If data is the new oil, then behavior is the new data

I’ve been thinking lately about big data and how it has taken over the world by storm. It has positively impacted our lives, creating more efficient solutions to problems in healthcare and climate change.

You may have heard the sentence, “Data is the new oil”, and it may still resonate with you. Data after all, in its ‘refined’ form – that is analyzed and turned into meaningful insights – has yielded great value to digital economy the way oil did to industrial economy. But the last couple of years have seen data analytics grow exponentially, fueled by smart technologies.

Our research arm at Multiply Group, with its long-time focus on the impact of smart tech on the business landscape, tracks disruptive changes and megatrends. Particularly in the media industry, data-driven businesses are disrupting the market. We can see how data analytics is shifting away from capturing more information into focusing on the most relevant information. And in the media industry, the most relevant data is behavior data. If data is the new oil, then behavior is the new data.

With artificial intelligence as its natural fit, behavior data has transformed the way digital advertising is done. Despite the confusion caused by COVID-19, digital ad spending is projected to increase by 20.4% by the end of 2021 (eMarketer, 2021 ). The highest gains, however, belong to ‘smart’ advertisers who seek to establish more direct relationships with their target audiences by integrating new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IOT) and 5G mobile networks. So how have behavior data and smart technologies changed digital ads? The efficiencies driven by this innovation are tangible:

·??????Data about consumers’ behavior is recorded; this includes their attention span, their interest level and their focus.

·??????Data is fed into AI-powered software with machine learning (ML) algorithms that build predictive patterns and make precise recommendations to optimize ads: they can identify the consumers that are likely to buy from you, indicate the best placement of your ad and inform content.

·??????Advertisers can then create personalized ads; they can even test variations, tweak their campaign and retarget their ads based on real-time behavior.

Simply put, marketers can give people exactly what they want, at the time these people want it and where they prefer to see it. Let’s say you have been searching online for vegan food recipes. The time you spend checking a page or social media platform, how close you were looking at your phone and how many clicks you did before/ after, are all registered by a data management platform. AI analyzes your behavior, search patterns and other online activities, and helps advertisers understand your profile and vegan preferences. Advertisers can then send personalized marketing messages that resonate with you (specific recommendations, offers, etc.). What is more, this can be done in real time enabling brands to communicate with their consumers at the moment the attention happens.

It is this kind of disruptive contribution that Multiply Group seeks in its Digital portfolio. Data-driven, AI-powered digital advertising companies are fast growing globally. US-based Yieldmo, for example, uses modern programmatic platforms to measure consumers’ attention and identify the most valuable ad placement and format. Programmatic platforms can measure hundreds of signals related to lifestyle, behavior habits or even location to help brands individualize and target ads at scale. San Francisco-based Firefly’s taxi-top dynamic screens bring programmatic inventory together with precise location targeting and measurement to deliver the right message at the right time, leading to highly effective campaign engagement. According to Statista , 85% of the digital advertising revenue will be generated through programmatic advertising in 2025.

By targeting behavior as the industry’s most important asset, advertisers eliminate guesswork. Instead, with the kind of micro knowledge afforded to them, they gain control over their spend by creating only appealing ads to the users who are interested in seeing them when these are paying attention (to their page, to a relevant topic or even to a competitor). The result is: relevant ads, improved efficiency and better returns. There are various terms for these new trends in digital advertising: “the attention economy”, “the behavior economy”, “hyper personalization” and “targeted advertising”.

Aligning with these trends and its focus on bringing the most disruptive technologies to the region, Multiply Group bought a stake in the advertising and attention analytics firm Yieldmo and invested twice in the street-level digital media platform Firefly alongside Google Ventures, NFX and Google parent, Alphabet. The Group’s second investment involves an Abu Dhabi-based partnership introducing Firefly’s successful model to the MENA market.

What I believe should be clear is that companies harnessing data and infusing intelligent technology into their infrastructure can generate sustainable business value and scale into the future.

In contrast, businesses and brands that still rely on traditional techniques are destined to stay behind. The age of behavior data is here, and it has reshaped the media industry across all channels (Out of Home, mobile, social media, car tops, etc.). Companies who embrace the change stand to reap great rewards now and long into the future.