IBM's Programmatic Pitch; The Uses Of Loyalty Data

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Big Blue Bet

IBM hopes marketer interest in AI and blockchain technologies will help it seize programmatic market share. “Programmatic is a relatively dumb system – it doesn’t learn,” IBM CMO Michelle Peluso tells Digiday. Raw audience targeting is being outperformed by AI programs that examine media results and adjust bid prices in real time. “If I want to get a message in front of hundreds of thousands of people, I’m using programmatic and algorithms to deliver it,” Peluso says. “Where it actually shows up, I really don’t know.” More.

Selling Points

Loyalty card transaction data is useful for both advertising attribution and targeting purposes. In Japan, where most consumers regularly use loyalty programs, investors see the same data as a way to forecast stock performance. CCC Marketing operates the popular Japanese loyalty T-card program and is partnering with data analytics firm Nowcast to syndicate data “for about 50 companies that manufacture consumer goods ranging from toiletries to digital cameras,” reports Bloomberg. Speed is the key. If investors can judge sales before a brand reports earnings, they’ll have an edge in the market. More.

Tipping The Balance

Apple and Tencent resolved a lingering dispute from last year, when Apple suspended a feature on Tencent’s WeChat social platform letting users send “tips” to content creators or video-streaming stars. Apple considered the tips in-app purchases, thus entitling it to a 30% cut. Tencent makes no money on the feature, and WeChat creator Allan Zhang said at a developer conference Monday, “In the past, companies like Apple might have had a difficult time understanding China-specific features.” In the US, consumer-to-media payments are typically exchanged for content (like passing a paywall) or for ecommerce purchases. But Tencent’s tipping service is more of a substitute for the limited ad opportunities on browsers like UCWeb or platforms like WeChat. Apple declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal, so it’s unclear whether the company will take any cut of the transfers. More.

Up Close And Personal

As data moves up the ad industry “funnel” into creative and strategic planning, brands must weigh its benefits against the risk of creeping out customers. Spotify saw positive results for an ad that asked, “Dear person who played ‘Sorry’ 42 times on Valentine’s Day: What did you do?” But Netflix got some blowback over the holidays for a similar a tweet calling out the 53 accounts that played “A Christmas Prince” every day for 18 days. “I can tell what bank you walked into [and] what you’re wearing just by your phone number,” Andrea Cook, president at creative agency FCB/Six, tells Adweek. “Would that creep you out if a brand knew the sweater you’re wearing? What’s the next level of creepy?” More.

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