LAS VEGAS\u2014If there\u2019s one thing that unites media owners, ad-tech providers and advertisers it\u2019s the value of understanding audiences. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to find the customer too so we can join that up,\u201d says Tim Spengler, the President of Dentsu Aegis Network\u2019s M1 US. \u201cSo they\u2019re very much aligned because they know that\u2019s what we\u2019re looking for is better precision around audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since gaining, keeping and growing customers involve different phases, being able to discern them leads to knowing what messaging to deliver across platforms. \u201cLinking those two things up we think is the next phase of where the business is going,\u201d Spengler opines in this interview with Beet.TV at CES 2019<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s data, but then you have to know what to say and it\u2019s creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n Powering much of this progress within Dentsu is the M1<\/a> platform developed by the Merkle agency prior to its acquisition by Dentsu in 2016. M1 now has an identity graph that comprises 95% of U.S. adults by way of personally identifiable information codes, according to Spengler.<\/p>\n \u201cThat gives us a tremendous ability to work with our clients to identify true targets based on all the data they would want to know about somebody,\u201d and then to figure out \u201chow to connect them at various end points so we can actually speak to those exact people. So it\u2019s making media more precise and more powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of the process is connecting audiences with media owners. \u201cThe conversation we\u2019re having is about audiences, it\u2019s less about GRP\u2019s,\u201d Spengler<\/a> says. \u201cIt\u2019s about content and environment, because content and context will always be important. We\u2019re coming together on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Understanding the differences among audiences goes hand in hand with being able to determine how specific targets are consuming media, according to Spengler.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got five different devices. Am I going to waste money and talk to you five different times when I only want to talk to you once? So you\u2019ve got to really understand who you are and what device you\u2019re on so we\u2019re not wasting the money.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about the value that media agencies need to provide, Spengler says \u201cIt\u2019s very complex. It used to be strategy and save me money.\u201d Now its data, technology and creativity working together.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s higher level work but that\u2019s what our clients need and that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to build ourselves to be able to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n