How Blockchain Can Help Facilitate Ethical Data Driven Marketing Campaigns

The silicon valley mega-corps are the most valued firms in the world today, not because they are situated in the world's tech hub capital, or because they render services to billions of people. Rather, it is because they realise the value of the data belonging to these people, and they sure do know how to monetize them well enough!- though not by any means ethical or consensual. I'm not sure you understand the magnitude of figures raked in by Google, Facebook and the likes from your personal data. You may want to grab a calculator for this little nugget of info I would like you to chew on. Facebook has about 1.4 billion active users on a daily basis, of which each person's data in 2017 alone was worth just above $20 according to SEC findings. On a quarterly basis also, the average US resident's data is said to worth about $13.54. On a collective scale, the figures are indeed mind blowing, to say the least .

The bespoke statistics implies that out of the billions of "users turn employees" of Facebook and Google, only a tiny fraction of them, about 30k+ are on their payroll!.

Lost in the woods as to how they are able to make so much from our data ? I'd be nice enough to offer a helping hand.

That we live in a digital dispensation is seemingly apparent to all; there is level of enormity that could effectively depict the importance of internet in marketing. I mean, we've all been using social media and internet in its entirety long enough to notice that if for instance we just viewed an ad of say, a shirt, our feeds, emails etc suddenly becomes abode to all manner of annoying, intrusive wears related targeted ads. It's not dark magic, neither is it any other form of sorcery, it is simply your favourite social media or online store selling your data alongside a particular demographic's to a firm for data driven marketing. Here's a quite laughable fact:

Do you know that changing your relationship status, from “Recently married” to “Engaged to be married” spikes up the data value by 33% ?

The situation is really not as mild as we make it seem however. Commoditisation of user's data without consent is by every means unethical, a breach of public trust and should face stiffer consequencies than it currently does - if at all does.

The so-called mega corps and their allies could however argue all day long that there are no other viable means to carry out data driven marketing and advertising campaigns that that currently employed, but the advent and now seeming widespread adoption of the blockchain technology has rendered those arguments "non sequitur".

SourceErrr ..... Okay, you got me !

Blockchain technology is a growing, yet disruptive technology that comes on board with decentralised, peer-to-peer features, as well as an ability to store records in an immutable, verifiable manner. These features birth trustless ecosystems that requires absolutely no need for third party or middlemen, usually have high privacy and security levels, since there are no central points of failure. For a moment, imagine an intersection between blockchain technology and digital/data driven advertising. In an industry renowned for unethical campaigns that has consequently diminished public trust to the barest minimum, can blockchain technology rekindle the quenched flames of trust and transparency ?

At the point of intersection between blockchain technology and data driven marketing lies Enkronos, a blockchain powered platform self-saddled with the responsibility of redefining digital advertising. By harnessing the features of blockchain, Enkronos hopes to restore user data privacy and on the long run, public trust which is unarguably a necessity for any industry to thrive. Based on three application layers, Enkronos' ecosystem will serve the multifaceted purposes of :

• effective data driven marketing campaigns without privacy abuse or infringement.
• allowing users surf the internet without fear of their data being hijacked.
• initiating and promoting a more consensual, ethical means of launching ad campaigns.

The foremost layer comprises of all data, irrespective of their location. The second layer, which is the core platform acts as an intermediary between the first layer and the last, the service layer. In a nutshell, the core layer relays data to the service layer who filters before being made available to the end user.

Enkronos apps is a multi-hub enviroment that comprises of all applications integrated and affiliated with Enkronos' ecosystem and serves as an interface through which all it's features can be accessed. The platform will be open to applications of all niches ranging from finance to sports, health, marketing etc, enabling them interact with one another effectively so as to reach their target group.

Here are some features/benefits Enkronos apps

• The SSO (single sign-on) authentication feature of Enkronos apps will save users the stress of having to sign in all the time on various applications. It will provide a centralised means of authentication recognised by all integrated applications.

• Enkronos apps will serve as a backbone for coordinated advertisement campaigns, aiding application publishers to easily reach their target demographic in an ethical, less intrusive manner.

• App publishers will easily build healthy customer engagement on the platform via numerous available communication and contest creation channels.

• To ensure transparency and uniformity of transactions, a unique payment system involving the use of ENK tokens will be adopted.

• Enkronos apps is open source and will allow integration of third party applications.

• Seamless app interaction to establish a combined ad management system that will effectively curb tailbacks of multiple ads.

Practical use case

Kennedy is an avid shopper who has amassed quite enviable loyalty points, coupons, discount codes and gift cards from his favourite stores. Having problem keeping track of his overgrowing portfolio, he decides to try out Loyalty venue (a web based platform designed to help manage multiple loyalty programs on a single interface).Though it served it's purpose flawlessly, he didn't particularly like the idea of being made to login everytime to view and manage his account. He believed there could be major improvements to suite user's taste, and he wasn't wrong . Loyalty venue was made available on Enkronos apps earlier this year and since then, adopters have had new tales to tell as they were ushered into a new world of endless possibilities.Not only can Kennedy bypass the frequent logins through the centralised SSO, he is also exposed to loads of new features beyond his imagination .

Final thoughts - The future of data driven marketing with Enkronos

In order to harness the innumerable benefits of this dispensation characterised by digitisation in a coordinated manner, proper work ethics, regulatory compliance and privacy has to be strictly imposed and adopted . It is in light of modern day data driven campaigns that Enkronos hopes to restore user's trust, through it's open source, blockchain powered ecosystem that will allow developers integrate their applications thus, enabling them access target group, connect with customers and potential customers while building their brand in a more healthy, civilised and socially responsible manner.

ANNEXES

If you prefer visuals, I recommend you watch this introductory video culled from Enkronos' YouTube channel .