It’s a dream that marketers have had for years; the ability to track users no matter where they are, what they’re watching, where they’re listening to and what device or devices that they’re using to do it.
The reason is simple; if marketers can track what their customers are doing, watching, listening to, purchasing and talking about, no matter how or on what device they’re using, they will also know what products and services to offer them and, even more importantly, know how to market those products and services to them more effectively.
At the forefront of this multiple tracking endeavor, or cross device optimization as it’s been named, is massive digital ad buying agency Rocket Fuel, and they want to bring the promise of CDO to their nearly 1500 clients.
Mark Alan Prior, the mastermind behind Rocket Fuel, tells VentureBeat that cross device optimization is one of the last frontiers in mobile advertising, which earned nearly $17 billion in 2013 and is predicted to nearly double that this year.
Rocket Fuel is in an excellent position to take advantage of CDO as they are the leaders in the programmatic ad industry and one of the biggest platform providers in the sector.
Founded in 2008, the company had over $240 million in revenue in 2013 and, with mobile advertising expected to grow to $35 billion by the end of the year, wanted to position themselves at the forefront of the transition from desktop clients to mobile.
Rocket Fuel has partnered with Facebook and, when they unveiled their retooled Atlas recently, the company was a launch partner in the social media giant’s attempt to take over the number one spot in mobile advertising, where Google is currently the king.
Prior believes that, with cross device optimization, advertisers will finally be able to prove that mobile advertising actually drives desktop and online transactions, something that can’t be quantified this time. If Rocket Fuel has their way, that situation will soon be remedied.
