Inverge 2007 Session Summary
This talk, Invergence: Too many Touchpoints…too little Measurement. What has to change?, by Ken Papagan of Rentrak was a focus on measurement tracking across a media channel pie with more and more slices in a sea of wandering and disparate consumers. Media producers are struggling with the need to get their content in front of the right consumer wherever they are and whenever they want it. Similarly marketers are looking to get their products in the face of the consumer wherever and whenever the moment presents itself. They are trying to maintain their corporate driven marketplace in a world where the consumer is now much more in control.
Old-world marketers have an interest in basic demographic data of an audience. New-world marketers are scientists of details not complacent with this rudimentary information. The new-world marketer wants their product in front of “women that like blue blouses when they are watching whatever show they like at whatever time they please and via the media of their choosing.”
As can be expected the data is collected. For example, hashed MAC addresses of appliances are collected and media consumption tracked. Web traffic is tracked and analyzed. We also see people using Gmail’s of the world where advertising is presented based upon content from our private email. Purchasing habits tied to credit card purchases collected and analyzed.
We are welcoming further collection through tools such as Google Web History which provides a data collection tool camouflaged as a service. I liken this to the self-application of radio collars. How far will the consumer go in helping marketers track our own movements and preferences?