DigitalMarketing

Digital Marketing at W3C

Digital Marketing is a topic that is under consideration within the W3 with the goal of formalizing a group that would advocate for standardization of the technical aspects of practices and technologies that deliver the content and user experiences that are intended by the marketing activities on the web. The group also advocates that the W3C is the right place for it. Through several conference calls and face to face meetings, the organizers and planning committee behind the topic have agreed to work within the W3 to focus primarily on the technical aspects of the practice and less on things such as operations and Policy.

Digital Marketing is something that is done on the Web. Similar to how it can be done on other mediums such as TV, Radio and Print.

◦This activity involves, a user who typically consumes ads passively and an array of interactors who depend on the web and its mechanical gears to produce relevant and compelling content. The interactions almost always involve at least 3 parties. a) The audience side, b) the demand side and last but not least c) the supply side.

◦The main goal of this groups is to clarify the relationship between the Web as a medium and technology and the marketing actors involved, with a view to identifying work items either in the form of new W3C Working Groups, or specific work that should be done in existing Working Groups.

◦Marketing is mature on Broadcast (TV, Radio), Print, and Point of Sales Systems but rapidly-changing on the Web. With the devices expanding from traditional mediums to ultra-personal mobile devices and shared smart appliances, marketers are more than ever looking to leverage the web to deliver highly precise and relevant marketing material and experiences. Marketers today are faced with decisions that hinge on technical hacks on top of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to achieve their objectives.

◦The Web today doesn’t provide a reliable, consistent and predictable outcomes for parties involved in the marketing activities. In the case of digital advertising, the mechanisms that deliver ads on the web are bent and shaped in ways to overcome fraud and ad blocking. In the incentives and coupons space, the requirements albeit similar, there is very little cross pollination.

◦There is an unprecedented opportunity to bring parity between marketing on the web to marketing on more robust and mature mediums. For instance, through the introduction of device APIs specifically targeted at marketing platforms or by protecting the public from practices that are exploitable by nefarious few.

•There are several groups within W3C that have strong relationship with the Activity’s topics, and the Activity groups should collaboratively work with those groups including:

◦HTML Accessibility TF

◦Web Platform WG (the continuation of HTML+WebApps)

◦Web Annotations WG

◦Device APIs WG

◦Web and TV IG

◦Web Payments WG or IG

◦Web Apps Security WG

◦Web Performance WG

◦Second Screen WG

◦Others?

•Also the groups should maintaining liaison with related external groups, e.g., IAB, TAG, Ad-ID, and MRC.

Within the Digital Marketing Activity, I propose that we classify the technical efforts into the following categories each potentially could lead to a group that is focused on gathering requirements and finding appropriate working groups to drive adoption.

Digital Advertising Interest Group

Within Digital Marketing as an Activity, I am also proposing that we form a Digital Advertising Interest Group. The mission of the Digital Advertising Interest Group would be to provide a forum for technical discussions to identify Advertising specific use cases, describe their requirements, and shepherd the adoption of existing and/or the introduction of new specifications if needed, to achieve a simpler, more direct, dependable, and reliable model to deliver ads on the web.

Digital Incentives Interest Group

Within Digital Marketing as an Activity, I am also proposing that we form a Digital Incentives Interest Group. Digital Incentives are in most cases highly personalized and involve a purchasing component. The mission of the Digital Incentives Interest Group would be to provide a forum technical discussions to identify for Incentives specific related use cases, describe their requirements, and shepherd the adoption of existing and/or the introduction of new specifications if needed, to achieve a simpler, more direct, dependable, and reliable model to deliver Incentives on the web.