6 Takeaways From Our “Turning of the Tide for Ad Technology” Webinar
“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” — Steve Jobs
On May 6th, BIGtoken held our 3rd webinar on data privacy, with a group of ad tech veterans, to discuss how ad tech is evolving to address the changing regulatory landscape. The distinguished group included Jessica Simpson (SVP Global Identity and Tech at Publicis Groupe), Nick Potvin (Senior Manager of Ad Product & Technology at PGA Tour), and Ryan Boh (Product Strategy, Activation, & Identity Lead at Oracle), co-hosted by privacy technologist Gilbert Hill (Head of Strategy at Tapmydata) and George Stella (Co-founder and CRO at BIGtoken). We covered a broad range of topics including the movement to remove cookies, the importance a trusted connection with consumers, the potential for browser wars, new marketing tech, and how to ensure consumers are receiving value from advertising.
You can view a replay of the webinar below:
Or you can read our six highlights below.
1. The “Death” Of Cookies Is Upon Us
The panel was in agreement when they stated the act that we’re moving to a world without cookies. As George Stella stated about the new post third-party and cookie world, “there are big forces at play. Plus, data privacy regimes are causing us to assess how we both gather personal information and persistent identifiers.” As Gilbert opined, the fact is that “advertisers are having to do more with less data.” The panel agreed that these changes will lead to innovation and the need to go back to basics including re-affirming the trusted relationships between customers and brands.
2. Getting Consent & Giving Value Are Important Elements Of Building Trust
Building relationships between advertisers and consumers is the cornerstone of successful advertising campaigns. And the panel largely agreed that trust is key.
Jessica posited that consumers are increasingly asking, “do I trust you as a brand…and if you’re willing to give me something that I want and need and you’ve led with data stewardship, then I’ll give that trust to you.”
It’s no longer about continually bombarding consumers with uninvited advertisements. Nick highlighted how consent can create a very positive experience. For example, the PGA “… wants to collect your data so that when you come to an event… we can help you find your favorite player on the course more easily.”
3. The Focus of Privacy Rights Could Lead To Another Set of Browser Wars?
The dramatic changes surrounding the battle for privacy rights, prompted by a growing number of governmental laws, controls, and regulations, will create a whole new set of issues and necessary actions. For example, the panel discussed potential changes in how browsers operate and collect information. Gilbert pondered if the changes in how privacy and data is protected “is going to lead to another set of browser wars”. While Google dominates the browser market today, and is saying the right things about privacy rights, actions speak louder than words. The unknown about Google is if they going to legitimately improve data privacy rights or will their actions not go far enough, leading to challenges to their dominance of the browser market?
4. Advertisers Are Rethinking Everything, Which Will Drive Innovation
As the market evolves, and as the massive changes to the collection and use of data ripple through the advertising ecosystem, Jessica sees many marketers are conducting “in-depth media assessment processed,” and exploring ways to shift their advertising approach. For example, many advertisers are testing artificial intelligence solutions as traditional data collection practices become less relevant. As these issues are so new, there are many unresolved questions. But there was general agreement among the panelists that the industry’s need to find new ways to aggregate data will lead to innovation from all different corners of the ecosystem.
5. Blockchain Technology Could Be Key To The Future Of Data Collection & Advertising
The successful use of blockchain technology in the finance industry has opened people’s eyes to the potential uses for the technology in advertising. As an example, Jessica discussed how she’s seeing “new nascent social platforms … where folks are being assigned a digital wallet and being compensated, with access to digital identity either through NFTs or though actual, monetary compensation.”
Moreover, Jessica questioned “how can I get my customers to actually give me more information about them in exchange for something of value…I think that the value mapping changes as the ecosystem actually flips itself to give more power to the consumer.” In summary, Jessica believes that the use of blockchain technology to enable the exchange of information from a consumer for value from the brand, is a trend that will continue to grow.
6. Privacy Regulations Are Starting To Have An Impact, Antitrust Laws Less So
After years of focusing on educating the consumers about the collections and abuse of their data, governments and regulators are increasingly investigating and regulating data collection and privacy laws. While some consumers believe that the government is focused on protecting them and their privacy rights, others see a world where Big Tech, and their over funded lobbyists, are influencing the rules and regulations to their benefit. There is no doubt that the regulators are having an impact, but it’s those focusing on data collection and privacy, while those looking to antitrust laws to force change are having little impact to date. Ryan proposed needing two types of privacy laws, “one geared more towards big tech and one geared towards smaller players.”
In any case, the advertising industry is squarely in the middle of the data privacy rights firestorm. Advertisers are being forced to find new ways to obtain consumer data in an ethical and fair way.. The new paradigm is forcing strategies to evolve. And one thing is clear, innovation will be key.
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but building on the new.” — Socrates
