Behavioral Advertising & a shower

And there he stood in the shower. Yes, the he is me, and I was listening to my favorite Pandora stations on a fine Spring morning. Interrupting my listening was an audio ad for Soap.com. You know the one that starts “Hey man!..blah blah blah…and even condoms”. Probably heard this ad about 30 times over the past 3 weeks. 

About 10 minutes later - yes I wanted to embrace the hot awesomeness - I was served up another ad. This time it was for the Home Depot. Before the 30 seconds was up, my fogged mind turned to focused questioning. Let’s run down my feelings:

1. Why was there a Home Depot ad running on my Notorious B.I.G. station?
2. Why was the ad telling me about taking care of my lawn?
3. Don’t they know who I am???

At that steamy moment it became clear: 

1. I was more receptive to Soap.com’s ad, even though I heard it countless times. 
2. I consciously considered Soap.com for the first time. 
3. I HATED the fact that Home Depot was ruining my music with their spot. 

The truth of the matter is that these sites - the Facebook’s, Pandora’s, YouTube’s and even this Tumblr - know everything about me. I allowed them this access. Behavioral advertising has become so advanced that most users (mainly non ad-people) don’t even know it’s happening. Heck even us in the industry don’t realize it at times.

But when it was all said and done, I determined I liked what Pandora (and Soap) was doing. They knew I was 28. They knew I lived in NYC. They knew the music I listened to. They knew that I was a single guy who would be more interested in a service (Soap) that pushed speedy, affordable delivery of everyday items (even condoms). Home Depot was telling me to buy a weed wacker…and I hated them for not knowing me. 

9 months ago  /  2 notes