Emotional Targeting: Programmatic’s New Frontier

Programmatic buying is focused on making ad placement more efficient and more effective. The end goal is to use the data available to reach consumers with relevant ads. Unruly, a video ad tech company, is working to create more relevant campaigns using emotional targeting.

Emotional targeting may sound fluffy, but Unruly has it down to a science. They’re focused on creating emotional engagement with consumers, and they’ve launched new private marketplaces that intend to amplify the emotional resonance of ads. Hilarity, Surprise and Pride are the three of the private marketplaces available, with more presumably on the way.

Emotion is one of the most important considerations in creative strategy, but it’s not typically a major area of focus in media strategy. Programmatic marketplaces focused on emotional targeting are an excellent opportunity for media professionals. It’s a new factor of ad relevance that marries creative efforts with cold, hard strategy.

Though the technology may be new, Unruly has already seen positive results. Their testing revealed that emotional targeting “resulted in a 74% increase in brand favorability and an 80% increase in purchase intent.” Advertising professionals should pay attention to the potential of emotional targeting, especially as the technology advances.

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