Our Q&A series shines a spotlight on the biggest
challenges, questions and trends in the programmatic marketplace with
commentary from industry experts, clients and partnerships.
Today’s Q&A is with Lawrence Chan, EVP, Data
Ecosystem at Cuebiq, a location intelligence and measurement company that
specializes in offline consumer behaviors.
A 10-year veteran of mobile advertising and marketing,
Chan focuses on identifying innovative opportunities and strategic partnerships
to drive Cuebiq’s expansion.
Q:
There have been numerous advancements in location data quality in recent years.
What stands out most?
Marketers are now able to leverage location data that is
much higher quality than what was available even just a few years ago. That’s
due in large part to the development of new data collection methodologies, such
as Cuebiq’s proprietary location-based SDK (software development kit), which
brings marketers location data that is both accurate and high-scale and
collected with a forward-thinking privacy framework. The combination of these
three factors is critical for location data to be representative of the
population and lead to meaningful insights.
Q:
The phrase “SDK data,” which you mentioned above, is significant when it comes
to evaluating the quality of location data. What exactly does it refer to and
why is it important to understand?
Location data can be collected in several ways, one of
which is through a software development kit – an SDK. In layman’s terms,
Cuebiq’s SDK is a line of code that our mobile app partners embed in their
apps, which collects first-party data from anonymous users who opted-in to the
location data collection. Through an SDK like Cuebiq’s, you know exactly where
the data is coming from and can ensure users are providing consent to data
collection. This is why SDKs are the recommended methodology to collect data
that is high-scale, accurate and dense, and follows a forward-thinking privacy
framework — all of which are necessary for quality location data.
Q:
Measuring travelers’ physical visits seems to be the best way to close the loop
for marketers in the travel vertical. Is that the case, and if so, how does
dwell time factor in?
Yes, measuring visits is the best way for travel
marketers to close the loop, since it enables them to understand whether their
campaigns are actually driving consumers to locations or not. Dwell time is key
for marketers to consider, since it tells the difference between real versus
fake visits to a location. For example, one user location data point (or as we
call it a “ping”) near a hotel does not mean that users actually vacationed
there — they could have been just walking by. In order to determine
whether or not anonymous users spent time at any given location, you need to
consider how long they spent there. At Cuebiq, we verify all visits to
locations using dwell time, to distinguish actual visits from non-relevant data
points.
Q:
User privacy is extremely important for brands and agencies, especially when it
comes to leveraging location-based data. What should marketers keep in mind as
they evaluate different location data partners?
User privacy has moral and ethical implications, which
should be key drivers for all players in the ecosystem. But user privacy is
also a business imperative for brands and agencies as they identify the data
sets and data partners for their stacks. In fact, in today’s data-driven
landscape, brand safety is no longer just about the environment in which ads
run, it is also tied to the origin of the data that brands use for their
initiatives. For this reason, it is vital that both brands and agencies be
aware of and screen their partners’ data collection practices to ensure that
they themselves are in a safe position.
When evaluating potential partners, marketers need to
consider their approach to user privacy. Does the partner require user consent
to collect location data, and enable users to opt out if they so choose? Is the
partner transparent in how they’re using the data? Has the partner been
certified by industry privacy organizations? These are some important questions
to ask.
Q:
How does the value of location data differ for brands who have physical
locations versus those that do not?
Brands with a physical presence typically use location
analytics to map and measure the real-world behaviors of their consumers and
understand whether their campaigns are working. Take, for example, a grocery
chain that runs an OOH campaign to drive consumers to their stores. Location
data will enable them to measure if the consumers who saw those ads actually
visited the stores.
For brands that don’t have a physical presence, location
data can still provide a trove of insights. On a tactical level, it allows them
to target consumers based on intent. For example, an online retailer can target
consumers who shop at a brick-and-mortar competitor of theirs. On a strategic level it can shed a light on
consumers’ behaviors for a specific vertical or a set of competitors. Think of direct-to-consumer
brands that may want to expand from e-commerce to a mixed model including brick
and mortar, a trend that we see more and more today. By understanding offline
consumer behaviors for their vertical or a specific set of competitors, these
brands can expand their consumer knowledge beyond what happens online.
Q:
What stands out about Cuebiq’s integration with Adelphic?
Viant and Cuebiq’s partnership is rooted in Viant’s
commitment to bring clients the best solutions to drive their marketing efforts.
Both Viant and Cuebiq are equipped to deliver actionable insights and
measurement leveraging high-quality data. Additionally, Cuebiq’s
forward-thinking privacy approach to collecting location insights provides
clients with the precision and safeguards they desire as key integration
benefits from our two worlds at their fingertips.
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