Marketers increasingly have to balance the goal of reaching the right consumers in their advertising campaigns with their efforts to comply with privacy laws. Those regulations give people more control over how their personal information is used for marketing purposes. Amid these concerns about privacy, tracking cookies and device identifiers become less reliable for ad targeting. In response, many brands have renewed their interest in contextual signals that indicate where consumers saw an ad.
“What we’re really trying to do is be as relevant as we can to people wherever they’re spending time,” Marla Skiko, U.S. and global head of media at carmaker Ford, said in this interview with Beet.TV. “It’s just as important where we find people and how we use technology to put the right message to the right person as it is to really design that message.”
Adapting to Post-Cookie World
Advertisers, agencies and ad-tech companies have been preparing for when Google will end support for third-party cookies in its popular Chrome browser, a step that was delayed until next year. Apple also has taken steps to protect the privacy of its customers by ending support for tracking cookies in its Safari browser and more recently allowing people to opt out of sharing data with mobile apps.
“We have been using cookies as it is a way for us to understand people, but I think we’ve all gotten over the hump about thinking: all right, this is not going to be something that continues forever,” Skiko said. “It’s on us right now to be testing some of these other identifiers that are out there.”
Full-Funnel Targeting
Marketers seek to reach consumers as they make different decisions throughout the purchase funnel. Buying a car is a significant expense for most consumers, adding weight to their choices of makes, models and features. Carmakers have to focus their messaging for each step of the consumer journey.
“Being able to be dynamic is important for us, so that we can really hone in on where are you at that stage and how can we message you to help you make that decision,” Skiko said. “We’re thinking about it from a consumer view: where are you, what’s in your head, how are you shopping, and how can we be relevant in that moment.”
Measuring Attention
Consumers are spending time with a wider variety of media channels and viewing devices, challenging marketers to determine how people are paying attention to advertising.
“The more we can refine our measurement and understand what’s happening in the moment — where an ad meets a person — the more we want to understand what’s going on behind that,” Skiko said. “The focus on attention is moving beyond a click or something we might attribute to an action to: is there really that chance and action will happen because you paid attention, you engaged and it was sticky?”
You are watching “Gaining Consumer Attention in a Shifting Media Landscape,” a Beet.TV Leadership Series presented by GumGum. To learn more about GumGum and the Mindset Matrix, please visit this page.
