Non-gaming Apps global advertising analysis in March

In Non-gaming Apps advertising market, shopping and social networking areas are still the driving engines in March. The proportion of advertising in the European market, though still taking a leading role, declined slightly, while that in Southeast Asia increased. In the top advertising list, in addition to the slight adjustment of rankings among leading advertisers, new applications including “SHEIN” in the shopping area and “Viu” in films and television have increased their advertising volumes and succeeded in cracking into the list. Basing on 19 global mobile advertising platforms, and covering 27 countries/regions, App Growing Global has analyzed the non-gaming Apps advertising intelligence of March 2021.

1：Overall non-gaming apps advertising trends

The advertising market, compared to that of last month, has seen little change. As for the proportion of segmented applications, the proportion of shopping and social networking has increased, accounting for about 32% and 10% respectively, while that of news has witnessed a decline, from 12% in February to 9%. Few evident changes have been seen in other categories.

In the regional proportions of advertising, the advertising volume in Europe and America has seen a decline while in Southeast Asia an increase. Among the nations and regions, America, although there was a slight decrease in advertising, still managed to defend its championship with its 11% share in advertising. In Southeast regions, there are marked increases among Indonesia（5.77%）, the Philippines(5.30%) and Vietnam(4.05%).

In the proportion of advertising formats, the proportion of in-feed advertisement, though still taking a dominant place, has dropped significantly, from 60.50% in February to 40.18% in March. The proportion of playable advertisements has increased to 10.37%. In advertising creatives, photo advertising (59.57%) and videos advertising (29.86%) are still the first options.

2：Top-advertising Non-gaming Apps & Publishers

Little difference has been seen in the Top-advertising Non-gaming Apps list in march, compared to that in February. On the one hand, shopping and social networking applications are still the driving engines in advertising. On the other hand, Chinese publishers managed to retain their powerful momentum, accounting for half of the top-advertising apps.

Among top 10 applications, the list has seen slight difference. Top 3 players, “Lazada”,” News Break”,” Wish” competed with each other. Other apps like “FileMaster”, “One Security”, “Alibaba.com” also maintained considerable advertising volumes.

In addition, according to data from App Growing Global, “SHEIN” continued to increase advertising volumes at the end of February and re-entered top 10 list. The advertising traffic of social apps such as “Facebook” and “Twitter” also increased significantly in March. It is worth mentioning that PCCW’s film and television application “Viu” in Hong Kong also entered the Top-advertising Non-gaming Apps list in March.

In March, the Top20 Non-gaming with Rising Advertisement is in line with the basic trend of the advertising market. Shopping and social applications have dominated the ranking list. Among the list are shopping applications like “Tokopedia”, “Hepsiburada”, social applications like India’s short video application “Josh” and video chatting applications like “TanDoo”.

Other types of applications include mobile phone memory optimization “PoMelo File Explorer” and “Grab”, Southeast Asia’s Didi, mentioned in the previous weekly report, etc.

In the Top20 Non-gaming publishers in March, the rankings changed little from that in February, and the main changes were concentrated in the second half of the list. On the one hand, publishers with “normalized buying volume” such as Lazada Mobile, Particle Media Inc., Wish Inc., Shopee, etc. are still gaining momentum. On the other hand, some new faces appeared on the list, such as “Facebook”, “Instagram”, “FBS” and “MICO WORLD”.

Nearly half of the publishers on the list are from China. In addition to some familiar big buyers and Shein Group Ltd, who has re-entered the list, MICO WORLD also ranked among the top 20 publishers in March by virtue of its social application “MICO”.

3: Ad Creatives Summary of Top-advertising Non-gaming Apps

3.1 Social application MICO

“MICO”, as an early player on overseas market, is an application that focuses on social interaction and integrates pan-entertainment elements such as stranger chat, short video, and live broadcast. Since going overseas in 2014, “MICO” first started in Middle East and Southeast Asia. While rooting in these two markets, it has continuously improved its product competitiveness and commercial liquidity and continued to deploy and promote global business. Up to now, “MICO” has accumulated 100 million users in more than 150 countries and regions around the world, and has topped the App Store social application download list in 71 countries and regions including India and the UAE.

In recent years, in addition to maintaining advertising volumes in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, part of the advertising of “MICO” has also been evenly distributed in Europe, America, Japan, South Korea and other regions. The advertising of “MICO” emphasized its social features such as stranger chat and online Livestream. It also focused on localized promotion strategies in language, culture and aesthetics.

Creative 1：

Creative 2：

3.2 Film and television application “Viu”

“Viu” is a film and television application launched by Hong Kong PCCW that includes Japanese and Korean films and variety shows, mainly for the Southeast Asian market. According to data from App Growing Global, the advertising channels of “Viu” are concentrated on Facebook (FAN), Instagram, Messenger and Facebook. In terms of regional advertising distribution, in addition to the high advertising traffic in Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, etc.), there is also a certain amount of advertising traffic in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, UAE, etc.).

The advertisements of “Viu” are relatively conventional, mainly displaying clips and posters of Korean dramas, movies, and variety shows that are introduced by themselves. Hot actors are also invited to conduct joint advertising promotions.

Creative 1：

Creative 2：

The above is “Non-gaming Apps global advertising analysis in March: advertising in Europe and American markets has slowed down while Southeast Asia has increased; Creative material analysis on MICO and “Viu”, login App Growing Global now to get more mobile advertising intelligence.

*The above-related advertising materials are sourced from App Growing Global, which is only used for research and analysis. All Rights Reserved.