The morning case studies, which also made up the next day’s Roadshow event, highlighted the successes of publishers who leveraged traditional media with digital campaigns to get the biggest returns. Participants included Rogers Digital Media (Nestlé Singles), Yahoo! Canada (J.C. Penny), Transcontinental Media (Wonder Bra), Sympatico/MSN (Bud Light), Canada.com (Deal or No Deal), Canoe.ca (LotoQuebec).
However, it was Marshall Self from the AOL Media Network speaking about a technology being used in behavioural targeting called “retargeting” that really piqued my attention. Using West Jet as an example, he explained how visitors who left the site before their transaction was completed could be tracked to other sites within the AOL network, allowing ads to be served to relevant potential customers. This approach is a shift away from traditional behavioural targeting, allowing a company like West Jet to have ads served on sites that may have nothing to do with travel, but are still be targeted to people who are likely to have a higher conversion rate.
Here’s Marshall explaining the ins and outs of retargeting: