• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, February 1, 2016

Leading up to the Mobile World Congress later this month, there’s building excitement among marketers about new targeting and contextualization opportunities. 

“Expectations to be served in the moment have grown way beyond mobile,” according to Forrester analyst Thomas Husson.

Specifically, that demand is “starting to expand in the connected world, now that sensors and connectivity are beginning to explode beyond smartphones,” Husson notes in a new report.

Yet, in their eagerness to exploit new technologies, brands risk overstepping their bounds, according to fellow Forrester analyst Fatemeh Khatibloo.

“Many companies are right up against the line, because they're testing tactics like retargeting and location-based advertising,” Khatibloo comments in the same report. “These are the poster children for inadvertently creating creepy experiences.”

In particular, “The sense of creepiness is attenuated when marketers match customer identities across multiple devices -- something firms are getting increasingly good at, but which can actually cause harm or emotional distress,” Khatibloo warns.

The risk of getting it wrong has serious implications. For example, “If I get a notification on my mobile device even though I’ve never really asked for it, that feels very intrusive because I have to dismiss it -- that message doesn’t go away by itself,” Khatibloo notes. “It makes people feel very frustrated.”

How can brands guard against creepiness?

“It’s all about empathy,” according to Khatibloo. “We as marketers walk into our offices on Monday morning and forget we’ve been consumers all weekend.”

Added Khatibloo: “You have to practice empathy and context in marketing.”