Relevance Remains In A World With Less Identity: Bayer’s Gelb

MARCO ISLAND, FL — Digital ad identifiers may be drying up, pushing more advertisers to finding audiences in different ways.

But one major pharmaceutical company thinks there may always be a place for targeting relevant ads.

In this video interview with Beet.TV, Paul Gelb, Head of Media Activation & Investment, Bayer, explains his company’s approach.

Maintaining privacy

Third-party cookies are being phased out, while mobile and other identifiers have also hit limits, as tech companies introduce measures to safeguard user privacy.

That has sent the marketing industry into a flurry of action, as many search for alternatives to traditional targeting methods.

“I think there’s always going to be some types of audience targeting for relevance, and to make the media actually work,” Gelb told Mike Shields for Beet.TV, speaking at the IAB’s ALM event.

“I think consumers would prefer to have more relevant ads if they’re going to be watching us. It’s just a matter of making sure that you’re doing it a way that maintains that privacy … I don’t think that it would benefit consumers or marketers or the ecosystem to move fully away from relevant advertising.”

Healthcare journey

Bayer Healthcare is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, a German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company.

Bayer Healthcare is involved in the research, development, production, and marketing of prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and medical devices.

The company’s products and services are focused on the areas of women’s healthcare, cardiology, oncology, hematology, ophthalmology, and radiology.

Outcomes in focus

The company is driven by making real impact.

While Gelb notes the rise in alternative measurements like attention, that is not the end goal.

“At the end of the day, you should be looking at more outcomes,” he says.

“We’re definitely looking at attention and making sure that we’re doing things right that there’s enough relevancy to get attention and people are paying attention to what we’re doing.

“It does start there but, at the end of the day, I think it may make more sense to have other metrics down the line where clearly you needed to have attention for that to happen.”

You’re watching ‘What’s Next: Scaling CTV Through Industry Collaboration,’ a Beet.TV Leadership Series produced at IAB ALM 2023, presented by Index Exchange. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.