Ken Aihara appointed as country manager of PubMatic's Japanese subsidiary – Exchangewire Japan

PubMatic, an independent technology company delivering the future of the digital advertising supply chain, announced that Ken Awaihara, Senior Director of Advertiser Solutions, has been promoted to Country Manager for Japan. As Japan's representative, Awaihara will be in charge of all operations including management, strategy, and sales. (Sponsored by PubMatic)

Prior to joining PubMatic, Mr. Awaihara spent more than 30 years at Dentsu, where he led multiple teams in the digital and television businesses. Since joining PubMatic in 2021, Awaihara has been responsible for building strong relationships with major Japanese advertisers and agencies, and driving supply path optimization (SPO) partnerships with ADK and Intimate Merger.

In his new role, Awaihara will be responsible for strategic leadership for the Japanese market, working closely between global leadership and local market development teams. He will play an ever more important role in continuing to maximize value for leading publishers across mobile, web and CTV/OTT and deepening relationships with Japanese buyers.

Ken Awaihara, country manager for Japan, said: “I am extremely honored to have been appointed Country Manager for Japan. PubMatic Japan is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Japan this year, and it is a great honor to be responsible for Japan in this milestone year. Over the past 10 years, we have built a solid foundation in the Japanese market, but in order to achieve further growth in the Japanese programmatic market, we need to gain the understanding of advertisers and advertising companies. We would like to contribute to improving media value together with media companies.We look forward to working with everyone to achieve sustainable growth of the digital ecosystem.”

Awaihara will continue to report to Jason Barnes, PubMatic's chief revenue officer for APAC.

APAC CRO Jason Barnes provided the following comments regarding Awaihara's appointment as country manager. “We are very excited to have Ken lead our Japan team. With his solid industry experience and proven track record within PubMatic, we believe he will accelerate the success of our Japan team. I look forward to seeing what the Japanese team can accomplish under Ken's leadership.”