At ATS Singapore, marketers rewrite the rules on walled gardens, DOOH and AI
Illustration by Robyn Phelps / Shutterstock / The Current
At ATS Singapore 2025, APAC marketers had a clear message: In a heavily fragmented market, agility wins.
What does that look like in practice? It means looking beyond walled gardens to let innovation in, using digital out-of-home (DOOH) to turn passing glances into lasting brand moments, and treating the AI journey as a marathon, not a sprint.
Let the open internet in
In a region long dominated by walled gardens, APAC marketers are looking for solutions to keep their media-buying options open.
What they said: “In Asia, we are over-indexed in walled gardens. By creating an ecosystem that supports the open internet [and] supports diversification of technology and partners — that creates a better opportunity to allow advertising to be innovative.” — Madelin Farrington, head of client solutions, Kinesso APAC
Why it matters: Walled gardens still capture most of Asia’s digital ad dollars, but cracks are emerging as marketers push for transparency, flexibility and efficiency — and it’s influencing how they curate their ad tech stacks.
According to Dentsu, programmatic ad spend in APAC is expected to grow by 11.1% this year, compared to paid social (8.7%) and paid search (6.7%). Retail media is projected to see the most growth — as much as 21.9% year over year.
Building a healthy, open internet ecosystem may not be about abandoning the giants, but rather diversifying to drive smarter, more innovative advertising. And in a region where audiences are fragmenting fast, that flexibility could be key to staying relevant.
DOOH hits different
There’s always been something about seeing a brand up in lights — and programmatic DOOH can supercharge that impact.
What they said: “A lot of us are in an environment in the [online] digital world, where you are provided with so many brand messages in a day … sometimes you don’t even register [what you’re seeing]. But when you see something that is physical, there’s also a signal of a brand dominance and trust.” — Chloe Neo, CEO, OMG Singapore
Why it matters: DOOH isn’t fringe anymore — it’s mainstream. Globally, it accounts for nearly 37% of total OOH spend.
In Singapore, it’s considered a core pillar, accounting for around 39% of the local OOH market. Marketers in Australia are also increasingly turning to programmatic DOOH, looking to blend physical presence with digital retargeting and measurement while their audiences are out in the real world.
The bottom line? DOOH has evolved into a data-rich, creatively flexible canvas, giving brands an impactful real-world anchor that connects with their mobile, CTV and retail media strategies.
Play the long game with AI
The marketers that stand to make the greatest gains with AI aren’t the ones jumping on every new tool. They’re testing smart and scaling only what works.
What they said: “The businesses and the agencies that will be successful with AI … [are those that] are very smartly testing, thinking about their objectives and using the use cases, which ultimately will have the biggest uptake in the long term. … That testing and trialing mentality is really important.” — Robin Greer, director, Brainlabs
Why it matters: According to the IAB State of Data 2025 report, 30% of agencies have fully integrated AI into their media planning and buying. Meanwhile, two-thirds of respondents cited challenges with data quality, privacy and fragmentation as the biggest barriers to AI adoption.
The report found only 49% of agencies, brands and publishers are actively taking steps to overcome these challenges.
Media buyers who really want to get ahead will be those who take a phased approach and establish a solid foundation — with clear governance, training and focused use cases — before leaning into full-scale rollouts.