Need to Know: Drake Morton

Behavioral Targeting and Competitive Intelligence

by Phil Leggiere , Wednesday, June 18, 2008

THE CORE MISSION OF behavioral marketing is to deepen marketers’ knowledge of who consumers are and what they want. In practice, however, most marketers so far have used behavioral platforms primarily for placing their own brand and product promotions. In so doing, Hal Wurster, managing director, Automotive, at Compete, explains below, they are closing themselves off from critical behavioral intelligence about how consumers see their brand and product in comparison to rivals.

BI: Compete doesn’t describe itself strictly in terms of being behavioral targeting, but rather an analytics firm devoted to competitive intelligence. What role does behavioral data play in that?
(more…)

Excellent Read: Drake Morton

Predict, Customize, Convert

by Steve Smith , Friday, June 13, 2008

AS MORE SITES IDENTIFY AND profile users coming through their front door, retailers and publishers gain the ability to optimize the site experience itself for various audiences. Magnify360, which works with Inuit, HSBC and Citrix, uses a combination of behavioral targeting, predictive modeling, and real-time multivariate testing to lift conversion rates. CEO Olivier Chaine walked us through a recent case involving the Continental Warranty extended warranty retailer, where the automated system produced some customizations that were as effective as they were counterintuitive.
(more…)

Good Read: Drake Morton

Video’s Challenge: Targeting Micro-Communities

by Phil Leggiere , Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The usually unexamined premise of behavioral-based marketing is that personalizing content means ever more deeply scrutinizing what makes individual consumers unique — the better to forge that proverbial one-to-one relationship between brands and consumers. As important as the drive to personalize and individualize content is, however, it sometimes neglects the fact that consumers as people are socially bonding animals. Which is to say, as Deborah Richman, senior vice president of Collarity, explains below: Paradoxical as it may seem, sometimes what makes individuals unique is their relationships to other individuals.
(more…)