• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 28, 2015

That’s what Erin Kienast, senior vice president-Innovation and Activation Director, Starcom Worldwide, said on the “native” panel on the second day of the Mobile Insider Summit, while discussing the appropriate and inappropriate use of data in native scenarios.

Intent signals are great, but Kienast said it’s all about understanding who the actual person is.

“The consumer is at the center,” she said, reminding the audience that it’s really about the “first-party data… It’s understanding me, my actions throughout the day, and how you can deliver a brand messaging to me based on the data you collect.”

She pointed out that SMG is building a “smart home” for “one of my biggest clients” and that the brand isn’t even in the connected appliances business, but they see the potential benefit of using data within a connected household environment to provide better brand experiences for the consumer.

“When you talk about a smart refrigerator, talk about protein, talk about nourishment,” she said, making me think that big client might be a humongous CPG marketer like, say, Procter & Gamble.

Or as moderator Mike Grehan, CMO of Acronym, said about the use of data in native marketing: “it’s still a human being receiving a signal at the end.”