Is ‘digital empathy’ an oxymoron?
MarketingLand, October 28, 2019 - “Dad, why do I see ads for jeans days and weeks after I already bought a new pair?” asked Peter’s 17-year-old daughter recently, “it’s not like the salesgirl at the Free People store follows me to my car after I make a purchase asking me if I want to buy the same item.” After a brief explanation that this is a data-driven targeting technique that has proven to be effective, she says “Dad, I think they just don’t care what I think or feel. It’s annoying, it makes me angry and I think they should know that!”
Data and technology are awesome. This dynamic duo has made life easier and better for millions, perhaps billions of people. It is ironic then that this benefactor of the people is, well, so inhuman—as anyone who has been clumsily and incessantly re-targeted to online will attest. In this article by Ipsos’ Peter Minnium, we are reminded why empathy can be good business when companies apply it proactively.
