So far this year, IAB Europe’s committees and taskforces have produced some incredible outputs. From an updated guide on the Post Third-Party Cookie Era and a new Guide to the Programmatic CTV Opportunity in Europe to a deep dive into Brand Safety in CTV and over 20 virtual events, it's been a great start to 2021.
If you're keen to get involved after the summer break, we'd love to have you join us! We have a range of committees and taskforces that every IAB Europe member can join, and below, we’ve put together a summary of our committees so you have all the information you need to sign up and get involved.
Why join a Committee?
Being a part of a committee will help you to expand your knowledge and network, and provide valuable education and guidance to the wider community. You can stay up to date on the latest regulatory affairs and public policy initiatives that promote self-regulation, best practices, and industry standards. Most of our committees organise events, so you have the opportunity to become a speaker or moderator at large events, which bring together hundreds of industry peers. Finally, being a part of a committee means you can influence the work we are doing to drive forward the future of our industry.
What’s involved?
Each committee has a monthly conference call with a quarterly face to face meeting when we can meet again. The committee Chair and Vice-Chair lead each session and proactively involve members to get the very best from each meeting. The latest projects and outputs will be discussed so members can decide what they’d like to get involved with and work on. Most committees will focus on two to three key projects each quarter which could range from producing a white paper or discussing the latest policy situation to conducting industry research and market insights. For any output you are involved with, you and your company will be cited in the report and have the opportunity to be involved in subsequent PR or events.
What Committees can I join?
Please see below for an overview of the committees you can join. For more details on the committees with details on the Chairs, work plan, and contact details, please click here.
On 6th July, IAB Europe hosted its first Digital Audio Day of 2021.
The event brought together the shapers, creators, and noisemakers of digital audio advertising to discuss everything you need to know about this channel!
Through a series of panel discussions and keynote speeches, we discussed all things audio from the audio landscape and programmatic audio, right through to audio measurement, standards, and podcast trends.
In this post, you'll find an overview of each of the sessions covered, as well as the video recordings from each of the sessions for you to view in your own time.
Watch the full event recording here.
Opening Keynote: The Audio Landscape in 2021 and Beyond - Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist, IAB Europe.
In this opening keynote presentation, Daniel Knapp focused on the recently released AdEx 2020 Report to share what the audio landscape in Europe looks like in 2021 and beyond.
Watch the session recording here.
Panel 1: The Audio Landscape
Following on from Daniel’s presentation, this panel discussed how the audio market has evolved over the last year, highlighting the latest investment figures and developments in the market. They shared their thoughts on what this means going forward to help scale the audio advertising opportunity.
The panel was moderated by Catherine Cribbin, Member Services Manager, IAB UK, who was joined by:
Watch the session recording here.
Keynote: Measuring the Audio Moment - Moomal Shaikh, Senior Product Manager, Oracle Advertising
Audio is on the rise (ask yourself- how many podcasts are recommended to you on a weekly basis?) but there’s still work to be done to measure IVT, brand safety, and overall performance on audio channels. In this keynote we heard Moomal Shaikh break down the state of audio measurement today, and where it’s going.
Watch the session recording here.
Keynote: Unleashing the Value of Programmatic Audio – Benjamin Masse, Global Managing Director, Strategy & Market Development, Triton Digital
Online audio is blossoming around the world through a wealth of new content, new formats, and new experiences. In this educational and thought-provoking session, Triton Digital’s Benjamin Masse presented both strategy and best practices for the programmatic monetisation of online audio. From trends across Europe and as compared to the rest of the world, this session provided helpful information on how best to optimise yield, and keep audio inventory in the spotlight in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Watch the session recording here.
Keynote: Great Talkers. Even Better Listeners – Lee Thompson, Strategy Director, AudioOne
In his talk, Lee explored Irish people’s relationship with digital audio. Based on findings from the most recent wave of IAB Ireland’s Digital Audio Consumption & Behaviour research he lifted the lid on the love affair with Audio and explained how, in the space of a few short years, digital audio has become a media planning favourite.
Watch the session recording here.
Keynote: Top 10 Podcast Trends in 10 Minutes – Adam Bowie, Business Development Manager, BBC World Service
Everything you need to know about the fast-moving podcast marketplace, examining the latest trends and numbers. This session challenged some preconceptions and provided insight and background into a continually evolving digital audio space, including the impact of social audio, subscriptions, and exclusivity.
Watch the session recording here.
Keynote: Update on Digital Audio Global Technology Standards – Where We Stand, and Where We Go – Oliver von Wersch, Founder & CEO, vonwerchpartner, consulting for IAB Tech Lab
The presentation gave an overview of the current state of IAB Tech Lab’s Digital Audio Standards, and provided insights into planned developments in 2021.
Watch the session recording here.
IAB Europe's hotly-anticipated full 2020 AdEx Benchmark Report is now live for all the world to see! Released on 1st July 2021, the report is the definitive guide to advertising expenditure in Europe. It covers 28 markets and details the formats and channels that contributed to digital advertising’s annual growth of 6.3 percent in 2020, culminating in a market value of €69bn.
You can download the full AdEx 2020 Report here.
But if you're looking for key facts, stats, and all the highlights from the report (the ones you absolutely must know), then be sure to check out our short videos, featuring our very own Chief Economist, Daniel Knapp below:
Keen to learn even more? Why not join us on 8th July for a Special Economic Trends Forum where Daniel Knapp will dive into the report to look at key digital ad spends and trends in 2020, and share must-know highlights and key takeaways. Register here to secure your space today!
In this week’s member-guest post, we hear from Igor Gubin, Region Manager, Europe at Admitad Affiliate Network, as he reveals the very promising outlook for online fashion sales.
The pandemic and lockdown was a massive blow to the fashion industry with sales decreasing in 2020. This year, however, has already proved otherwise: according to Admitad Affiliate, the number of online orders in the fashion industry increased by +73% from January to April 2021. Gradual removal of restrictions and activities of partners have contributed to this growth.
Meanwhile, the amount of European fashion orders has grown by + 28%, demonstrating that customers have reduced their average check, but at the same time are ready to buy more often. The interest towards websites of brands has grown as well - from the beginning of this year the number of clicks has increased by 18% in comparison to the previous period.
Residents of Ireland, Italy, Slovakia, Denmark and Slovenia increased the total cost of purchases in the fashion industry faster than others. The TOP-10 is closed by Holland, Czech Republic, Finland, Poland and Greece. Let's see which European countries can boast the largest average check for online orders in the fashion segment:
These EU countries show the highest average shopping basket value for online orders in the fashion industry in the first quarter of 2021
Online is the New Offline, Despite Partial Relaxation of the Strict Lockdown Rules
Most European countries are cautiously moving towards lifting COVID-19 restrictions and residents are spending more and more time outside due to the warmer temperatures. The Austrian government announced an easing of the rules from June 10th. From June 14th, the Czech Republic allowed visits to restaurants, bars, and guest rooms to take place. In Italy, the curfew will be lifted in the summer, whilst Germany enjoys lifting some of the current restrictions from June 7th, allowing restaurants to be opened to visitors both indoors and outdoors.
However, cautiousness is here to stay. Most consumers need a test to go shopping offline - meaning that part of the spontaneous fun is no longer there. This explains their spending habits are moving more and more into online shopping.
Seasons No Longer Exist
Fashionistas skipped the summer wardrobe renewal last year as almost all of Europe was in a tough lockdown in April / May 2020. Therefore, buyers triggered a new wave of demand for online shops in late spring and early summer. They have also been motivated to replenish their summer wardrobe with a growing list of countries opening their borders, ready to welcome travelers and vacationers.
Traffic, and More Traffic.
During the pandemic, not only has the number of online communities increased but also the number of websites willing to partner with brands as part of the affiliate marketing program has increased too. This means that the rewards are no longer generated via banners or contextual advertising (pay per click), but measured according to consumer orders (pay per action). The number of such providers and partners increased by +12% at the beginning of the year.
According to the Admitad Affiliate network, most of the orders in the fashion industry now come from these traffic sources:
The fashion future looks promising
Both experts and stakeholders expect further growth in the fashion industry. With the recovery and a growing wave of customers, competition between brands in standard promotion channels will intensify. Therefore, it is important to look for new ways to interact with the audience, experiment, actively work with partners, and make yourself known in order to focus the audience's attention on your brand.
In this week's member-guest blog post, we hear from Rachel Gantz, General Manager, Activation at Comscore as she shares why brands should consider contextual solutions not just to solve brand safety problems but for CTV and audience targeting as well.
Recently, the IAB Europe issued a summary of brand safety solutions in the modern era. With GDPR, cookies being deprecated in just 200 days (!?!?!), and CTV on the rise there is a strong argument to be made for why brands should take a second look at contextual solutions to solve not only their brand safety problems, but their CTV targeting and audience targeting problems as well. There was much discussion amongst the brand safety providers about what the future of contextual targeting should be. Can we move the industry to one where publishers see value in monetising their ad-supported CTV programming with contextual categories? Will advertisers one day be able to apply brand safety applications that have been tried, and true in web to CTV live streaming news or sports?
The discussion of the future of contextual CTV targeting mainly consisted of two key topics:
The discussion argued that brand safety for CTV needs to evolve beyond basic metadata processing to include frame by frame and second by second audio and visual processing to give advertisers a more complete brand safety picture. It also argued that for a transparent ecosystem, efforts will need to be made by publishers to better categorise CTV content (including live streaming) in a standardised way.
Well friends I have great news, the future is now.
From methodologies that include frame-by-frame video and second by second audio applications to patent-pending brand safety for live streaming solutions, Comscore is evolving how the CTV landscape thinks about brand safety. With an increasing percentage of eyeballs focusing on video content and ad-supported CTV becoming mainstream, these technological evolutions are critical to giving advertisers the tools needed to make informed choices. However, they are also critical for publishers and when done right, give publishers the ability to monetise more of their content, not less, by offering more contextually relevant moments for advertisers to take advantage of.
In addition, we are partnering with SSPs, DSPs, and publishers to ensure standardisation within the bidstream so that advertisers can apply brand safety, contextual categories, or even Comscore’s new Predictive Audiences, our contextually driven audience targeting solution, at scale. This standardisation is critical for better monetisation and better scale for advertisers.
In summary, while there will always be future evolutions that will make the market better, Comscore is doing a lot of the ‘future of CTV’ now. Come talk to us, we’d love to tell you about it.
In this week's member-guest blog post, we caught up with IAB Romania's Director Executive, Ioana Anecu on Clubhouse, the new age of the audio economy and how it is paving the way for more meaningful content.
There have been many opinions written and shared across the Internet about Clubhouse, pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses, Many “how to”s from the brand’s perspective, and “riding the waves of the new Clubhouse trend” for KOLs and worldwide specialists - from marketing to lifestyle, hobbies, and music. It will remain the symbol of Social Audio (real-time audio that allows listeners to actively participate in the dialog). But it wasn’t the first and will not be the last app in this sector. Based on exclusivity and scarcity - due to the lack of a recording possibility of the talks - Clubhouse has been, undoubtedly the “rising star” of 2021, harnessing people’s need for getting close to one another, the nostalgia of direct interactions, and following a worldwide video call fatigue.
One More Step Towards the Age of the Audio Economy!
While in the last few weeks there has been a flattening in the usage curve, downloads of the app, and interaction within the audio social network, now it seems that Clubhouse is on the rise again, due to the long-awaited Android version that is now available for download and use. Good news for the audio content creator’s economy!
In a world dominated by visuals in the last decade, audio media brings back to the fold the ability to focus on the real values of the brand and challenges creatives, marketing, and communication specialists to reconnect consumers to the opportunities and usage context of brands. Nonetheless to create meaningful and useful content it can be boring to talk about the brand. But it is interesting to talk and to engage in talks about lifestyle, context, and usage opportunities of products - that is the real creativity, and the real passion! What marketers have forgotten in the last years is the meaning of brands and services. They’ve got so caught up in racing with the competition and highlighting the best features and developing better and better products, both visually and physically, making people share and show off their products, making them go viral, that they have forgotten the core of the brand. The voice and purpose.
The Pandemic, however, has brought marketers back to the ground: it’s more than just to make a profit, it’s about empathy, purpose, and context. And those are good things to keep in mind for the new digital era. This is why audio has thrived, again, and why audio is passion and imagination.
After Clubhouse passed the milestone of 250,000 users (IOS only) at the end of April 2021, in Romania, we now have brands supporting rooms that talk about fun, friendship, and relations, because these are the core brand values that people care about. We have a news platform organising daily talks on one hot topic of the day. We have car brands talking about the driving experience and the expectations of their clients. And all of them are really successful in getting people to talk. Pedigree was one of the first brands to grab the opportunity of the Clubhouse platform, with its creative contribution of BBDO NewYork, by organising a room in order to find a home for 20 adoptable dogs, each with its own profile and voice. The impact was emotional and heartwarming, and the result, outstanding!
But what do you do when you have a brand with less financial power, time, or human resource. A brand that is not as “sexy” as retail, tech, or apparel, but an NGO with a mission in self-regulating and overlooking an industry so dynamic as digital advertising, like us at IAB Romania?
We did what we knew how to do best - we connected the dots in digital! We were there, listening and engaging in new trends, being active where people were, supplying and highlighting our power, content, and network. We got the chance to reconnect with specialists and those with who we used to interact more at conferences and events. We had missed that, the human interaction and the after-events talks, the spur of ideas and enthusiasm of new ideas and involvement. Behind every successful project & organisation there are good people who roll their sleeves up and get things done!
Being the first local association to be present and actively involved in various rooms dedicated to digital marketing, we had the opportunity to get in contact with some of the people that were a little bit farther away in our usual communication chain. This helped to add growth in attention towards our projects, plans, and to attract new members.
Within our weekly IAB Romania Digital Brunch (now in its #12 edition since early February) we have approached topics such as the value of the local and European Digital Advertising market, past, present & future trends, Artificial Intelligence in Digital Advertising, Influencer Marketing both on a local and international level, and the impact of cookie depletion. We have also talked about and with Romanian MIXX Awards winners and chatted with the latest MIXX Europe Awards Jury members. We have debated local and international laws and regulations, talked about budgets and performance, targeted ads vs the paid business model, and still have many more ideas to share and comment upon. For example, we plan to have a monthly fireside chat with one of our local members or with IAB Europe’s members to pick a specialist’s brains on forecasts. We’re also looking forward to meeting the winners of MIXX Awards Europe & IAB Europe’s Research Awards so that we can invite them to talk about their winning work and get the jury back to do a talk on this too. We plan to talk about quality in digital advertising, the need for standardisation, new technologies and tools, big data, research, impact and sustainability in digital, minimalism in online advertising, and so much more.
We created a Club dedicated to various DigiTalks and online advertising topics, which you can access here.
Now, with Clubhouse opening to Android users the sky is the limit!
What’s Next?
But talking about stuff is not enough. We need to make stuff happen. We need to harness all the ideas, content, and enthusiasm around the topics that we approached. So, we now have a repository on our website, a list of people willing to get involved in the task force on Influencer Marketing and new tech trends, and we have new members willing to put a hand into ongoing or new projects we are rolling out. Plus now with Android availability, our target is to use the app to get representatives of the authorities and legislative areas to get in touch and involved in talks with industry representatives.
The “Never Stop generation” representatives with whom we got in touch on Clubhouse are the people who suffered “event fatigue” in 2019 and then grew tired of video calls. Research from Publicis Romania shows that in one and a half months the number of Clubhouse users in Romania tripled and the main reason for accessing the app is an interest in personal development. 30% are accessing the app daily and are mainly following topics like tourism (yes, we all miss traveling!), wellbeing, business, and personal development.
Other local research conducted in March shared the profile of the Clubhouse user in Romania. This can be somewhat extended internationally, as well: 77.4% of the users are between 25 and 44 years old, have a high level of education (92.8%), are active mainly in Marketing and Communication (23,5%), IT and Telco (14.9%) and Social Media (9.9%) & Content Creators (7%) and spend a minimum of 2 hours daily on Clubhouse (54.6%). The grade given to the content found on Clubhouse is 8.1 out of 10. The main reasons for entering Clubhouse rooms and following people are improving knowledge (86.8%) and listening and interacting more easily with Key Opinion Leaders.
Video Didn’t Kill the “Radio Star” But it Made it Reinvent.
The Audio Economy is on the rise, without question. Facebook, Spotify, Apple, Twitter, and others focus on audio features. Although podcasting is not a recent trend, it had the right soil to grow and still has room to be valued as a marketing and communication tool. There is so much to harness in terms of audio, as a brand. First, because there are still a lot of people to “enter” the “audio zone” as listeners of podcasts and streaming, and as Clubhouse users. Second, it’s now becoming easier to podcast and stream audio content due to the improvement of podcasting apps and new technology that makes it easier to listen to podcasts while doing everyday chores. It’s a wheel that keeps turning - the more listeners there are, the more content producers that will enter the audio arena - being supported by advertising or by subscription. Considering the findings here, music (and to some extend audio content) is on top priority for willingness to pay for a subscription. The more users and content providers, the more it will become interesting for brands too.
There is also a need for sharing ideas and knowledge that is usually done by various conferences and events. We, in Romania, had our first audio-only conference exclusively on Clubhouse, which we streamed online. We have a dedicated Podfest conference with insights from brands, tech and content producers. And the wave is still rising. In just a few weeks from now, we’ll find out more about the European Audio landscape at IAB Europe’s Digital Audio Day.
Looking forward to hearing from you all on Clubhouse and Podcasts soon!
For more insights and learnings on the digital audio opportunity in Europe, join us on 6th July for our Digital Audio Day. Secure your free space today!
On 25th - 27th May 2021, IAB Europe hosted its flagship event live and online for all to see.
The theme this year was ‘The Digital New Deal’ as we aimed to take stock of what is needed to ensure a sustainable and innovative future for the digital advertising and marketing industry. Across three afternoons we dived into the three pillars of IAB Europe, exploring industry initiatives, policy & data protection, and standards and frameworks.
Thanks so much to everyone who joined us live across the three days for Interact Online! And thank you to all of the amazing speakers who connected from across Europe and beyond to share their insights and expertise. With over 1400 people joining, this was our biggest Interact yet!
A big thank you to our event partners OneTrust, DoubleVerify, Relevant Digital, Google, and Magnite also. Thanks to their support, we were able to connect over a thousand people to hear panel discussions and keynotes on key topics for our industry.
If you didn't have the opportunity to join us live, fear not! In this post, you will find links to our event highlights, which include the overviews from each day, the sessions included, as well as video recordings for you to view in your own time.
Event Highlights!
Save the Date – Interact 2022
Next year we hope to meet you face to face! Stay tuned for next year’s save the date and be sure to add it to your diary.
On 25th May 2021, IAB Europe’s flagship event, Interact Online, kicked off with an afternoon dedicated to Industry Initiatives.
Featuring speakers from BBC World Service, DoubleVerify, Google, GroupM, ID5, LUMA Partners, Nestlé, Publicis Groupe, Relevant Digital, RTL Group, TikTok, The Trade Desk, and Xandr, the afternoon was split into three keynote presentations and three panel sessions. Topics included the much-anticipated results of the 2020 AdEx benchmark study, the new era of identity, the post third-party cookie world, and digital advertising in 2025.
Check out the session overviews and watch the videos below.
Keynote Presentation: 2020 AdEx Benchmark Study with 2021 Market & Investment predictions - Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist, IAB Europe
IAB Europe’s AdEx Benchmark report is the definitive guide to the state of the European digital advertising market. Compiled and launched annually, the report details the formats and channels that contributed to that year’s digital advertising market value.
To kick off Interact Online, Daniel presented the findings from the 2020 report covering 27 markets.
You can access the 2020 AdEx highlights here.
Watch the session recording here.
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A: Industry Outlook on Digital Investment in 2021 and Beyond
The first panel of the event discussed AdEx’s 2020 report findings and overall investment figures. The panel shared the trends they have observed this year and how they will shape digital investment in 2021 and beyond. They also debated the future challenges and opportunities and what stakeholders can do to secure a sustainable ecosystem.
Constantine Kamaras, Chairman Emeritus, IAB Europe moderated this panel and was joined by:
Watch the session recording here.
Keynote Presentation: Exploring Digital Opportunity in a New Era of Identity - Terence Kawaja, Founder and CEO of LUMA Partners
Digital Advertising is poised for significant market growth just as the very foundation of identity is changing. In this keynote presentation, Terence Kawaja reviewed where the best areas for opportunity exist and examined how best to take advantage of the change.
Watch the session recording here.
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A: The Post Third-Party Cookie Era
2020 kicked off with one of the most fundamental technology advances our industry has seen in many years, the announcement that third-party cookies were to be depleted.
This panel discussion outlined what market alternatives and solutions are being developed and how prepared stakeholders, including themselves, are for this new era. They also explored the tactics and opportunities available as we transition into a post third-party cookie world.
Andrew Hayward-Wright, Partnerships Director, SeenThis & Programmatic Advisor, IAB Europe moderated this panel and was joined by:
Watch the session recording here.
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A: Digital Advertising in 2025
CTV, Creator Marketing, e-commerce, transparency, and context. These are just a few of the hottest 2021 buzzwords that are predicted to shape the future of digital advertising. So what does the future hold for our industry and what will it look like in 2025?
In this panel discussion, industry thought leaders shared their views on how digital advertising will operate in 2025 and what we need to do to get there.
Constantine Kamaras, Chairman Emeritus, IAB Europe moderated this panel and was joined by:
Watch the session recording here.
Closing Keynote: Creating Engaging Brand Experiences - Tina Beuchler, Global Media & Agency Operations, Nestlé
The world has changed. People are living differently, consuming media differently, and shopping differently. What does this mean for Nestlé? In her keynote speech Tina Beuchler, Global Head of Media & Agency Operations, talked about the challenges and opportunities – and the way Nestlé’s marketers are trying to better connect with consumers and creating engaging brand experiences.
Watch the session recording here.
MIXX Awards Europe & IAB Europe Research Awards
The first day of Interact Online concluded with the announcement of the winners of our prestigious MIXX Awards Europe and IAB Europe Research Awards.
You can view this year’s winners here. Or watch the session recording here.
On 26th May 2021, IAB Europe’s flagship event, Interact Online, dived into an afternoon that focused on Policy & Data Protection.
Featuring speakers from Adform, Bertelsmann, Bird&Bird, CNIL, DoubleVerify, Facebook, GroupM, ICO, and ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE the afternoon was split into two panel sessions, a fireside chat, a presentation. The event closed with a keynote presentation from Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency. Topics included transparency within the DSA, priorities of Data Protection Authorities (DPAs), and learnings from the GDPR’s enforcement in the context of ePrivacy trilogues
Check out the session overviews and watch the videos below.
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A: The Importance of Transparency within The DSA
The Digital Services Act (DSA) proposal confirms the important role that standards and codes of conduct can play in enabling industry practice to adapt to changing user expectations with respect to transparency. It is important that the future regulation preserves the possibility for users to make informed choices based on information disclosures.
In this panel discussion experts came together to discuss the theme of transparency in digital advertising and how it translates in the context of EU legislative discussions on the prospective DSA.
Townsend Feehan, CEO, IAB Europe moderated this panel and was joined by:
Watch the session recording here.
Fireside Chat with Simon McDougall, Deputy Commissioner, Regulatory Innovation and Technology, ICO, UK
In this fireside Chat with Simon McDougall from the ICO, Townsend Feehan, CEO of IAB Europe, and Christie Dennehy-Neil, Policy Director, IAB UK, discussed the ICO’s priorities including their recent joint statement with the CMA on competition and data protection law.
Watch the session recording here.
Presentation: Priorities of CNIL in Connection with Digital Advertising - Armand Heslot, Head of the Technology Experts Department, CNIL
In this presentation, Armand Heslot, Head of the Technology Experts Department from one of the EU’s leading DPA’s – France’s Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) – spoke about the authority’s guidance and enforcement activities over the past year as well as priorities and expectations from the digital advertising sector for the upcoming months and year.
Watch the session recording here.
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A: Learnings from the GDPR’s enforcement in the Context of ePrivacy Trilogues
In this panel discussion, policy experts from industry organisations discussed and debated the GDPR interpretation and enforcement by the Data Protection Authorities, and how that critical work could benefit the industry’s understanding of the EU privacy and data protection legal landscape.
Gabriel Voisin, Partner, Bird & Bird moderated this panel and was joined by:
Watch the session recording here.
Closing Keynote: Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency
Day two of Interact Online was concluded with a keynote address from Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency.
Watch the session recording here.
On 27th May 2021, IAB Europe’s flagship event, Interact Online, concluded with an afternoon that explored Standards & Frameworks, as we discussed the practicalities of putting everything we have learned across the event into practice.
Featuring speakers from DoubleVerify, eBay, IAB Italy, IAB Tech Lab, MediaMath, OneTrust, Publicis Groupe, PubMatic, Relevant Digital, Samsung Ads, Sirdata, and Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) the afternoon was split into three panel sessions, and two keynote presentations. Topics included the evolution and future of the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF), working towards sustainable supply chain standards and new standards that we can expect to come.
Check out the session overviews and watch the videos below.
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A: The Evolution and Future of the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF)
The Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) is the only GDPR consent solution built by the industry for the industry, to create a true industry-standard approach. But what is its current status? And how is it set to evolve and develop in the future?
This panel discussed the latest version of the TCF v2.0 and its market adoption. It explored how it is set to evolve and how the industry will need to support and help evolve the framework going forward.
Ninon Vagner, Privacy & Compliance Manager, IAB Europe moderated this panel and was joined by:
Watch the session recording here.
Keynote Presentation: Working Towards a Sustainable Programmatic Value Chain for All - Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist, IAB Europe
Data from SSPs is a crucial tool for publishers to succeed in programmatic; from understanding advertiser and agency demand and spend patterns, managing inventory, setting prices, obtaining information for vendor QBRs and client briefings, as a source of intelligence for AdOps and Sales, and as the foundation for ongoing optimisation. As digital advertising switches towards a cookieless world, insights that can guide a monetisation strategy are ever more crucial. In this presentation, Daniel Knapp shared how we can work towards this.
Watch the session recording here.
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A: Supply Chain Standards
Following on from Daniel’s presentation, this panel discussed supply chain transparency and what we need to do to unify and standardise best practices. They explored data management and new approaches for all stakeholders to increase transparency and trust, to help solve the unnecessary trading and information sharing complexities within the ecosystem.
Constantine Kamaras, Chairman Emeritus, IAB Europe moderated this panel and was joined by:
Watch the session recording here.
Keynote Presentation: Why Standards? Shailley Singh, SVP Product Management and Global Programs, IAB Tech Lab
In this keynote presentation, the IAB Tech Lab discussed the relevance of standards in digital advertising and their 2021 priorities, which included Project Rearc, The Transparency Center, Open Measurement, and Programmatic.
Watch the session recordings here.
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A: New Standards
Following on from the Tech Lab’s presentation, this panel discussed their views on future developments and standards, and what we need to do as an industry to launch these. They detailed the importance of partnerships in successfully launching and supporting standards and shared best practices on how their own organisations roll out and uphold such standards.
Tina Lakhani, Head of Ad Tech, IAB UK moderated this panel and was joined by:
Watch the session recording here.
In this week's member-guest post, we hear from Amy Arnell, Content Marketing Specialist at Didomi, as she discusses preparing for a cookieless future and why it's time to make privacy a more positive priority.
It’s the end of the road for third-party cookies. Following Apple, Safari & Mozilla Firefox, Google announced it would stop supporting third-party cookies on its Chrome browser in 2022. Given that over 85% of online browsing is carried out on these platforms, significant change is imminent.
Trusted companies that embed privacy considerations into their long term planning stand to benefit. Business models of those that do not stand to become increasingly challenged.
What does a cookieless future mean in practice?
From Didomi’s perspective, the online advertising space will now be split into two distinct categories.
The first category is one without cookies, where it will be much harder to identify a user and to track navigation across the web and across devices.
The assumption that users are easily identifiable in their digital navigation will be gone. But, advertising won’t simply stop if you can no longer identify people. Rather, a reliance on cookies will be replaced by other techniques and advancements such as differential privacy.
The second of these two categories does still rely on user data, but with one all-important difference. It relies on first-party data that the user has consented to providing.
If users trust the company, they will consent to the use of their personal data. As such, the company will retain the ability to extract personal data, and, crucially, the ability to have more knowledge on its user base.
This is where Didomi places itself, as we believe that this scenario of trust illustrates the future of data collection. In our opinion, it’s time to turn privacy into something positive.
Privacy Made Positive™
Recently, Securys Limited commissioned Kantar to survey more than 4,000 consumers across Great Britain, Ireland, France and Germany about whether privacy impacts buying decisions and brand loyalty (survey sponsored by Didomi). The results were clear: consumers care about data privacy and are willing to act if a brand does not meet their expectations.
Over 85% of people across all countries say that they understand the meaning of personal data, and a high proportion are worried about how it is used (70% in England and France, 75% in Ireland).
This reflects in consumer habits. Around two-thirds of consumers modify their purchasing decisions in line with supplier privacy commitments; and some 70% in GB, France, and Ireland will not buy from a supplier if they are concerned about their privacy behaviour.
Users want to be informed about why their data is being collected, and they appreciate companies with transparent data practices.
Irrespective of the technology you use, or the sector you work in, consent and preference management will be hugely important in a cookieless world.
Didomi’s advice for navigating a cookieless world
Get used to having anonymous users & customers.
Technology is clearly moving in this direction, with announcements such as Apple’s iOS14 privacy features sending shockwaves across the industry.
This might be a bitter pill to swallow. But, after consideration, you’ll find out that it might not be that bitter after all. In fact, in the long run, getting used to having anonymous users and customers will be beneficial to your company, as it will allow you to focus on the data that really matters: consented data.
Trust and transparency will convince users to consent to the use of their personal data
The recent Privacy Made Positive™ research revealed that four-fifths of consumers believe that transparency is important for trusting a company or brand.
Complex consent choices, painful user experience and mistrust will have a huge impact on customer behaviour. Companies should build privacy-first consumer experiences to highlight that they care about transparency.
The end of third-party cookies will leave you totally blind to user behaviour, unless you adopt the method of “just ask”. Put your users in the driving seat. Rework your privacy policies for 100% clarity, and invest in better legal explainers.
Your ability to generate trust, and generate consent from your users will be directly linked to your ability to generate revenue. Therefore, consent rate should become a key KPI to follow.
How can your company prepare?
Change is imminent, and a system of trust and consent will mark the future of data collection.
So, how can your company prepare?
Take time to understand the data you are currently collecting
Take a step back, and reverse your way of thinking. Rather than frantically collecting massive amounts of data and then trying to make sense of it using AI or other technologies, try to understand where exactly you provide value to your customers by using their data, and focusing on this. Start investing in UX and transparency. If users know their data is being collected to provide them with a more optimised experience, they are much more likely to consent.
Fundamentally, the logic is very simple: It’s about data quality, not data quantity. This is the biggest adjustment in mindset that the industry will be forced to adopt.
Consider investing in bespoke consent and preference management technologies
Among the many innovative solutions, there are consent and preference management innovators like Didomi, who can help you build and maintain a powerful consent management infrastructure, creating tools for recording, storing and retrieving consent, and transmitting it to different partners when appropriate.
Didomi builds technology to help companies put their users in control of their personal data. By doing so, Didomi clients generate valuable trust and lay the groundwork for privacy-conscious growth.
Trust will be the foundation of future data collection, and the movement from data-driven marketing to customer-centric marketing will not only protect user rights, but encourage companies to collect high-value, good-quality data.
A cookieless world does not mark the end of data collection, but rather a new beginning. A new beginning in which privacy is made positive.
Download the e-book for the full results of the Privacy Made Positive™ research.
IAB Europe’s first VPD of 2021 took place on 6th May and what an insightful and engaging day it was! With over 730 joining us for the biggest and best virtual programmatic event in our industry, it provided everything we needed to know about programmatic in Europe today. A big thank you to our sponsors OneTrust and AdColony for helping to make this event such a huge success.
Featuring speakers from IAB Europe member companies and advertisers including Comscore, DoubleVerify, Index Exchange, Klarna, Rakuten Advertising, Magnite, The Trade Desk, Xaxis, and more, the event was split into a keynote presentation and four panel sessions. Check out the blog below for the session overviews and to watch the videos.
Watch the full event recording here
Opening Keynote: The European Programmatic Advertising Landscape
Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist, IAB Europe
“First-party data is becoming increasingly relevant in a programmatic world”
The first session of the event gave an overview of the programmatic advertising landscape in Europe.
It explored key opportunities and barriers to its success and provided a sneak preview into IAB Europe’s AdEx Report.
Key highlights included programmatic ad spend recovery and a look into new premium formats that are becoming part of the programmatic ecosystem.
Watch the session recording here
Panel 1: The European Programmatic Advertising Landscape
The first panel session of the event followed on from the keynote presentation to discuss the biggest trends in programmatic advertising today, and what the main opportunities and barriers are to its success.
Lisa Kalyuzhny, RVP, Advertiser Solutions, EMEA at PubMatic moderated the panel and was joined by:
Watch the session recording here
Audience poll:
We ran an audience poll at the end of the panel to ask what channels will drive the future growth of programmatic investment. The majority of the audience felt CTV would drive the biggest growth (55%). This was followed by Mobile In-App (16%) Digital Audio (11%) Digital Out Of Home (10%) and Display (8%).
Panel 2: The Evolution of Programmatic Advertising in a Post Third-Party Cookie World
The second panel of the event discussed everyone’s favourite word… cookies! It discussed the most up-to-date solutions and guidance on market alternatives to third-party cookies. It also explored where we are at today and what alternatives and tactics are available as we transition into a post third-party cookie world.
Alwin Viereck, Programmatic Advertising & Ad Management, UIM moderated the panel and was joined by:
Watch the session recording here
Audience poll:
We ran an audience poll at the end of the panel to ask how prepared companies felt they were for a post third-party cookie era. The majority of the audience felt they were prepared to some extent (31%). Only 3% claimed they weren’t prepared at all.
Panel 3: Programmatic Trading - What it Means to Advertisers Today
As more and more advertisers look to adopt a hybrid approach to programmatic buying, this panel took the time to explore the in-house model. It looked at whether taking programmatic in-house is still popular amongst advertisers and what programmatic trading means to them today, in terms of attribution, and preparing for a post third-party cookie world.
Moderated by Tanisha Sakhawat, Senior Business Development Director, EMEA, DoubleVerify with the following panellists:
Audience Poll
We ran a poll at the end of the panel to ask what the key barriers to the adoption of programmatic trading are. The majority of the audience felt difficulty in keeping up with changing technology (34%) and difficulty hiring people with the right skill set (25%) were the largest barriers. This was closely followed by difficulty in understanding the technology requirement (24%). Complexities of campaign measurement (12%) and an inability to assess data providers (5%) were also listed as key barriers.
Panel 4: Data Protection & Policy for the Programmatic Advertising Industry
The final panel of the day turned to our privacy experts who discussed data protection and policy in programmatic advertising. They explored what the overall sharing of data really means and outlined the latest policy developments that the industry must be aware of.
Ninon Vagner, Pricacy and Compliance Manager, IAB Europe moderated the panel and was joined by:
