In this week's member guest blog post, we hear from Lawrence Horne, Country Director UK at Ogury, who shares key insights on building trust and precision in advertising by embracing zero-party data strategies as privacy becomes increasingly central to digital interactions.
The advertising industry is inevitably shifting towards privacy-focused advertising. Consumer
preferences are steering this change, with browsers like Safari and Firefox already blocking
personal identifiers, and half of UK consumers deliberately withholding data from brands.
Research suggests that up to 87% of the internet in the near future could be inaccessible to
third-party cookies. Advertisers must prepare for this reality by prioritizing alternative data
strategies, such as zero-party data - a consensual and transparent data exchange.
As privacy becomes a permanent fixture in how consumers navigate the open internet, relying
on advertising identifiers will become both limited and costly. Zero-party data offers a powerful
alternative, where consumers intentionally and proactively share information with brands
through surveys, quizzes or other means. Is zero-party data a brand-new avenue? No - but
advertisers have overlooked it for far too long, ignoring an incredible way to close the attribution
gap. It enables advertisers to gather insights into purchase intentions, preferences, personal
context and feedback while respecting consumer anonymity.
First-party data, such as browsing behavior or purchase history, is collected passively within the
brand's ecosystem and can only be utilized more widely through data sharing. In contrast, zero-
party data is distinguished by its proactive nature. Consumers intentionally provide these
details, making it a more ethical and transparent way to gather valuable insights.
Zero-party data is helpful for its insights and the trust it fosters between brands and consumers.
In a time where 64% of consumers believe transparency is critical to building trust, zero-party
data’s voluntary nature helps bridge the gap. The information gathered is deterministic - directly
reflecting a consumer's stated intentions - rather than inferred from behavior, making it far more
reliable for targeting purposes.
For example, a survey response indicating when a consumer plans to buy a laptop within the
next six months provides a more precise signal than inferred data, which may only suggest
interest based on related activities like watching a product review. Advertisers can see a
consumer's intentions and modify their strategies with more direct information like this.
Advertisers who effectively utilize zero-party data stand to gain a competitive edge, and the time
to take to plunge is now - 80% of in-house marketers are currently leveraging first-party data,
while only 31% have embraced zero-party data. With robust security, transparent data-handling
practices, and the option for consumers to opt out of data sharing, zero-party data can help rebuild consumer trust. The more transparent brands are, the more consumers will likely feel
comfortable sharing richer, more actionable insights.
When combined with other data like semantic and bid request insights, zero-party data gives
advertisers a comprehensive view of consumer behavior. This approach allows brands to
achieve precision in targeting without compromising privacy.
Embracing data solutions that prioritize consumer control and deliver actionable insights at
scale will be critical moving forward. Zero-party data, with its ethical and insightful approach, is
set to become an indispensable asset for modern advertisers.