Rich media advertising players BlueStreak.com on Thursday took the
wraps off its enhanced ad serving solution — dubbed RADAR — the company’s
answer to targeted advertising technology.
Because the company’s rich media banners must be served through the
BlueStreak.com serving system, RADAR (which stands for “Real time Access to
Data, Analysis and Response”) is its solution to demand for more
highly-targeted advertising.
Interestingly, rather than adopting the individual profiling approach, like
Engage Inc. and DoubleClick Inc.
have used, BlueStreak.com is using what it calls an “aggregate targeting
solution.”
What this means is that ads aren’t targeted to specific individuals, but
the technology “observes” consumer behavior with respect to the ad —
click-through, interaction with the banner, conversions — and changes the
creative in response to the aggregate reaction.
The system, using artificial intelligence, even notices changes in the
patterns caused by outside events — time of day, change of season, news
events, etc. — and, although it doesn’t necessarily know why a new pattern
is establishing itself, the system can change the creative to maximize results.
Stefan Tornquist, director of marketing for BlueStreak.com, described a
campaign for AT&T that had two versions of
the creative. There was a dry, factual banner that described the company’s
long distance service, and a playful banner that featured Cupid shooting an
arrow.
“What we found is that the factual banner did well on the weekdays,” said
Tornquist, “and on the weekends, the system rotated in the more playful
banner.”
One of the benefits of such a system, of course, is that it avoids charges
of invasion of privacy, by not compiling data profiles on particular
individuals. Web surfers don’t need to accept cookies, with the
BlueStreak.com system.
“Privacy is a major concern for al Internet users,” said Annette Tonti,
president of BlueStreak.com.
“But those of us who are working to improve online marketing don’t want to
give up the promise of the medium, which is the right ad, in the right
place, at the right time.”
Still, RADAR doesn’t answer all of the questions marketers might have.
Although it can track interaction with a banner when it is served, because
it doesn’t set a cookie there is no way for BlueStreak.com to determine
whether a user visits the advertiser’s Web site, or makes a purchase, at a
later date. The company says it is working on strategic partnerships to
address this issue.
