CDP Institute

If you’re looking for something a bit more radical, how about interactive voice advertising?  Instreamatic has raised $6.1 million so you can yell at an ad and it will not just answer back, but remember what you said in the future.  Somehow this counts as progress.

Or maybe you want to enter an entirely different world by playing a game. InMobi has launched a programmatic ad exchange that can follow you there with things like ads on billboards in an in-game sports stadium.  The ads probably don’t talk with you but it’s just a matter of time.

Identity resolution vendor Intent IQ has expanded its suite of customer tracking tools with Data Sharing Choice, which asks users to consent to sharing their first-party cookie ID, IP address, and browser information. Unlike other first-party-data-based solutions, Intent IQ’s Browser Identity Hub doesn’t require sharing an email address or other personal information. Intent IQ has previously introduced Mobile Identity Hub, which constructs a persistent ID by clustering mobile app user IDs.

Apple is sticking with its anti-tracking stance by adding untargeted “search” ads which appear to show the same ad to all App Store visitors.  You know, like network TV in the 1960’s.  Perhaps they’ll complete the experience with reruns of Mr. Ed.

There’s apparently some weird competition between IRI and NielsenIQ to use the word “omni”. NielsenIQ’s opener was its Omnishopper announcement, complete with “omni measurement” of the “omni-experience” across the “omnichannel” landscape. (Bonus points for inconsistent spacing and hyphens.) IRI has countered by expanding its “omnichannel measurement capabilities to offer complete coverage of the omnichannel universe with the launch of two new solutions: IRI OmniMarket™ and IRI OmniConsumer™.” That’s four “omnis” in one sentence, NielsenIQ.

I tried to give you a break from universal ID news, Dear Reader, but vendors keep coming up with new variants.  Mobile ad network InMobi has launched UnifiID, which lets app publishers add IDs from LiveRamp, ID5, and/or BritePool to their data.  InMobi plans to offer IDs from Epsilon, Liveintent, Parrable, Zeotap, and others in the future.

Mediavine, which offers services to Web site publishers, is also making it easier for their clients to append shared IDs to their visitor data. They’ve just added ID5 to their list of ID partners, which already included LiveRamp and The Trade Desk-developed Unified ID 2.0. Separately: identity graph vendor Infutor has announced support for Unified ID 2.0.

Ready to give up on universal IDs and retreat to a walled garden? They have plenty of news too. Target has just connected its Roundel digital ad network with the CitrusAd self-service media buying tool.  And Comcast’s FreeWheel adtech group is piloting a new system that creates combined audiences across linear and digital video platforms.

Consumer attitudes changed significantly during the pandemic, according to this Merkle survey.  While quality and price are still the most important factors in purchase decisions, their weight fell while customer service, personalization, and brand became more important.  Even more intriguing: consumers became more willing to share personal data in exchange for greater convenience and personalized experiences.

Consumers’ demand for convenience extended to financial services as well, FICO research found.  While 41% are more likely to open an account using digital channel, 25% will actually abandon the process if they have to use a non-digital channel to complete the process.  Concern about identity theft is so high that 75% will provide their bank with a biometric such as facial scan, fingerprint or voiceprint to secure their account.

This Morning Consult report takes a more nuanced view of consumer motivations, finding that 40% had abandoned a brand due to quality, service, or pricing issues while 25% have dropped a brand due to privacy or social concerns.  Fewer than half (47%) assume companies are trustworthy until they do something wrong while 37% require a customer to earn their trust from the start.  Read on for fascinating differences by industry, country, and profession.

You haven’t been terribly interested in funding announcements recently, Dear Reader. But surely you’re intrigued that marketing automation vendor ActiveCampaign just raised $240 million at a valuation of more than $3 billion. That’s close to 20x its $165 million annual recurring revenue, which is nearly double the $90 million it had one year before. Apparently marketing automation isn’t quite a commodity after all.