I really don't want to smack anybody today. I have a 3 p.m. client meeting, and if I were to miss it because I was incarcerated over at County on 7th Street, that would be really embarrassing. People would make jokes about me, as the social web strategist who got arrested for smacking somebody.
My social web legal beagle, Eric Goldman posted yesterday on behavioral targeting; he spoke at OMMA Behavioral earlier in the week. Tacoda's Dave Morgan had the marketing blogosphere all riled up about his 7/21 remarks about how he thought ISP-level behavioral targeting was creepy. Maybe he meant to say "Overall, across-the-board, behavioral targeting is creepy, except when social web strategists like Metz use it." Nah, probably not. He doesn't know me from, well, another wholly owned subsidiary of AOL.
Here's my deal; I don't mind if other marketers or strategists attack my results, saying that they've obtained better results for their clients. I don't mind when other marketers say that I'm using tactics that are, ahem, ineffective. But, man, demographic targeting has been proven to be almost completely useless in social web strategy. If your strategist is not using behavioral targeting to decide what strategy to follow, something is freakin' wrong.
Repeat: if someone is attempting to "do" social media for your brand with no behavioral component, you have either (1) not paid enough to get into that person's second billable hour or (2) hired someone that was working at an ad agency six months ago.
Here's what Morgan said [from MediaPost, who don't take trackbacks, wtf?]:
"Is it legal? Probably. Do I think it's a good idea and it makes sense? No. I don't think it passes the creepy factor, and this market isn't ready for stuff that doesn't pass the creepy factor," he said."We are not in a place where we an do dumb things and stupid things like that, even if they're effective."
What do you mean "we", Dave? Here's ten good reasons that Morgan's remark is totally bullshit:
1. Creepy is my business...and business is good. - Real behavioral targeting on the social web is a first-string defense for any smart marketer. If you're not converting client demographic profiles into behavioral profiles, to the best of your ability, then you're short-changing your clients. Why would they *not* want to provide engaging stuff about their brand that people like?
2. Who is Dave Morgan, chairman/founder of a behavioral targeting network, to call *anything* creepy? If you want creepy, talk about remnant ad inventory, shitty social network CPMs/CPCs, or the last two presidential elections (or what AOL typically does to companies like Tacoda). Incidentally, the Google search for "''Tacoda NEAR creepy" yields ten pages of results.
3. Why do you care what the machines know about what you're doing? Hey, to echo Goldman's point - why would you give a care if your ISP, Revenue Science's new product or your mom was able to target you better with more relevant content or if a brand engaged you in a way that you found more engaging? Bring on the Coasean Theorem, people. Bring it ON. [Goldman's link - that guy rocks.]
4. Tacoda is an ad network. Ad networks don't execute on social media strategy. Ad networks are built to syndicate "creative" content about boring stuff like cereal, tampons and mops. When they socialize content into widget "adcasts," no value is delivered to (or exchanged with) consumers. Sorry, Nike.
5. If consumers want to opt out of ISP-level targeting, they'll be able to. There is no way the FTC is going to force consumers into this stuff. If you're looking for a case law precedent here, I'm thinking State v. Reid (New Jersey Appelate Court, 2007) should float your boat. As soon as the opt-out law is made, Tacoda will be right there, saying that they've had this "awesome" behavioral targeting technology since ought-six.
6. The ISPs are evil and will do everything they can to get money out of the brands (and upsell this type of targeting). If I were afraid of the music biz jamming a red-hot poker up me about some kind of ISP music tax, I'd be looking for every possible way to sell my user data (with or without PII).
7. "Relevancy trumps creepiness." - Goldman said it first, but I've gotta tell it on the mountain. If you want privacy, see #5 above, and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.
8. Edge-case ad brands like Phorm and NebuAd will receive a comeuppance IF they deserve it, in the eyes of the consumers. That's for the free market (and the FTC) to decide. The complete guide to your online consumer rights is here, if you need it.
9. Ad networks need a moral beacon; Morgan's just happy to fill the role, to better brand Tacoda. In an effort to brand Tacoda as the "good guys," Morgan casts anyone using relevant (even non-PII) behavioral information as some kind of Harry Caul.
10. Because I create engaging social media for a living, and I said so.
Oh, and Dave - if you're up for a little smackdown, I'm down for a 6:45 a.m. breakfast next time you're in the Bay Area. You gotta get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over on Metz.
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