Six alternatives to third-party cookies

In the post-cookie landscape, staying ahead requires innovative strategies and partnerships. This case study dives into how MiQ, a leader in the cookieless era, strengthened its Identity Spine with the integration of Experian's cross-device Graph. Challenge MiQ faced a pivotal challenge in avoiding a static approach to strategies and partners while evolving its cookieless initiatives. MiQ aimed to build omnichannel interoperability by integrating privacy-first partners into its Identity Spine. MiQ's primary objectives included: Reaching target audiences in privacy-compliant ways. Expanding their cookieless targeting solutions. Maintaining or increasing the scale expected from cookie-based targeting. Solution To address these challenges, MiQ strategically incorporated Experian's cross-device Graph into its proprietary Identity Spine. MiQ's Identity Spine seamlessly connects over 60 cookieless data feeds and 25 ID solutions. The integration allowed MiQ to: Create a unified view: MiQ now has a unified view of its clients' target audiences, enhancing its understanding and targeting capabilities. Increase scale: By matching first-party data to multiple universal IDs, MiQ expanded its reach across devices, contributing to a 51% increase in seed audience reach and a 64% increase in universal IDs. Improve efficiency: The combination of Experian's data with MiQ's Identity Spine facilitated cross-device ID resolution, leading to more accurate measurement and reporting. Experian's global data coverage complemented MiQ's regional expertise, amplifying global reach and adaptability to changing regulations. "Experian's Graph has bolstered our already comprehensive, multi-ID Identity Spine with incredible data on cross-device ownership and cross-channel behavior."Georgie Haig, Strategy and Partnerships Director, MiQ Digital Results The integration of Experian's data solution significantly contributed to the success of MiQ's Identity Spine expansion. The results speak volumes: A 51% increase in seed audience reach across devices. A 64% boost in reaching audiences through universal IDs. Experian's Graph added 6.5 devices to each matched IP address, enhancing scale and targeting capabilities. A 70% match rate in associating MiQ-provided IP addresses with universal IDs. These outcomes showcase how Experian's Graph empowered MiQ to find, grow, and measure customers across screens, providing a future-proofed solution for evolving industry challenges. Evolve your cookieless strategies with Experian MiQ's Identity Spine sustains its success through a robust data partnership with Experian, a partnership that continuously evolves as MiQ explores expanded applications of our products. The exploration aims to further enrich MiQ's data-driven solutions. Download the full case study to uncover the strategies that empowered MiQ's successful expansion of its Identity Spine with Experian's Graph. Your path to navigating the cookieless landscape, enhanced targeting, and measurement starts here. Download the full case study About MiQ Digital  MiQ is a global programmatic media partner for marketers and agencies, with 19 offices across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region. They specialize in connecting data from multiple sources to solve business problems for their clients. They are ​award-winning experts in data science, analytics, and programmatic trading, focused on ensuring clients' media investments are spent on the right audiences in the right environments.  To learn more, please visit www.wearemiq.com.  Latest posts

In this article… What are retail media networks? How important is it to advertise with RMNs? Trends with big RMNs Reasons behind these trends Crafting your RMN ad strategy Digital advertising experienced a transformative shift in 2023, with retail media networks emerging as a focal point for advertisers seeking precision and efficacy. These networks defined how brands connect with consumers, utilizing the unique environment of digital storefronts to deliver targeted and personalized advertisements. Below, we'll discuss the diverse landscape of retail media networks, examples of these platforms, and how Experian is at the forefront of empowering advertisers within this evolving marketing ecosystem.  What are retail media networks?  A retail media network (RMN) is an advertising platform retailers use in their digital storefronts or online platforms. It lets brands and advertisers promote their products or services directly within the retail environment where consumers make purchasing decisions. Unlike traditional advertising channels, RMNs use the retailer's first-party data to offer targeted and personalized advertising experiences.  How important is it to advertise with RMNs?  RMNs offer advertisers a unique advantage — a rich set of first-party data on consumers, both on and off the platform. On-platform data includes user engagement insights, demographic information, and behavioral patterns. RMNs offer off-platform first-party data, such as cross-channel integration and CRM data integration. This data is especially important as the industry sees a shift away from the reliance on third-party cookies.  One of the key challenges brands face is the lack of tracking abilities through the customer journey. However, the closed-loop measurement and attribution capabilities within RMNs help advertisers track the entire consumer journey, linking campaign spend directly to final sales and in-store purchases. The precision and accountability offered by RMNs make them a crucial strategy in the ever-evolving world of digital advertising.  Trends with big RMNs  Here is a list of retail media networks and their performance in 2023. The information below offers insights into their reach and effectiveness in driving sales and brand visibility. Amazon  According to Pacvue’s Q4 guide, Amazon Media Network experienced a year-over-year decline in its daily spend. However, a notable quarterly increase of 3.2% suggests a recent expansion in this ad type. The current average CPC for Amazon-sponsored products is $1.21, marking a substantial 7.1% year-over-year increase. Return on ad spend (ROAS) showed a 1.5% year-over-year decrease but increased by 6.1% quarter-over-quarter, potentially caused by more efficient campaigns. The beauty category showed a particularly strong performance with a remarkable 69.4% year-over-year increase.  Walmart Walmart's advertising revenues are surging at a rate twice that of Amazon, according to the Pacvue Q4 report. This quarter, the Walmart Media Network experienced a substantial 40% boost in ROAS, now at $6.93. This advancement can be attributed to strategic adjustments in the algorithm and bid rules and the incorporation of new bid features. Walmart's CPC also witnessed a noteworthy 18.3% year-over-year decrease and a 14.5% year-over-year surge in average ad spend. Walmart's growth trajectory emphasizes the shift in consumer behavior toward product discovery, as many consumers research products on the website before purchasing.  Kroger Kroger developed an advanced retail media network that launched in October 2023. Their platform offers advertisers a more streamlined way to activate, measure, and optimize their campaigns, leading to improved advertising performance. The self-serve advertising platform lets advertisers promote products across the Kroger family of brands. Kroger is the biggest grocery chain in the country with a strong first-party shopper data set, providing more advanced audience targeting than many other grocery RMNs. Target Target launched its retail media network, Roundel, in 2016 to enhance the connection between brands and guests through curated media experiences. Roundel uses Target’s rich insights to create personalized advertising campaigns, reaching guests across several platforms and premium publishers. Over the past two years, Roundel has experienced over 60% growth, delivering over one billion in value for Target in 2021 and 2022. With a team of over 500 members, the platform differentiates itself by offering easy-to-use advertising solutions to brands of all sizes. Target plans to launch Roundel Media Studio, a self-service buying tool, in early 2024. Marriott In partnership with Yahoo, Marriott has created a travel media network that lets advertisers target consumers based on the hotel chain’s guest data. This collaboration allows ads to be strategically placed on various platforms, including the hotel’s websites. Marriott Media Network’s rollout will start on mobile platforms similar to traditional RMNs. Over time, it will extend to include ad placements on TV screens in guest rooms, Wi-Fi portals, and various digital screens in other areas, like lobbies and bars. This innovative approach in the hotel industry offers marketers diverse opportunities to reach their target audience. Nordstrom Nordstrom Media Network has shown considerable success, generating over $40 million in revenue and collaborating with several brand partners. Introduced in 2019, this network initially experimented with off-site campaigns and later expanded to on-site sponsored ads in 2021. Nordstrom Media Network offers data from 32 million customers and digital properties with nearly two billion annual visits. The network’s focus on personalizing the customer experience helps it stand out in the competitive retail media space and makes it a valuable player in the evolving digital advertising landscape. CVS  With CVS Media Exchange, advertisers have access to a data set of 74+ million customers. This platform creates tailored campaigns for companies, helping their ads reach customers at the most critical points in their shopping journey. With options like display, video, audio, social, and in-store ad options, advertisers are seeing increases in product purchases and brand awareness.  Instacart  Instacart has a retail media network through its own platform and a tool called Carrot Ads, which helps grocery store chains develop RMNs through Instacart. It has a network of over 1,400 retail brands, helping advertisers reach their target audience. Advertisers have access to insights and automation to create relevant ads and track their progress.  Companies like Sprouts are using Carrot Ads to create and grow their own RMNs. Together, Instacart and Sprouts offer brands a unique opportunity by facilitating targeted online campaigns on Sprouts’ website. This collaboration provides access to metrics like sales and ROAS, offering a comprehensive view of campaign performance.  DoorDash DoorDash offers a comprehensive suite of advertising tools for restaurants and brands to expand their reach on the DoorDash marketplace. This flexible advertising platform extends across diverse categories, like restaurants, grocery, convenience, alcohol, and more. The platform has demonstrated success with an average return on ad spend of 4.1x from sponsored product campaigns and an average of 70% new-to-brand customers.  Reasons behind these trends  The surge in advertising trends within RMNs can be attributed to several critical factors, including the following:  Rising retail media competition  The competitive landscape within the retail world has intensified, with major players competing for a larger share of the advertising pie within their respective RMNs. This surge in competition among retailers like Lowe’s One Roof, Sprouts, 84.51, and Albertson’s Media Collective has led to a continual evolution of features and capabilities. Advertisers benefit from this competitive spirit because it drives innovation and offers enhanced tools and opportunities to refine their advertising strategies. The competitive edge creates an environment where RMNs continually improve and adapt to meet the needs of both advertisers and consumers.  Third-party cookie deprecation  Major web browsers are getting rid of third-party cookies, so advertisers must reevaluate their targeting and tracking strategies. Because of this, the first-party stronghold of RMNs is particularly valuable. Advertisers can rely on their reservoir of first-party data with RMNs to maintain effective audience targeting and measurement capabilities. The emphasis on first-party data aligns with advertisers' needs in the post-cookie era, making RMNs crucial partners in the pursuit of effective and privacy-conscious advertising solutions.  Crafting your RMN ad strategy  Crafting an effective RMN ad strategy is a multifaceted process that involves careful planning. You start with clean, scaled, and scoped data, then everything waterfalls from there. When done correctly, you reach the right audience, your ROAS/ROI results improve, your marketing spend is more effective, and your advertisers want to spend more with your RMN. Here are steps to consider when developing your RMN ad strategy. Choose the best RMN partner for your needs  Selecting the right partner is a critical first step. Ensure your partner seamlessly integrates with your existing MarTech stack, avoiding any additional workload for your existing team. A symbiotic relationship with your RMN partner enhances collaboration and streamlines your advertising initiatives.  Experian’s comprehensive data and identity solutions can help RMNs maximize their opportunity, with our new solution tailored to enhance RMNs’ strength in first-party shopper data. Experian’s solution helps RMNs unlock expanded customer insights, enriched audiences for activation, identity resolution for cross-channel audience targeting, and real-time measurement and attribution. This comprehensive solution is designed to help RMNs capture more advertising revenue. Our goal is to ensure you capture the most advertising dollars and make your RMN operate at its peak performance. Learn more here Utilize third-party data  One of the cornerstones of an effective RMN strategy is the integration of third-party data. This is where Experian steps in as a critical ally. Experian's robust third-party data solutions can enhance an RMN’s first-party data to create more scale and scope for RMN audiences. This, in turn, will open up more opportunities for advertiser investment.  Utilize first-party data  The main advantage of RMNs is the access to first-party data. Advertisers can use this data to create personalized and targeted campaigns. By tailoring your messages based on consumer expectations, preferences, behaviors, and purchase history, you create a more engaging and relevant ad experience. This not only boosts the effectiveness of your campaigns but also fosters a deeper connection between your brand and the audience.  Promote relevant products  Personalized ads are crucial for capturing audience attention and driving conversions. With retail media platforms, advertisers can personalize their campaigns to individual shoppers. Promoting products that align with your audience's specific needs and preferences increases the likelihood of conversions.  Consider the consumer journey  Strategic ad placement within the consumer journey is pivotal. Consider targeting consumers late in the decision-making process when they're in a shopping mindset. Placing ads at this point in the customer journey increases the chance of converting prospects into customers. Understanding the customer journey within an RMN system allows for a more targeted and impactful advertising strategy.  Measure data and adapt  The final step in the process is continuous measurement and adaptation. Retail media platforms include powerful analytics tools that let advertisers track and analyze ad performance in real time. Use these insights to adapt your strategy. A data-driven approach ensures your campaign remains responsive to the changing marketing dynamics.  Elevate your advertising strategy with Experian  Transform your advertising strategy with Experian's cutting-edge Consumer View solutions. These advanced tools excel in audience segmentation and easily integrate your first-party data with our comprehensive third-party insights. This ensures the seamless activation of your data across online and offline channels. Experian also has custom audiences and audiences that are available on-the-shelf of most major platforms. This and our onboarding capabilities make Experian the perfect partner for your RMN strategy. Connect with a member of our team today to take the next step in elevating your advertising campaigns. Connect with us Latest posts

As we approach the 2024 election season, the advertising landscape is poised for tremendous growth, with political ad spending projected to surpass $10 billion. With Kamala Harris entering the race, spending priorities have moved, especially in key states like Ohio, where the Senate race alone has already seen $300 million in ad spending. Connected TV’s (CTV’s) share of political ad spending is set to jump from 2.7% in 2020 to 12.8% this year. The Harris campaign is leading the charge, allocating $200 million for digital ads, much of which will go to streaming platforms.  During this political campaign marketing season, effective audience targeting is crucial, as it holds the potential to sway voters, shape public opinion, and ultimately determine election outcomes. In this blog post, we'll highlight political audiences that can assist political campaigns and organizations in connecting with their desired audiences in a meaningful and impactful way. Three political campaign marketing audience categories Over 240 politically relevant audiences are available on-the-shelf of leading TV, demand, and supply platforms to help your political partners gain share based on three political audience categories: Political affiliations Political personas Relevant ballot initiative audiences Let's break down each category and which audiences you can use in your political campaign marketing to target voters this upcoming election season. Political affiliations Target audiences could include those who are likely to be in the Democratic, Independent, or Republican parties, or are likely to not be registered to a political party. Our political affiliation audiences use a foundation of voter registration data with Experian's advanced statistical models to reach voters at scale, based on their political party. Here are four audience segments that you can activate to target voters based on their predicted party affiliation: Political Affiliation > Democrat Political Affiliation > Republican Political Affiliation > Independent/Other Political Affiliation > Unregistered Political personas One key target audience could be voters who are likely to be influenced by a political candidate's renewable energy program. Additional target audiences could include those who are likely to be influenced by a candidate's position on the economy or healthcare. Here are 10 audience segments that you can activate to target voters based on their viewpoints on key political issues: Political Personas > Political Unregistered Liberal Leaning Political Personas > Political Unregistered Conservative Leaning Political Personas > Committed Democrats Political Personas > Moderate Democrats Political Personas > Political Leaning Liberals Political Personas > Liberal Leaning Independents Political Personas > Conservative Leaning Independent Political Personas > Political Leaning Conservatives Political Personas > Moderate Republicans Political Personas > Committed Republicans To reach voters who believe the environment is a key political issue, you can layer in our GreenAware audiences with our Political Personas audiences: GreenAware > Behavioral Greens GreenAware > Think Greens GreenAware > Potential Greens GreenAware > True Browns Psychographic/Attitudes > Shopping Behavior > Smart Greens To reach voters based on their regional voting patterns, you can use our new battleground counties and district audiences: Affiliation Switcher Counties   Battleground Counties  House Battleground Districts  Democrat Counties Republican Counties Independent Counties Relevant ballot initiative audiences You can also reach voters based on their attitudes and behaviors related to key ballot measures. Let's walk through a few examples below and highlight relevant syndicated audiences that you can activate during the 2024 political campaign marketing season. Local and national ballot initiative support Consumer behaviors are often great predictors of down-ballot initiatives. For example, military families may show favor toward initiatives supporting veterans, households with children present may show more interest in school funding, and those interested in the environment will favor green initiatives. Experian offers an array of consumer behavior and interests audiences to help you fine-tune your targeting and messaging strategies. Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Occupation > Military – Active Demographics > Presence of Children > Ages: 0-18 Charitable causes Understanding where consumers are actively donating to charitable causes paints a clear picture into their political interests. Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Charitable Causes > Contributes to Political Charities Consumer Financial Insights > Discretionary Spend – Donations > $1,000-$1,999 Demographics Demographics play a critical role into voter opinions with presence of children, age, and household income influencing decisions at the polls. Geo-Indexed > Demographics > Household Income: $50,000-$74,999 Geo-Indexed > Demographics > Education: Bachelor Degree Demographics > Presence of Children > Ages: 10-12 Demographics > Marital status > Single Demographics > Ages > 19-24 Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Moms, Parents, Families > Mothers with infant child(ren) (0-3 yrs old) Millions of campaign dollars were wasted in the 2022 midterm elections when voters were targeted with ads for issues and candidates they couldn’t vote for. Using advances in geo-targeting can help save wasted spend and ensure relevant messages reach the right voters. Finance Income and large financial decisions often trigger changes in perspective and influence voter behaviors. Financial FLA Friendly1 > Income > $1,000-$24,999 Financial FLA Friendly > In Market New Mortgage Financial FLA Friendly > In Market Auto Loan Media consumption and engagement Media consumption and engagement offers great insights into how voter interest, current channel engagement, and engagement in political issues. TrueTouch: Communication Preferences > Engagement Channel Preference > Email Engagement TrueTouch: Communication Preferences > Engagement Channel Preference > Streaming TV Social Media > Snapchat Purchase Transactions > Ad Responders > Digital Television (TV) > Ad Avoiders/Ad Acceptors > Ad Acceptors Mosaic Proprietary persona-based audience solution that combines demographic and behavioral data to create a holistic view of voters and their interests. Mosaic – Personas – Lifestyle and Interests > Group O: Singles and Starters > O55 – Family Troopers Occupation Provides the opportunity to deliver targeted messaging on measures based on a consumer’s occupation. Demographics > Occupation > Management/Business and Financial Operations Demographics > Occupation > Sales Demographics > Occupation > Farming/Fish/Forestry Consumer Behaviors > At-Home: Retired/Empty Nesters Consumer Behaviors > Occupation: Education Personal views Understand consumers personal views around family, their social and work life. Psychographic/Attitudes > Personal Views > Work Centered Psychographic/Attitudes > Personal Views > Family Centered Psychographic/Attitudes > Personal Views > Social Isolation We can help you match your message to your audience With Experian's political audiences, you can confidently execute your political campaign marketing, knowing our audiences are based on voter registration data and advanced predictive technology. Our highly accurate models are validated by our expert audience team to ensure precise targeting and drive impact and influence with the right audience. We understand that finding a trusted data provider can be a challenge, which is why we make it easy to access our syndicated audiences. For a full list of all of Experian's syndicated audiences, download our syndicated audiences guide. Download our syndicated audiences guide You can activate our political audiences on-the-shelf of most major platforms. Can't find the audience you're looking for or need a custom audience? Connect with our audience team for more information. Connect with our audience team Footnote “Fair Lending Friendly” indicates data fields that Experian has made available without use of certain demographic attributes that may increase the likelihood of discriminatory practices prohibited by the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”). These excluded attributes include, but may not be limited to, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, disability, handicap, family status, ancestry, sexual orientation, unfavorable military discharge, and gender. Experian’s provision of Fair Lending Friendly indicators does not constitute legal advice or otherwise assures your compliance with the FHA, ECOA, or any other applicable laws. Clients should seek legal advice with respect to your use of data in connection with lending decisions or application and compliance with applicable laws. Latest posts