This is the summary of an article by Abbey Klaassen, in which he describes, how Snapple uses tactic to find unexpected affinity group for premium green teas.
You can get the PDF of the behavioral targeting article here:
Behavioral Targeting: new killer app for research
Behavioral Targeting in Online Sales
Recently, publishers have been using behavioral targeting successfully to promote sales through online ads. In fact, behavioral targeting is so successful that according to eMarketer, it will be worth $1.5 billion this year. On the other hand, marketers have discovered that there is another use for behavioral targeting aside from online ad sales. They found out that it is also a good way to do some research and figure out the kind of people that buy their products; for example, what else are they interested in aside from their products.
Behavioral Targeting Research
A good example is Snapple. This company advertised Good for You green teas, and they did a study to find out what kind of people buy their green tea. The hypothesis was logical; people that buy their antioxidant-rich tea are health conscious individuals, those who put their health and wellness above their other priorities.With the help of MEC Interaction and Tacoda, they tested their hypothesis. They organized a behavioral targeting campaign for six weeks to promote more clicks and impressions and to test the theory.
Results of Research
The results of the study were surprising to them. The most common characteristics of the people who visit their site and buy their products are not what their theory suggests. Instead, they found out that those who have interest in literature and the arts are more than likely to visit their site and patronize their products. Aside from this, people who love to travel, especially internationally, are also inclined to buying their green tea.
The Snapple staff was surprised by the turn-out. They were expecting other results, such as maybe sports enthusiasts would be inclined towards the health boosting tea that they advertise. Nevertheless, they benefited much from this study, and now know which audience to lean on more in their next advertising efforts.
The Snapple team or any other marketer could have used more traditional efforts, such as getting respondents to answer questions regarding their products. But formulating questions is a hard task. With behavioral targeting, companies can now look at the buying audience differently; not demographically but by their behavior.
Drawbacks
There are several drawbacks for behavioral targeting. For one, they are 20 to 30 percent more expensive than other traditional online advertising strategies. Behavioral targeting doesn’t work for all products as well. Usually behavioral targeting is more effective for products that don’t have mass appeal.
However, this study shows that behavioral targeting can be used to greatly alter the advertising efforts of a company for the better.
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