ROI critical, invested heavily in self-service ads platform: Lorry Destainville, Quora
The Head of Advertising Sales & Partnerships, Quora, talks to exchange4media on its pitch to advertisers and the value that it offers to marketers

Quora has a mission- to share and grow the world's knowledge. And Indians seem to be the biggest agents for achieving Quora’s mission. As of May 2017 Quora has 200 million unique visitors monthly. At 70+ million monthly unique visitors from the subcontinent, India is one of the leading markets for Quora globally. Launched in 2009, Quora opened up its platform to advertisers only in 2016 and in 2017, the company introduced the self-serve ad platform. In 2018 Quora brought Httpool on board as the official ad sales partner in India.
Quora promises an engaged audience that has a high intent to marketers in India. exchange4media spoke to Lorry Destainville, Head of Advertising Sales & Partnerships, Quora to understand its pitch to advertisers.
Edited excerpts:
Quora though a very favoured platform among a certain demographic has been slow to join the monetisation game. Why has this been the case?
As a company, we have always had a long-term view. In the early years of Quora, we were 100% focused on building the best possible product for users. Monetising Quora was a big decision that we took back in April 2016. We know that when done carelessly, ads can often be negative to user experience, and it was important that we rolled out ads at the right time, in a manner that would make Quora a better product for businesses and our global community of users. To fully achieve our mission we need to make sure that the knowledge on Quora will improve and last forever. Building sustainable revenue from ads will play a part in empowering us to do that. Since the launch of our Ads platform, we have quickly ramped up the platform with several robust targeting and measurement tools, making Quora Ads a valuable acquisition channel for marketers.
What category of advertisers can benefit the most from advertising on Quora?
People come to Quora every day to ask questions and read insightful, credible answers. With 70M+ monthly unique visitors in India, our audience is engaging with content on a variety of topics. Given this, we believe any business can have success advertising on Quora! We capture intent, interest and behaviourial signals and empower brands to capture those, leveraging our advanced targeting capabilities.
Quora offers a unique opportunity to reach potential buyers during the research and consideration phase of their purchase process, particularly around high value items. Users are already on Quora trying to get the best organic answers around the best airlines to travel to Europe or other important decisions. For example - consumer technology, financial services, education, travel and auto are just some of the verticals where advertisers are seeing success, finding their target audience on Quora.
Where will the ads appear? Do you plan to contextualise the ads with the questions asked?
Ads on Quora appear on the question and answer pages as well as in a users feed. We try to ensure our ads are relevant to the user and offer a variety of targeting options to help our advertisers reach the right audience with the right message.
What are your thoughts on using the platform for content marketing?
Our existing text and image-based ads are 100% native ad units. Additionally, we are exploring ways for advertisers to promote content on Quora as well in addition to investing in organic content marketing on Quora.
What kind of interest have you seen from brands so far?
Brands, in India and other markets, have been interested in leveraging three core aspects of our platform:
- A highly engaged audience, with 70M+ Monthly Unique Visitors in India
- A high level of intent, with users researching important decisions. Our ads platform empowers brands to capture these user behaviours and bring the right message to the right user at various levels of the marketing funnel.
- A safe place for brands to tell their story. We take Brand Safety very seriously; our philosophy towards user engagement “Be Nice Be Respectful” along with additional controls for marketers defines what content gets associated with their ads.
A lot of platforms including Quora are building self-serve ad platforms. How has the market received this? Do you see a wider group of advertisers using Quora to promote their products because of self-serve? Are SMEs making use of this feature?
Advertising is becoming increasingly automated and as such, marketers want more direct control over their spends across various channels. Self service platforms give advertisers the ability to create, optimise and manage all of their campaigns on any given channel. At Quora, delivering advertiser ROI is extremely important to us, which is why we have invested so heavily in our self service ads platform. We also offer best in class measurement tools to further support our advertisers in measuring and optimising the ROI from Quora Ads. Large, public companies such as Shopify, as well as small startups are all currently using our self-service platform.
In India how many advertisers partner with Quora?
Quora already has over 1,000 active advertisers on the platform. We've had many businesses advertise on Quora since we launched our self-service ads platform in May 2017. The success of several of these advertisers has been one of the many reasons we've chosen to expand our support via this partnership with Httpool to advertisers in India.
How will the collaboration with Httpool improve the Quora Ads product?
We are excited to partner with Httpool to provide brands and agencies with Quora advertising expertise along with premium support and services across Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. Quora offers a fantastic opportunity for brands to capture highly relevant and engaging content, and we could not think of a better partner than Httpool to help advertisers find value on Quora.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
test
test
test
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
test
test
test
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp