• by Tobi Elkin  @tobielkin, September 14, 2016

VisualDNA, a marketing technology company that combines psychology with data technology, on Wednesday announced the launch of Audiences With Personality, a  product designed to help media agencies and publishers optimize advertising performance.  

Making the announcement at the dmexco ad-tech conference in Cologne, Germany, the company said the launch comes as a response to calls for so-called “people-based marketing.” The product, designed by psychologists and digital advertising experts, offers the ability to offer ad campaigns that better define audiences with the goal of boosting campaign performance.

VisualDNA's Shopping Personalities function is a big part of the launch. The company claims that existing approaches to online targeting focus mostly on age, gender, location, and browsing patterns but not on consumers’ motivations or habits. The Shopping Personalities enable advertisers to focus on these motivations and habits. The new segments include Impulsive Shoppers, Trendsetters, and Research Purchasers and were built upon academically proven psychological testing techniques. The Trendsetter segment, for example, is comprised of profiles that demonstrate high levels of openness and extroversion.

Jim Hodgkins, managing director of VisualDNA, stated: "Audiences With Personality is a leap forward in translating VisualDNA's 10-year investment in psychological profiling into valuable audiences that marketers will relate to.”

VisualDNA offers audiences in the U.S., the U.K.,, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Canada for Web and mobile advertising. The new segments are available on Google’s DoubleClick Bid Manager, AppNexus, and MediaMath and will also be rolled out with VisualDNA's other partners.