Last night I attended the AAF-KC event, KC Ad Men: Kansas City's Rich History in the Advertising Business. It was exactly the opposite of what I had expected. No, it wasn’t the Mad Men-like stereotype of whiskey and cigarettes, though who doesn’t love a good Old Fashioned? When I registered for the event, I thought, “Here we go...an opportunity to shake hands and break into an industry in which we (Pinsight) are considered a newcomer. It’s time to turn up the charm.” While I did meet new people and see some familiar faces, I experienced so much more: I was immersed in Kansas City’s rich history in the advertising industry. For a moment, I felt as if I was in Bob Bernstein’s office helping him craft the pitch for The Happy Meal, which Bernstein is credited with inventing in 1977.
As I learned about Kansas City’s advertising heritage and its impact in the global industry, it got me thinking: how does the work we do at Pinsight fit into the next chapter of Kansas City’s advertising story? Fifty years from now, how will Pinsight’s mobile data story be woven into the fabric of our advertising ecosystem? I thought through this on my drive home and it led me to think about what’s next for our industry and for our city: advertising, creativity and technology are crossing paths, creating a new beginning for the industry. And mobile is at the forefront of it all.
On the surface, mobile advertising is all about the content being delivered to the consumer. But truly, the power of mobile advertising is fueled by what happens behind the screen - data.
How can we make this data matter?
Most third-party data is based from some type of inferred or panel data, which means that because you live in a certain zip code, your household income is X, or your ethnicity is Y. Historically purchasing a host of media types based on this type of data has been the norm, because it's what was available to marketers. We at Pinsight believe there is a better way - a more relevant and impactful way: mobile data. It provides a new way of understanding your existing and potential customers. Mobile data is what is referred to as “first-party data.” It is created by the user and presents patterns of how the user behaves and intends to behave. If, for example, four guys live in an apartment, they are not all “18-24 year old males who like sports” as some third-party data may infer. Rather, each user has individual behaviors and preferences. They are individuals and it’s time we stop treating them all the same.
Mobile data allows us to move away from a shotgun approach with advertising and move toward a more surgical approach to targeting the right users, at the right time, giving them personalized experiences on their devices.
Retail store data, another piece of the big data puzzle, allows us to know our customers through yet another lens - but only after they leave the store. In fact, this is one of the biggest concerns in the retail marketing space. We believe that by combining data capabilities like ours with other components, we can paint a much more accurate picture of “who” the customer is, thereby effectively customizing messaging for each individual consumer. It’s about brands creating a connection with the mobile user.
This is the next chapter for Kansas City’s advertising industry. As the ad community writes another decade of history, we at Pinsight are ready to include the power of mobile data in the next chapter of our industry's story.
About Brian Smith
Brian is the head of product and partnerships and oversees the end-to-end management of the advertising, analytics, and distribution product portfolios. He is an industry expert on all things product and data monetization within the mobile media industry. Brian has more than 14 years of telecom experience and is knowledgeable in product lifecycle management, development and strategy. He holds a Master and Bachelor of Business Administration.