Index Exchange taps ex-Unruly exec in Japan

Index Exchange has tapped former Unruly country manager Haruyo Kagawa to expand its operations in Japan.

Kagawa will become managing director of Japan at the adtech firm, charged with expanding its suite of solutions for publishers and buyers in the country.

Index Exchange first entered Japan in 2018 and claims to work with nearly 80% of the publishers based in the country. By the end of 2020, it plans to dedicate several employees to serve both publishers and buying partners in Japan in its Tokyo-Ginza office.

Kagawa joins from leading the Japan operation of video adtech firm Unruly, a post she left less than two weeks ago after four-and-a-half years in the role. Prior to Unruly she held a range of senior roles at firms including DA Consortium, Yahoo Japan, Amazon and Facebook. She built Amazon's advertising business from scratch in Japan between 2008 and 2012, and then joined Facebook to fulfil a similar role, before joining Unruly in 2015. Her career earned her a slot in Campaign Asia-Pacific's Women to Watch in 2016.

Kagawa commented: “As the programmatic industry continues to progress in Japan, Index Exchange will continue to work closely with our local partners to educate them on the benefits of header bidding and help them prepare for the post-cookie era.

“It’s an exciting time for this organisation, and I’m thrilled to step into this new role and put Index’s stamp on the Japanese programmatic ecosystem.”

Index Exchange APAC regional managing director Adele Wieser added: “At Index Exchange, we understand the importance of aligning with our Japanese partners to ensure their programmatic efforts are even more successful in the long term.

“Under Haruyo’s leadership, our local team will be more prepared than ever to help publishers and buyers leverage new programmatic tactics”.