• by Danielle Oster , November 14, 2024

In September, the Federal Trade Commission issued a report on data privacy that addressed ad-targeting practices and the need for further regulation. Marketing Daily caught up with GumGum CEO Phil Schraeder about the implications of the report.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Marketing Daily: What do marketers need to know about the recent FTC data privacy report as it relates to ad targeting and personalization?

Phil Schraeder: The report makes a case for why we should be moving away from what can be seen as a violation of personal privacy due to the use of personally identifying data in ad targeting. It also makes a case for the use of contextual targeting.

Marketing Daily: When it comes to personally identifying information, can you speak to any heightened concerns for LGBTQ+ individuals and other vulnerable groups?

Schraeder: When we look at the types of targeted ads already in the world -- leveraging just behavioral data attempting to classify people into categories -- we know it’s already causing some distress through things like leveraging that data incorrectly and not connecting it to the right person.

When it comes to the LGBTQ+ community and people in protected categories, there are reasons why the practice of targeted ads based on those protected categories is in itself concerning. If someone hasn’t disclosed their sexuality or other aspects of their identity, these types of assumptions or inferences used to place someone in a specific category can expose them to risk or potential harm. The practice also raises issues around misidentification and classification.

Collecting personal information to try to understand identities is a big concern. When how we may identify is exposed, that can inherently expose us to risks -- such as harassment, discrimination, or potential loss of employment.

Marketing Daily: Given the complexity of data privacy issues, and varying laws in different states, will this problem require federal regulation?

Schraeder: Different states are coming up with their own definitions for personal data and identity data, and their own sets of laws and regulations. If we don’t look at more overarching regulations around data privacy and the use of data, in a way that unifies us as a nation, it’s exposing us to risks, so we don’t know if our data is safe or not.

Marketing Daily: What are some ways marketers can move away from current ad-targeting practices?

Schraeder: Advances in tech allow us to access what someone’s experiencing in a given moment. So you can connect to them in a customized way that feels personal without any information about them personally, based on their current contextual experience.

Consumers in the U.S spend an average of around seven hours in digital environments, and tech can really home in to understand what’s happening in those environments. That becomes the most powerful information to understand how your creative or ad, served in a given environment, is going to garner opportunity for your brand.

That allows us to work through activations with consumers that are relevant for what they’re experiencing, and allows marketers to be in front of them as much as they see fit.

Brands should be moving away from targeting consumers based on demographic data and instead writing a very detailed brief about what their brand is and their brand values. Align a strategy behind that to show potential consumers. You need to bring your brand’s value to the front lines.

We look at it as customized audience segmentation through the lens of audience and moment. It empowers marketers to leverage those untapped audiences they don’t know about. When you’re doing that, you’re also learning about what is and isn’t working – which can influence not just your targeting strategy, but also what creative approaches work or not to shape strategy and creative going forward.