Agencies and brands divided on impact of privacy on ad targeting

May 14, 2021 | Share this article

Brands and media agencies are not aligned when it comes to the expected impact of tighter privacy rules and regulations on ad targeting, according to the findings of a comprehensive survey into privacy readiness in Asia-Pacific, conducted by Campaign Asia-Pacific, Forrester and the World Federation of Advertisers.

The survey, revealed on May 4 at the Campaign360 2021 conference, exposed gaps between the levels of confidence and preparedness for a post-cookie world among agencies, brands and publishers.

Nearly two-thirds (60%) of media agency respondents said stricter rules will make their targeting less accurate, but only 40% of brands agreed. One-quarter of brands think targeting will be the same, while 22% don’t know what the impact will be.

Campaign conducted qualitative research with agency leaders from Omnicom Media Group and Mediabrands to piece together the discrepancies.

Leigh Terry (pictured below), the CEO of Mediabrands APAC, says the survey findings indicate that some “are not fully ready for a cookieless world”. He believes targeting will actually improve come January 31, 2022, when third-party cookies will begin to be extinguished.

“Across IPG we have been planning for this for some time,” Terry says. “We feel very confident that our investment in data and our private domain identity solutions to activate 1PD will provide our partners with a significant advantage and improve the effectiveness of their media plans.

“If anything a brand’s first-party data will actually enable improved targeting—because deterministic equals more accurate—with customised measurement capabilities to further enhance, dependent upon advertisers’ specific needs.”

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