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Hyperlab turns banner ads into ‘talking retail spaces’ through chatbot technology

Malaysian technology start-up Hyperlab is aiming to transform the much maligned format of banner advertising into an interactive “retail space” on a publisher’s website.

The Kuala Lumpur-based firm has launched Insho Cast, an artificial intelligence-powered banner format that allows users to interact with the ad through a conversational interface – commonly known as chatbots – to get recommendations and information about the product.

The tool is designed to improve the value of banner and display advertising, after a recent report showed only 0.1 per cent of all visitors to a publisher click on the display ad.

Explaining the format, Hyperlab’s chief executive officer and founder Vic Sithasanan said: “Banner advertising has been notoriously ineffective in driving genuine traffic to a website. Up to now, they’ve been designed to ‘hijack’ visitors from a high traffic website to the advertisers site.

“The problem is only 0.1 per cent of all visitors click on those ads, and more than 70 per cent of those that clicked never even wait to load the advertisers site in full, usually either closing the tab or hitting back to head back to where they were.

“What we’re proposing to advertisers is to stop looking at banners as billboards – but to use them as ‘retail’ spaces where you can do more with the visitor without needing to drive them anywhere else. An advertiser pays the same for the media as they do with a normal banner, but can essentially interact with a lot more people – thus reducing cost and improving performance.”

Launched last month, the format has started serving ads on DoubleClick and Ad Networks for GroupM’s clients in South East Asia.

Founded last year by Sithasanan, Janet Teo and Chris Greenough, Hyperlab attracted US$500,000 to develop “conversational” technology for marketers and brands. 

Vic Sithasanan, Janet Teo, Chris Greenough

Prior to forming the company, the trio led the Australia Securities Exchange-listed marketing and media firm Next Digital (now APD) in Asia from 2012 to 2015, growing the company’s footprint in Kuala Lumpur.

Next Digital had previously acquired the digital innovation agency FutureLab that was co-founded by Teo and Sithasanan in 2011.

Speaking about the current state of digital advertising, Sithasanan added: “There’s been so much of advancement in technology used to target the right people on websites or social media. However, the way an advertiser interacts with the visitor through banners has stayed the same since 1994.

“We think this is the future of advertising. It’s never been done anywhere else in the world.”

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