Insights and Learning from the Semasio Team

RMT and Semasio Introduce Motivation-Based Targets

Written by Mikael Holcombe-Scali | August 03, 2020

Now available in the LiveRamp® Data Marketplace and other leading DSPs

 

95% of decision making is subconscious. (Dr. Gerald Zaltman, Harvard)

65% of the sales and branding effect of brand advertising is delivered by the creative. (TRA, Apollo, NC Solutions formerly known as Nielsen Catalina, Mars Catalyst)

That 65% consists of subconscious motivating signals emanating from the ad to be received by the subconscious of the viewer.

Research Measurement Technologies, Inc. (RMT) specializes in coding ads by their 265 empirically-derived subconscious motivating signals called DriverTagsTM. Its methodology has been repeatedly and publicly validated by objective third parties — Nielsen NC Solutions, 605, and Simmons — in studies published by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF). What the third parties have found is that the coding is predictive of improved business outcomes, when used to increase the Resonance of motivators between the ad and the target audience, and/or increase the Resonance between the ad and the context.

Through this partnership between RMT and Semasio, targetable audiences based on the motivational understanding of 276 million Americans are now available in leading DSPs, in addition to the LiveRamp® Data Marketplace

 

 

How do these Motivations line up with the ones I learned in school?

Interestingly, the 15 Motivations that emerge from this unique and objective scientific development process unexpectedly appear to validate the prophetic intuitions of Dr. Abraham Maslow’s 5-level Hierarchy of Needs. For example, Maslow had “Esteem” as the fourth stage in his predicted hierarchy. RMT shows that there are 8 different types of Esteem, as seen in this comparison:

 

 

How does Semasio enable Motivations to be detected from digital IDs?

Semasio uses Natural Language Processing to analyze the entire content of web pages and identify their most significant terms and phrases. The meaning of each page is captured as a weighted keyword cloud and dynamically aggregated into a Semantic User Profile of the person visiting these pages in real-time. By training the Semasio AI system to turn these word clouds into scores on each of the 15 RMT Motivations, the two partners are uniquely positioned to identify websites that will provide contextual resonance to specific ads and capture audiences that will resonate with these ads.

 

Can I use these methods for addressable TV, OTT, Connected TV?

For digital video, RMT and Semasio are integrated with Reset Digital, the unique, ANA and MASB designed, transparent end-to-end programmatic delivery platform. The recent FOX BHC study shows that OTT has the highest ROI of any television or digital media type. Reset Digital, with the highest efficiency because it leapfrogs the adtech supply chain, delivers more value back to both the advertiser and the publisher, and can hit RMT Semasio IDs in OTT network contexts coded by RMT as Resonant with the ads in the campaign.

 

When will I be able to buy OTT at the program level?

More and more networks, as they come to understand the work being done by RMT, Semasio and Reset Digital, are offering the ability to pick specific program contexts, which provides even more lift than picking Resonant networks. Typically, the program level bids are 10-15% higher, but the difference in outcomes more than justifies those premiums. Clients are invited to test alternative approaches to see which is the best for them. Since no one else offers the measurement of ad Resonance at scale across 276 million IDs, all major networks and programs, and nearly 10,000 of the most advertiser-valuable websites, at the moment we are the only folks who can add this extra layer of creative optimization to your existing media optimization, without giving up anything in the way of media optimization, purchaser reach, etc.

 

What if I want to use Context only, or use IDs only?

Context Resonance and ID Resonance can be used separately or together. The maximum positive business outcome is reached by combining both, with the most use of program-level Resonance available.

For clients interested in reaching specific Motivation target audiences, the RMT and Semasio 15 Motivation audiences are available in leading DSPs, in addition to the LiveRamp® Data Marketplace.

 

Surely there must be other companies doing something like this?

We are the only companies in the world today who can optimize the 65% of your ad campaign that is the creative, by reaching people in contexts both of which enhance the efficacy of your ad because they Resonate with it at a subconscious level. Three objective validations prove that it works, and the ARF accepts that it works and is an important step forward.

It is inexpensive to test and prove it for yourself. Half of the top 6 agencies are currently leaning in, and the largest best-known advertisers are already using it. There will be first mover advantage. We hope to collaborate with you in producing award-winning marketing excellence in the near future.

 

RMT MOTIVATIONAL TYPES

  1. Security. The desire to feel safe rather than insecure; to no longer feel fear.
  1. Belonging. The desire to be part of a group, to know one is not alone in the world, to have people who will go to bat for you.
  1. Achievement. The ambition to have a sense of accomplishment, to have really done something significant in one’s life.
  1. Aspiration/Learning. Wanting to know more, to reach a higher level of understanding.
  1. Competency. Wanting to be really good at something.
  1. Fitness. Wanting to have a strong and attractive, healthy body.
  1. Status/Prestige. Wanting recognition from others, consensus validation of one’s own importance.
  1. Wealth/Success. Wanting to be affluent, to be able to have the freedom to spend on whatever one wants, to be able to ignore what other people might criticize about you.
  1. Heroism/Leadership. Wanting to be able to act heroically in any situation, willingness to speak up and take responsibility for situations.
  1. Experience/Sex. Wanting one’s experiences to be interesting and fun, to always have a good time, to enjoy the best of life, to see the world.
  1. Power. Being able to control other people and situations to one’s liking.
  1. Love. Wanting to love someone and be loved by the same person.
  1. Creativity. Wanting to be a creative person, to make things or perform or both, whether in the arts, crafts, sciences, technologies, business, nonprofits, or any field.
  1. Self-Knowledge. Wanting to know oneself, who you really are deep inside, to be the master of one’s own mind and emotions.
  1. Self-Transcendence. Wanting to make a positive difference in the world, to take care of other people.