The end of cookies is nigh. Think smart, change tac and cook up a new plan.
That’s the world according to Nicholas Kontopoulos, Twilio’s Vice President of Marketing, Asia Pacific & Japan.
Speaking at Variety’s inaugural CMO Dinner, Kontopoulos walked guests through the New Consumer Data Revolution, a landscape filled with opportunity and not a third-party cookie in sight.
From a marketing perspective, “there’s been a crumbling of the cookie globally, and locally as well,” he explained, a situation expedited by negative press, and the depiction of third-party cookie capturing as a “ruthless data grab,” a stalking tool.
The market research shows that third-party cookies left a weird taste in consumers’ mouths.
It’s forced a rethink, on how to use the data that’s been historically captured to deliver consumer insights.
The numbers bear it out. Based on Twilio’s research, just 40% of customers trust brands with their personal data. On the flipside, he points out, 71% of buyers feel frustrated when a purchasing experience is “impersonal.”
How to provide useful, powerful experiences for the consumer without that data, and without that taste of vanilla? Well, finding that tasty spot is the marketer’s dream — and it’s built on trust.
Cookies will disappear, the old way of engaging with customers in an individualised and personal way will go with them. There “won’t be any going back,” says Singapore-based Kontopoulos.
Instead, collect data from multiple sources and bring it together in a way that demonstrates deeper understanding of those customers.
One solution is to drill into the “Dark Data,” the stuff that’s already swirling in the ether – low-hanging digital fruit.
And harness “zero party data” and “first party data.”
Twilio’s research found that 90% of marketers in APAC agree that the death of third-party cookies could lead to higher use of zero-party data, that is the information directly and voluntarily shared by customers.
Right now, there’s an opportunity for martechnicians to take control of the data, reckons Kontopoulos, for those who can build trust, understand the give and take.
According to research published by Accenture, he shared, 83% of customers would willingly share data if it demonstrates “value.”
Move away from the “land grab” of capturing all the data marketers can get, he insists, identify the quality data in the ecosystem, and do it with a dash of experimentation.
Kontopoulos’s delivered his optimistic presentation at the invite-only dinner earlier this month in Sydney, which brought together some of the country’s top entertainment, tech and wider business CMOs.
The first-up event took place Aug. 4 at Pyrmont’s waterfront Italian seafood restaurant, Sala.