New US Firm Aims for In The Moment Marketing

In the US, mobile ad industry execs Scott Swanson and Alvaro Bravo have set up a mobile data management platform called Aki Technologies, which aims to connect marketers to consumers during the moments they are most receptive to advertising.

Swanson and Bravo worked previously at mobile advertising network Opera Mediaworks. The new business will interpret mobile data signals to predict a consumer's receptivity to brand advertising. At the heart of Aki's offering is the Mobile Moment Index, an analysis of billions of mobile activity data points that assesses a consumer's ad receptivity at a given time. Using the index, advertisers can target consumers when they are more likely to engage with an ad and deliver the ad format that best aligns with their level of receptivity at that moment.

Aki's technology deciphers the signals available from every mobile ad request. From observing anonymized location over time, to observing that same user's social media graph and the content being viewed, the partners say they can understand which 'mindset' a person is in throughout their day and which type of ad, if any, is appropriate for that moment. The company's data science team correlates the various signals with a brand's performance metrics including time spent with an ad, engagement, and subsequent in-store visits, assessing the relative importance of these in each case.

Swanson (pictured) explains: 'Without visibility into a mobile consumer's mindset, brands are wasting impressions on moments of low receptivity and alienating the very audience they need to engage. At Aki, we work closely with brands to identify the mobile moments that best align with their product, message, campaign goals, and even ad format'.

Web site: www.a.ki .