Seize the Day: CPG Brands Prepare for Privacy Changes

By NCS Marketing

The impact of privacy measures like the deprecation of third-party cookies is generally listed at the top of challenges faced by digital marketing professionals in 2021, according to Integral Ad Science, with almost half of respondents (49%) listing it as a top industry challenge.

When we attended the recent Brand Innovator’s Media Buying Summit, the topic of privacy arose in many of the panels and fireside chats. Overall, brand leaders spoke about the opportunity privacy changes have presented brands to offer a greater value exchange to consumers: 

• Diageo’s Global Director of Digital & Media, Joshua Nafman, spoke with enthusiasm about data ethics and the brand’s efforts towards providing value to consumers in exchange for their data. He described data as the “the fuel for all consumer experiences when done well and with consent.” 
• PetCo’s CMO, Tariq Hassan, and VP of Media, Jay Altschuler shared PetCo’s privacy-first approach, and referenced the “responsibility framework” that PetCo holds itself and partners to. “It's important as we move forward, that we must do it in a way that's privacy compliant and transparent with our consumers,” Jay said.
• Rob Master, Unilever’s Vice President of Media & Digital Engagement, explained how Unilever and brands at large have a responsibility to play an active role in the industry’s efforts toward a solution. When it comes to privacy changes, he touted the values of a “clean supply chain”, and likens the changes to an opportunity to “bring the entire ecosystem together to meet the moment of data-rich opportunities.” 
• At PepsiCo, Global Head of Marketing & Advertising Technology, Mike Scafid also spoke to the opportunity to build a one-to-one relationship with customers based on providing value. As a result of these industry changes, “in the long run, PepsiCo will build stronger relationships between brands and consumers.”

At NCS, we’ve been running workshops with our consumer packaged goods clients and publishers to help prepare for upcoming privacy changes. We’ve noticed a similar embracive approach of the consumer-brand value exchange among our clients, who are focused on the following three themes to protect consumers’ right to privacy and management over their personal data in their preparation for a cookieless world.

These same themes have been reflected more broadly across the industry. At the Media Buying Summit, the industry’s continued focus on exploring identity solutions while building up the strength of first-party datasets came up in multiple sessions. 

At NCS, we’re working on ways to help our advertisers and partners future-proof their ad effectiveness to mitigate the expected drop in publisher data due to Apple iOS IDFA and Google privacy changes. This starts with enriching our purchase data—what we’re calling “Project Boost”—to ensure more robust, representative, and usable data for measurement and audience targeting applications as the industry undergoes privacy shifts.

How Does Enriched NCS Purchase Data Future-Proof Your Advertising?

Measurement feasibility depends on the number of exposed buyers in our measurement sample, and we anticipated the number of exposures in our sample to drop as a result of third-party cookie deprecation. To prepare for this, earlier this year NCS increased the available purchasing data we use in our solutions.  Increasing the number of buyers in our sample helps compensate for the expected drop in available media exposures for campaign measurement.  With this boosted data set, NCS is able to use more of the available exposed homes and still have sample sizes that are large enough to report advertising effectiveness metrics like incremental sales. 

Whether you’re looking to add value to your direct-to-consumer relationships or third-party data partnerships via ID solutions, as you and your teams navigate the imminent disruption to the privacy landscape, consider a complimentary Future Fit Workshop that has been well-attended by brands and their agencies.