In Response to Apple’s New Intelligent Tracking Prevention Technology: Maybe it’s Time to Listen to our Consumers
“The customer is always right.” It’s a motto that has shaped the American service industry and how we respond and cater to our customers. So why is it that we insist on bugging, annoying, and bombarding our customers with pop up ads, hidden and delayed auto-play videos we can never seem to locate in the millions of pages we have open (at least for me), and screen-covering attention grabbers? The people have spoken! Customers have had enough, and Apple has decided to heed their wishes with a new and improved Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) technology.
Ever notice a sales associate from Store A hover over your shoulder the entire time while shopping, and then follow you to Store B with a new coupon for an item you were looking at in Store A? No. Ever notice ads following you around the internet? Yes. This is a key difference between real life buying and internet buying. This practice may become less ubiquitous online in the very near future, thanks in part to ITP.
If you work at an ad agency or as a digital marketer, chances are you’ve heard about Apple’s new move to block excessive tracking on the Safari web browser. Big ad agencies like the industry giant Criteo are in a panic over the potential losses they face this year, feasibly accounting for nearly a fifth of their revenue.
The new ITP was announced in June 2017 and released for iPhones, iPads and Macs in September. The feature prevents Apple users from being tracked around the internet (comparable to when you leave a store and the sales person stays put) through vigilant management of cookies. These cookies are small pieces of code that allow companies, like advertising agencies, to continually identify users as they browse. Following the user from start to finish, a cookie doesn’t necessarily drop off once a browsing session is over, giving these companies more information than just product and buying preferences for an extended period of time.
For now, the new Intelligent Tracking Prevention technology works only on Safari. While not nearly as widely used as its competitor, Google Chrome, the Safari search engine is the default app on all iPhones worldwide, allowing it to hold a hefty 15% of the global market for web browsers. This also means that for the majority of tracking, it will be extremely difficult to follow the habits of those with iPhones. And this technology will not stop at Safari; Google has also announced that they are developing a similar technology for Google Chrome, which holds nearly 55% of the web browser market, scheduled to roll out later this year.
Apple has stated their reasoning for implementing such a technology is for the safety and privacy of their consumers, noting that “…information is collected without permission and is used for ad re-targeting, which is how ads follow people around the internet.” They’re basically saying that pesky sales person is following you home, to the kitchen, to the bathroom… (Boundaries, please.)
In light of all this, maybe our industry needs to take a moment to reflect. Technology is created as a response or reaction to a need or void. The rapid advancement of ad blockers, pop-up blockers (of which you have most likely installed on the very browser you are reading this on), and ITPs is a reflection of what consumers are asking for — less ads and more, genuine, real content. In reaction, ad agencies and marketing industries develop new workarounds and technologies to follow their customers, creating a mini digital advertising arms-race. I’ve even recently learned that Pop-Up Blockers are now packaging the data they receive and selling it back to ad agencies… it’s a seemingly never ending battle.
Perhaps we are going in reverse with all the noise of auto-played pop-up videos and popovers, interstitial ads that take up the entire screen, and “wait, don’t leave us!” messages when you go to x-out of a window. It all echoes the early days of the internet when we madly x-ed out of tacky, rampant pop-up ads from multiple windows.
So let’s take a moment; pause, reflect, and think. How can we get creative without dropping our potential customers, or annoying them to the point of no return? We have a few ideas.
Get Creative and Ask Questions.
You’re a Marketer. Creativity is in your (vocational and experienced) DNA! Try to get as targeted to people’s interests as possible, but keep an open mind for potential rifts in the data. Not sure how to do this without cookies? Identify people with an intent to purchase based on their buying history from what they have bought in the past, from either you or other brands, that your brand is aligned or associated with. Perhaps it’s time to bust out a good old survey and see firsthand what people are looking for, rather than trying to follow their every move and determine buying preferences based on “rational” economic models and data. People are not rational. They are human, which means their preferences and interests can change and evolve over time — just like your brand will … eventually.
Create Deeper and Meaningful Content in Emails.
That’s right: this will take time. However, things that are hard are worth doing. Sit down and think about what makes your brand stand out. Instead of following the latest squeezing-in-on-every-inch-of-the-webpage advertising strategy, think about where your audience is looking for stuff like this, rather than popping up in unrelated places like news outlets or YouTube. People do actually sign up for email subscriptions (I do), but only when they think and know it’s useful, interesting, and pertinent to their needs and wants. We both know that those unwanted and unasked for emails from which we have no idea how our contact info ended up on quickly find their way into our spam or trash box… never seeing the light of day (or screen) again.
Crack Some Jokes.
One of the best techniques in advertising and marketing is humor. Remember Old Spice before 2010? It was known as the brand your grandfather used. But what I am sure of is that you view their brand differently now thanks to their humorous “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” ad campaigns from 2010. They knew consumers didn’t associate Old Spice with younger audience, so they revamped their image and laughed at themselves. After all, he is on a horse, on a boat, and in the shower all at once. But you don’t care because it’s funny. And you remembered that. Whatever industry you are in, humor always works in some form or another, and everyone loves and remembers a good laugh, even if only for a brief second. You don’t have to make everything satirical and funny like Old Spice (for all we know that could be way off brand and not in sync with what your brand is trying to communicate). However, think about adding a small dose of humor into your content — people will remember it.
In light of the ITP war between consumers and advertisers, I think it’s important to remember what our consumers want, need, and are looking for. You may be pouring in a lot of energy to keep up with the latest digital advertising trends, but don’t let that distract you from creating and distributing quality materials and content. Remember: the customer’s needs come first.
