Practically every session at IAB’s three-day Annual Leadership Meeting touched on how our industry must find the means to move forward in a truly privacy-first way. The strong sentiment seems to be that instead of crying over crumbled cookies, we should be using our smarts and resources to reimagine our relationship with our consumers across multiple channels and doing whatever we can to rebuild trust. A distinctive call out was heard across the New York stage for a collaborative shouldering of the responsibility of where we are today and a collective effort to put privacy first – protecting the user experience in a way that is sincere and good for all of us.
As we tuned in to a collective of privacy experts, agency leaders, brand marketers and technology providers, there does seem to be some consensus as to how we can move forward but we need to act yesterday and focus on the following:
- Put Privacy at the Core of Your Business
Being privacy first is no longer an afterthought and has evolved well beyond regulations. Bring your privacy team into the conversation from the start and keep lawyers in the room when coming up with ideas and technology requirements or discussing product and development. Make decisions that serve both your business and the consumer and share this mentality across business units and with partners to solve for the future. You will find yourself in a better position that stands the test of time.
- Invest in technology and innovation Privacy-first technology is a smart investment that will allow for meaningful connections and measurement. As the stack continues to grow with the accelerated use of CDPs, CMPs and other privacy enabling tech, the advice here is to keep learning and take some time to read up on and understand Privacy-enhancing technologies (PET). These sophisticated technologies currently employed by enterprises within the insurance and financial industries are used to maximize data security and minimize the use of personal data.
Integration of PET within the advertising industry will instill confidence in user privacy, preserve the security of first-party data, and foster safe data management particularly as the future of commerce continues to evolve with the way future generations interact with brands. The IAB Tech Lab has just announced the launch of their PET working group as the latest phase of Rearc. This group will focus on enabling addressability solutions that are inherently private and data secure to ensure consumer anonymity across the digital advertising landscape.
- Become a part of the Solution. If there was ever a time to join the conversation it is now. Solving for privacy first addressability requires big effort and the right stakeholders at the table. Decisions need to be made regarding shared taxonomies and use cases, audience definitions, the setting of standards among others. Right now, all stakeholders need to be at all of the tables and in the working groups helping to redesign a sustainable future for an ad supported internet.
Get involved at IAB Canada. Please reach out and let us, and your community, know what is on your mind and how we can help. Collaboration is key and it starts with open dialogue. Find out how at committees@iabcanada.com.