Brands need first-party data, and they’re solving for that need through a mix of creativity, personalized products and the power of good old-fashioned celebrity endorsements.
Which is why everyone in ad tech and digital media should take note of these initiatives, which span everything from personalized Oreos (dubbed the Oreo ID) to celebrity endorsements designed to spur app downloads and digital ordering. The Mariah (Carey) menu at McDonald’s or that meal collab it did with Korean boy band BTS – yeah, that’s a first-party data play.
These initiatives are borne of a desire to imitate direct-to-consumer brands and prep for a future with far less access to third-party data.
But more than that, these projects indicate C-level buy-in – and that’s the ultimate celebrity endorsement.
During the second half of The Big Story, we talk about the flip side of first-party data: privacy and regulation.
It’s a time of intense scrutiny of Big Tech among legislators, digital advertising public policy leaders should be front and center, advocating on behalf of their constituency. But the IAB’s latest public policy head has just left the trade org, creating a power vacuum that’s aching to be filled.
We talk about why this power vacuum exists, as well as the IAB’s greater challenge to advocate for the needs of a varied membership that is often at odds with each other – and increasingly meeting with a mixed reception from regulators in Washington.
