Rethinking Relevance & The Paradox of Choice in Advertising With Rokt’s Rozen

SAN JUAN, PR — The ad industry has grown up talking about the “right ad to the right people at the right time”. But is “right” really what’s relevant?

In this video interview with Beet.TV, Doug Rozen, CMO, RokT, distinguishes between the “right” ad and the “best” ad.

“The right ad is all about being personalized, the best ad is taking it a step further and understanding when we can be most relevant,” he explains. This shift in focus, from a personalized ad to the ‘best’ ad, is at the heart of Rozen’s philosophy.

Leveraging Machine Learning for Relevance

Rokt is a global company specializing in e-commerce marketing technology. The company’s proprietary platform leverages algorithms to help online businesses optimize customer engagement through targeted advertising and personalized experiences during the transaction process.

Their services include ad serving, offer recommendations, and data analytics to increase conversion rates and customer acquisition efficiency. Rokt integrates with e-commerce sites, enabling brands to reach consumers with relevant offers at the point of purchase.

Unpacking the tools that enable this nuanced approach, Rozen highlights Rokt’s machine learning-driven relevance platform.

“We’re fortunate to have a platform that many of the largest e-commerce engines use,” Rozen states, emphasizing the technology’s role in pinpointing the perfect moment for customer engagement.

“This allows us to understand when we can deliver incremental opportunities, particularly in the post-checkout to customers when they’re actually in that buying mindset.”

Retail Media Networks and the Post-Checkout Opportunity

Rozen says his team hones in on the transactional moment. “You have the cart, the confirmation, the ‘thank you’, and those are all moments that we can help retailers and e-commerce partners really create more value,” Rozen says, highlighting the untapped potential in these transactional spaces.

When asked about the role of retail media networks, Rozen underscores their evolution and the opportunities they present.

“Many of them are building out retail media networks to deal with the endemic pre-product selection. What we help do is extend that and create this broader transactional moment,” he says.

The Paradox of Choice in Advertising

But Rozen also addresses the paradox of choice in advertising, a concept that suggests less can indeed be more. “When you as a consumer are presented with a lot of options, you tend to freeze,” he notes, advocating for a reduction in optionality to enhance consumer decision-making.

“The challenge is advertising is becoming ‘more is more’, and that means less relevance, less focus, less choice for the consumer because they’re feeling more paralyzed.”

“Personalization is an important concept, but personalization alone doesn’t lead to value. You need personalization and relevance in order to get to value,” he asserts.

You’re watching Beet.TV’s coverage of Beet Retreat San Juan 2024. This series and event is sponsored by Albertsons Media Collective, Moloco, OpenX and TransUnion. For more videos from the series, please visit this page.