What three steps should brands make to prepare for the cookie-less world?

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At the beginning of 2020, Google joined Safari and Firefox in the decision to block third-party cookies from their browsers by 2023 (Chromium Blog, 2020) forcing marketers to think differently about how they reach consumers and provide targeted communications. With under 2 years to make the transition, what can the industry do to prepare?

1. Improve first party data collection and establish a clear data policy

With the loss of third-party cookies, many brands will be gathering as much first party data as possible, due to “InfoObesity” (Whitler, 2018). However, data saturation could be holding brands back from using data effectively as they often lack a coordinated plan (Stark, 2021). To overcome this, brands must establish clear customer goals, aligned to their business goals, to ensure the most effective data is collected, analysed and measured.

Once brands create a plan that identifies what data is needed, they can begin to ensure that the collection of this data is “fully compliant with regulations and future-proof” (Deloitte, 2020). It is essential that these data policies are easy to understand as 73% of consumers felt it was too hard to figure out what companies are doing with their data (Cisco, 2019).

Data policies are not only a legal requirement but have become an influential purchasing factor, as 87% of consumers claim they would not do business with a company if they had concerns about its security practices (Anant et al, 2020). A clear understanding of a brands data policies can, therefore, help to attract and secure customers (Statista, 2021).

As the fight for consumer attention continues, it is crucial for brands to take these steps if they want to have a competitive advantage in the market.

2. Establish your brand as trustworthy and reliable

Trust is a key element to being able to provide value to your customers, as 81% of consumers say trust impacts their purchasing decisions (Edelman, 2019).

Lewis and Weigert (1985) define trust as having cognitive, affective, and behavioural dimensions. It is affective and cognitive trust that are most significant for brands. Cognitive trust is a customer's confidence or willingness to rely on a service provider's competence and reliability. Affective trust is based on previous experiences of interacting with the service provider (Johnson and Greyson 2005).

Brands can implement cognitive and affective trust by:

• Communicating how it uses data (Statista, 2021).

• Focusing on adding value to consumers, not just generating profit (Forbes Agency Council, 2021).

• Engaging, authentically with customers and addressing negative feedback (Forbes Agency Council, 2021).

Once trust has been established, consumers are more likely to pay attention to a brand’s other communications. Brands can ‘reach more engaged consumers who are willing to interact with content because they have opted-in to it’ (Epstein, 2021). In fact, 68% of consumers said that when a brand earns their full trust—across product, customer experience and societal impact—they will buy first, stay loyal to, advocate for and defend that brand (Glasgow, 2019).

This is supported by Ehrenberg’s Awareness, Trial, Reinforcement and Nudging (ATRN) model (Ehrenberg, 1998) which suggests that loyalty to a brand only comes after repeated purchasing and the only way to secure repeated purchasing is for reinforcement and nudging to occur in the form of advertising, especially after the initial purchase.

Consumers want brands to connect with them on an emotional, individual and community level (Hemsley, 2020) and they continue to demand more personalised and relevant content from the brands they are interacting with. However, to be successful these interactions between consumers and brands must be authentic as consumers will call a brand out if they feel they aren’t being transparent and there is a gap between what they say and what they do (Hemsley, 2020).

LEGO is a great example of how brands can use authenticity to gain consumer trust and sustained loyalty. LEGO’s mission statement is to have “a positive impact on the world they (children) live in today and will inherit in the future” (LEGO, 2021). In 2020, LEGO put words into action when they pledged $50 million to provide vital supplies and create opportunities for children to learn, support their well-being and develop during COVID-19 (LEGO, 2020). These interventions were also personalised to ensure the right support was provided to each community.

3. Increasing the use of the right technology

The ideal organisational model in a cookie-less world is a hybrid approach, where a brand takes ownership of its data and develops data analysis and activation practices internally while working with a trusted external partner to fill in any expertise gaps (Stark, 2021).

Identifying gaps internally will allow brands to determine whether implementing new technologies will help to meet the brands objectives.

Brands should look to ethically introduce technology such as AI and Geo-tracking that can help to provide a more personalised approach (Ignatidou, 2019). This method could also increase the brands return on investment (ROI) between 12% and 35%, depending on the marketing channel (Stark, 2021). However, it’s important that brands only use technology if it helps them to achieve their goals without being intrusive to the consumer (Epstein, 2021).

If brands begin to change how they gather and store first party data now, by implementing these steps, then the impending cookie-less world provides an opportunity for advertisers to challenge themselves to create personalised content and reach engaged consumers in a more effective way, supported by new and emerging technologies.

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