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We have been saddened and shocked by the terrible conflict in Ukraine. Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and we will continue to do everything we can for our team and their families. 

With the evolving situation in the country, we want to take a moment to share with you how we are supporting our colleagues who are based there.

Our immediate priority is their health and safety. We are closely monitoring the situation and have plans in place to support them should their well-being come into question. We have opened an office in Krakow, Poland and in the west of Ukraine and will support anyone who wishes to move to either location.

With the help of our technical colleagues and contractors throughout the world – including Ukraine, the UK, Bulgaria, Singapore, and the United States – we continue to operate our core products and services without disruption. We operate a cloud-based data provider network in EU, US and Asia with dedicated servers in a data center in Germany. All customer data continues to be secure.

 This is a challenging time for all Ukrainians, including our team. We’re supporting local humanitarian efforts and join all of those calling for a swift and peaceful end to hostilities. 

If you wish to offer support, we have set up a donation page here that provides help directly to our Ukraine office and to other local resources. The Red Cross Ukraine donation page is available here.

We appreciate your business and your support for our team during this time.

The LoopMe Team

Ahead of joining Brand Innovators panel discussion on Collaborative Advertising: How AR Gives Ads New Purpose, last week LoopMe surveyed over 2,300 U.S. consumers and asked about the value of interactive, immersive advertising experience.

Nearly 20% of consumers say they’re more likely to pay attention to interactive ads with 2/3’s of them remember seeing ads while playing games on their mobile devices. So awareness of ads are high but the majority of consumers have not engaged with an AR ad — not surprising since we don’t see many brands really tapping into this yet.

Interestingly though, a quarter of consumers would have a better attitude of ads if they were more engaging and almost 40% of consumers may find it useful to use a virtual first look for products.

This is a huge opportunity for brands to reach consumers in a more meaningful memorable way.

Q1: Have you seen ads while playing games on your phone or tablet?

2/3 of consumers have seen ads while playing mobile games.

Q2: Are you more likely to pay attention to ads that offer interactive components?

20% of consumers say they’re more likely to pay attention to interactive ads.

Q3: Would you feel better about ads if they were more engaging?

1/4 of consumers would have a better attitude of ads if they were more engaging.

Q4: Have you ever engaged with an ad using your camera or augmented reality?

The majority of consumers (94%) have not engaged with an AR ad using their camera.

Q5: Would you find it useful to shop for a product if you can use the ad to create a virtual first look?

Almost 40% (39.5%) of consumers may find it useful to use a virtual first look for products.

Contact Us to find out more about LoopMe.

 

Part 3 of a 3 part series that dives into the opportunities and challenges pertaining to the removal of persistent IDs in digital advertising featuring LoopMe’s Data Advisory Board members.

Privacy is at the forefront of digital advertising, and in recent weeks, the focus has been escalating as companies are planning to make significant changes to the use of persistent identifiers in digital advertising.

In a recent press announcement we shared details of the company’s tech performance with ALL persistent identifiers removed, including Apple’s IDFA, Google’s Ad ID and third-party cookies. We have been preparing for the changes by testing our system’s ability to adapt and perform without these specific attributes and ran scenario testing that surprisingly revealed that our AI-powered predictive models retain 96% of their previous effectiveness, giving us further confidence in LoopMe’s ability to deliver lift across campaigns while the industry undergoes these technical changes.

We also took this opportunity to sit down with LoopMe’s Data Advisory Board, including Greg Coleman (Chairman of LoopMe board and former President of Criteo and Buzzfeed), Wenda Harris Millard (Vice Chairman of MediaLink), John Montgomery (Executive Vice President of Brand Safety at WPP’s GroupM), Rishad Tobaccowala (former Publicis CGO), Eric Eichmann (Spark Networks CEO, former Criteo CEO), Iain Jacob (CEO, Chair, NED), Lynda Clarizio (former President, Nielsen US Media), Mainardo de Nardis (former OMD CEO) and Wanda Young (CMO at Samsung Electronics America) to have a discussion about the future of digital advertising in a privacy-centric world.

Moderated by LoopMe’s CEO and founder Stephen Upstone, we’ve launched this three part series that will answer questions about the impact of digital advertising on marketers, consumers and how we’ll all navigate the post-IDFA world.

Q: What impact will these changes have on measurement and attribution?

Wenda: 

Measurement and attribution is one of the most important areas that need to be addressed in a post-IDFA world.  Without a privacy-centered set of technologies that protect the consumer, we’ll see certain current attribution models weakened, meaning we’ll see a decrease in campaign performance.  Fortunately, there are companies like LoopMe that are way ahead of the game on this, having taken an integrated approach to measurement using AI and multivariate data analysis.

Mainardo: 

Wider, smarter, holistic approach to measurement & enhanced mix modeling. More complex decisioning process. Finally reaching beyond digital.

John M: 

These changes make it more challenging for companies (agencies, marketers and research companies) that use 3rd party data to measure media performance and attribute impressions to the most effective media. If not addressed these changes could make digital effectiveness more difficult to define.

Lynda:

These changes will make measurement and attribution a more complex, challenging task as there will need to be greater reliance on numerous, disparate data streams and the ingestion and integration of these data streams at high volume and at scale. 

Iain:

Measurement and attribution are entering a new era of maturity that can deliver powerful competitive advantage. To win requires powerful data science capability and the ability to deploy sophisticated AI to predict and optimise real business outcomes. To date, much measurement and attribution has in reality confused correlation with causation and led to poor decisions.

Q: What are the impacts to consumer experience?

John M: 

Unless alternative methods of targeting and managing frequency are used, consumer experience could be negatively affected. Users do not want to see irrelevant ads at an unmanaged frequency level. This will only undermine the quality and trust of digital advertising as a medium.

Mainardo: 

Enhanced. Relevant. Safer.

Wenda: 

Initially, before marketers discover some of the new and best tech companies addressing the targeting issue without the use of cookies and other identifiers, the consumer may experience advertising that is less relevant to their needs and interests.  That leads to less effective campaign performance and therefore lower ROI on advertising investment.  In short order, though, I think that as advertisers and their agencies discover the power of LoopMe and others providing quality solutions to the issue, we will see better and better performance and a more trusting, loyal consumer.  And that, of course, translates to better financial performance.

Iain:

Consumers don’t care about advertising, they don’t generally ‘seek out’ relevance, the vast majority of advertising’s impact comes from subconscious processing and emotional appeal. This is why use of data has to be way smarter at matching media and creative deployment to valuable business outcomes such as building brand equity.

Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here of a 3 part identity series.

 

Part 2 of a 3 part series that dives into the opportunities and challenges pertaining to the removal of persistent IDs in digital advertising featuring LoopMe’s Data Advisory Board members.

Privacy is at the forefront of digital advertising, and in recent weeks, the focus has been escalating as companies are planning to make significant changes to the use of persistent identifiers in digital advertising.

In a recent press announcement we shared details of the company’s tech performance with ALL persistent identifiers removed, including Apple’s IDFA, Google’s Ad ID and third-party cookies. We have been preparing for the changes by testing our system’s ability to adapt and perform without these specific attributes and ran scenario testing that surprisingly revealed that our AI-powered predictive models retain 96% of their previous effectiveness, giving us further confidence in LoopMe’s ability to deliver lift across campaigns while the industry undergoes these technical changes.

We also took this opportunity to sit down with LoopMe’s Data Advisory Board, including Greg Coleman (Chairman of LoopMe board and former President of Criteo and Buzzfeed), Wenda Harris Millard (Vice Chairman of MediaLink), John Montgomery (Executive Vice President of Brand Safety at WPP’s GroupM), Rishad Tobaccowala (former Publicis CGO), Eric Eichmann (Spark Networks CEO, former Criteo CEO), Iain Jacob (CEO, Chair, NED), Lynda Clarizio (former President, Nielsen US Media), Mainardo de Nardis (former OMD CEO) and Wanda Young (CMO at Samsung Electronics America) to have a discussion about the future of digital advertising in a privacy-centric world.

Moderated by LoopMe’s CEO and founder Stephen Upstone, we’ve launched this three part series that will answer questions about the impact of digital advertising on marketers, consumers and how we’ll all navigate the post-IDFA world.

Q: What are the main priorities for advertisers to align with these identity changes?

John M: 

The priorities don’t change. Marketers must get the right message in front of the ideal consumer the right number of times (and in the appropriate environment). The priority for marketers is to find other ways of identifying users who are most likely to buy, be that through AI-driven predictive modelling, contextual targeting or to focus on better creative quality in digital advertising (great creative advertising remains one of the best segmentation tools available to marketers).

Wenda: 

Marketers and their agencies need to work together to ensure that consumers’ privacy is protected, while at the same time developing new ways to target the consumers who are most likely to buy their goods and services.  We will need to create industry standards for acceptable ways to reach these consumers in a post-IDFA world, and that includes vetting safe new technologies that earn desired results with anonymized data.

Mainardo: 

They need to make sense of their first party data strategies, to have a clear understanding of the importance of content and the knowledge that creative intelligence allows. They need to be ready for constant adaptation to change. Having a holistic market view and focus on business KPIs.

Lynda:

In addition to the comments from my esteemed colleagues, I’d like to add that brands need to demand independent measurement of the business outcomes they seek to achieve from their marketing.  Brands cannot rely on the large digital media platforms to measure themselves without third party verification.

Iain: 

The main priority for advertisers is to take control of their data strategy and be smart in choosing data suppliers and partners that genuinely build the advertisers’ capability.

Q: Why is there such a heightened scrutiny on consumer privacy?

Wenda: 

It’s been building for a long time, but consumers’ awareness of the issues has been heightened recently by the number and scale of data breaches that have “hit home” with them personally, whether the breach happened at their banking institution or a favorite retailer.  Stories about hacking and foreign interference in our politics have been front-page news these last few years, creating genuine fear and concern for all — for consumers, for businesses and for government.

John M: 

This is a complex confluence of events. Consumer’s data has been misused for too long and that has caught the attention of the legislators and the press. There has been active publicity about data breaches and data misuse (e.g. Cambridge Analytica) and 3rd party cookie data has been conflated with more serious data infractions such as these. In addition, the large platforms have identified the heightened awareness around privacy as an opportunity to position themselves as privacy friendly “owners” of data by securing permission from their billions of users.

Mainardo: 

Privacy matters. It’s all about trust. And trust and reputation drive growth.

Lynda:

We have reached a tipping point.  There has always been scrutiny but it has been heightened by multiple data breaches and increasing abuse of consumer trust in connection with how consumer data is used to target advertising and to proliferate disinformation, hate speech and other harmful content.  

Iain:

Privacy sits at the heart of trust. Lack of consumer trust is a brand and company killer. It may take a while to hit the bottom line, but with damaged trust you cannot have a sustainable business, period.

Read Part 1 of a 3 part identity series here

 

Part 1 of a 3 part series that dives into the opportunities and challenges pertaining to the removal of persistent IDs in digital advertising featuring LoopMe’s Data Advisory Board members.

Privacy is at the forefront of digital advertising, and in recent weeks, the focus has been escalating as companies are planning to make significant changes to the use of persistent identifiers in digital advertising.

In a recent press announcement we shared details of the company’s tech performance with ALL persistent identifiers removed, including Apple’s IDFA, Google’s Ad ID and third-party cookies. We have been preparing for the changes by testing our system’s ability to adapt and perform without these specific attributes and ran scenario testing that surprisingly revealed that our AI-powered predictive models retain 96% of their previous effectiveness, giving us further confidence in LoopMe’s ability to deliver lift across campaigns while the industry undergoes these technical changes.

We also took this opportunity to sit down with LoopMe’s Data Advisory Board, including Greg Coleman (Chairman of LoopMe board and former President of Criteo and Buzzfeed), Wenda Harris Millard (Vice Chairman of MediaLink), John Montgomery (Executive Vice President of Brand Safety at WPP’s GroupM), Rishad Tobaccowala (former Publicis CGO), Eric Eichmann (Spark Networks CEO, former Criteo CEO), Iain Jacob (CEO, Chair, NED), Lynda Clarizio (former President, Nielsen US Media), Mainardo de Nardis (former OMD CEO) and Wanda Young (CMO at Samsung Electronics America) to have a discussion about the future of digital advertising in a privacy-centric world.

Moderated by LoopMe’s CEO and founder Stephen Upstone, we’ve launched this three part series that will answer questions about the impact of digital advertising on marketers, consumers and how we’ll all navigate the post-IDFA world.

Q: In light of recent announcements, what is your perspective on how the industry will navigate a post-IDFA world?

Wenda: 

The good news is that this is not a new issue for technology companies, publishers and most marketers. There has been a lot of conversation and press about this, resulting in a variety of new developments in how best to protect consumer privacy while still moving businesses forward by meeting their marketing objectives.  I think we can expect to see innovation in many areas, including measurement.

Mainardo: 

I see confusion and denial, over a longer period of time while we live through a hybrid phase — cookies are not all disappearing tomorrow. Some very different contracting opinions. It will take some time to spot the opportunities. Some will do better than others in an increasingly competitive scenario.

John M: 

This will necessitate a changed perspective on behavioral targeting which has driven digital marketing for the last 15 years.

Lynda:

In the short term, there will be disruption for sure as the industry has become over-reliant on IDFA and cookies for targeting.  In the longer term, the industry will emerge stronger as this will spur innovation in measurement in a manner that better protects consumer privacy.

Iain: 

Recent developments around IDFA and third-party cookies have confirmed to brand owners that they need to take control and responsibility for their data strategies and how consumer data is being used on their behalf. Likewise, reliance on reported data from walled gardens is at best problematic. Advertisers need to increasingly work with smart providers that can build their insight and predictive capability, not just in lower funnel metrics, but in brand building and the development of valuable business outcomes.

Q: Who will ‘win’ and what’s at stake?

Mainardo: 

The winners will be those who better understood what was coming, and when. Those who had a wider spectrum instead of a narrow approach, however deep it may have been. And those who understand the importance of creative intelligence and the need to optimize content, not just audiences, while other signals are already diminishing.

Rishad: 

The ability LoopMe has to automatically learn in-flight, reacting to a changing environment and matching advertising creative to current consumer behavior, is not the norm for advertising today, and would be difficult to recreate. The LoopMe platform works by having 1,500 algorithms (including some of the latest deep learning models, built and updated by the data science team of over 25 people) competing with each other on every campaign, automatically swapping to the best performing algorithm every 10 minutes, based on live data, which is measuring results against that campaign outcome. You have a real time data infrastructure, built and honed over years, and with all the data from prior campaigns, which is making decisions at quickly (<5ms) and at scale (millions per second). Moreover, your tech and methodology means you are in a great place to not only survive the demise of personal identifiers like IDFA and the associated moves to improve personal privacy, but it gives you long-term stability to adapt to the new way of working in this ecosystem. I think you have a long runway of growth ahead of you. 

Wenda: 

Those companies that provide full transparency for both consumers and businesses will be winners. That will require a cooperative effort to help educate everyone — consumers, businesses and government — about the difference between personalized and privacy-safe anonymized data and why it matters.  Ultimately, everyone is a winner.  Marketers will gain heightened levels of consumer engagement and trust, yielding better financial results and longer-lasting relationships with their customers.

John M: 

The most obvious winners are the companies that have the strongest first party relationships with their direct customers and of course the platforms that have been securing agreement from their users to use their data.

Lynda:

The winners will be those that can dynamically leverage and aggregate first party data in combination with anonymized third party datasets and real-time survey and other opt-in data — and, as Wenda says, doing this in a manner that provides full transparency for brands and consumers alike.

Iain:

In this new world those that have the ability to build better understanding and predictive capability around brand development will win. Businesses that can take multiple streams of data signals and use powerful AI techniques to learn, optimise media and develop more effective advertising content as a consequence, will prevail. However, this is easier said than done and in a world of overclaim advertisers need to choose their partners very smartly.

 

2020 was a year like no other. It goes without saying 2020 brought us a multitude of challenges. As we move ahead into a new year, we’ve reflected on our recent Corporate Social Responsibility achievements.

While we have always valued diversity, inclusion and CSR at LoopMe, in 2020 we formalized a company-wide effort to organize, communicate and support various initiatives around diversity, inclusion and the greater good for our communities.