Today we announced our partnership with Webtrends, one of the best companies in the industry. We’re very excited about the news. But, I see this relationship as something far more significant than an opportunity to jointly sell or enhance the offerings of each company. Together, we’re giving advertisers a “seat at the table” within the online ad model by re-establishing the relationship they have with their customers and prospects. I have been championing more engagement by the brands in the online community. The folks funding this entire industry are still too detached and together, Webtrends and TruEffect are enabling them to re-insert themselves.
The collective “we”, referring to the companies that sell online ad technologies and/or media, have built quite a business creating and repurposing data about consumer behavior on the web. Effectively, we inserted a layer between consumers and the merchants from whom they buy. Now anyone in the business recognizes that this is not untrue offline. Kodak relies on television networks and magazines just like they do search portals and web publishers. But offline networks never developed the kind of individual, persistent shopper profiles that have been built for online consumers. Typically the brand gathers and retains customer data in the offline world, not the channel.
Our partnership with Webtrends is one step toward redefining the brand as the entity with whom customers share data and develop relationships. We consumers buy Nike Shoes, not Platform A. We buy from United Airlines, not Acerno. Technically, the way we approach the data has been coined the “first party” model. It deploys the value our two companies bring to clients from within that client’s web domain, effectively creating silos of data by brand. When a consumer views a client ad or visits their website, the transaction will truly be between the consumer and that known and trusted merchant. The control is in the hands of the brand, exactly where we think it should be.
Congratulations to the Webtrends folks as they kick-off their Engage09 Conference in Las Vegas today. We’re proud to have their confidence, and we’re already running full steam ahead to bring this new relationship to our clients.
-Scott
Congratulations to the Webtrends folks as they kick-off their Engage09 Conference in Las Vegas today. We’re proud to have their confidence, and we’re already running full steam ahead to bring this new relationship to our clients.
Posted by: gaia gold | June 18, 2009 at 12:21 AM