TransUnion acquires Signal to enhance people-based marketing capabilities
TransUnion yesterday announced that it has acquired Signal, a cross-channel marketing solutions provider. The acquisition is expected to bolster TransUnion’s people-based marketing capabilities.
Signal’s real-time data collection makes it easier for brands to structure and organize consumer data. The company helps brands boost customer loyalty and retention. The deal positions TransUnion as an end-to-end solutions provider.
Signal is the third people identity-based marketing solution acquired by TransUnion since 2019 after TruSignal and TruOptik. “We’re focused on marketing solutions that are people-based because it’s the future of marketing effectiveness and delivers value to the customer,†said Spiegel in a blog post on the company site.
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Why are Brands Betting Big on People-based Marketing?
The goal of advertising has always been the same: reach the right person, in the right place, at the right time, with the right message – to drive real business results.
However, with the rise of technologies like mobile, people’s time and attention have become more and more fragmented and this has made it difficult for marketers to determine when, where and how best to reach people. For these reasons, planners and strategists today have the complicated job of determining where to plan and optimize their media towards most effectively.
So how are we thinking of tackling this increasingly complex reality? Through the lens of people.
Brands that have embraced people-based marketing have already begun seeing the benefits of the strategy in the content of planning and measurement across platforms and devices.
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Consider this – planning for traditional media – such as TV, print and out of home – involves identifying the people who buy the product, characterizing them in terms of their demographics, and then looking for “the right place†where they’re spending their time (i.e. Program A on Network B or Print Publication C). The goal is to find the right place to advertise while holding everything else constant.
Similarly, for digital planning, marketers first find their target audience but now can be more specific. For example, we can look for Adults aged 18-34 who are interested in coffee and live in Ohio. Then, we can show this group adverts wherever they are on the Internet. The goal here becomes to find the right group of people, while holding everything else constant.
With people-based marketing, marketers don’t hold anything constant. They can find a person instead of large groups such as “Adults 18-34†or “people who like coffee†and reach them on whatever device or platform they may be on because today, reach and attention is fragmented across devices and platforms. Every one of these variables will change with every exposure, and planning for people for where they are will allow marketers to efficiently achieve and scale the goal of showing the right advert, to the right person, at the right time.
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Given the changes we’re seeing in consumer behavior and content consumption patterns post-COVID, people-based marketing makes even more sense since content experiences are becoming more personal. Going forward, we could expect to see a lot more Martech players doubling down on their people-based marketing capabilities to help brands carve out a competitive advantage.