Obama campaign data targeting guru Larry Grisolano just presented some insights on the way the reelection team optimized its TV advertising buys that offer an interesting new rule of thumb for all brands, and their agencies. While TV optimization is not new -- agencies have been utilizing TV optimizers since the mid-1990s, when Nielsen began releasing respondent-level viewer data -- the Obama campaign changed what it was optimizing against. Instead of optimizing for general demographics, the campaign focused on an extremely narrow subsegment of voters that would swing the election. More significantly, it didn't just optimize its reach against these …

OMMA DDM opening keynoter Larry Grisolano is making a good point for all brands utilizing data-driven marketing: That a strategy should be driving the data that drives the marketing. That's true whether you're a political brand like Barak Obama, or whether you're an everyday consumer brand. "If we hadn't have had the strategy, we wouldn't have had anything to optimize," said Grisolano, who is CEO of AKPD Message and Media, and was director of paid media for the Obama campaign.

Larry Grisolano, CEO, AKPD Message and Media, Director of Paid Media Obama for America/Obama-Biden, and the opening keynote at OMMA DDM took the podium in Los Angeles this morning, and I do mean that literally. His first remarks involved reaching over the side of the podium and gesturing to the OMMA DDM signage, and noting, "Kind of looks like OBAMA DDM." For the record, MediaPost is a non-partisan publisher and event programmer, and doesn't take a position on national politics, but in retrospect, it's a good thing we didn't call our events and publications ROMMA.

Conference chair Steve Smith is doing his warm-up act at OMMA DDM in Los Angeles this morning, and he's mainly talking about the unintended consequences of data-driven marketing, and he's making some great points about the Pandora Box it's become. He started off by noting how data-driven marketing isn't entirely new -- it's almost as old as marketing itself -- but that the nature, and especially the speed of delivery of data, has changed creating a whole new ball game, and new relationships between brands, agencies, publishers, and yes, especially consumers. Consumers, in particular, are growing increasingly sophisticated -- and …

Recently, two separate ad partners asked The Sporting News to run 60-second video ads before mobile content. Right. Even more remarkable, however, was the publisher's response. "We said, 'No!'" Jeff Price, President and Publisher of The Sporting News, told attendees at the OMMA Premium Display conference on Tuesday. "I don't know what part of a consumer experience you think you're going to enhance here," was the thought that went through Price's mind -- though that's probably not what he told his partners. More to the point, the requests were just more examples of marketers trying to jam the old TV …

On the heels of The Washington Post's study this week indicating that "above the fold" isn't necessarily the best place for ads to be placed, comScore Vice President Mike Rich just told OMMA Premium Display attendees that the online research giant has known that all along. "We've seen the same thing," Rich said in response to Steve Smith's follow-up question about the finding. "There's a lot of assumptions being made," Rich added, noting, "The assumption is that if I'm buying above-the-fold, it's going to be great inventory." That's not always the case, he explained, because users develop their own habits …

Mike Rich, Vice President, comScore, said the company has technology that develops patterns in the household to determine the demographic of who viewed the ad, but it all relies on "a best guess." Exactly, a best guess, similar to the best guess law enforcement must make when looking at evidence on a home PC.

Running a targeted display ad campaign? Mike Rich, VP at comScore, at OMMA Display in L.A. said the average in target percent is 43%. Many computers are shared, which makes it difficult to really know who you're targeting. More than 80% of traffic is still at home on a PC, and 60% are shared. Old data is a problem and not always reflects new household situations, he said.

Publishers walk a tightrope between editorial and advertising sales, says OMMA moderator, Brian Fitzgerald, president of Evolve Media, LLC. How much should ad sales do to push editorial? Not very much. “We respect our journalists in a big way,” says Jaci Hays, senior vp of advertising sales for CBS Interactive Games, on a panel called “Publisher Panel: Making The Case For Context, Creativity and Control.” “We create a lot of video but it costs a lot of money,” she says. And that is why Hays says CBS doesn’t want its editorial staff doing “stupid things” just to get attention. …

What defines premium display advertising, today. "Taking all the data available, and using it to improve an ad's overall user experience," according to Joe Licari, Director of the Advanced Creative Solutions Team at Yahoo, which was formed earlier this year to create more personalized ad solutions for clients. It's about an "end-to-end conversation with the user," Licari told attendees of OMMA's Premium Display conference on Tuesday. Brian Fitzgerald, President of Evolve Media, couldn't agree more. "Dynamic ads, very personalized," is what premium advertising is all about, Fitzgerald said. But, does premium advertising effectively scale? Of course, according to Licari. Fitzgerald …