• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, April 28, 2011

Location-based digital ad network Adcentricity recently unveiled a behavioral targeting platform for agencies and brands called Consumer Sync. It targets consumers by geo-location with ads on digital out-of-home media, incorporating data on consumer behaviors, psychographics and purchase intent.

Adcentricity worked for about a year with Nielsen to understand the data and the methodology behind targeting audiences by purchase intent. Through segmentation data, the Consumer Sync technology can, for example, target a specific category of Verizon customer. The Nielsen data tells the Adcentricity platform that consumers who shop or visit a specific location are 25% to 50% more likely, compared with the average population, to spend $250 monthly on their smartphones.

Online content also can get pulled into the out-of-home media to specifically target consumers watching the screens, allowing the company to update content immediately and remotely. Rob Gorrie, Adcentricity president and founder, says qualitative and quantitative data about audiences and profiles allow the company to target people watching the screens. "We spent the last four years pulling together data across censes, networks, and more to make these decisions," he says.

Adcentricity has worked with General Motors, Nestle, and Verizon. Gorrie declined to name those using Consumer Sync, but says companies in the automotive, tech, retail and consumer packaged goods categories have used the new platform. Those in the automotive and retail spaces seem to reap the most success -- partly because of automotive companies' familiarity with the data, and retailers' familiarity with purchase intent.

Consumer Sync uses more than 10,000 consumer profile variables that, when aligned with a brand's campaign objectives, can target ads on digital out-of-home media for 20 categories such as Apparel & Jewelry, Automotive Products, Automotive Services, Electronics & Computers, and Finance & Insurance.

Gorrie calls it lifestyles, habits and psychographic targeting. The ad network sits on top of the media across more than 100 networks supporting about 200,000 screens. The data comes from working closely with Nielsen, Arbitron and other research providers, as well as trade groups such as the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

Gorrie, a self-proclaimed "data junkie," has been in the digital world since 1995. "I love this type of data and what it can do," he says. "When applied properly, you get phenomenal results."