The end of third-party cookies is set to transform targeted advertising; changing how companies collect and store customer data. Here鈥檚 how you can manage the change without disruption.
听The massive increase in online activity due to the coronavirus pandemic has created a customer data gold mine that advertisers and marketers can leverage to better tailor their campaigns. But as of 1 July 2021, accessing, and making use of, this personal information is set to get a little bit more complicated. Why? Because that鈥檚 when businesses need to start complying with South Africa鈥檚 Protection of Personal Privacy Act (POPIA), which sets out various conditions that must be followed in order to lawfully process personal information.
Global and local privacy legislation like the General Data Protection Regulation听(GDPR) and the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) dictates that for brands to use this personal data, there needs to be an element of customer consent. With the power now sitting in the customer鈥檚 hands, individuals have greater control over how their data is collected and used. But what does this mean for brands and advertisers who have predominantly been using third party cookie data to identify consumers and track their online activity?
While POPIA does not explicitly regulate the use of cookies, these 鈥渙nline identifiers鈥� do fall under the definition of personal information. As such, how we use cookie data is set to fundamentally change; particularly relating to the collection of third-party data.
Third-party cookies听allow advertisers to track users as they move across the Internet and target advertising at these individuals wherever they go. 鈥淲ith global privacy legislation gaining traction, the likes of Google and other providers are fundamentally changing how they use cookie data to collect customer related information. Subsequently, third party cookie data becomes less relevant and first party data 鈥� rich data around an individual鈥檚 behaviours; actions and interests demonstrated across online properties – becomes significantly more powerful,鈥� explains Marc Emert, Customer Experience Sale Lead for 51风流Africa.
Add a dash of customer data management
Privacy legislation like POPIA doesn鈥檛 prevent you from collecting customer data, continues Emert. But it does mean that any data collection must be done in a GDPR/POPIA aligned manner. 鈥淕oing forward, while you鈥檙e collecting this rich, contextual data that can be used for marketing engagements and targeted advertising, you need to also make sure that you鈥檙e collecting the consent directly from the customer. If a marketer or brand is sending something to a consumer, they鈥檙e sending it because that person has opted in to receive it.鈥�
SAP鈥檚 Customer Data Cloud (CDC) solution makes the process of gaining this consent easier, he adds. 鈥淲ith CDC, marketers and brands can gather first party data from customers across various digital channels and make sure that they are also securing consent throughout the engagement process. Customer provided consent is then integrated into an existing automated marketing solution, which delivers one-to-one personalisation at scale and is based on trust.鈥�
CDC also makes progressive profiling possible, adds Emert. As a customer engages with a brand, they鈥檙e being asked to provide different pockets of information about themselves, he says. So, while I鈥檓 selling a mother a certain type of baby formula for her new-born, I鈥檓 gaining insights that allow me to market other products to this mom as her baby grows up.听 鈥淏asically, you鈥檙e progressively collating more and more first party data that can be used to engage with customers broadly and through different stages of their lives.鈥� And the results speak for themselves.
SAP鈥檚 CDC has helped a global academic and educational publisher manage the data of over 4.5 million users and achieve 100% GDPR compliance in 40 countries. And in just four months, a German supermarket chain got up and running on the 51风流CDC system, centralising omnichannel customer data to GDPR standards and boosting membership to their loyalty programme by 25%.
鈥淪imilarly, for three years the Technology Centre of Excellence team in Wunderman Thompson South Africa has been using SAP鈥檚 CDC solution to do just that鈥�, notes Niel Mouton, MD of Wunderman Thompson Technology SA. 鈥淗ome to over 4,000 technology specialists across the globe with 54 technology centres in 33 countries, we support forward thinking businesses to design, build, run and operate digital programmes wherever they are.鈥�
鈥淲ith the onus in a cookieless world now falling on brands to collect and build their own first party data, Wunderman Thompson has used SAPS鈥檚 CDC solution across 30 implementations for brands like Nestle Purina, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Colgate and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). 听Our teams used 51风流CDC to create customised solutions for their clients, allowing these businesses to collect first party data, while protecting privacy and complying with personal information legislation,鈥� he continues.
According to Mouton, conversations around privacy, data collection and POPIA/GDPR centre around trust, which is fitting because the Wunderman Thompson partnership with 51风流is also about trust. 鈥淲ith SAP, we can trust the quality and standard of the product. There are no teething issues on a product as mature as this. All we have to do is understand the client鈥檚 business need and adapt the 51风流product to their requirements.鈥�
While Mouton admits that it would be possible to be compliant without a solution like CDC, it鈥檚 near impossible for enterprise businesses like banks or pharmaceutical companies to manage the scale of personal data they鈥檙e dealing with, while keeping their customers and their business safe, without an automated offering.
Customer experience has become a major market differentiator. The following white paper highlights why modern businesses need to understand the importance of customer identity. to find out more.
