Who needs artificial when you can have true?
IPG’s data tech company Acxiom has launched True Intelligence, a new measurement solution for advertisers on The Trade Desk. According to the announcement, True Intelligence “combines the power of Interpublic’s Interact operating system — powered by Acxiom — and Acxiom’s Real ID with The Trade Desk’s media buying platform, Kokai.” Hm, that’s a lot. Here’s how we think it works, technically (and let us know if we’ve got it right):
Brands run campaigns through TTD, which produces exposure log files tied to their ID, UID2. Acxiom then translates UID2 into its own ID, Real ID, allowing the exposure records to be matched against both online and offline sales conversions. Then, in a clean room, Acxiom compares exposed audiences to control groups to figure out the “true” (!) incremental lift, not just basic attribution. Machine learning is also used to analyze audience, creative, frequency, and media type performance to give brands the power to optimize toward higher-value audiences and more measurable outcomes.
(Keep in mind, IPG has been a “closed operator” for UID2 since 2021, meaning it matches its CRM data with UID2 within its own cloud infrastructure.)
Why This Matters:
Measurement is a constant priority in adtech. In a recent iSpot study, 53% of advertisers said outcomes were the most critical factor when buying and negotiating media. But that’s ultimately meaningless if you can’t actually measure outcomes.
To that point, many buyers remain dissatisfied with basic performance KPIs and attribution and are clamoring for stronger data showing that their spend is turning into real results. This push is made even more necessary by today’s uneven economy, where the stock market is booming but many companies are struggling.
Solutions like True Intelligence work to address this demand. By focusing on incremental lift across channels (CTV included), they offer advertisers an approach to move beyond the surface-level metrics, understand whether campaigns drove business, and refine future strategy and buys.
Experts React:
Dan Ackerman, VP of Client Development at TTD, had this to say about the launch of True Intelligence on LinkedIn:
“Advertising is an investment that yields brand, sales, and margin growth when objectively measured and optimized to real business outcomes Acxiom The Trade Desk
Don’t rely on opaque ‘walled garden’ systems that grade their own performance.”
Our Take:
Solid announcement for both sides. Acxiom gets an even deeper integration into one of the most widely used DSPs, extending the reach of its Real ID and data services. TTD, meanwhile, gets to highlight a high-profile measurement solution aligned with its key priorities like Kokai and UID2. And yeah, it’s a measurement tech announcement, which is good in that both companies can position themselves as addressing advertisers’ growing demand for proof of outcomes.
