Kiip debuts 'open garden approach' to help brands target mobile users
Kiip, an outfit more commonly known for helping developers "reward" mobile gamers, is furthering its offering in the adtech space, launching a data licensing product that will help brands further hone their ad campaigns on such devices using proprietary first-party data.
Kiip will now let advertisers target users on third-party properties using its proprietary data / Kiip
Dubbed Moments Data Stream, the launch of the latest offering lets advertisers target mobile app users with over 100-plus audience segments based on the bank of audience data the startup has been able to build since launching in 2010 using its self-styled Rewards Platform.
Brands including Coca-Cola, General Mills, and Procter & Gamble (among others) have used Kiip’s platform to engage with mobile users, for instance offering them coupons for completing a level within a mobile game, or achieving a milestone within a running app.
Kiip chief executive officer, Brian Wong, said the resulting mobile-first database and audience insights can prove an alternative to some of the internet’s largest platforms, such as Facebook, Google and Twitter.
The real-time nature of the insights made available via its Moments stream, mean advertisers can now target users based on a degree of behaviors, such as coupon redemption data, with an addressable audience base of 300 million mobile app users, according to Kiip.
“We are taking an open garden approach,” said Wong, adding that any data generated as a result of media bought using Moments Data Stream will be returned to the brand. “When an advertiser buys a campaign from a platform, the data generated should be passed back to them.”
Wong went on to state that, although the latest platform launch lets users target audiences across screens, the fact that its proprietary data set is primarily mobile-based, means it offers brands a more sophisticated means of retargeting audiences (see chart below).
“The reason why we decided to enter this space was that we looked at retargeting and started to shake our head, because most of it is based on cookies, but most of the things you do on your personal time will be either a tablet or a phone [where cookies are largely redundant],” he told The Drum.
“If you want to reach a runner, you can serve them with an ad on Men’s Health or you can try to be there [on a running app] after they’ve finished a run.”
The news comes after it emerged last week that Facebok and Google's dominance of total increases in digital spend, in particular additional mobile media, meant that both players (commonly referred to as 'the duopoly') now accounted for a fifth of all media spend collectively.
Although many advertisers – media agencies in particular – have been vocal about their displeasure with the 'walled garden' nature of the two-leading online media owners, the log-level user data both parties have at their disposal lets advertisers plan and execute their campaigns across screens at a scale they can rarely find elsewhere. With the wider adtech industry making multiple moves to counter this dominance.
Kiip also offers advertisers the ability to buy media on third-party websites using its own demand-side platform (DSP), and has generated over $32m in funding since it was founded, with financial backing coming from the incubator funds of outfits such as: AmEx; IPG and Verizon Wireless.