The Omnichannel Forum is a monthly series that poses a single question to a panel of industry experts. August’s host is industry analyst Joanna O’Connell. This month’s contributors include:

• Alex Else. Head of Omnichannel Product Solutions, Group M Nexus.
• Gemma Spence. Global Vice President, VMLY&R Commerce
• Lauren Bennett. Director, Performance Solutions, Rakuten Advertising
• Aaron Goldman. CMO, Mediaocean
• Peter Galli. Director of Digital Marketing, HART Consumer Products

We’ve all been talking about cookie deprecation for years now. Google’s January 2020 announcement that it would deprecate 3^rd party cookies from its Chrome browser was BIG news. Rightly so – the digital advertising industry sits on a foundation of these unfancy little bits of code.

Since that time, Google has extended the industry’s runway countless times by pushing the cookie deprecation deadline. The latest is something like late 2024. And yet still, with all this warning, many across the ad ecosystem remain unprepared. Partly because this is seen as “just a cookie problem.” It’s not – it’s much bigger. The real question is, how do we truly put consumers at the center of our marketing efforts?

As Peter notes below, the increased privacy regulations will continue to impact the ‘way we have always done things’ in digital.

Consumer privacy is not binary (all privacy or no privacy). And it shouldn’t be treated as such. Fundamentally, privacy in practice means giving consumers a baseline level of protection over their data use and then, beyond that, giving them the power to have control and make choices over how their data is accessed and used and by whom.

Because consumers aren’t simplistic – they can both welcome personalization in certain settings and actively dislike it in others. Taking this notion a step further, Forrester has plenty of research that shows how diverse consumers can be in their understanding of – and comfort with – the data economy.

So, the real opportunity to be both “omnichannel” and consumer privacy-friendly means more than just ensuring you’re being compliant. It’s about embracing some new paradigms that demonstrate your real commitment to putting consumers at the center of your marketing approach. Certainly, the rush to first-party data is absolutely understandable – creating more direct connections with consumers opens many marketing doors. This theme comes through loud and clear from this month’s contributors.

But it’s important that you are not collecting data for data collection’s sake. Start with strategy, always, by considering questions like: What is our relationship with consumers? How do they want to interact with us? How do we add value to their lives? How can we ensure a fair value exchange? Answering these kinds of questions allows your organization to build a thoughtful approach to data collection and usage, experience building, media targeting, and more.

And in the meantime, test, test, test! Get comfortable with what’s going to change – many tried and true data-driven marketing practices will either be less effective (e.g., MTA or multi-touch attribution; holistic frequency management) or rendered near obsolete (traditional 3^rd party cookie-based retargeting). Build a roadmap of new targeting techniques (e.g., contextual) to test (keep the winners, dump the loser) in your prospecting campaigns. Investigate 2^nd party opportunities with key media partners. Take a look at existing creative approaches and look for ways to draw consumers in (rather than chasing them around). Invest in data science and AI to get prepared for a more fragmented data world.

But no matter what, DO SOMETHING.

– Joanna O’Connell, Industry Analyst

August 2023: How do the current and impending privacy-related changes affect a marketer’s ability to develop a comprehensive omnichannel strategy, and how should they navigate this?

Alex Else

Head of Omnichannel Product Solutions, Group M Nexus

The changes in privacy, particularly the cookieless future, are arguably our biggest challenge. They present a real question as to how we may continually adopt mitigating capabilities and ensure we use the changes as an opportunity for innovation and alignment. 

Every channel is removing cookies. Some are already cookieless, and others are pivoting, but the speed at which this transition takes place varies in each market. Nevertheless, omnichannel has an existing track record of working in this way.  It takes privacy concerns into account to achieve scale, embraces the complexity of all channels, and drives alignment across them. Coupled with our focus on driving solutions, creating capabilities using best-in-class data and technology to deliver in cookieless ways, omnichannel is already helping every channel progress in the right direction.

Key questions remain: How do we manage and guide advertiser expectations on areas such as user journey, retargeting, frequency capping, etc.? Omnichannel has meant grappling with these thorny issues for some time by embracing and spearheading the many ID solutions in this cookieless catalyst. Currently, they are fragmented, but we expect them to evolve rapidly hereafter.

Gemma Spence

Global Vice President, VMLY&R Commerce

Privacy-related changes such as cookies have significant implications for a marketer’s ability to develop a comprehensive omnichannel strategy. These changes restrict access to user data and impose stricter tracking, audience development, and targeting limitations. As a result, marketers face challenges in personalization, accurate attribution measurement, and understanding customer behaviour across channels.

The reality is this will drive up the cost of inventory and decrease effectiveness. To navigate these changes effectively, marketers should focus on first-party data, obtaining consent, and complying with privacy regulations that they can use for DMP, CPD, and clean room enrichment for much-targeted insights around their core audiences’ preferences choices, and selection criteria. They should explore privacy-friendly technologies, invest in contextual targeting, collaborate with trusted partners, and adopt multi-touchpoint attribution models.

Additionally, it is crucial for marketers to stay updated on privacy landscape changes and adapt their strategies accordingly. By implementing these approaches, marketers can maintain effective and privacy-conscious omnichannel strategies while delivering personalized experiences to their customers.

Lauren Bennett

Director, Performance Solutions, Rakuten Advertising

First and foremost, abiding by the newest regulations on a company’s website with effective data governance is of utmost importance, including GDPR & CCPA. By layering Google into the conversation, updating Enhanced Conversions and Consent Mode (for those in EMEA) are the best ways to protect current data gathering.   

A user expects a reliable and trustworthy website to be transparent with what data is being collected with the option of participating or not. Gaining the trust of a user by using a consent management platform brings forth the best opportunity to use what they share for future advertising efforts and to gain the user as part of a brand’s first-party data. 

Across the board, first-party data continues to be the biggest area of opportunity to drive a successful omnichannel strategy from an audience, creative and performance-driven viewpoint. Across all of the different platforms to run digital marketing efforts, first-party data is the underlying common denominator of success.

Peter Galli

Director of Digital Marketing, HART Consumer Products

The changes we have seen over the past few years, and many more that are coming down the pipeline, have certainly changed how we, as digital marketers can target our main consumer as well as measure the success of our activations.

The transition from horizontal tracking to vertical tracking has been happening for a few years, but the increased privacy regulations will continue to impact the “way we have always done things” in digital. In my opinion, marketers should focus on three key areas to help mitigate this risk: ensuring legal compliance with the ever-changing privacy laws, growing their first-party data safely and using it effectively, and testing and learning through new tools that hit the market.  

Aaron Goldman

CMO, Mediaocean

The shifting tides of data deprecation and government regulation have created a marketing tsunami. Yes, we love our marine metaphors. 😉

In a world without cookies, you need to set your compass by first-party data and build pools of consumer IDs with consent. Then, you can use ad tech platforms or data clean rooms to match with publishers and set sail with targeted messaging. This is relatively easy to do within walled gardens but more difficult out on the open seas, er, open web. It’s like going from shooting fish in a barrel to deep-water fishing.

You’re gonna need a bigger boat!

Request a Demo of Skai