Behavioral targeting isn’t new, but it’s now getting ready to ramp up in ways that are causing both controversy and reason to celebrate.
With the recent speech (and subsequent reversal) given by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO and founder, it seems the battle is heating up over the economical and ethical issues of behavioral targeting.
But my question isn’t whether behavioral targeting can or should be used, to a greater or lesser degree, it will be—my question is, and it’s a valuable one, who knows what the drivers are that dictate the behavior? Who knows the need states, the human truths, and the cultural shifts behind the behavior that everyone is trying to target? That evidence—and the insights that ensue—combined with behavioral targeting is a very potent mixture. When you combine the behavioral insights of CultureWaves™ with the behavioral touch points of Facebook, you could very well have the origin and the output you need for new success in the new world of one-on-one marketing.
Why do I say that? Well, for one thing, I believe behavioral evidence and observation is far more valuable and believable than survey data. People can hide what they think by telling you what they suppose you want to hear. They can tell you things they don’t really believe out of frustration or fear. And sometimes, more often than not, they really don’t know what they think deep down at their core. That premise is the foundational belief behind CultureWaves, our behavioral gathering system.
People can’t hide what they do. Actions always speak volumes—many times at high volume. How people act tells you loud and clear what they are thinking.
I say people can’t hide because the Internet is pretty much an open book. That’s what Zuckerman and other CEOs of popular Internet portals are banking their future on. They can mine the public’s buying habits, social interests, proclivities, and anything and everything they do on the web. Those individual behavioral patterns are showing marketers where the traffic is and how to reach people personally with exactly what they need, sometimes before they even know they need it.
Instead of marketing to the mass, the new media can pick off its targets one by one with highly personalized offers.
CultureWaves, as I mentioned, is also based on behavior—but unlike portal information like that gathered by Facebook, it looks at life and culture as it is emerging. It goes to the fringes of life, the very edge of what’s happening, and brings back the behavior that is shaping the markets to come.
What we seek to understand—and then deliver in CultureWaves—is the emotional driver and behavioral need state that winds up playing itself out through portals like Facebook. And we don’t have only one or two examples; we are now monitoring 33 Waves and adding evidence and observations to each on a daily basis. Each Wave reports where the behavior begins, and each has a way of showing us the behaviors that are coming.
When you connect CultureWaves with Facebook (or other behavioral portals), I believe the result could be quite astonishing. That’s when the behavioral message will hit the behavioral target dead center.
If you’re interested in more information, write me or check out our site at www.culturewav.es.
That’s it, from the edge of the world,
Bob
