Are You Targeting the Right Behaviors with Behavioral Targeting?

In this iMedia post on Behavioral Targeting, Dilip DaSilva rightly calls out the problem of behavioral targeting focusing too much on product specific behaviors or attitudes. Many web advertisers assume that the key behaviors they need to target are related to the purchasing or consuming of their product. However, sometimes it is and sometimes it is not.

Take the hypothetical case of the core Duff Beer consumer, Homer Simpson. The most “relevant environments” for purchasing or consuming his product are liquor stores, bars, and in the majority of times, in front of the TV. However, Homer’s “relevant environment” for online behavior may in fact be a couple of degrees removed. If you knew that the core Duff Beer consumer generally checks sports sites on Sunday evening to see how his fantasy football players did, you’d probably want your ad somewhere in that “relevant environment”, even though it is only tangentially related to buying or drinking beer.