Johannesburg - In what it says is an African first, Independent Online (IOL) has signed with the world’s largest independent data management platform, Lotame, so that it can know more about its audience than ever before.
The deal was initiated and facilitated by Lotame’s official reseller in Africa, Mark1 Media.
IOL’s first-party data coupled with the third-party data available on the Lotame Data Exchange (LDX) means it can target audiences far beyond its own inventory. The LDX allows IOL to gain more knowledge about its own users and expand this by seeking out lookalike audiences from across the Internet. Through Lotame, IOL’s audience data can also now be bought by advertisers programmatically or through direct deals.
This development will lead to growth in the South African digital industry as it moves ever closer to the “segment of one” – a concept which encapsulates the idea that in future, readers will only see content that is relevant to us specifically, IOL says. This means that advertising will no longer be a nuisance, but highly targeted and useful to the consumer. Brands and advertisers will cut down on wasted ad spend and communicate directly with users more likely to convert.
“This deal is very important for the Independent Media Group, as we increasingly see growth in audiences on our digital platforms. We understand that each of our users is an individual and so we strive to learn about and understand their preferences and interests," Independent Media says.
Independent is excited about moving into this new arena, which is still young in the South African market. Globally there is a need to understand the mountains of data produced on a daily basis, and Lotame will give it the capability to organise, analyse and makes sense of its data, it says.
"We are pleased to be working with a partner with significant international experience and expertise that will benefit Independent and the industry in South Africa. In comparison with other countries, the data available of South African online habits is limited, we are confident that our partnership will add value to the knowledge base within Independent Media and in particular, about our online audiences,” Walter Madzonga, VP of Digital at Independent Media notes.
"Lotame provides an intuitive solution as a truly independent Data Management Platform, allowing for the strategic activation of our online data collection points. This enables us to provide a richer, more validated experience overall to our loyal audiences, online customers as well as our commercial partners," adds Simon Duvenage, Ad Operations Manager at Independent Media
Consumers need not fear that they will lose their privacy. All data collected is Non-Personally Identifiable Information (NPII data) – meaning that it cannot be linked to a specific individual. Instead, only statistical information is taken from the user and added to an audience segment.
IOL, adapted from a press release.