Acxiom launch tackles big data fears

Acxiom is launching what it claims is the answer to brand owners’ big data fears, by unveiling a mega-sized master profiling product which can “ingest data from everywhere and apply it to targeted audiences anywhere”.
Combining on and offline opted-in customer data, Acxiom’s Audience Operating System (AOS) unites information from a wide range of sources, including first-party, transactional, digital, social, mobile and other audience information.
This, the company believes, will enable marketers to connect all types of traditionally disconnected data and – for the first time – create a truly single view of the consumer.
At the heart of the system is a new customer identifier, which, Acxiom claims  uses “machine logic” and algorithms to match profiles about an individual regardless of the device they use. Most other systems rely heavily on cookies; this typically means companies have multiple profiles about one person based on their activities on a work computer, personal computer, mobile phone and tablet.
As the blurb states: “Consumers are being bombarded by irrelevant advertising at every turn. This isn’t the result of marketers having too little data. Rather, it’s because marketers are drowning in too much data – data that’s disconnected and siloed, creating disconnected experiences. With AOS, we never intended to build a better mousetrap. Instead, we chose to breed a world-class cat.”
Acxiom president and chief executive Scott Howe said: “For the first time, through AOS and our authorised partner applications, marketers are able to fully leverage all kinds of data to provide more meaningful and relevant experiences for their customers and prospects. Acxiom is on a mission to end advertising waste and noise.”
AOS launches in the US this week, with plans to roll it out across Europe and the rest of the world in the coming months.

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