomp and online classified sites  such as STProperty, STJobs and STClassifieds.  Together, they reach 23 million unique browsers and command 360 million page views monthly.

Mr Julian Tan, Head of SPH Digital, said: “SPH Digital wants to be more than just a media platform to brand owners. What we offer are opportunities to create unique digital brand campaigns that will excite audiences and generate returns for their investment. With our strength in the wide reach and the variety of our websites, SPH Digital is the most comprehensive yet targeted base for marketers who face increasing challenges of reaching and engaging their target audience in a crowded market.”

SPH has also expanded its video offerings, with the launch of the SPH Premium Video Network. Managed by SPH Razor, it draws content from SPH publications and third-party content partners such as The Star Online and Howdini. Content is screened across SPH news and lifestyle sites.

Mr Jonathan Ng, editor of SPH Razor, said video widgets and players will be featured prominently on all websites, with multiple engagement points - home pages, section pages and articles.

Mr Adrian Tay, editor of AsiaOne, showed off SPH's new Content Studio, set up to give brands a means of communicating with their target groups. Experienced journalists work with advertisers to repackage content from SPH archives. The content is then published across SPH digital assets in the form of ads, sitting alongside editorial stories but flagged as sponsored content.

Mr Jeffrey Seah, CEO (SEA) of  Starcom Mediavest Group, said: “Shifting to let your digital consumers be at the forefront  is a very important step as you bring your content to the next level. Being able to be responsive to the market, to respond to what the consumers need will allow you to target them better with the right content, and also allows advertisers to use the premium inventory better”.

Mr Sony Wong, Chief Executive of Omnicom Media Group, Singapore, called SPH Digital a "game changer". Mr Wong said: "It's a big difference from what was offered in the past - content that can be customised for advertising is very powerful." He said he was seeing a gradual shift towards digital advertising among the global media agency's 60 or so clients here, 95 per cent of which advertise with SPH. "Two years ago, advertising budget was split 80 to 20 between offline and online; now, online accounts for about 30 to 40 per cent of revenue," he noted

Click to view the video and photos on SPH Digital trade launch.

To find out more about SPH Digital advertising solutions, contact Michael Chng at 6319 2036 / mikechng@sph.com.sg or TS Sanjay at 6319 2711 / tssanjay@sph.com.sg or Jen Tay at 6319 2411 / jentay@sph.com.sg