Relevant or Creepy? The Blurred Lines of Personalization

This dilemma is well illustrated within the latest manifestation of Kantar Media39s annual Dimension study Across the five markets covered UK USA China France and Brazil and a total sample of 5000 connected adults 61 percent say they prefer to see ads relevant to their particular interests It may be a little surprising that this figure isn39t higherMore than half 54 percent object to being targeted as a result of their past online behaviorWhen asked less than onethird say they quotdon39t mind providing a website or social media network with information about myself if it means the advertising I see is more relevant to mequotThe desire for relevance is obvious and yet so is the desire for privacyThe more we know about someone the more relevant the advertising At the same the more we know about someone the greater the threat to their privacyI39ve recently bought a pair of shoes news that will come as a huge surprise to those who remember me in agencies where I famously never wore dress shoes I guess we all grow oldNow I can39t move for shoe ads on social mediaOnce upon a time this was a strategy of sorts amp8212 the people most likely to buy Ecco shoes in the future were probably quite similar to those who had just bought a pair amp8212 but that argument doesn39t really work when we are talking about identifiable individuals After all I39m unlikely to buy another pair for several decadesNick Emery of Mindshare once shared an excellent analogy to explain online advertising In his example he39s walking through a department store on his way to buy a set of luggage En route he walks through the shoe department Without breaking stride he comments to his wife quotThat39s a nice pair of shoesquotFrom then on he39s pursued through the store by a salesperson yelling quotBuy these shoes buy these shoesquot Naturally he doesn39tOnline ads reach a lot of people and no doubt once or twice they39ve been known to workamp8230 that39s a joke chaps But crass retargeting does not work and most retargeting is crassTracking people around the Internet in my mind is wrong It39s the line where using a mass advertising medium with the potential to deliver audiences in a smart way tips over into stalkingAnd where does this leave that wonder of the modern age addressabilityI think the promise of addressability is around a creative as opposed to a media benefit Yes we can zero in on an individual and send them individually focused messages but the examples I39ve seen soon cross over the line to creepyOn the other hand if a strong strategic thought can be executed in a way that makes it particularly relevant to me without thinking my every move is being tracked and reported on then fineIn any event the demise of cookies and the real possibility that soon we will be in a position to manage our own data and distribute or sell it to whoever we like will go a long way towards resolving the dilemmaWe will all get to pick what is for us amp8212 the balance between creepy and relevant Doc Searls39 VRM vision is fast becoming a reality The Cog Blog will look at that in a future postDisclosure BJampampA has done work on the Kantar Dimension Study mentioned hereClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Relevant or Creepy? The Blurred Lines of Personalization

Author

Publish date

Channel

Brian Jacobs

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Relevant or Creepy? The Blurred Lines of Personalization

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Brian Jacobs

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

Cookies