“First-party data is key”
With the current shift in the industry most companies have now recognized that the most important asset to future proof their business for the cookieless era is their first-party data. One reason why Data Clean Rooms are in high demand right now. For who would want to share their most valuable asset with other parties?
In the twelfth episode of our Identity Architects podcast our Director of Business Development Valerie Mercurio sat down with Stéphane Dugelay, Founder and CTO at mediarithmics, to discuss the future of targeting, opportunities through collaboration, the relationship with consumers, and more.
“First-party data should be the first topic on the agenda […] today. The data that you can collect with your own organization […] is the foundation for the rest. If you don't have any first-party data, it will be quite difficult. […] You absolutely need to focus on your first-party data. I'm confident because I know that most organizations have understood that.”
As most of the companies are either ready for the future of targeting or preparing for it, we wanted to hear from Stéphane what he would recommend any company does in 2022 to prepare.
“My recommendation is for them to prepare for the transition because we have many options that are available in the market. And certainly for each organization there is a different set of ingredients that need to be put in place to be sure. […] I would really recommend, as a first step, start with what is the dependency on third-party cookies. What are their data assets? And then looking with their technology providers to the options you can put in place to design the transition.”
One thing Stéphane touched on, talking about recommendations, is that some technologies who would be a good fit are not yet available. It is after all just about getting started.
“It's a silly situation where we know that we have to move but we don't know yet which technical option. But this is not the reason why we should not move. The best option is to start the transition program.”
Some of those technologies Stépahne was talking about are Data Clean Rooms, eanabling companies to collaborate without having to compromise their first-party data, removing trust and privacy barriers associated with data sharing.
“I think this is absolutely necessary. Why is it necessary? It's very simple: The power of data comes with the volume. So, the more volume, the more power. This is why Google is so strong, and Amazon is so strong, and Facebook is so strong. It's basically because you have hundreds of millions of users that bring them a lot of very interesting data […]. But when we look at smaller brands in terms of data ownership, the only way for them to compete is to collaborate. So collaboration […] is very important. Collaboration between competitors could also be an option.”
And at the end of the day marketing really is all about the consumers and their needs and that includes data privacy and shifting away from third -party cookies.
“We need to create and maintain a very good and transparent relationship with the clients regarding the usage of data. To create this confidence between consumers and brands you need to prove that what you do on an everyday basis is both compliant with the regulations but also customized to the consumers’ needs and requirements.”
Thanks, Stéphane Dugelay, for the chat.
