Are we focusing on identifying a specific and measurable goal, carefully segmenting our audience into mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive segments, then developing a very clear brief for our agencies?

Or are we simply selecting a bunch of cookie pools and letting algorithmic targeting decisions decide which “audiences” receive our messages?

If we had less surveillance and ad tech, we’d have to think in an old-fashioned way to build brands and sell our products. We’d be dinosaurs like Coca-Cola, P&G, Walmart, Ford, and, well you get the idea.

Don’t start with the technology. Start with figuring out who’s going to buy your product and who won’t. Brief your agencies well. Think about what you won’t do. Think like a marketer, not like the NSA. And win.