MySpace Canada announced yesterday it will launch hyper-targeting in Canada early in 2008. The new system enables marketers to connect with specific user groups on a massive scale based on self-expressed interests as reflected in their MySpace behaviour.

Hyper-targeting builds a psychographic profile based on data collected from users’ online personal profiles plus the groups they join, their blogs and the messages they post. Based on these factors, consumers will be placed in interest-based targeting segments (e.g. sports and/or movies). There are currently 100 such segments in MySpace’s hyper-targeting system, and more will be added in future.

The technique is already being used by clients in the US market and has resulted in campaign performance increases up to 300%, according to MySpace. Among the more than 50 advertisers participating in the first phase of the new platform are Procter & Gamble, Microsoft Xbox, Ford, Taco Bell, Universal Pictures, Toyota, Fox Searchlight and XM Satellite Radio.

MySpace has now entered the second phase of hyper-targeting, allowing advertisers to segment users by more than 100 additional sub-categories. If phase one enables brands to target movie fans, for example, phase two would allow targeting to fans of specific cinematic genres.

How enthusiastic are Canadian marketers and their agency partners likely to be about hyper-targeting? Caroline Moul, group manager/digital media strategist at Toronto’s PHDiQ, tells MiC she is ‘very excited that we will be able to precision-target with MySpace.

‘With social networking being at the front lines for the last several months and the pressure on to be there,’ she adds, ‘this gives a solid opportunity to reach exactly who you want to through not only the demo-targeting aspect, but also the interest level, and to hopefully see the ROI lift in measurements of success. Whereas currently, the results are not necessarily there.’

Bottom line? ‘We will definitely want to test this out for our clients,’ says Moul.