Kristi Rogers' TED Talk "Where are our digital ads really going?" really focused on the impact that quantitative experts can have on the advertising industry. Kristi starts by mentioning that the future of advertising comes down to relevance. What if there was a way that all advertising campaigns were targeted to relevant people with the hopes of improving ROI.According to Kristi, advertising and marketing has remained pretty flat as a percentage of GDP because it has not embraced quantitative skillslike other industries have. While advertising will always require creative people, it as become significantly more math focused as well. After conducting an experiment where two process experts were included in the advertising process, they received between a 50 to 100 percent higher ROI due to their quantitative skills. Kristi's hypothesizes that if process experts tackle inefficiencies within the advertising campaigns, the team can then spend more time on activities to make the campaign more successful. Rogers ends by mentioning that with all of the data available, it is easy to draw the wrong conclusions and make the wrong decisions. Because of this, quantitative process experts are necessary to help reach the future of advertising.

I think this TED Talk really helped break down how to increase ROI. It all comes down to relevance. If we are advertising a mountain bike in our simulation, we should target our product to people who have a genuine interest in mountain biking and outdoor sports. We probably won't be too successful if we advertise to just any random group of people. I know for me personally, I have no need for a heavy duty mountain bike, so I would be the wrong person to advertise that product to.

While I think some people might view collecting data on individuals as non-ethical, I think it will not only improve a company's ROI, but it will also improve the users ad experience. I always hate when I'm trying to watch YouTube or go onto Facebook and random products popup as advertisements that I have no need for. I feel like if we have to be bombarded with advertisements nearly everywhere we go, they could at least be relevant and somewhat enjoyable to look at.

I think the bottom line is to know what our targeted audience is, and specifically advertise to and for them. Since we're selling expensive mountain bikes, there's no use trying to get someone to try mountain biking for the first time with them, but we could highlight how useful our bikes are for veteran bikers. Digital advertising opens the door to so many more people to reach, and relevance really is the future of advertising.

References:

 

Rogers, K. (2014).Where are our Digital Ads Really Going?Kristi Rogers: Where are our digital ads really going? | TED Talk.https://www.ted.com/talks/kristi_rogers_where_are_our_digital_ads_really_going

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