The number one issue that anyone in the retargeting field needs to address is scale, according to Alan Chapell, president of Chapell & Associates, who’s presently heading up a panel on that exact topic. Admits Matthew Greene, founder, Blue Ribbon Digital, “Retargeting becomes more of a dicey issue,” when attempting to scale. “The advent of the ad exchanges makes it very easy,” said John Nardone, CEO, [x+1]. “You can really retarget anyone across the network -- it’s about how much you’re willing to pay.” Not so fast, said Ben Winkler, VP/Director of Interactive Media, Ingenuity Media. “We …

Reaching online influencers and enthusiasts, or "brand ambassadors" is more important then ever, noted Dunlap, as consumers spend more time when budgets are tight going to online forums and discussion boards, and sites like Edmunds.com, seeking information and opinions on auto purchases. In that vein, Mediacom works with PR and social media firms to target the influencers who have more sway now then ever. "Even if they're only influencing 10 or 100 other people, that's still 10 or 100 sales," said Dunlap. Applications created by companies like widget distributor RockYou targeting in-market car buyers also enable consumers to more …

With the focus switching to the embattled auto industry, one of the sectors most active in BT, agency panelists confirmed that ad dollars are increasingly shifting from branded, top-of-the-funnel campaigns to performance-based formats and lead generation as automakers and dealers desparately try to sell cars. While car makers are still spending on high level, consideration-driven ad buys on TV and traditional media, "marketers are getting a little bit smarter, weighing against lower-funnel purchase and intent" in paid search and direct marketing campaigns. Much of the performance-based buys of course rely on BT to find in-market auto shoppers across the WEb.

As to the rising importance of data is changing agency culture, David Martin acknowledged its getting more, er, nerdy. "And I'm definitely falling on the nerdy side of that," said Martin. "But that's closer to what we're looking for, that passion for this new world." 360i's Hansen described the ideal online media planners and buyers today as "day-traders" applying number-crunching and analysis to advertising instead of equities.

How do agencies differentiate between one behavioral targeting technology company and another? “For us, it’s impossible to differentiate,” admitted David Martin, VP, Digital Media, Ignited. “Other than price and performance,” he added. “If someone (produces), we’re going to go back to the well every time.” Can one data provider supply all of the data an agency needs to keep a client happy? Absolutely not, Chris Hansen, VP of performance marketing at 360i. “There’s no centralized technology,” said Hansen. “No one uses (DoubleClick’s) DART for email.” Added Hansen: “There are so many arguments that (behavioral) has no …

In an example of how BT can be used for clients other than directly in a campaign, Beyond's Srishti Gupta explained that Verizon brought the company customer research on who the telecom giant should be targeting. When it didn't seem to fit what Beyond thought, they turned to ad network, publisher and social media partners to develop detailed consumer profiles of who Verizon clients have been, which was very different from what the company had assumed through offline research. "They ended up changing their own cosumer data set offline based on the data we gave them," she said. Now, …

The million dollar question everyone’s asking, today, is how the economy is affecting behavioral budgets. And some of the answers are hardly heartening. “Direct response clients are falling back on their comfort area, which is search,” Chris Hansen, 360i’s VP of Performance Marketing, said on a panel titled, “Is Behavioral a Bargain?” In many instances, Rachel Ooms, Group Media Director, Moxie Interactive, behavioral is still not even an option with publisher partners. “Our clients are very interested in using behavioral when it works,” David Martin, VP, Digital Media, Ignited, said somewhat vaguely.

Leading of the agency panel on BT, with execs from Interaction, Havas, Moxie and Ignited, Chris Hansen of 360i acknowledged that shrinking display ad budgets are affecting BT as clients are falling back on their comfort area in tough times, "and that comfort area is search." That means making a bigger push on explaining how BT can help boost the conversion rate of display.

Highlighting how the line between agencies and ad networks are increasingly blurring, Ed Montes of Havas Digital discussed in the morning's second keynote the agency's creation of a virtual brand network for managing, planning and buying online inventory in a much more data-driven way, similar to an ad network or exchange. A key to that system is Havas' Artemis database management system, which has profiles of more than one-third of the global online population. As to who owns the data, Montes assured that the agency's clients own their data. Montes said financial services and travel industry clients, more accustomed …

During a Q&A session following his talk, Hirsch said explaining the value of BT to consumers won't be possible until the industry has a set of standards, a common language, that will make the benefits to consumers more clear. Consumers think of BT as a way for companies to know everything about them rather than a way to deliver relevant, personalized content and advertising. In terms of BT's growth, he said it will be "baked into everything we do."