IAB Canada’s Data Month concluded yesterday with the annual Report on Data event which featured the CMUST Study results, an overview on Policy as a data leveler and interesting looks into first party data usage.
Kicking off the discussion on the topic of international policy as a data leveler, IAB Canada President, Sonia Carreno reviewed the four quadrants of IAB Canada’s policy focus: Fair Marketplaces, Safe Marketplaces, Privacy & Data, Digital Economy, Innovation and Economic growth. Carreno described the tremendous acceleration of regulatory issues over time showing that privacy and anti-spam (PIPEDA and CASL) and no longer the only files that could have significant impact on digital advertising in the coming years. International regulations are beginning to impact how business is being done within our own borders and likewise, Canada may be in a position to set some important global precedents on its own. Finally, there was a brief discussion of what the future may hold. Moving from the existing cookie-dependant infrastructure to one that supports Universal IDs is the current focus of the industry and we expect major developments on this front in the new year.
Rob Young, Senior VP Marketing Science at PHD Canada unpacked the detailed 18th annual Canadian Media Usage Study (CMUST) findings. This year’s presentation was rooted in the theme of diversity. Each data set was analyzed against Canada’s rich and culturally diverse audiences. Young highlighted the incredible power of sports and its ability to connect people from all ethnicities across the country. Young also took the time to explain the intricacies of the Numeris VAM project and explained in detail how video measurement would become incredibly more robust in the coming years
Amina Mattern, Head of Strategy at Loblaw Media, showcased Loblaw’s fascinating evolution towards advanced first party data usage. Mattern outlined the powerful connection between loyalty programs and how the data can be leveraged to create custom audiences with stunning accuracy. A great quote was shared during the presentation from WARC Rankings: “Brand building needs to embrace the data of performance marketing and the latter needs to embrace the guiding principles of brand narratives, to create a strategy that meets both objectives”. Her presentation made clear that without feeding upper funnel activity, there is a law of diminished returns from the lower funnel. The inverse, however, is not true.
Eyereturn’s Ian Hewetson (VP Sales Torstar) and Jamie Armstrong (Director Analytics) after a brief memorial for the cookie, gave a compelling talk around how we might measure beyond straight ROAS and further our goals through analyzing incrementality. The presentation laid out how Eyereturn is leveraging new technologies to gain additional reach within campaign measurement.
Concluding the afternoon, President and CEO, Pat Pellegrini Ph.D, presented Vividata’s first-ever Canadian digital passive measurement panel, unveiling a first-look at some amazing round-the-clock digital, mobile consumer and media behavior data from the new panel. The presentation ended with a strong nod to the CMUST discussion, by highlighting insights from Vividata’s recent Diversity study results.
The content covered in this year’s event was a testament to the tremendous change we are experiencing in the digital advertising industry. From refined strategic uses of data and measurement to policy and fundamental changes to the infrastructure of the supply chain, we’re in for an exciting ride!
Presentations will be made available in the Knowledge Center by December 4; CMUST will be released early February, and IAB Canada would like to thank our returning sponsors: Teads, Cineplex, comScore and Captivate for your on-going support and participation in these critical topics.