This morning, Datran Media’s Aperture digital audience measurement and targeting solution team published the latest installment of their client and partner newsletter. Included in the issue:
Enjoy and register for Aperture news and updates to tune into our latest news as it breaks.
AppGoGo, a leading provider of marketing solutions for social and mobile gaming companies, announced it has selected the StormPost Digital Marketing Technology platform to power email, mobile and social communications for its dynamic client base. Read the announcement to learn more about why AppGoGo believes that StormPost capabilities and features like its flexible API set developed specifically for high volume social and mobile gaming clients will rapidly allow its clients to increase the scale, flexibility and success of their marketing initiatives.
Over the years, Datran Media has been fortunate to build a base of world-class partners that help the brands and publishers we serve to achieve incredible success. Today, two thought leadership pieces caught our eye.
The first recommendation is TRAFFIQ SVP of Sales and Marketing Chris O’Hara’s guest blog on eConsultancy, Why Real Time Bidding is More Important than You Think. The post explores the trends in real time bidding to look for over the next 18 months. It also makes the case that the measurability of digital media is helping brands justify their enourmous budget shifts as the ROI metrics speak for themselves in cross-channel comparisons. Chris gives some of the credit for measurability to solutions like Vizu and our own Aperture. Thanks Chris! We appreciate the confidence and recognition.
The second recommended read for the day is Peer39 CEO Andy Allenthal’s Digiday article, Audience Buying Alone Cannot Succeed. The piece eloquently reinforces brand marketers’ critical need to engage target audiences in context at scale. The topic is one we work with clients every day to address and a solid reference for anyone tasked with transforming the challenge into an opportunity within their own organization.
Please enjoy these ideas from the fine company we keep and let us know your point of view.
This morning, Datran Media’s StormPost team announced that Demand Media and other clients are showing strong return on investment (ROI) as a result of using the email marketing platform’s real-time A/B split solution. Since StormPost’s first-to-market introduction of A/B split testing, the tool has been frequently updated to help marketers better optimize and increase the performance of their digital campaigns. The latest enhancement allows StormPost users to automate share-to-social campaign optimization. Read more about the tool and contact sales@stormpost.net to find out how you can easily integrate it into your marketing mix for the best results!
We are excited to announce that Datran Media has acquired Allvoices, one of the most trafficked social news sites in the world. The details of this acquisition are explained in this announcement.
Please feel free to share the news with others and let us know if you have questions. Most of all, thank you for your ongoing support and interest.
Several days before Chief Privacy Officer Steven Vine presents Datran Media’s position on privacy at the W3C Workshop on Web Tracking and User Privacy , he shares the following ideas on privacy with our readers.
Demystifying Choice in Online Privacy
Steven Vine, Chief Privacy Officer, Datran Media
You may not have noticed but the Do-Not-Track (DNT) revolution has reached a new stage. It has become a reality, and the digital marketing industry will now have to adapt and adjust. The scope of this new DNT is still being shaped and defined. It is important that we get this definition right, because DNT can be a successful tool to address the privacy concern of consumers.
Many industry veterans still see the debate about targeting and privacy as a zero sum game – either privacy wins or the marketers win. I do not see it in these terms. Do Not Track does not have to be an either/or proposition. What’s good for marketers does not necessarily have to be something that is not good for consumers. The reality is quite the opposite; a DNT system that encourages meaningful choice for consumers will be a positive development for everybody.
The best way to achieve this is through a DNT mechanism that is deployed via a browser header request. Using the DNT header as a universal choice mechanism allows consumers to communicate their desire not to be tracked. This solution creates a virtual “Do Not Trespass” sign, and the onus to comply would be on individual web sites, networks and technologies.
In addition to the technical benefits, the reason the DNT header works is because its goal is not actually to stop tracking. Simply put, this is a system that communicates a preference rather than acts as a blocking tool. Communication of preferences should be welcomed by the industry, as this provides the opportunity for marketers and brands to present a value proposition to consumers. By bringing the value proposition of targeted advertising to light, we can ensure that a consumer’s experience will reflect a more complete understanding of the consequences of their choices. More importantly, encouraging communication will foster trust between consumers and brands. This is a critical first step to build brand loyalty and companies should embrace it.
Once a well-defined Do-Not-Track mechanism is in place, there will be an incentive to provide new models of choice to consumers. Some will present the most basic choice – either pay for content or get it for free in exchange for ad targeting. However, the choices will evolve over time. Rather than users paying a premium to prevent undesirable advertising, perhaps we will start to see brands paying consumers for access. Payment may take the form of financial incentives, or may evolve into innovative value-add propositions for consumers. This represents true progress in the empowerment of consumers.
In some cases, marketing is already moving beyond intrusive messaging to providing more functional value for customers. For example, the successful Kraft iFood mobile app offers recipes which can be accessed while shopping in the grocery store and Starbucks’ MyStarbucksIdea.com encourages consumers to share their ideas for making the brand better. As technology continues to evolve, brands can serve a more specific purpose in the lives of their customers. This in turn can motivate consumers to request marketing messages from brands, while privacy concerns become a non-issue as consumers essentially begin to target themselves.
The key for companies to successfully adjust to DNT is to simplify and demystify choices for users. This is the reason we launched PreferenceCentral, an online service which provides consumers with the choice to select specific brands they want to see and hear from online. This is the kind of control that makes the most sense to consumers. They don’t intuitively understand the difference between ad networks, which is the choice they are given in today’s cookie based opt-out environment. But consumers definitely understand making choices about brands – they do this every day.
As the privacy landscape matures, it’s essential for all players to understand that respect for consumer choice and consumer trust are not an option but the key to the long-term survival of the advertising industry. Only when there is clarity for consumers and the industry as a whole, can that trust be restored.
This morning, John Ebbert at AdExchanger asked Scott Knoll, President of Datran Media’s Aperture business a challenging question: If You’re A Publisher Today, What Are Your Data and Ad Exchange Strategies? Check out Scott’s thoughts on the topic and let us know what you think!
Issue 14 of FeedFront Magazine went live this morning. In the issue, Russ Riley, director of marketing for Datran Media’s technology businesses and several other industry experts share point of views about what brands and publishers need in order to achieve the best multi-channel marketing results. Russ’ hot button topic this issue focuses on audience management strategies for higher performing campaigns. Take a few minutes to read the article on page 22.
