OMMA Behavioral hosted a buyer’s roundtable on thursday morning with agency reps, and the agenda quickly turned to the importance of bringing transparency to data practices to resolve the market’s privacy concerns. Agencies are hearing this consistently now from clients, and while the importance of self-regulation is a near term driver, the most important audience is not Washington DC; it’s the consumer.
Alan Chapell moderated the panel and the agency reps included Mike Venables (NEO@Ogilvy, a Better Advertising Design Partner), Adam Kasper (Media Contacts, Havas, also a Better Advertising Design Partner), Michael Andrew (Mediasmith), and Melissa Adams (Organic). There was broad consensus across the panel on the importance of addressing privacy issues for the continued growth of the behavioral data market, with Adam Kasper adding:
A ‘watershed moment’ is coming for behavioral targeting when consumers gain greater awareness of the extent to which their online activity can be tracked and targeted, triggering a backlash.’
Melissa Adams highlighted the push that clients are making on privacy issues:
Clients are already asking more questions about behavioral targeting even as they are drawn to its promise of more effective Web campaigns … Clients are more interested in the details of where data is coming from than in the past .. it’s positive if we can educate clients about the anonymity of it all and how it’s used to their benefit, but it’s a big bridge to cross to get them to understand there are safeguards in place.
It’s a big bridge, but with commitment and technology, we’ll get there. Better Advertising is leading a charge with a coalition of leading agencies and technology providers to address these privacy concerns head on, bring true transparency and choice options directly to the consumer, and to assure marketing brands that the waters are safe. Look for our beta launch in Q2 of this year.
MediaPost summary of the panel: Media Buyers Fear Backlash To BT, Warn ‘Watershed’ Moment Is Coming.
Tags: Behavioral Advertising, Self-Regulation, Self-Regulatory Principles
