TotallyAwesome unveils programmatic playground for brand safe advertising to kids

TotallyAwesome, APAC’s digital media network for Gen Z and families, has launched TotallyAwesome Programmatic Playground. TotallyAwesome Programmatic Playground is touted as a world-first digital platform that allows APAC advertisers to engage with children under 18 in brand safe and age-appropriate environments while using programmatic technology.  

While children under 18 are increasingly controlling most household purchasing decisions, such as cars, beauty, technology, TotallyAwesome said it has been difficult for marketers to target them in a brand safe and scalable contextual environment. TotallyAwesome Programmatic Playground engages with its under 18 audience contextually via 7,000 verified brand safe media inventory formats including apps, websites and games to deliver to over 300 million monthly active online users across Asia Pacific. It does not collect any data or personal identifying information (PII).  

Instead, it uses a custom data filter that prevents PII-sensitive data from being collected and transferred in the bid request. TotallyAwesome Programmatic Playground then leverages and optimises over 200 interest categories of under 18 and creates sophisticated audience segments for responsible engagement with this segment.

According to the company, the new offering is powered by TotallyAwesome’s cloud-based tool, Curation and Moderation Platform. The Curation and Moderation Platform has ingested over millions of brand safe media ad units, publishers and contextual environments. All inventory is vetted and qualified by human moderators including teenagers in the local language to guarantee brand safe and ad fraud free inventory. With this, the company aims to deliver the largest and best-in-class media supply across APAC to engage the under 18 demographic range.

On a broader safety front, the TotallyAwesome Programmatic Playground is reported to be compliant with both the data privacy guidelines and regulations from the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation. Additionally, TotallyAwesome is a member of the kidSAFE Seal Program, an independent safety certification service and seal-of-approval program designed exclusively for children-friendly websites and technologies.

The company affirms that it follows the most advanced government regulations protecting children’s data and privacy. A resident practising psychologist also advises on what is age appropriate and consequently helps shape the company's products and develop bespoke research solutions.

Will Anstee, CEO of TotallyAwesome said: “We’re extremely proud to bring the world’s first programmatic solution to safely engage with audiences under 18 to market in APAC. We have invested significant time and resources to create this world-first solution that enables brands and agencies to engage with this powerful and influential audience with meaning and utility at scale, and in a protected environment.”  

“The TotallyAwesome Programmatic Playground combines a best-in-class contextual discovery platform with privacy compliant technology and informed human insight to create a world-first solution.  We’re delighted to be able to provide a safe and efficient environment to enable brands and their agencies to build powerful Private Market Places (PMP’s) to responsibly engage with this audience,” added Florian Schwinn, programmatic lead at TotallyAwesome.

Separately, in June last year, the company announced that Ridwan S Hidayat would assume the role of TotallyAwesome Indonesia's country manager in order to beef up operations. 

Hidayat said TotallyAwesome is a unique media business with a focus on helping kids and families connect with brands through safe and private interaction. He added that the company's mission of helping protect young internet audiences and their families in the digital environment is also a big focus for governments and businesses. 

Related articles:
TotallyAwesome appoints country manager for Indonesia
Jean-Michel Wu lands TotallyAwesome role as head of talent
LEGO and Epic Games partner for kid-friendly and 'creatively inspiring' metaverse