[X+1] has added a new component to its data-management platform (DMP) called Origin KeyChain to expand its offline targeting capabilities.
“Prior to KeyChain, we could do offline targeting for our customers, but only for their customer IDs and not for prospects,” said CEO John Nardone.
Here’s how it works. Generally speaking, DMPs gather user information from a bunch of sources (online cookies, CRM systems, etc.). As Nardone explained it, the platform wraps all of this data around a persistent identifier, called a key. The specific nature of that key differs from DMP to DMP, but in many cases, it’s an online cookie.
Imagine a magnet (representing the persistent identifier) with a bunch of objects like paperclips or thumbtacks (representing additional pieces of user information) stuck to it.
However, many third-party data providers have their own unique keys. So a marketer working with [x+1] as well as other third-party data providers would have to manage numerous persistent identifiers, many of which are incompatible. In other words, clients are stuck with massive data silos.
Origin KeyChain is designed to allow clients to use the persistent identifier they use on the [x+1] platform in conjunction with the offline keys they acquire from various third-party data providers.
“What’s underneath this KeyChain release is an enhanced ability for the DMP to juggle multiple data keys at the same time,” Nardone said. “We’re in discussions with virtually all of the database marketing services providers to bring their offline persistent unique identifiers into the platform.”
So far, [x+1] has signed up three data partners, one of which is implemented, and there are “three more that matter.” While Nardone wouldn’t specify who’s signed up and who hasn’t, he hopes to have a total of six third-party marketing data providers by the end of this year.
These conversations, he said, have been pretty straightforward because Acxiom, with the advent of its DMP Audience Operating System (AOS), “has sort of tilled this ground by linking offline ID to online channels. So other database services providers are happy to have an alternative or an answer to that offering.”
The difference between Acxiom and [x+1], Nardone said, is that Acxiom only has Acxiom data, whereas [x+1] has offline data from three other providers. And Acxiom doesn’t have the execution capabilities. Recall that [x+1] has a demand-side platform (DSP) to facilitate ad buys.
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Nardone said [x+1] has reached out to Acxiom, a massive provider of third-party data, to see if it wants to add its offline key to the Origin KeyChain. “We’re certainly open to that, if they’re interested in playing,” he said.
So what would be the use case for a feature like Origin KeyChain? Three beta clients are signed up and haven’t yet gone live.
But Nardone envisions clients closing the gaps in customer journeys by linking online activities to offline buying behavior. He also envisions marketers coordinating messaging across channels. For instance, a credit card using direct mail can pull their mailing list from national household data, find the online cookies associated with individuals on that list, and hit them up with targeted display advertising that supplements the direct mail piece.
