Get ready for Cannes Lions 2024—the advertising industry is buzzing with excitement. This year’s event promises to be a center of innovation, ideas, and networking. Here are five themes we expect will take center stage in conversations and how Experian can help marketers be prepared for what’s ahead.
Cookie deprecation and signal loss
At Cannes Lions 2024, the theme of transitioning to a cookieless advertising ecosystem is likely to dominate discussions. The saga of cookie deprecation continues to unfold, with Google recently pushing back the demise of third-party cookies once again.
Experian remains fully committed to prioritizing continued testing of different industry solutions, including the Google Privacy Sandbox, to help customers prepare for a future without cookies. We’ve identified six viable alternatives to third-party cookies, how these alternatives fall short, and how Experian can help you navigate these alternatives.
With Experian, the loss of cookies does not equate to a loss of coverage. With our strong roots in offline data and significant investments in our Graph, Experian ensures uninterrupted and effective marketing with robust signal coverage, with or without cookies. Based on early tests, we expect our Graph to maintain 97% of its household coverage. Read how MiQ, a leader in the cookieless era, strengthened its Identity Spine with the integration of Experian’s cross-device Graph here.
Commerce
The theme of commerce is poised to be a central topic of discussion at Cannes Lions 2024, reflecting the emergence and growth of retail media networks (RMNs). Evolving customer expectations are a key driver, with consumers demanding seamless and personalized experiences across all touchpoints of their shopping journey. The importance of bridging physical and digital experiences to create a cohesive customer journey will undoubtedly feature prominently in discussions at Cannes.
Experian’s Consumer Sync offerings facilitate seamless integration between online and in-person interactions, fostering a cohesive approach to engaging audiences across various platforms while measuring campaign effectiveness.
As we heard at Shoptalk 2024, the evolution of retail media is propelling us into a new era of advertising and first-party data monetization. The integration of e-commerce with advertising presents an exciting opportunity for brands to drive direct sales through ads displayed within retail platforms, blurring the lines between marketing and commerce.
Our Consumer View solutions provide access to over 5,000 demographic and behavioral data points, enriching your customer profiles for deeper insights. By combining first-party data with Experian’s industry-leading data sets, you can create bespoke audience segments that drive increased return on investment (ROI), going beyond conventional category-based targeting strategies.
Looking ahead, the future outlook for RMNs remains promising, with anticipated growth and expansion as brands increasingly recognize the value of reaching consumers precisely at the point of purchase.
Connected TV
At Cannes Lions 2024, we anticipate discussions to focus on how connected TV (CTV) can continue to live up to its promise. CTV is the most rapidly expanding advertising channel in the U.S and 95% of advertisers plan to increase their share of spend on programmatic CTV in 2024, according to The Trade Desk’s latest CTV report. The growing adoption of CTV among viewers, driven by factors like quality content, reduced ad interruptions, and cost-saving alternatives to traditional cable, signals a shift in consumer behavior that marketers cannot afford to overlook.
Experian supports the growth of advertising interest in CTV through our signal-agnostic Graph that connects CTV IDs, universal IDs like Unified I.D. 2.0 (UID2), IPs, and mobile ad IDs (MAIDs) for effective activation. Our digital identity resolution with Activity Feed provides insights into CTV viewership behavior, linking CTV exposure to e-commerce conversions.
CTV also enables greater collaboration, and we’ve recently announced new partnerships with CTV industry leaders Microsoft, Samsung, Attain, Sonobi, and EDO.
Consumer privacy
Consumers are increasingly aware of privacy concerns surrounding their data and numerous laws are going into effect across the U.S. at the state level. Most recently, there has been momentum on a federal data privacy law. We expect consumer privacy to be a significant topic of discussion at Cannes Lions 2024, reflecting the growing importance of ethical data practices in advertising.
In a recent Q&A with Datavant, Jeremy Meade, VP of Marketing Data & Product Operations at Experian, highlights the importance of balancing data privacy and utility, focusing on “data for good” practices while using de-identification techniques to support research without compromising consumer privacy.
Our Geo-Indexed audiences are an example of how Experian can help you reach your audience while balancing data privacy and accuracy. Our Geo-Indexed audiences combine location data with audience insights to deliver targeted marketing solutions. These audiences are created without the use of sensitive personal information, so you can confidently reach your target audience without sacrificing data privacy.
With deep roots in data protection and security, you can confidently partner with Experian as we proactively stay ahead of regulations and strictly follow all consumer privacy laws.
Campaigns and competition
The theme of campaigns and competition is poised to be an important discussion point, driven by the convergence of major global events like the U.S. presidential election and this summer’s games—both occurring once every four years. These landmark occasions present opportunities for marketers to craft targeted campaigns that resonate with specific audience segments.
As we approach the 2024 election season, the advertising landscape is primed for growth, with political ad spending projected to exceed $10 billion. Effective audience targeting during this crucial period can sway voters, shape public opinion, and influence election outcomes. Experian’s 240+ politically relevant syndicated audiences, including our 10 political personas, enable a nuanced understanding of voter viewpoints and empower tailored engagement strategies to connect more effectively with constituents.
At the same time, this summer’s games in Paris offer a unique opportunity for sports marketing. With one billion viewers expected to tune in, the global spectacle presents a platform to engage with passionate sports audiences worldwide. Using Experian’s syndicated audiences, marketers can precisely target sporting goods shoppers, avid fans, athletes, and spectators alike.
The combination of these major events emphasizes the need for careful planning and data-driven strategies and marketers should take advantage of the excitement surrounding both events.
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Tom Rolph, VP EMEA at Tapad, part of Experian, says that ad-sponsored streaming services can be successful if they can deliver a higher quality viewer experience than other streaming services. Last week, Hulu, the streaming service acquired by Fox and now owned 60 per cent by Disney, announced it will be regularising its ad loads. The streaming service will be bringing ad breaks down to 90 seconds in an effort to deliver a better viewer experience. This is a positive move from Hulu and one which other ad-supported streaming services should follow in order to be successful in a competitive market. Previously ad breaks on Hulu could vary wildly, from 180 seconds to 240 seconds, due to existing deals with its three owners: Disney, Comcast and AT&T. Over in the UK, we haven’t suffered from quite as inconsistent an approach as in the US, but there is still viewer frustration with the ad experience on ITV Hub and All4, where the problem tends to be over exposure of the same ad. Therefore, this move to standardise ad break lengths for streaming platforms is one that should be embraced on both sides of the pond. An important shift in this space will be to limit the number of ads during each show, but have better ad targeting to minimise repetitive advertising and increase the ROI of ad spend. All of which can be accomplished by investing in identity resolution products that can support CTV devices. Last year Ofcom found that in the UK subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon and NOW TV have risen above those to traditional pay TV services. With Netflix and Amazon both ad-free and NOW TV only a limited ad funded model, it’s clear that there is a growing appetite for ad-free viewing models. A fact that is only further supported when you consider the role of the BBC and BBC iPlayer. But the picture isn’t entirely negative for ad-funded models. There is demand for great content on ad-funded services in the UK, with ITV Hub boasting over 1bn requests and 540m hours of TV watched. The ITV Hub mobile app has also been downloaded on over 27m devices across the country – with over 22m people now registered to ITV Hub database, including more than half of Britain’s 16-24 year olds. However, to continue to attract and retain younger viewers, the experience will have to improve. There are several areas where ad-supported streaming providers need to improve in order to remain top players in this space: Ad experienceAs explored above, both volume and repetition of ads can be a turn off for viewers, but with Brits already spending a total of £303.16m every month on TV streaming services, according to Finder.com, there is potential for free, ad-funded models to flourish as people hit a limit on what they are willing to spend. There are already signs of improvement with the ad experience, with ITV just signing a deal with Amobee to allow for addressable ads on ITV Hub, while Sky’s AdSmart technology remains best in class and has now crossed over the pond to be used by Comcast stablemate NBC. Server reliabilityA cursory search finds little evidence of ongoing reliability problems with Netflix, but much evidence of problems with ITV Hub and All4, which are both prone to crashing. To compete with bigger players with massive server farms, server capacity needs to be tackled. This is especially true when it comes to live events, where many people will recall ITV Hub’s famous fails during the World Cup. While even some of the larger players have had similar streaming issues (for example, Amazon’s move into live sports streaming when they had to pull UK streaming of the US Open Tennis due to user complaints), viewing experience should be prioritised as the space gets increasingly competitive. Getting the content rightAmazon and Netflix have huge content budgets, but UK broadcasters remain strong in this regard, Channel 4 has enjoyed viewing figures of 7.5m for the Great British Bake Off, while ITV pulled in 13.7m for I’m A Celebrity. By building on UK-specific content that speaks to UK audiences, ad-supported streaming services can continue to pull in more viewers. Mobile accessMore and more Brits are choosing to watch TV content on their smartphone or tablet, according to UKOM-approved comScore data. In fact, 6.5m adults visited the BBC iPlayer app to watch video on either a smartphone or tablet, edging out Netflix which attracted 5.8m Getting the experience right on mobile, with the option to download content so it can be viewed in areas of low or no signal, is key.If UK ad-supported TV stations can crack these key areas for their Connected TV offering then they will be set up to succeed and offer a true home-grown alternative to the US streaming giants. Full article here. Contact us today!
Tapad's, part of Experian, SVP of Identity shows us how marketers might communicate seamlessly through emerging channels like voice, the smart home, and, yes, podcasts.In his relatively new role as senior vice president of identity at Tapad, a part of Experian, Ajit Thupil keeps a close eye on the evolution of marketing as it becomes more intent on using data and identity technology to track ROI. Here he sits with Chris Wood at Tapad’s New York offices to discuss the future of identity. (To capture the inventive atmosphere at this location, the room they chatted in was named after Leonardo da Vinci.) For Thupil, it all comes back to the customer, whether it’s a brand client or a consumer. Brands want measurability and customers demand a seamless experience across the many devices they use in a day. While consumers are understandably reticent about giving up personally identifiable information (PII), current identity solutions use anonymous data profiles to connect the dots at the individual or household level. Given the frequency that users switch devices, along with their tendency to share bigger screens like TVs, there’s no dearth of challenges for this “head of problem solving” to solve. Contact us today!
Joint solution will enhance accuracy and reach across North America, EMEA and APAC NEW YORK, April 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Tapad, a global marketing technology company and leader in digital identity resolution solutions, today announced a new joint capability with Arm®Treasure DataTM , a leader in enterprise customer data management. The partnership combines The Tapad GraphTM technology with Arm Treasure Data's robust enterprise Customer Data Platform (CDP), enabling advertisers in the Arm Treasure Data marketplace to access Tapad's datasets. With the integration of Tapad's Graph and Arm Treasure Data's existing first party data, marketers will be able to deliver scalable, cross-device messaging with precision. In addition, marketers can benefit from anonymous customer journey analysis, audience expansion and online and offline attribution. Arm Treasure Data's APAC market customers will have access to expanded audience reach by leveraging Tapad's global, proprietary datasets. While Tapad will be able to extend its presence into the APAC region, tapping into Arm Treasure Data's existing footprint. "Combining Tapad's Graph with Arm Treasure Data's CDP will enable our customers to make holistic, data-driven decisions that increase ROI," said Chris Feo, SVP of Global Data Licensing and Strategic Partnerships at Tapad. "In combining these two solutions, we can now offer advertisers the value of both technologies to optimize their marketing initiatives and create seamless experiences across multiple devices and channels." "The Tapad GraphTM is a trusted and established platform with a history of innovation," said Stephen Lee, Senior Director, Business Development, Arm Treasure Data. "Integrating Tapad's technology into the Arm Treasure Data CDP will allow for streamlined experiences across markets, achieving global scalable reach." For more information about The Tapad GraphTM, or to request a demo, visit our identity page. Contact us today! About Tapad Tapad, Inc. is a global marketing technology company and leader in digital identity resolution solutions. The Tapad GraphTM, and related solutions, provide a privacy-safe approach to connecting device identifiers to brand and marketer data, thereby allowing for enhanced measurement, attribution, reach and ROI of marketing campaigns. The Tapad GraphTM enables marketers around the world to maximize campaign effectiveness and drive business results. Tapad is recognized across the industry for its innovation, growth and workplace culture, and has earned numerous awards, including the TMCnet Tech Culture Award. Based in New York, Tapad also has offices in Chicago, London, Oslo, Singapore and Tokyo, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telenor Group. About Treasure Data Arm Treasure Data enterprise Customer Data Platform (CDP) unifies data from multiple sources – online, offline, IoT and device generated data – and empowers enterprises to disrupt their markets with superior customer experiences. Our customers are creating transformational customer relationships by connecting the data dots with our CDP. Arm Treasure Data is fully owned by Arm Holdings and has a global customer base of over 300 enterprises including Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies. Our clients manage over 130 trillion records, resulting in more predictable and profitable business results.