Imagine a fantasy panning out in the marketing landscape. You are looking for a snack to accompany your cup of tea, but (third party) cookies, those crumbly bits of data that tracked a person’s every click, are gone. There’s no point in fretting and wringing one’s hands. This is the time, just like Alice, to embrace the curious and embark on a new marketing adventure.
Alice in Wonderland has been interpreted for so many lessons over the years, and I cannot help but go back for yet another whimsical take on her adventures and the characters she found along the way. This is the Marketer’s tea party, each one of us a mad hatter in their own right. Imagine a fantasy panning out in the marketing landscape. You are looking for a snack to accompany your cup of tea, but (third party) cookies, those crumbly bits of data that tracked a person’s every click, are gone. There’s no point in fretting and wringing one’s hands. This is the time, just like Alice, to embrace the curious and embark on a new marketing adventure.
Third-party cookies were snippets of code that followed users across the internet, giving marketers useful information to compile and display customized ads. These cookies were installed on a user's computer, tablet, or smartphone by a website from a domain different from the one they were actually on. Preserving user habits and activities allowed brands to interface with potential consumers in the future, but the question to ask is whether these were explicitly consent driven? In other words, were the bakers and users of these cookies (Google, and us Marketers) actually invited to these tea parties with our consumers? Ummm…probably not, and now that we’ve got that cleared, it’s time to realise that deprecation of these cookies now restricts the browsing and activity tracking data available, filling us with dread at the challenge we now face to reach prospective customers.
What will our adventure entail?
The Golden Ticket is First Party Data. In our tea party, first party data may be your golden ticket. It’s the knowledge you gain directly from people, their preferences and their expressed interests. When one cultivates strong customer relationships, this data can be gathered through surveys, loyalty programs, website interactions. Definitely NOT the other way round, meaning let’s not imagine that strong relationships can be built once we gather data! Not so different from the way friends are made in real life, right?
Contextual Targeting: The Cheshire Cat’s grin. Gone are the days of following cookies down a rabbit hole. Contextual targeting places a brand amidst relevant online content. Imagine the Cheshire Cat grinning from a website about home storage solutions, perfectly placed next to your ad for sustainable and recycled wardrobe baskets.
Zero Party Data: No riddle for the Mad Hatter! Zero party data is the holy grail. Imagine a one-on-one conversation with a friend, where you gather stuff that helps you understand them better. In the marketing world, when done right at scale, people explicitly share information with brands. This could happen through quizzes, preferences, wish lists. Just like Alice had to answer riddles to earn another cup of tea, brands can incentivize people to share their preferences for a truly personalized advertising experience.
Welcome the uncertainty: The Queen’s croquet ground. The cookieless world may seem puzzling like the Queen’s ever changing croquet ground. But with creativity and a focus on building strong relationships, the new marketing landscape can be gracefully navigated.
(*As per article written by Ganga Ganapathi in ET Brand Equity)