By Christopher Blok, Enterprise Sales, ANZ at LiveRamp
Recently, there has been an increasing level of consumer confusion and distrust about how data is collected and used by publishers, marketers, and brands. This is because we, as a collective industry, have not been transparent enough. While third-party cookies have long been the backbone of the digital ecosystem, they were flawed to begin with. Third-party cookies are not people-based, lack platform interoperability, are subject to deletion, lead to inaccurate measurement, and can’t be used in newer channels such as CTV and in-app. This all came to a head back in January when Google announced it would deprecate third-party cookies by 2022.
The industry now faces the challenge of finding new ways to accurately identify and engage with people across the open internet. The demise of third-party cookies provides the industry with an opportunity to build a better ecosystem, which is consumer-centric and rooted in trust, transparency, and privacy. This is the beginning of a new era of user engagement for brands, publishers, marketers, and individuals. There needs to be clear communication around data privacy and the value of exchange whereby an individual provides consented data, usually in the form of an email address, in exchange for content or services.
Leveraging First-Party Data Authentication
A publisher or brand’s first-party authentication strategy should be built on a fair value exchange, which can occur at the point of registration or login. From there, data can be used ethically, with the right permissions, to develop better consumer experiences and build long-lasting relationships between both parties. This puts individuals in the driver’s seat as to where and how their data is being used.
In the Australian market, we are seeing a number of publishers and broadcasters take differing approaches to first-party authentication strategies. Some offer no authentication strategy, whilst others have mandatory sign-in on all devices or a freemium model. Those who have embraced authentication are building first-party data solutions and gaining a competitive advantage over their rivals by offering people-based addressability and measurement rooted in data transparency and trust. Already, publishers are seeing the benefits of increased connectivity with advertisers’ data, resulting in higher CPMs, performance, and addressability within cookieless environments like CTV, Safari, Firefox, and mobile devices.
More Meaningful Marketing
It is not only consumer distrust that is impacting marketers. Given the current economic landscape, marketers are under immense pressure to ensure that every ad dollar spent provides maximum return on ad spend (ROAS), making it crucial to buy inventory that is both addressable and measurable. Any impression that is bought but can’t be measured, should be considered a wasted impression. Marketers must focus on publishers that enable addressability solutions, which allow for cross-platform, people-based frequency capping, creative personalisation, and individual measurement and attribution. By making these changes to buying behaviour, marketers can engage with consumers in a more valuable, relevant, and meaningful way.
LiveRamp believes in levelling the playing field for all businesses looking to build better customer experiences through data in a privacy-first and secure manner. Brands and publishers need to prioritise their cookieless strategies by creating a value exchange cemented in first-party authenticated data, whilst delivering a better consumer/user experience. To find out more about LiveRamp’s addressability solutions or learn more about where to start, get in touch here today.