Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2022. Read them in this 14th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Cookieless future, AI-driven solutions, and data privacy
By Ingrid Burton, CMO, Quantcast
As we start the new year, the adtech industry
is focused on preparing for the fast-approaching cookieless future as well as
other shifting trends. Below are some of the key trends marketers, advertisers
and publishers should keep top of mind as they look to 2022 from Quantcast's
CEO and co-founder, Konrad Feldman, and Chief Privacy Officer, Min-Jae Lee:
Konrad
Feldman, CEO and co-founder, Quantcast
●
Early adopters of ensemble cookieless solutions will reap significant
benefits.
Marketers with a
focus on future-proofing their digital marketing will begin testing new
cookieless solutions in early 2022 in an effort to avoid the mad dash of
Google's 2023 third-party cookie depreciation deadline. We are already seeing
that those who advertise in cookieless environments early can reap the competitive
advantage of access to new audiences, more inventory, and more scaled
advertising results. Furthermore, savvy marketers will focus on more than a
single approach to replace the third-party cookie, because the truth is that
the best cookieless solutions will build on first-party data, cohorts,
contextual and more, using an AI-driven ensemble to understand audiences, value
advertising, and measure results.
●
Marketers will become more intentional with their advertising budgets.
With brands like
Patagonia doubling down on their decision to stop all paid advertising on
Facebook (Meta), we will start to see more marketers taking a thoughtful and
intentional approach to how and where they invest their marketing budgets.
Recognizing that their spend supports and sustains the voices and viewpoints
that directly impact billions of people around the world, we will see increased
scrutiny of precisely what that spend is funding and who benefits from it, with
an increased focus on investing in businesses that align with corporate values
and societal issues. This will see more brands tapping into the open internet
to reach the diverse audiences it enriches and being intentional in aligning
with publishers that represent diverse backgrounds.
●
If marketers don't adopt AI-driven adtech or martech solutions, they
will be left behind.
AI may be one of the
most hyped technologies in recent years, but from where I sit, it is one of the
most effective technologies to determine future behavior. According to
Forrester, brands will flock to AI-powered audience solutions, fueling 20% of
media and advertising category growth in 2022.
With AI and machine learning, marketers can gain insights in real time
and at scale, providing them with the ability to better understand their audience,
what they need and where they're looking for it. This empowers them to create
better online experiences, improve business performance and build brand trust
through true relevance. If a marketer or advertiser is not using AI-driven
solutions to enhance their campaigns, they are missing out on insights, new
audiences, and productivity gains. Those that embrace AI and machine learning
now will gain a long term competitive advantage.
Min-Jae
Lee, Chief Privacy Officer, Quantcast
●
Well-intended state data privacy regulations will cause confusion.
California, Virginia, and Colorado have each
passed their own comprehensive data privacy laws aimed at protecting consumers'
digital data. More states will soon follow, with a half dozen states having
similar bills active in their legislatures in late 2021. While these efforts
are a positive step forward, this approach will result in confusion. With each
state passing its own privacy laws, rules and regulations will vary throughout
the US. The complexity will make it difficult for businesses to comply.
Ultimately, this will underscore the need for a single set of federal data
privacy regulations in the US, similar to GDPR.
●
Companies put user privacy first.
Against the backdrop
of growing data privacy concerns,
next year enterprises will make a concerted effort to build greater trust with
their customers by establishing strong data privacy policies. We're seeing this
unfold as more and more companies appoint Chief Privacy Officers. However, orgs
don't necessarily need a CPO to be successful as long as they recognize what
their users want and put those preferences first. For this to be effective,
companies must ensure their privacy policies are transparent, follow those
policies at all times, and never surprise their users.
In 2022, organizations must meet these new
market challenges to future-proof their businesses, while continuing to embrace
innovative solutions. Those that do will reap unique benefits and competitive
advantages, better preparing them for the future.
##
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ingrid Burton is the Chief Marketing Officer at Quantcast where she drives the brand and creates demand to transform the company for growth. Prior to joining Quantcast, Ingrid held CMO roles at leading startups including H2O.ai, a leader in open-source AI and machine learning, at Hortonworks, where she drove a brand and marketing transformation that positioned the company for growth, and at Silver Spring Networks. She also was CMO at Plantronics after a 20-year career at Sun Microsystems, where she held several leadership roles, including head of marketing for the company and Java marketing, global citizenship, championing open source initiatives, and leading product and strategic marketing teams. Ingrid also held a marketing executive role at SAP, where she co-created the Cloud strategy, led HANA and analytics marketing, and drove developer outreach.