SCA data partnership avoids reliance on IDs for digital advertising

Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) is branding its new partnership with contextual intelligence platform, NumberEight, a direct response to growing impetus for alternative digital advertising solutions that meet tighter privacy regulations and forthcoming iOS updates.

The radio network operator has struck a data partnership with NumberEight to bring its live mobile context, Mobex, and behavioural audience targeting capabilities into the Listnr digital audio platform. Labelled an Australian first, the data approach reportedly removes the need for personally identifiable information (PII), advertising IDs or cookies. 

Instead, using on-device computing and an array of mobile sensors, NumberEight’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform detects live contexts in real time. This could be whether a user’s phone is lying face down on a desk, if they’re on their commute or if a device is in the user’s pocket while exercising. The AI technology combines these actions into behavioural segments stored on the device that can be employed to target advertising, content analytics and insights.

Enabling the platform to achieve this is a mobile software development kit (SDK) that sits inside users’ apps, such as Listnr, on their smartphone. SCA said the new offering will be used to privately predict contextual signals, allowing real-time message personalisation, a mobile analytics insights dashboard and on-device contextual audiences, without the need for tracking. 

Cohort audiences will be grouped into seven categories: Exercise habits, free time activities, home/work life, sleep habits, transport habits and work ethic. 

SCA is planning to offer these context and behavioural segments alongside Listnr’s ‘Fanbase’ targeting proposition for advertisers that already provides data-led audience segmentation for demographics, interests, passion and intent. The new contextual targeting is officially launching from 15 November.

“The ability to offer advertisers hyper-targeted campaigns without the need for PII or identifiers is a ground-breaking achievement in adtech,” claimed SCA chief sales officer, Brian Gallagher. “Partnering with NumberEight gives us the ability to offer advertisers live, in-moment targeting and audience insights at scale that will drive business outcomes, demonstrating the storytelling power of audio.”   

NumberEight CEO, Abhishek Sen, said the partnership was a timely one given the significant changes coming to digital advertising and personalisation through the demise of third-party cookies, Apple’s iOS updates and tighter Australian privacy regulation.

“We’re at a time when the entire advertising industry is up in arms over the lack of addressable mobile inventory. This will allow advertisers to harness the power of on-device contextual intelligence and reach relevant audiences in the moments that matter most, all without compromising user privacy,” he said.

Read more: Southern Cross Austereo launches new digital audio advertising initiatives

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