AirG Adds NicheTargeting On Mobile

AirG, a mobile social network with more than 70 million unique users, has rolled out 15 targeting parameters such as ethnicity, job and salary range, to help advertisers reach more niche audiences on mobile. Red Bull and others have used the targeting capabilities, which leverage specific data shared by airG’s users.

Red Bull Canada recently did a campaign using the new targeting to promote and drive registration for its annual Red Bull Crashed Iced World Championship event. By targeting younger males across Canada with interests in skating, hockey and other winter sports, the Red Bull campaign generated more than 4 million impressions and drove more than 10 percent of its total event registrations from mobile. Jason Quehl, director of marketing at Red Bull, said in a statement the campaign effectively changed the way the brand thinks about consumer engagement overall.

“Because mobile social networks have the engagement and the interaction with the user, they can provide a much more granular view of people and these targeting parameters,” said Peggy Anne Salz, founder and chief analyst at mobile research firm MobileGroove. “I would actually sort of expect this from mobile social networks at the get-go. A mobile social network can do this and they should if they can get that agreement with their audience.”

AirG isn’t necessarily opening access to completely new parameters, Salz said, but it is building on the most valuable parameters for advertisers, such as location, carrier and device. In addition to the big three, airG’s targeting parameters also include specific information about each user’s age, sex, ethnicity, job, language, marital status, education, salary range, interests and more.

The company has 10 different ad units that advertisers can buy to target these parameters and it is currently delivering more than 30 million brand messages a day, and generating more than 10 million impressions per month.

Salz said she is excited about the untapped value in targeting based on user activities, since actions do speak louder than words.

“We should pay more attention, I think, to what we’re doing with mobile,” she said. Brands can move from awareness to greater engagement on mobile by learning about the specific actions of users, including app downloads, purchases and site visits, she continued.