It’s been one week since the highly anticipated Cannes Lions 2024—the event of the year for advertising and creativity. We are excited to present our top five takeaways from the event, revealing the industry’s priorities for the year ahead.
Navigating the post-cookie era
One of the pivotal discussions at Cannes Lions 2024 centered around signal loss and identity resolution. The industry is grappling with the impact of third-party cookie deprecation, driving a move toward alternative identifiers such as Unified I.D. 2.0 (UID2) and ID5, and contextual targeting. This shift aims to uphold accurate audience targeting while addressing privacy concerns through authenticated forms of identity. Brands and agencies are actively exploring these new strategies to replace traditional cookie-based methods with stable, privacy-compliant solutions.
First-party data providers are also seeking data onboarding solutions to navigate this transition. They need streamlined integration processes, comprehensive ID-matching capabilities, and transparent pricing structures.
Fortified by our roots in offline data and significant investments in our Graph, and our newest offering, Third-Party Onboarding, you can count on Experian’s solutions to maintain strong signal coverage in a cookieless world so you can have uninterrupted, effective marketing.
Unifying targeting across TV platforms
Another focal point at Cannes Lions 2024 was the challenge of navigating TV fragmentation. Advertisers strive for unified targeting across diverse TV platforms, including connected TV (CTV) and traditional linear TV. They emphasize integrating data sources and ad servers to reach audiences across these platforms. CTV continues to stand out in conversations as a crucial and expanding area for advertising, offering new opportunities for targeted campaigns and broader audience engagement.
We’re fueling the expansion of CTV advertising through our signal-agnostic Graph, which seamlessly integrates CTV IDs, universal identifiers such as UID2, IP addresses, and mobile ad IDs (MAIDs) for targeted campaigns. Our newest offering, Third-Party Onboarding, also provides connectivity to more than 10 TV destinations.
Transforming marketing with AI
We would be remiss not to mention the hottest topic at Cannes Lions 2024, the transformative power of AI within data and identity. Discussions highlighted AI’s pivotal role in revolutionizing marketing strategies by enhancing campaign planning, dynamic optimization, measurement, and analytics. AI is not just a tool; it enables marketers to work smarter and faster. With real-time data enrichment, AI will empower marketers to manage large-scale campaigns with unprecedented efficiency and precision.
Marketers envision a future where AI seamlessly integrates into every aspect of their strategy, from understanding and predicting consumer behavior to automating personalized engagement. They see AI as the key to unlocking new levels of precision and efficiency, allowing them to adjust real-time campaigns based on consumer interactions and preferences. This vision includes using AI for deeper audience insights, ensuring that every marketing touchpoint is relevant and impactful.
Striving for strategies for proven ROI
Discussions on measurement at Cannes Lions 2024 focused on how measurement metrics are evolving to keep pace with industry changes. Cross-device, multi-touch attribution, and outcome-based metrics like consumer lifetime value and conversion rates are becoming more important. Accurate measurement is critical for demonstrating campaign impact and optimizing future marketing efforts.
These developments reflect a shift toward more sophisticated measurement practices to optimize marketing strategies and prove tangible ROI.
Through our Consumer Sync solutions, you can improve your attribution quality to understand the true path to conversion by linking all digital touchpoints to a single person.
Creating integrated consumer experiences with retail media networks
Retail media networks (RMNs) are becoming more integrated and connected. Their goal is to provide consumers with a unified online and physical store experience and create a comprehensive marketplace where retailers can work together and use shared data to better reach and engage with their audiences.
“Throughout the conversations, it’s been clear that there’s a lot of demand and interest in building and growing retail media networks. What strikes me is that Experian products, both across identity and data, can be a big support to help grow and fill in these gaps.”
budi tanzi, vp, product
Discussions at Cannes Lions 2024 emphasized how collaborations with technology providers and industry groups can help set measurement standards and ensure transparency. These partnerships can enable RMNs to expand their reach and compete with larger advertising platforms, driving industry growth and innovation.
Experian offers comprehensive solutions for RMNs. Our Profile Insights and Enrichment tools offer valuable customer behavior insights, driving smarter inventory management. We enhance ad targeting beyond item-level purchases with accurate data and syndicated audiences, aligning with broader media strategies. Third-Party Onboarding enables expansion beyond owned and operated inventory, supported by our Graph for enhanced connectivity.
“Data providers are excited to eliminate digital hops in their data flow using Experian Third-Party Onboarding. Third-Party Onboarding is uniquely set up to reduce friction for third-party data and the ecosystem in general.”
adam kobus, director of data partnerships
Experian events at Cannes Lions 2024
This year, we hosted a kick-off happy hour, content studio, and members of our team joined various panels across the Croisette. Here’s a recap of our week at Cannes.
Experian’s kick-off event with Audigent and LG Ad Solutions
To kick off the week, we co-hosted a happy hour with Audigent and LG Ad Solutions. At our sold-out event, attendees enjoyed a live performance from St. Lucia.
Content studio
We interviewed 27 thought leaders across the industry in our content studio. Our interviews covered topics like:
• Signal loss
• Connected and linear TV
• Data collaboration
• Future of addressability and personalization
• Retail media networks
• And more
We’ll be sharing more from our content studio over the coming months. Follow us on LinkedIn or sign up for our email newsletter for the latest updates.
Panel participation
The Experian team participated in four panels throughout the week across the Croisette:
- Scott Kozub, VP, Product Management, joined the Brand Innovators panel, “Future of media,” where he discussed how media companies can adapt their content and distribution strategies to cater to changing consumption habits as media becomes more fragmented across devices and platforms.
- Kimberly Gilberti, Chief Product Officer, joined OpenX’s panel, “Unlocking addressability: Navigating the post-cookie era,” to discuss the prevailing strategies for achieving addressability in a cookieless world.
- Budi Tanzi, VP, Product, participated in Audigent’s panel, “Curation in regulated industries,” where they talked about why curation is effective in regulated markets like finance and health.
- Rachael Donnelly, Chief Marketing Officer, joined The Female Quotient in the Equality Lounge for their panel “Emotional agility: Leading beyond the double standard,” where they explored the power of diverse storytelling and its impact on audience engagement, brand building, and the bottom line.
Let’s keep the momentum going
As we wrap up another exciting week at Cannes Lions, the discussions have shown us the potential for innovation in signal loss, TV fragmentation, AI, measurement, and retail media networks. These topics pave the way for a more connected future in advertising. Which trends are you most excited about? Let’s continue the conversation! Reach out to us, and let’s dive deeper into these topics together.
We understand that customers may be experiencing uncertainty with their marketing strategies with Oracle’s exit from advertising. Experian is one of Oracle’s primary data providers powering their audiences. We can help marketers easily make the switch from Oracle audiences to Experian audiences without changes in advertising effectiveness or efficiency.
We have mapped Oracle audiences to Experian audiences to make it easy for you to switch your campaign targeting to Experian. Reach out to your account representative or our audiences team for information about audience mapping and finding the most relevant Experian audience for your campaigns.
Latest posts
Marketing by mobile device is now as popular as ever as retailers send shoppers text messages with special offers and sales. More and more companies are also offering their own phone apps so customers can search for product information and deals on the go. With more than 80 million mobile internet users in the United States, retailers can really benefit from this communication channel. One perk for shoppers is that they no longer have to save and print out coupons from emails! Through their mobile phones, shoppers can receive texts about sales and coupons as they enter stores. They can keep track of their favorite stores and make a purchase anywhere/anytime. One perk for shoppers is that they no longer have to save and print out coupons from emails! All they have to do is show the coupon on their phone at the point of purchase to redeem their coupon. With “QR” bar codes or quick response codes directly on coupons on your phone, savings can be redeemed on the spot. While many people don’t know yet that they can use QR codes on a mobile device, retailers have only begun to take advantage of this technology and more customers are now able to scan items in a store and pay for it using their mobile phones. While it’s just the beginning of a new era, mobile marketing is taking us by storm and now is the perfect time to put this trend into effect.
With all the debate and speculation regarding Groupon and its planned IPO, I thought it would be a great time to check back in with our previous analysis of traffic to Groupon and its nearest competitor Living Social. First, to be clear, the above chart measures web-based traffic to both domains and does not include mobile or app specific traffic. Regardless of these exclusions, the drop-off in Groupon traffic this summer has been significant nearly 50% since its peak in the second week of June 2011 compared to last week. During the same time, Living Social has achieved 27% growth in visits to its site. Overall visits to a custom category of Daily Deal & Aggregator sites were down 25% for the same time. So why is there a narrowing of the gap between the two market leaders in group coupons? Perhaps it is simply a case of increased number of competitors and deal fatigue among consumers or simply not enough of the right deals. PriceGrabber® released results from its Local Deals Survey in June, stating that 44% of respondents said they use or search daily deal Websites. However, 52% expressed feeling overwhelmed by the number of bargain-boasting emails they receive on a daily basis. While consumer fatigue may be one factor another key consideration for these sites is to focus on the attracting new and preferred audience segments via the inbox. Currently the audience segments for both Groupon and Living Social are very similar so it will be interesting to see how both sites and category perform heading into the holiday season.
Newton was only half right: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion, but objects at rest are increasingly becoming mobile. That’s the case, at least, when it comes to the world of today’s mobile consumer. According to exclusive research from Experian Simmons, fully 29% of cell phone owners today believe that their cell phone will be the primary device for their entertainment needs, in the future. Furthermore, a recent report by J.P. Morgan estimates that U.S. mobile ad spending will nearly double in 2011 to $1.2 billion. Screen size and limitations on creative, the report says, present obstacles to mobile advertisers. These obstacles and opportunities make it more important than ever for marketers to understand the behaviors and mindset of the mobile consumer. In this first in a series of blog posts, we will explore some key findings presented in the 2011 Mobile Consumer Report recently published recently by Experian Simmons. Media outlets have started to take note, citing the report in articles here and here. Come back to this blog frequently for further updates, or download the full report today. Mobile Market Overview Cell phone ownership among American adults stands at 91%, up from 72% in 2006. The vast majority of teens, too, have joined the mobile revolution, with 74% of those ages 12 to 17 porting a portable phone, up from 59% in 2006. Even tots are getting into the act, with a reported 22% of kids ages 6 to 11 owning a cell phone today. Among adults ages 22 to 24, the idea of not owning a cell is virtually unheard of, with an astounding 98% of consumers in this bracket reporting personally owning a cell phone. While cell ownership among adults age 65+ is the lowest of any adult segment, it is the fastest growing, having increased a relative 52% between 2006 and 2010. Despite the rise in youth owning cell phones, 90% of all mobile phone owners in the U.S. are adults, a rate unchanged since 2008. Percent of Americans that own a cell phone, by age Mobile Service Providers Verizon maintains its position as America’s number one cell phone service provider, with 32% of all adult mobile phone owners saying they are Verizon subscribers as of May 23, 2011. AT&T also has a sizable share of the market, with 28% of mobile phone owners subscribing to AT&T for cell service. Battling for third place are Sprint and T-Mobile, which respectively claim just 11% and 10% of the mobile market. Smaller, often regional, providers may individually have fewer subscribers, but combined, claim an impressive 22% of the total cellular market. Verizon and AT&T will almost certainly continue to dominate the market, especially given the fact that cell phone subscribers are increasingly staying with their provider for an extended period of time. As of May 23, 2011, the average cell phone subscriber had been with their provider for 3 years and 2 months, up from 2 years and 11 months observed at the beginning of 2008. Furthermore, 59% of cell phone subscribers say they’ve been with their current provider for at least 4 years, up from 46% who reported the same in early 2008. 59% of cell phone subscribers say they’ve been with their current provider for at least 4 years Service Providers’ Share of Cell Phone Subscribers Click here to learn more about obtaining vivid consumer research from Experian Simmons and don’t forget to check back here for new blog posts on mobile consumers.