“Lots to be positive about”
In today's ever-changing and data-driven business world, first-party data is crucial. It not only allows businesses to gain valuable insights into consumer behavior, but also supports personalized marketing efforts, improves customer experiences, and enables informed decision-making. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, it's becoming increasingly clear that a forward-thinking approach requires the development of a future-proof first-party data strategy that respects consumer privacy.
In the latest episode of our Identity Architects podcast, InfoSum's SVP, Marketing & Communications, Ben Cicchetti, sat down with Camilla Child, Director, Commercial Data Strategy at The Telegraph, to discuss the value exchange, first-party data strategies, data privacy, and more.
“It's obviously a huge challenge and has been basically for years now. So it's not new news. It's something that we've been working on for a really long time across a number of lines of the business, I guess. So, really key to the way that we've approached the post-cookie world and addressability and just how the internet functions now, [...] a key part of that is the fact that we moved to that subscription model a few years ago. That's been key for our business and for our longevity, and for The Telegraph as a news brand. It's also had massive positive ramifications for our advertising business and just the ways that we can engage with advertisers as well as our readership.”
For consumer-focused businesses, developing and maintaining a strong logged-in user base is crucial to future-proofing their strategies. Having a clear value exchange allows organizations to build up valuable first-party data assets, which can be leveraged to deliver tailored consumer experiences and sustainable business growth. Therefore, a logged-in user base is a key component of a forward-thinking approach to business in the consumer market.
“We definitely saw the value of our own first-party audiences that we could reach across our platforms with all the data that we have, but also we really appreciated that A, we had a logged-in environment, we had people logging into our properties, and B, that advertisers were going to have challenges in finding their audiences digitally once cookie blocking really came into place. As we know [...] cookie blocking already exists in certain browsers, but it was only going to become more of a challenge to advertisers, so we wanted to be able to use what we had, the benefits that we had, but also be able to support those advertisers and brands who are still going to want to find their people so we wanted to help them to do that.”
A robust first-party data strategy involves establishing strong partnerships and leveraging the right technologies that align with your values and vision. Innovative companies like The Telegraph have long realized that focusing on the people is essential for success in today's data-driven landscape.
“One of the huge benefits of data clean room technologies is that it's new, it's exciting, it's innovative but it works so much better than cookies did before. We're really talking about people-based marketing rather than cookie-based marketing, and I think that's so exciting, and a lot of the time with cookie blocking we're thinking about how can we kind of replicate the past or how can we work around it whereas this is actually to me fundamentally better.”
Even though it’s only been a few years, we’ve come a long way since then. It’s exciting to see how the space and industry have evolved toward a better future.
“I would say that since 2019, we've learned a huge amount along the way. We've done various different activations and matches, so many conversations with partners, with advertisers, agencies, with other publishers. We've really been trying to engage with anybody who would speak to us about it because it is such an innovative and new space and so we've learned a lot. [...] We've done a lot of work in that area. There's been challenges, and there still are, especially with something as innovative, as I said, as data clean rooms and data matching in this way. When we first started working with the technology, there just weren't that many brands who were there, the sort of ecosystem and the market didn't really exist yet. It was really just starting out. So that's really exciting to be one of the first players in the game, I guess, but also really tough when you're trying to evangelize and kind of get the message out there.”
A lot has changed since then. However, amidst all these changes, one constant remains - the importance of considering the broader perspective.
“Match rates have almost become inadvertently, I think, a new currency, and while that's really important and looking at where your overlap is with different partners that's really important to understand, but it's, I think, only one piece of the puzzle, and it doesn't necessarily dictate the full value of where your opportunities are. It's really important when we're talking to partners to look at that bigger picture and try to see things in the round, as it were, rather than just looking at that one number or percentage of a match rate and seeing that as the yardstick for what your opportunity might look like without focusing too much on what's the scale. It's about the quality and the opportunity rather than just the volume that you can achieve.”
It is undeniable that consumers are increasingly conscious of the collection and utilization of their data. With this in mind, it is more important than ever to be transparent about the value exchange between consumers and businesses.
“People are generally more clued up in terms of that relationship, it has to be a two-way street, and it has to be fair and equitable and transparent. So I think it's really important, whether it's a news brand like us or any website, to have a really clear and transparent relationship with your readers and to respect them and their time, particularly being clear on how their data is being used. People are more aware now of the data that they represent and how that might be applied by businesses that they're using. I think more generally, industry-wide, there probably could be a better level of education for consumers on the importance that advertising plays in supporting the free internet that we've all been so lucky to enjoy and that our lives are very dependent on now.”
Absolutely. Businesses should be more transparent and educate the consumer to ensure the open internet remains and to keep quality journalism alive.
“I think sort of leveling up that understanding more generally, and at an industry level perhaps that advertising really supports that access to the free internet and also, in the case of the news, access to regulated quality journalism, I think it's it's so important that people do understand that that is paying for things like newsrooms for journalists to do what they do. I think that's really important. I'm sure there's more that we could do there collectively.”
Collective responsibility has been emphasized in nearly every episode, and it's crucial that we continue to emphasize it: It's up to all of us to educate consumers and work towards a better, more consumer-centric ecosystem. Privacy is a crucial component of this.
“It's such a huge topic, and rightly so, I think in terms of how we operate, particularly when we're doing new things. So, as I said before, yes, we prioritize the reader's experience, we prioritize that relationship, it's absolutely key to have a positive relationship with our readers. In terms of how we work and how that's changed over the last few years, I think what we've got better at, particularly with innovations, with new products that we're working on, it's that collaboration piece, it's more about people than ever before. [...] I think that's probably the most noticeable thing that's changed is just how we bring teams together now to make sure that everything we're doing is privacy-compliant from the start of a project rather than bolting it on at the end. It shouldn't really be like that.”
100% agree. Privacy should be a core tenent of data strategies and not an afterthought. And privacy, just like everything else, can be a real asset for business instead of what some still view as a nuisance.
“It's often easy to fixate on the challenges and on the negatives and on the oh my gosh what are we going to do about this and, naturally, we have to work around different things as they come up, but there's always new solutions, there's always lots to be positive about. So I think also focusing on the opportunities, on the solutions, on how we can do things better, rather than how we can do things just the same is exciting, and that's positive too.”
Loving the optimism. And it’s so true. It’s easy to see the negatives, but we should really focus on the positives. Thanks, Camilla, for the chat!
