Opera Software ASA : Mediaworks’ Nordic addition brings new talent, LinkedIn partnership to region

Denmark, Norway and Sweden - January 18, 2016

New team is the #1 mobile advertising player in the Scandinavian region

At Opera Mediaworks, we take being the world's leading independent mobile advertising platform very seriously. But there's one key piece of the global domination puzzle that's been missing: Scandinavia.

Today, we are proud to announce that Opera Mediaworks has made a substantial expansion in Scandinavia to service the regional needs of advertisers and publishers. The multi-country team now joining Opera Mediaworks has formerly operated independently as adQuota.

Back to our roots

Our team already has strong roots in Scandinavia, with parent company Opera ASA founded in Oslo, Norway more than 20 years ago - so expanding in the Nordics was a natural move. Through the addition of the adQuota team, Opera Mediaworks will be able to expand its offerings to adQuota's already-existing customer base in Norway, Sweden and Denmark to become the leading mobile ad platform in Scandinavia. Scandinavian companies have very high smartphone adoption rates, making them attractive to brands and agencies who reach their audiences via mobile devices. The mobile advertising market in Norway, Sweden and Denmark is expected to reach $1.7 billion in 2016 and to rise an additional 59% to reach $2.7 billion in 2018 (eMarketer). 'Brands and agencies in our region will now have access to better targeting, reach, measurement, programmatic tools and new formats like Instant-Play™ HD video and rich media,' says Thomas Juul, Managing Director, Scandinavia, Opera Mediaworks. 'Publishers will see more monetization opportunities through campaigns from Opera Mediaworks' global supply teams.'

LinkedIn partnership

To kick off this presence, Opera has signed an agreement with LinkedIn to become the official partner for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions in all Scandinavian countries, offering powerful new options for advertisers in the region.

As a full-service LinkedIn partner, Opera Mediaworks can make full use of all of LinkedIn's solutions and profile data when planning campaigns, allowing for unique segmentation options. Customers can target specific industries, job titles, age ranges and geographical areas. For example, brands and agencies can target niche audiences, such as CEOs in Denmark, in the finance industry, who travel frequently.

'Opera Mediaworks has the right skills and expertise to fully leverage LinkedIn as a strategic marketing channel. Their team has a highly consultative approach, which we know means they will create value and successfully support our clients in this market', says Fredrik Bernsel, Sales Director EMEA at LinkedIn. The professional social network has close to 6 million users in Scandinavia and a total of 400 million users worldwide. Through the Opera Mediaworks relationship, Scandinavian advertisers will be able to reach all of these users via Sponsored Updates, InMails and display banners. The new Opera Mediaworks Scandinavian team will continue to service its current customers with improved products and services. The company has offices in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

'Our EMEA team got its start in the United Kingdom, and we slowly expanded into fast-growing mobile ad markets like Germany, Africa and Turkey. Now, we look forward to focusing our attention on the Nordic countries - our old stomping grounds! - where the very smartphone-savvy populations also hold tremendous consumer purchasing power. It's an incredible opportunity,' confirms Mark Slade, Managing Director, EMEA, Opera Mediaworks.

About Opera Software ASA

Opera enables more than 350 million internet consumers worldwide to connect with the content and services that matter most to them. Opera also helps publishers monetize their content through advertising and advertisers reach the audiences that build value for their businesses, capitalizing on a global consumer audience reach that exceeds 1 billion.

Opera is a trademark of Opera Software ASA.