In this feature, Rob McLaughlin, founder of AUDIENCES, discusses the importance of interoperability when harnessing first-party data.

Advertisers are finding explosive reach and scale by bringing first-party data into the planning and activation of media across the plan. Programmatic is seeing a rebirth thanks to first-party signals flooding the buy-side. CTV is suddenly relevant for advertisers who demand performance-based outcomes thanks to the ability to focus audience targeting while still obtaining scale. Audio and out-of-home are suddenly targetable at levels never attainable, and ever data-hungry social and search platforms are delivering return on ad spend at levels once reserved for direct response, as first-party signals infuse audience targeting and fuel algorithms via conversion APIs.

Once synonymous with efficiency and accuracy, data is now a growth and scale engine as brands move beyond use cases focused on measurement and optimisation and into audience generation, attention generating, and growth. Advertisers and their agencies are collaborating to accelerate the activation of first-party data across the media plan in order to meet the portfolio objectives of reach, scale, growth, targeting, and effectiveness. The winners in this new era are those who have enabled interoperability of first-party data across the funnel.

A Quiet Revolution

There has been a quiet revolution in the mid and top of funnel channels. While the world has been on fire thanks to Google third-party cookies and a crisis in identifiers and privacy, the overall cause of addressability has made massive leaps forward in other areas. Previously, programmatic, CTV, audio, and out-of-home mediums have had minimal data appetites, leaving targeting to broad demographic and geographic reference points. However, as marketers and agency teams look to plan in late 2024 platforms such as Global, AdSmart and MiQ are encouraging advertisers to plan and execute from first-party data signals.

This year's awards season is already being defined by new categories for data-driven and informed strategies emerging. Parkdean Resorts represent a great example of this as they have built significant first-party data capabilities and applied them across their activities. High performance programmatic and social has delivered throughout trading windows and is enabling explosive reach for acquisition campaigns and relevant messaging to existing customers. Parkdean Resorts are leading the category in first-party data activation and marketing excellence.

CTV as a performance channel

The promise of CTV has been chasing marketers for over a decade, but brands such as SAGA plc are at last exploiting this rich and advanced channel. Working with Dentsu and Adsmart by Sky campaigns have delivered messaging to net-new prospects via first-party informed look-a-likes while also speaking to existing customers to great effect. With return-on-ad-spend of over ten times, CTV is re-casting itself as a performance channel while retaining the richness and scale that the medium has always promised. Increasing numbers of CTV platforms are encouraging advertisers to onboard first-party data for planning and execution. Naturally, AUDIENCES is supporting brands across the media plan onboard for activation. Opportunities for massive scale activation only accelerate once connected with the likes of MiQ offering further activations across the programmatic and CTV ecosystem.

The seemingly data-impenetrable mediums such as audio and out-of-home are in flux also. Global as a stand-out player offering an increasing set of first-party driven propositions allowing advertisers to activate at huge scale and effectiveness. There are several stand-out campaigns from high-profile advertisers slotted for Q4 which will be pioneering these new capabilities across audio and out-of-home.

Underpinning these systemic changes in our industry is the interoperability of first-party data. Advertising can now be informed across the funnel with rich intelligence and connected directly to channel activations. The team at AUDIENCES are proud to be supporting many of the most ambitious advertisers as they deliver against their objectives while staying fully data secure and privacy safe. Data, first-party data specifically, is now a force for scale and reach, an essential feature across the marketing plan.