A discussion room in an advertising company will now comprise of a few data miners as well. Yes, this is the latest trend. The question of “why data miners in an ad agency?” will be the first one which would occur to our  mind. The simplest answer that can satisfy our ask is, the company wants to market ads based on user needs. Based on the user data analysis, the marketing would bare more tastier fruit. But why not we have a data analysis done by a market researcher? The ad agencies are looking ahead and taking one step further. They are paying close attention to user needs. Does optimization of ads ring a bell?  Also, with the recession taking up the market, companies sought to take every advantage they can leverage, even combining marketing with digital technology for better ads and better ROI.

What has data mining got to do with the marketing?

The digital advent has highly increased the necessity for smarter ways of advertising through internet. Advertisers have started to thoroughly examine and debate data mining and other new sciences that will shape the interactive marketplace. It is sure to be broached in discussions about consumer trust, and maybe even in a Facebook session aptly titled “Knowing is Better.”

An instance of the same…..

An ironic prelude to the week-long fete of advertising’s digital future was the Sept. 18 settlement of a privacy lawsuit related to Facebook’s social ad experiment, Beacon. The short-lived, poorly executed program riled online consumers, whose purchase information with off-site retailers such as Zappos and Blockbuster was unexpectedly shared with their Facebook friends. Their only recourse was to “opt out” of the program after the damage was done. While there are mounting examples of online consumers trading their personal information and privacy for more targeted interactive results, Beacon assumed too much with its initial tacit user approval.

Going the giant’s way…

All major internet giants like  Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc. have already gone far and wide in dealing with user data. They have reports saying how their research with user data has proven to be fruitful. User insights, social connections, personal preferences and buying history — which Amazon and Google already masterfully manipulate — are building blocks for an interactive economy that relentlessly exploits links to generate revenues.

Forrester Research shows that even as digital grows from 12 percent of existing overall advertising spend to 21 percent (or $55 billion) by 2014, there is a pressing necessity for companies to master constructive interactive relationships with consumers and each other to generate many times that in digital sales and other transactions.

So why this sort of marketing now?

Though recession has considerably reduced the advertising budgets of the company and the consumer spending allocations, there are signs of few marketers who drift consumers and technology into the interactive future.

What exactly will advertisers and media do with those interactive connections, and the insights and information they yield? What do you think?

-Vidhya, Student Intern