Note: This Ask the Expert was recorded prior to Experian’s acquisition of Audigent and discusses industry trends and how we’ve worked together in the past.
Adopting new strategies based on trust due to evolving privacy regulations and the gradual loss of traditional signals, like third-party cookies, is essential to successfully navigating the future of digital advertising. Advertisers and marketers are at a crossroads, facing the challenge of maintaining personalization and precision while respecting consumer expectations around privacy. To stay competitive, brands must adopt future-ready strategies that focus on trust, privacy-forward technologies, and scalable solutions.
In our latest Ask the Expert segment, recorded before Experian acquired Audigent, we explore how first-party data and advanced contextual audience targeting are two critical approaches for successfully navigating these changes. With insights from Greg Williams, President of Audigent, now part of Experian, and Crystal Jacques, VP of Sales at Experian, we discuss how these tools can empower your brand for long-term success.
First-party data as a cornerstone strategy
First-party data, a powerful tool for building meaningful connections with your audience, has emerged as a fundamental pillar of future-ready strategies. When collected and used effectively, it provides brands with a detailed understanding of consumer preferences and behaviors, enabling real-time campaign adjustments for maximum impact.
“Data has become part of every step of the digital advertising supply chain, and should be part of everybody’s buys… the more you can include data in your digital marketing, the better off and the more power you have.”
Greg Williams, President, Audigent
With the continual loss of signal, including third-party cookies, first-party data has proven to be key for brands to stay both competitive and privacy-compliant. Brands using first-party data are better positioned to overcome the challenges of signal loss. This data facilitates improved media targeting and personalized messaging, driving greater engagement and return on investment.
Contextually-Indexed Audiences build relevance
Experian’s Contextually-Indexed Audiences enable advertisers to target users based on their interests in real-time, without relying on cookies or mobile ad IDs. Machine learning analyzes and maps traffic from over two million websites, linking to Experian’s 2,400 audience segments. With added benefits like audience customization and flexible activation through Audigent’s private marketplaces (PMPs) or demand-side platforms, Experian is setting a new standard for scalable audience targeting.
For automotive advertisers, this could mean reaching consumers actively researching luxury electric vehicles on relevant sites. Unlike outdated methods, contextual targeting aligns the message with consumer intent, balancing high precision with consumer privacy.
Automotive success story
Audigent’s innovative solutions have delivered tangible results. Williams mentions how they helped an automotive brand achieve double the scale and triple their goal of driving test drives. This stands as a testament to the real-world effectiveness of contextual audience strategies and Experian’s role in executing them.
How to stay ahead of change
Here are five strategies to help your brand remain future-ready amid privacy challenges and signal loss:
- Prioritize first-party data: Build trust and improve targeting accuracy by relying on data that you own directly from your consumers.
- Test privacy-forward tools: Experiment with solutions like contextual targeting and Google’s Privacy Sandbox to future-proof your advertising.
- Strengthen identity framework: Create systems to securely manage and use data for cross-channel decision making.
- Use scalable tools: Partner with trusted providers to deploy solutions that adapt to changing industry standards.
- Stay proactive and flexible: Continuously evaluate trends and refine approaches to align with emerging consumer and regulatory expectations.
A deeper conversation
For additional insights, watch our full Q&A. Greg Williams and Crystal Jacques discuss the future of audience targeting, how first-party data reshapes marketing strategies, and how Experian and Audigent have collaborated in the past.
About our experts
Greg Williams, President, Audigent
Greg Williams is Audigent’s President, responsible for managing Audigent’s vast portfolio of ecosystem partners, enterprise sales, marketing, and client success. An innovator in programmatic ad buying, Williams co-founded MediaMath and was instrumental in building and scaling that company in the US and internationally. He led MediaMath’s international expansion in 2011 and grew that business from zero to a top revenue driver for the company in three years. During his 14 years at the company, Williams held global roles and built teams across every function of the organization — most notably leading business and market development, product development, and partnerships. Prior to co-founding MediaMath, Williams held senior positions at [X+1] (which was later acquired by RocketFuel), Nielsen, and Accenture.
Crystal Jacques, Head of Enterprise Sales, Experian
Head of Enterprise Partnerships, leading Experian’s go-to-market team across all verticals. With over ten years of experience in the Identity space, Crystal brings a wealth of expertise to her role. She joined Experian in 2020 through the Tapad acquisition, following her successful stint as the head of Global Channel Partnerships for Adbrain, which The Trade Desk later acquired.
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In a perfect world, we’d all have a single, go-to grocery store that carried everything on our shopping list – fresh produce, gourmet coffee beans, rare spices, and maybe even that special-grade olive oil, right alongside our wholesale bulk purchases at unbeatable prices. It would be convenient and efficient, and it’d save a lot of driving around town. The changing data marketplace: From one-stop shop to specialized selection For a long time, data buyers enjoyed something similar in their world: a small set of large-scale data marketplaces that offered a wide array of audiences, making it easy to load up on whatever you needed in one place. Not only are there fewer places to pick everything up, but new factors like privacy and signal deprecation are placing a spotlight on quality and addressability. Just as our dinner plans are growing more ambitious insofar as we want health, flavor, value, and convenience all in one place – so are our data strategies. 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Data buyers aren’t just thinking about broad scale; they’re looking to prioritize quality, durability, data privacy, and differentiation. They need to place higher value on data marketplaces that can maintain audience addressability over time, despite signal loss. Sometimes, that means accepting a smaller assortment in exchange for tighter vetting and more reliable targeting. Other times it means mixing and matching – stopping by one marketplace for premium segments and another for cost-friendly, wide-reaching data sets. Either way, they can benefit from having more choices. “Experian has been a longstanding partner of DISH Media, and we’re excited to be an early adopter of their marketplace which leverages the foundation of their identity solutions to ensure maximum cross-channel reach as we look to expand the breadth and depth of data we use for addressable TV.”Kemal Bokhari, Head of Data, Measurement & Analytics, DISH Media Experian’s marketplace: A trusted source for high-quality data Experian’s vetted and curated blend of data partners and vertically-aligned audiences offers a trusted specialty store for data buyers. Experian’s marketplace, powered by identity graphs that include 126 million households, 250 million individuals, and 4 billion active digital IDs, enables partner audiences to be easily activated and maintain high addressability across display, mobile, and connected TV (CTV) channels. In particular, Experian’s marketplace provides: Enhanced addressability and match rates All audiences delivered from the marketplace benefit from our best-in-class offline and digital identity graphs, which ensure addressability across all channels like display, mobile, and CTV. Unlike other data marketplaces, Experian ensures all identifiers associated with an audience have been active and are targetable, improving the accuracy of audience planning. Enhanced addressability and match rates All audiences delivered from the marketplace benefit from our best-in-class offline and digital identity graphs, which ensure addressability across all channels like display, mobile, and CTV. Unlike other data marketplaces, Experian ensures all identifiers associated with an audience have been active and are targetable, improving the accuracy of audience planning. Enhanced addressability and match rates All audiences delivered from the marketplace benefit from our best-in-class offline and digital identity graphs, which ensure addressability across all channels like display, mobile, and CTV. Unlike other data marketplaces, Experian ensures all identifiers associated with an audience have been active and are targetable, improving the accuracy of audience planning. The future of data marketplaces: Precision and flexibility matter The evolution of data marketplaces reflects the industry's shifting priorities. Data buyers seek specificity, reliability, and adaptability to align with their diverse campaign needs. The best data strategy, much like the best grocery run, isn’t about grabbing everything in one place – it’s about carefully selecting the right ingredients to create the perfect recipe for success. This shift underscores the importance of flexibility and precision as data buyers navigate a landscape shaped by privacy regulations, signal loss, and evolving consumer expectations. As data marketplaces adapt to meet these demands, they are redefining what it means to deliver value. Experian’s marketplace enables buyers to strike the perfect balance between reach and quality by offering enhanced match rates, precise audience planning, and seamless distribution. In this new era, data buyers have the tools and options to craft campaigns that are impactful and aligned with the increasingly selective and privacy-conscious digital landscape. The key is recognizing that today’s data strategy is about utilizing the strengths of many to create a cohesive and effective whole. If you're interested in learning more about Experian's marketplace or becoming an active buyer or seller in our marketplace, please contact us. Contact us Latest posts
We spoke with industry leaders from Ampersand, Basis Technologies, Captify, Cuebiq, CvE, Fetch, Madhive, MiQ, and Samsung to gather insights on how innovations in data and identity are creating stronger consumer connections. Here are five key insights to consider. 1. Build on trust with first-party data Stricter privacy regulations and growing customer expectations mean businesses must rethink how they gather and use data. A robust first-party data strategy centers on gathering high-quality data, such as behavioral and transactional data. By using behavioral, lifestyle, and purchasing data, brands can craft personalized strategies that align with their goals. This approach balances effective targeting with building trust and complying with privacy rules. Integrating identity solutions like Unified I.D. 2.0 (UID2) and ID5 into existing data strategies improves interoperability across platforms while keeping user privacy intact. These tools help create more effective campaigns. "We've been preparing and leaning into educating our clients around the value of first-party data. These are very important and primary considerations in any of our campaigns."April Weeks, Basis Technologies 2. Align metrics with business goals To demonstrate clear value, campaigns need to tie their outcomes to broader goals. Relying only on click-through rates or CPMs won’t cut it. Metrics that measure meaningful results, like driving sales or increasing customer retention, provide greater transparency than surface level data, like clicks or impressions. A continuous feedback loop between targeting and measurement ensures campaigns can be refined to better align with business objectives. This feedback helps marketers understand who they are targeting and how those audiences are driving key business results. Shifting focus to metrics that resonate with stakeholders ensures that marketing efforts are evaluated based on their true contribution to the company's objectives. "The television industry has access to more data than ever before, and at Samsung Ads, our ACR technology helps us provide valuable insights about what content and ads are being viewed. This abundance of data enables us to support clients in aligning their campaigns with business objectives effectively."Justin Evans, Samsung Ads 3. Personalize experiences to boost engagement Personalization drives stronger customer relationships by delivering tailored experiences to individual customer needs. Using data-driven insights to fine-tune offers and messaging makes interactions more relevant, strengthening brand loyalty. Combining behavioral, lifestyle, and transactional data provides a comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and ensures each touchpoint feels personal. Testing and iterating on personalization strategies also helps identify which data and approaches yield the best results. Scaling these efforts means customers receive the right messaging at the right time, and businesses see better outcomes. "Every business should be building a data strategy that thinks about the different versions of data that exist and how they bring that together. They don't necessarily need to own all of it but have a clear rationale and strategy about where you're using which data sets."Paul Frampton, CvE 4. Utilize advanced measurement tools for smarter decisions Improving the effectiveness of campaigns starts with using sophisticated measurement tools to gain actionable insights. Using analytics like brand lift studies, foot traffic analysis, app download tracking, incrementality, and share of search allows marketers to understand the full impact of their efforts. With these resources, teams can pinpoint what’s working, make real-time adjustments, and refine their approach. This adaptability ensures budgets are used as effectively as possible. Learn how Swiss Sense measured marketing outcomes using Mosaic® "We are playing a leading role in democratizing new tools for local advertisers. By mimicking the marketing funnel mentality, we've introduced solutions ranging from measuring brand lift to tracking foot traffic and app downloads."Luc Dumont, Madhive 5. Adapt quickly to stay competitive The only constant in advertising is change. Adapting quickly to new technologies and consumer behaviors keeps businesses competitive. A culture of agility fosters innovation, making it easier to respond to industry shifts and discover new opportunities. Companies that anticipate change and invest in modern data solutions position themselves for long-term growth. Whether it’s adjusting to privacy updates, exploring emerging tech, or staying flexible, businesses must continuously invest in adapting their platforms and strategies. "Falling behind is not really an option. 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