Thinking Caps

For over 2 decades the Real Story Group has evaluated technology vendors and their viability for brands searching for solutions. But this shocking review of Salesforce's '360 Audiences' product points to a larger issue with the big 'marketing cloud' solutions. Using phrases such as "cobbled-together" in their report, we break it down and explain why the big marketing cloud platforms may be the worst decision you can make for your organization.

Google drops another adtech bomb claiming that hashed emails will not be the path forward for brands to makes matches for advertising. This means the efforts to get behind Unified ID 2.0, which was adopted by platforms such as LiveRamp and others, will not be viable long term. But what does all of this mean for the brand marketer? Rich and Tim break this down for you. Expect more coverage on Thinking Caps as the cookie continues to crumble.

As two major tech companies continue their quest for world domination when it comes to the online advertising market, the U.K. and Australian governments fight back. Just recently, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into Google and Facebook’s control over the advertising market which, as you’ll hear, is massive enough to categorize them as a duopoly. At the same time, Australia is fighting against the same two giants, with troublesome consequences. Tune in to hear the conflicts explained and learn 4 things marketers have to be aware of in this climate and what they can do to avoid being dragged behind the adtech disruption train wreck.

Marketers have tried every trick in the book to get consumers to pay attention. And now? That behavior is catching up with them quickly. From being seen as intrusive to downright creepy, marketers have to take a step back and reevaluate if their foundational methods are even working anymore. In this episode, we take a look at the latest Forrester report, Marketers Versus Customers: Opposing Forces Erupt, and discuss how marketers need to reevaluate their assumptions with customer data and embrace customer preferences.

As reported this week in Forbes.com, the EU's top regulator suggested that "European legislators should consider a ban on online targeted advertising based on pervasive tracking and restrict the categories of data that can be processed for such advertising methods."

Digiday also reports that Forbes themselves are pushing their ForbesOne, a first- and zero-party data offering that can match advertisers with readers across their various properties. Forbes joins a growing number of publishers who realize opted in data is the only path forward for their advertising revenue streams.

Retailers — it’s crunch time. We learned that only 9% of retail brands are updating their customer data in real-time. This is a crucial bit of knowledge, it tells us that retailers — the ones who benefit most by targeting offers to their customers in real-time, in the moment — are struggling. You can no longer depend on that third-party data that everyone, including your competitors, has. It’s time to get smart with your data collection strategy. In this episode of Thinking Caps, Richard and Tim dive into the latest report from Forrester and share what those retail marketers who are falling behind with their siloed data and shattered view of the customer can start doing right now to catch up. 

It’s a rumble for the ages. Apple and Facebook fighting over how YOUR data is used. Apple has taken the offensive, changing how it tracks consumers in its mobile and browser platforms, as well as adding privacy warnings to App Store apps. Facebook, on the other hand, is begging consumers to let Facebook track them. Do it for the advertisers, Zuckerberg pleads! (Consumers aren’t so sure about that.) As Facebook stubbornly fights to keep things the way they are and to hold onto its lucrative advertising strategy, it’s fair to point out here that privacy and personalization can co-exist. In fact, in our recent global consumer study, we learned that 79% of consumers would like a brand to stop advertising to them on Facebook and instead invest in a loyalty program that rewards them for their business. It’s a sea change for the entire industry and so far, Facebook is drowning.

Google's move to kill the cookie prompted the creation of FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts). This band aid continues to move ad tech away from what consumers and marketers want, the ability to personalize at a one to one level.

AdAge quotes Google: "Instead of understanding browsing behavior or interests at an individual level, the intent here is to have groups of users who would have similar interests"

Learn why you, as a marketer, need to invest in owning zero party data and a direct relationship with your consumers. We'll tell you how in this episode.

Cookies, Privacy and Personalization will continue to be hurdles for marketers in 2021. But fear not, we surface 5 predictions and give you an action plan as to how to make them work for you. Start the year off with a solid plan of attack and that can start here.

Paula Thomas is a loyalty aficionado. She’s a marketing executive with over 20 years of experience, has served as a judge for the Loyalty Magazine Awards, is the author of Driving Loyalty in Convenience Retail, the host and founder of the Let’s Talk Loyalty Podcast, and is joining us on Thinking Caps today. She talks to Tim and Richard about the foundational pillars of loyalty, how loyalty programs are creating “points for good” programs, and shares some great resources on loyalty and gamification in loyalty programs. Tune in to hear a great episode!

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