Simon Theakston, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, at SBDS, looks at what we can expect in the marketing and advertising industry from the year ahead when it comes to all things data.
1. A bigger focus on first and second party data
With GDPR already in effect and the EU privacy directive coming in to play, I think we should expect more class action lawsuits. We’ll likely see our first case of non-compliance by a major entity which will be used to set an example – this will make 2019 the banner year for GDPR as opposed to 2018.
As a result, there will be a rise in the use of second party data at the expense of third party data. With this will come the the growth of affiliated businesses that facilitate second party data sharing as well a real push of compliance related tech products in the market.
2. An increase in data-sharing partnerships
As we look ahead to 2019 we will also see more ‘friendly’ companies setting up agreements to share data and insights. Think about News Corp’s advertising platform News IQ, which launched earlier this year. This is a prime example of a second party data partnership; the platform pulls together audience data from all of its publications – this is then be used by advertisers to target based on audience opinions and emotions.
Stemming from this, there will be more alignment of supply and demand in the advertising value chain: advertisers bringing their own data to publishers for suppression or targeting.
3. Even more disparate data sources will be brought into marketing
Thanks to DMPs, CDPs and other similar tech, marketers will be able to capitalise on a wider variety of data streams than possible before. On top of this, we will see a rise in data being activated outside direct marketing channels – think internal modelling and on site personalisation.
4. A greater focus on measurement
With the long awaited regulations and the list of breaches, data has become the topic of the year. This has led to people becoming so much more aware of how their personal details are handled and used. It’s no surprise that the investments made in data management – whether that be the tech itself or the talent that drives it – are under scrutiny.
In fact, our research found that CMOs estimate poor data handling is costing their businesses almost £1m per year, so, in 2019 we’ll see even more marketers focusing on how to measure the ROI and get more value out of data management, including the tech that powers it.
By Simon Theakston
Co-founder and Managing Partner
SBDS