Even if Google doesn't meet its self-imposed deadline to completely phase out third-party cookies on Chrome by the end of the year, government agencies need to be prepared.
Cissy Chan, chief data and analytics officer at Razorfish, a Publicis company, said cookie losses are happening, even if they don't feel imminent, and there's no point in putting them off.
“We expect to see significant changes this year in terms of what data is available to advertisers and, as a result, how buyers must approach targeting and attribution. ,” Chan said.
Zhang, who was promoted from vice president of data science and analytics to director of data in January, is tasked with advising the agency's clients, including Dove and Cadillac, on how to productively manage signal loss.
One of the trends Zhang sees is an increased interest from brands to build their own data sets and experiment with alternative identifiers such as UID2.
As an industry, “we have relied heavily on third-party signals. [for much longer],” she said. The next step for advertisers is to replace these signals with their own signals wherever possible.
Zhang spoke to AdExchanger about how advertisers are preparing for signal loss.
AdExchanger: Where is signal loss hitting advertisers the hardest?
Sisi Chan: Measurement.
Measurement is critical because it informs advertisers about the entire consumer buying process and is needed to plan future campaigns. But without signals like cookies, visibility into that journey becomes even more opaque, making advanced attribution more difficult.
Additionally, measurement limitations raise questions about how effective advertisers' targeting strategies actually are.
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How does Razorfish advise clients on dealing with signal loss?
We encourage advertisers to enhance their data.
We understand that managing a customer data platform takes significant time and investment, but the best way to withstand signal loss due to data privacy regulations is to give consumers a compelling reason to share their data directly with brands. It's about building a value exchange that gives you.And building that value exchange may require new data collection methods. [such as prompting consumers to join a loyalty program in exchange for access to services].
But first-party data isn't always reliable. What problems does that pose for marketers?
First-party data isn't perfect. Obtaining usable first-party data can be difficult.
To get accurate first-party data, you may need to go back to the drawing board to make sure your brand's data collection mechanisms are actually encouraging consumers to share valid data.
However, CDP integration still takes several months as it requires a rethinking of the brand's technology infrastructure. For example, if a marketer stores data in multiple cloud providers, they should invest in centralizing that data into one internal platform.
That's why we encourage advertisers to build first-party databases, but there are a number of steps required to ensure that that roadmap is actually achievable.
What steps are required?
The big thing we're seeing right now is brands testing ID resolution methods, especially with clean rooms and alternative identifiers like UID2. Alternative IDs and clean rooms both help brands match audiences with data from other partners in a privacy-conscious way without sacrificing accuracy.
Media mix modeling for attribution is also on the rise.
When it comes to alt IDs, some advertisers I'm hesitant to try UID2 especially. Why?
I don't think one ID necessarily takes the lead. [yet]. In most cases, both advertisers and publishers are still testing large numbers of IDs to find the best one for a specific use case, such as activating a CTV campaign.
What is the impact of signal loss on the industry as a whole?
Consolidation is occurring because there is still uncertainty about which cookieless solutions work best and for which use cases. Large companies are acquiring smaller companies that may have data and technology solutions for a variety of use cases.
At the same time that advertisers are looking to centralize their data, there are broader trends in data. decentralization This happens when marketers try to isolate the data they're using for targeting and measurement to test what's working.
Consolidation through M&A can make that process a little easier by offering advertisers multiple solutions in one place.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.
For more articles featuring Sissy Chan, click here.