By Kurt Hawks, General Manager – Conversant ® Mobile

IT’S THE PERSON,NOT THE DEVICE!

These days it seems as if everyone is talking about how much a brand should be spending on smartphone and tablet advertising. We all need to stop thinking about smartphone allocations. And tablet dollars. When I hear that sort of talk, I must resist the urge to channel my best Charlton Heston impression from Soylent Green. Because cross-device is people!

Years ago, In response to the growth in mobile usage, lots of brands started allocating a certain percentage of total digital spend to mobile. Back then, you couldn’t have a comprehensive profile of a user’s activity across all of their devices, or deliver a coordinated campaign across devices. We couldn’t connect a person’s

PC profile to their mobile profile with the prevailing technology. Having separate campaigns in PC and mobile was the best we could do – it was preferable to not reaching people at all on devices other than a computer.

But times have changed, and brands need to change their strategies with them – to unify data from across all of their devices to a single anonymized profile. Thanks to advances in user-to-device mapping, it’s now possible to understand all of the signals people send about what they want - regardless of the device they send them on. As a result, we now need to stop thinking about devices, and put our focus back where it belongs – on the consumer. Brands must learn to plan and execute programs “person-first,” letting the individual’s personal behavior govern the particular spend level for each device channel.

Cross-device must strategically permeate our data and profiles, media deliveryand insight analytics.

Ugh! If I had a dollar for every time a brand asked what percentage of its budget should go to mobile…I’d be a rich man, indeed.

CROSS-DEVICEDATA AND PROFILESTo best reflect the consumer in your marketing, you need to understand all of their digital behavior. Not just their mobile-based behavior. In October 2013, comScore first reported that more than50 percent of the average person’s digital time was spent using smartphones and tablets. Brands that use only mobile-based data for targeting are missing out on more than 50 percent of what a user does online.

Even if you are planning and buying a campaign for just one channel like mobile, you need cross-device behavioral data to identify the best audience and advertising opportunities to reach them. You must understand consumer behavior across devices, even if you are only planning a single device ad campaign.

True customer understanding requires that you bring all of the data together – from PC, mobile, and tablet - in united profiles. And further, you need to do that quickly before the insights you can glean grow too old to be valuable.

Brands that use mobile-based data only for targeting are missing out on more than 50 percent of what a user does online.

We now need to stop thinking about devices, and put our focus back where it belongs –on the consumer.

2

CROSS-DEVICEDELIVERYOnce you understand the user’s behaviors and interests, you need to identify and leverage the best media to reach, connect and convert. It’s the classic right place, right time and with the right message.

The media exchanges make it easier to reach people in more places. You also need to be able to evaluate the relative merits of an impression in one medium versus another. Again, what’s critical is real-time access and processing of information so you have the intelligence necessary.

CROSS-DEVICEINSIGHT ANALYTICSOnce your program is in place, you need to dig in and uncover both the individual and interconnected value of each channel in conversions.

Google released a study last year that showed that67 percent of us start the purchase process on one device but complete it on another. For example, browsing for vacation destinations on your phone at Starbuck’s, then reviewing destination pictures on a tablet in front of the TV, and finally moving to PC for an easier purchase. Without understanding the role of each channel in the user’s decisions, you can’t make informed decisions on how to optimize future campaigns.

67 percent of us start the purchase process on one device butcomplete it on another.

What’s critical is real-time access and processing of information so you have the intelligence necessary.

3

CONCLUSIONS

The device is ultimately a pipe that allows people to consume content. Each type of pipe is better for some things than others. Phones are great for on the go. PCs for content creation. Tablets for viewing content. People expect consistent brands across devices. They want access to information on their terms and on the device(s) they choose. You can’t deliver a great communications strategy if you focus on the screens instead of the people viewing them.

Such efforts must start with the person. Leveraging all three dimensions of cross-device – data, delivery and insights – in order to better meet their needs. Because Heston impression or no, cross-device is people.

ABOUT THE AUTHORKurt Hawks is General Manager – Mobile for Conversant. Kurt is responsible for driving the cross-device strategy for Conversant as well as overseeing mobile operations across Conversant’s business units. He focuses on developing cross-device personalized marketing offerings that put the individual at the center, rather than in segments or silos. Prior to Conversant, Kurt served as a senior associate at Monitor Ventures, where he focused on evaluating investment opportunities and building early-stage businesses in the areas of mobile, media, software and business services. Previously, he served as an engagement manager at Monitor Group where he advised clients on various corporate strategy issues including development of growth strategies, organizational design and new business creation.

ABOUT CONVERSANTConversant, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNVR) is the leader in personalized digital marketing. Conversant helps the world’s biggest companies grow by creating personalized experiences that deliver higher returns for brands and greater satisfaction for people. We offer a fully integrated personalization platform, personalized media programs and the world’s largest affiliate marketing network – all fueled by a deep understanding of what motivates people to engage, connect and buy.

For more information, please visit www.conversantmedia.com.

Copyright 2014, Conversant, Inc. All rights reserved. Conversant is a trademark of Conversant, Inc.

You can’t deliver a great communications strategy if you focus on the screens instead of the people viewing them.

4