Tag: Forrester

After multiple delays and continued discussion about third-party deprecation, Google has announced that it is shelving its plans to phase out third-party cookies. However, it is also worth noting that Google is introducing another solution for Google Chrome, focusing more on a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing.

“Early testing from ad tech companies, including Google, has indicated that the Privacy Sandbox APIs have the potential to achieve these outcomes. And we expect that overall performance using Privacy Sandbox APIs will improve over time as industry adoption increases,” Anthony Chavez, VP at Privacy Sandbox at Google said.

He further added, “As this moves forward, it remains important for developers to have privacy-preserving alternatives. We’ll continue to make the Privacy Sandbox APIs available and invest in them to further improve privacy and utility. We also intend to offer additional privacy controls, so we plan to introduce IP Protection into Chrome’s Incognito mode.”

With that in mind, the question is: how prepared the industry is in terms of leaning towards more privacy-centric advertising solutions? Are we really prepared to let go of third-party cookies despite Google still having it? To answer these questions, MARKETECH APAC sought insights from various industry leaders to learn more about their insights from this update, and why should the industry continue to strive away from third-party cookies.

Stephen Rhodes, Head of Emerging Markets, APAC at Quantcast

In the context of the Philippines as an advertising market, it’s important to recognise that Google’s announcement does not change the fact that a significant portion of the online landscape is already “cookieless.” Marketers must not overlook this substantial and evolving audience, as it represents a crucial opportunity in today’s digital ecosystem.

Third-party cookies were never intended for advertising purposes anyway, and they are certainly not a reliable means of measurement in a world where consumer preferences can change rapidly across channels in real-time. 

Businesses that no longer see the removal of third-party cookies as an issue are the ones who are actually ahead of the situation. Marketers who continue to rely on third-party cookies will effectively only be able to target 50% of their addressable audience as the rest are already browsing in “cookieless” environments such as Safari.

Genelle Hung, Country Manager (SEA) at PubMatic

At PubMatic, we are dedicated to enhancing user privacy while ensuring the vitality of the digital advertising ecosystem. Publishers must continue adopting diverse signals beyond third-party cookies. Google’s decisions and timelines should not hinder our industry’s progress toward a superior supply chain for digital advertising across the open internet. We have seen that alternative signals can provide better outcomes for advertisers and consumers alike and help provide a more sustainable addressability strategy.

We value the collaborative efforts across the industry, including Google’s responsiveness to feedback, and are eager to help shape a more effective, privacy-focused digital advertising landscape. We understand that APIs must evolve in light of Google’s announcement, and we will continue partnering with our peers to inform the specifics and timing. Throughout this transition, PubMatic’s goal remains supporting publishers in maximising revenue while respecting user privacy.

Niall Hogan, General Manager for JAPAC at GumGum

The industry shouldn’t interpret Google’s delay as a reason to abandon privacy-centric advertising. Consumer expectations are clear: they want control over their data and transparency in its usage. This situation presents a golden opportunity for contextual advertising, which should be the primary focus. 

Unlike third-party cookies, contextual advertising employs a privacy-first approach by analysing the content of a webpage rather than user behaviour to deliver relevant ads. This method respects user privacy and aligns with their preference for a non-intrusive experience. As consumer awareness of data privacy continues to grow, it is crucial for brands to enhance transparency and build user trust by clearly communicating their data practices and providing users with control over their data.

[Moreover] Google’s new solution remains a question mark. Their focus on “user experience” and “informed choice” sounds promising, but it’s unclear how it will balance privacy with ad effectiveness. The industry should approach these solutions with caution, as any approach that does not prioritise user privacy could face backlash from increasingly privacy-conscious consumers. 

Kat Warboys, Senior Marketing Director of APAC, HubSpot

The latest news on third-party cookies is ultimately a win-win for advertisers and consumers. But the multi-year journey on cookie deprecation has been tough on marketers who have been trying to prepare. After all of this, one thing is clear: relying on third parties is no longer enough. Businesses need to take control of their first-party data to get a complete understanding of their customer, especially given the level of personalisation expected by today’s consumers.

Chris Hogg, Chief Revenue Officer, Lotame

Google may no longer be ending third-party cookies by its own hand, but the slow march of progress will still see them rendered obsolete sooner or later. Users and regulators are increasingly privacy-focused and, given cookies will be “opt-in” across the board, there will still be a need for other signals to fill the gaps — especially across channels where cookies are long gone or were never present to begin with.

The fate of third-party cookies will be as a small part of an ever-expanding array of data points, becoming less relevant over time as more privacy-first, platform-agnostic solutions evolve. No one that wishes to remain competitive should think they can take their foot off the pedal of first-party data collection and strategic data collaboration.

Xiaofeng Wang, Analyst at Forrester

It’s no surprise that Google eventually scrapped its cookie deprecation plans after three delays in four years. Most marketers in APAC have seen this coming. According to Forrester’s Marketing Survey 2024, 53% of B2C marketing decision-makers in APAC do not believe that Google will deprecate the third-party cookie, increased from 49% in 2023. This would further dampen advertisers’ urgency to adopt Privacy Sandbox, Google’s initiative to replace third-party cookies with privacy-preserving technologies.

Marketers who strive to use personalisation to improve customer experiences must also adopt a privacy-first approach to earn consumer trust and ultimately win a competitive advantage. Marketers should be transparent and granular about data collection and usage and learn to communicate to consumers that the value is not just in free content or free samples but better personalisation, more customised services, and products that ultimately yield better customer experiences.

Giovanni Gardelli, Vice President of Ads Data Products at Yahoo

We remain committed to supporting efforts that align with our focus on transparency and providing user choice, which includes continuing to invest in our own proprietary Yahoo Identity Solutions. Additionally, we will continue partnering with industry leaders to integrate and develop privacy-friendly solutions enabled by emerging web browser technologies that balance advertiser and publisher goals, while respecting user privacy.

Harshana Ariyaratne, Chief Marketing Officer at Affinidi

At Affinidi, we prioritise consumer rights to data control and privacy. We were encouraged by Google’s initial plan to deprecate third-party cookies, recognising it as a significant step towards honouring consumer data rights and rebuilding trust between consumers and businesses. 

While the decision to abandon third-party cookie deprecation may appear to be a setback for user privacy, Google’s commitment to developing solutions that enhance user experience and informed choice is promising. This approach presents an opportunity for businesses to adopt privacy-by-design, user-centric solutions, even in the presence of third-party cookies. 

Google’s efforts to create a privacy-conscious and user-centric framework have the potential to rebuild trust and meet evolving privacy expectations. However, the success of these initiatives will hinge on their ability to address the needs of all stakeholders and provide genuine privacy improvements. 

Our privacy-by-design suite of solutions within the Affinidi Trust Network, and the Affinidi Iota Framework (the world’s first consent-based data-sharing framework built on open standards) adheres to latest privacy regulations while giving consumers true data sovereignty. By prioritising consent-first principles in digital transactions, we ensure that the data collected is accurate and relevant, enabling brands to create personalised solutions that enhance user experience and satisfaction based on trust and transparency.

Focusing on users’ needs and rights [also] fosters a trustworthy and enjoyable online environment. By embracing this direction, we protect privacy while fostering innovation, creating a digital world that is transparent, responsive, and built on trust. 

Timmy Bankole, Director, Advertising Business Operations at South China Morning Post

At SCMP, we are continuing to invest in advertising strategies that put users first, including first-party data, zero-party data, and contextual approaches. We’ve been moving towards an ecosystem that respects user privacy and builds real trust with our audiences. 

As an industry, we’ve actually been given more time to get ahead of this and work towards a more user-centric, data-driven ecosystem. Whether that is identity IDs, Topics API, or contextual strategies, the smart play is to reduce dependency on third-party cookies It’s not a revolutionary concept, but it is an important one for us to start addressing head-on. The sooner we can adapt and move in this direction, the better off we’ll all be in the long run.

Benjamin Combe, Senior Director, Data Optimization and Personalization, APAC at Monks

Google’s data shows that 80% of APAC consumers feel that transparency on their data is a must-have, so the move toward giving users greater control over their preferences in Chrome is broadly in line with consumers’ growing expectations for data/privacy controls. It remains to be seen how far these features go. Still, if anything like Apple’s rollout of ATT, it appears likely that these new Chrome controls will essentially see a ‘user-driven’ deprecation of 3rd Party Cookies via opt-outs rather than a Google-enforced one as a tech vendor. Whether it’s best to give users a choice vs deprecating them entirely is a different debate. But, if executed properly, the move toward transparency and controls for end users does align with how consumer sentiments and regulations have evolved over the years.

Tyler Stewart, Media Solutions Architect Lead, APAC at Monks

Google’s change of step on 3PCD doesn’t change the imperative for privacy-centric advertising strategies—between regulatory changes and 3PCD across other browsers and devices, the need for privacy-preserving alternatives is still as pressing as ever.

At the end of the day, consumers globally have significant concerns about their data privacy and want the businesses they transact with to address these and treat the information they share with respect – rather than as a commodity. It was never really Google’s place to be the arbiter of the private web (in many ways, it never wanted to be) and its decision here will hopefully better enable the industry at large to act more openly and collaboratively to develop solutions that meet both the needs of the industry and the rights and expectations of consumers.

Brands that have already started exploring initiatives like the judicious use of first-party data, consent management, modeled measurement solutions, and conversion recovery mechanisms will continue to see benefits from these investments and should continue down this road. Those who haven’t shouldn’t see this announcement as an excuse to “kick the can down the road” like the many 3PCD postponements that have come before. To avoid being left behind – both in terms of advertising capability and trust with their customers – they, too, need to take the path towards privacy.

Despite the shelving of third-party cookie deprecation, industry leaders continue to advocate for the exploration of alternative measures. This encouragement underscores the necessity of evolving towards a privacy-by-design advertising ecosystem. Such a shift is crucial not only for maintaining consumer trust but also for fostering a more sustainable and ethical digital landscape. By prioritising privacy in the foundational design of advertising practices, we can ensure that the future of digital marketing aligns with the growing demands for user data protection and transparency.

Generative AI (GenAI) is creating new possibilities in digital marketing. However, to truly benefit from this technology, marketers need a well-crafted strategy and careful execution. This article offers practical advice for marketers looking to leverage GenAI based on insights from industry experts.

In celebration of AI Appreciation Day, we spoke with marketing and AI experts on what this day signifies and the shifts marketers need to be across over the coming year.

Balancing Innovation, Risk, and Feasibility

Jennifer Fleck, Senior Principal at Slalom Consulting, highlights the challenge of scaling GenAI initiatives:

“Experiments are easy, but scale is hard. Most of the GenAI we see happening at enterprise organizations right now is an ambitious idea that stays in POC purgatory. Selecting use cases that balance innovation, risk, and feasibility and an understanding that AI at scale requires people, process, data, and technology foundations is paramount to success.”

Fleck also suggests focusing on three key areas where GenAI can drive value:

“At Slalom, we see GenAI driving value in three key areas: productivity (doing what you already do but better and faster (doing what you already do in a fundamentally different way), and disruption (changing the essence of your business.).

By considering these areas, marketers can identify the most impactful applications of GenAI for their organizations.

Leveraging AI as a Co-Pilot

Natalie Kansteiner, Director of Data Partnerships at The Trade Desk, recommends using AI as a powerful assistant in digital advertising:

“At The Trade Desk, we see AI as a powerful co-pilot in digital advertising, transforming complex tasks into streamlined processes. To start, focus on leveraging AI for data analysis and audience segmentation. Use AI tools, like Koa AI, to extract insights from vast datasets, ensuring precise targeting and higher engagement rates. Employ real-time optimization to refine campaigns as they run, boosting performance and cost efficiency. 

Additionally, leveraging generative AI for creative content generation, while keeping human oversight to ensure brand alignment, can be highly effective. By combining AI’s analytical power with strategic human input, marketers can create more data-driven and impactful advertising campaigns.”

Kansteiner’s advice underscores the importance of using AI to enhance various aspects of digital marketing while maintaining human oversight for strategic decisions and brand consistency.

Being Prepared to Pivot

Jay Pattisall, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester and Lisa Gately, Principal Analyst at Forrester, emphasizes in their report “Advance GenAI Marketing From Pilot Projects To Proficiency” the importance of adaptability in the rapidly changing world of AI:

“Be prepared to pivot given the rate of change in the AI world. GenAI adoption involves managing persistent change and turning setbacks into successes. Promote and reward adaptability within the marketing organization as your pilot projects reveal what’s viable and the best uses. Encourage marketers to share what they’ve learned, including areas that aren’t the best use cases. Your team will thrive as a result.”

This advice highlights the need for flexibility and a culture of continuous learning when implementing GenAI in marketing strategies.

Starting Small and Measure

Joyce Gordon, Head of Generative AI at Amperity, emphasizes the importance of starting with small, measurable use cases. She advises:

“My advice to brands and organizations when rolling out AI: start small. I recommend starting with a small use case that’s highly measurable and one that doesn’t require major change. One place where marketers have seen a lot of success is just with subject line optimization or optimizing the body of emails or paid media ads. Since you can have a human in the loop here, it’s a great opportunity to experiment with creating different segmentation strategies and different messages. And it’s also really easy to measure and determine if those approaches are working or not.”

This approach allows for experimentation without major disruptions and provides clear metrics to evaluate success. Marketers can gain valuable insights and experience with GenAI by starting small before scaling up to more complex applications.

Reverse Engineering for Success

Mike Edmonds, Sr. Director of AI Strategy, Global Retail and Consumer Goods, Microsoft advises: “Work backwards from the unmet needs and opportunities that your customers and employees face. The features and capabilities of generative AI are incredible – and with the exponential pace of change and advancements, the capabilities to come will be even more impressive. Brands and businesses that harness these powerful capabilities to unlock productivity, unleash creativity, and augment human potential will have the biggest impact. The Copilot metaphor at Microsoft not only references our technology stack, but also inspires brands and businesses to explore how every person and organization on the planet can achieve more in the era of AI transformation.”

Integrating Human Input with AI Capabilities

While AI offers powerful analytical capabilities, strategic human input remains crucial. Marketers should strive to find the right balance between AI-driven insights and human creativity and judgment. This integration allows for the best of both worlds: the data-processing power and pattern recognition of AI combined with the nuanced understanding and creative thinking of humans.

By maintaining this balance, marketers can ensure that AI-generated content and strategies align with brand values and resonate with target audiences. Human oversight also helps to catch and correct any potential biases or errors in AI-generated outputs, ensuring the highest quality of marketing materials and strategies.

As GenAI continues to change the marketing landscape, those who implement it thoughtfully and strategically will have the greatest success. Start small with measurable outcomes, balance innovation with feasibility, and use AI as a co-pilot while staying adaptable. By viewing AI as a tool to enhance, not replace, human marketers, you can drive more efficient, effective, and impactful campaigns. This approach leads to new levels of creativity and performance in marketing efforts.

Australia – A recent study conducted by global research and advisory firm Forrester Research notes that content management system (CMS) company Storyblok was able to provide its customers with high return on investment (ROI) once they modernise their content operation. 

The ROI was recorded as high as 582%, over a three-year period and paid for itself in less than six months.

According to the research, the characteristics and outcomes of Storyblok’s clients were combined in a composite organisation that is industry-agnostic with at least 5,000 employees, composed of 250 developers and 250 content creators, and annual revenue of $800 million.

It also noted that before investing in Storyblok’s CMS, the interviewee’s organisations were using a mix of traditional CMSs or a custom built monolithic environment which required a lot of maintenance. The overall time to make updates to customer-facing content on any channel took far too long to keep up with the constant flood of content changes.

For Dominik Angerer, co-founder and CEO of Storyblok, their system’s capabilities around a composable architecture, visual editing, collaboration, workflows, and omnichannel publishing allows customers to make creating and managing content more enjoyable for all teams, plus allowing audiences to enjoy better digital experiences.

He also added that the fact that this modern approach to content management also enabled cost savings and business benefits shows that now is the time for businesses to future-proof their content operations.

“The amazing customer ratings and stories we have heard have always been a great indicator that businesses get a significant return on investment from managing their content with Storyblok. At a time when more businesses are scrutinising traditional CMS platforms and exploring how a composable, headless CMS setup helps them with content operations and creating content at scale, we believe this Forrester study proves that Storyblok is a smart CMS investment,” he said.

Minneapolis, USA and Copenhagen, Denmark – Siteimprove, an enterprise platform that enables marketing and web teams to transform content into customer experiences that drive revenue, has announced the findings of the Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) global study. The TEI study commissioned by Siteimprove showed Siteimprove’s platform delivered a 275 percent return on investment (ROI) over three years for a composite organization. Siteimprove’s solutions payback period for costs associated with the platform is in under six months and deploying Siteimprove led to increased profit and widened market reach. 

“Sitemprove’s performance-with-a-purpose optimization allows marketers to spend more time on efficient, effective content creation that truly impacts revenue,” said Shane Paladin, CEO of Siteimprove.

“The Forrester analysis validates our core mission: helping marketing teams consistently deliver the most accessible, inclusive, relevant, discoverable, and usable content,” added Paladin.

The study conducted by Forrester interviewed several Siteimprove clients across North America and Europe, who are focused on providing a more consistent and elevated digital experience for their customers. According to the TEI study findings, prior to using Siteimprove, the interviewees noted how their organizations lacked the necessary capabilities to deliver a consistent and high-quality digital experience across their expansive websites. By identifying errors and performance issues, the study found that Siteimprove’s enterprise platform delivers: 

  • Increased profit from refined site UX and design, using Siteimprove to methodically apply insights-driven approaches to page redesigns, content creation, and marketing campaign spending.
  • Increased profit from improved accessibility, as Siteimprove customers expanded their customer base by proactively ensuring web practices are aligned with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. By viewing web performance through the stringent lens of accessibility, companies not only enable visitors with disabilities to interact with their brand, but ultimately expand their audience by offering an ease-of-use that benefits a broader base of consumers with a range of digital abilities.
  • Automated Monitoring & Workflow led to significant savings via site monitoring automation, reducing the average time spent on error detection and content monitoring by 90%.
  • Bolstered traffic from SEO, through the optimization of web content and identification and remediation of technical, content, user experience (UX), or mobile issues.

The Forrester Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) global study includes quotes from the companies surveyed: 

“We have multiple in-country based websites, all with different teams. I needed a solution that could help us centrally understand the quality of these sites and provide them with easy-to- understand actions to rectify the identified problems.” – Head of web marketing, information technology

“We are focusing more on customizing our content for organic search, and that data is obtained from Siteimprove.” – Marketing technologist, information technology

“We’ve partnered with Siteimprove in the light of a major website relaunch with the objective to merge three heterogenous website presences spanning over 10,000 pages into one unified estate to strengthen our brand and create one voice. Given a rather short timeline of eight months, this was a tremendously ambitious project,” said Jörg Lothal, senior manager of corporate communications, web intelligence & SEM at Merck.

“Despite the challenge, the Siteimprove platform enabled us to not only maintain but significantly improve the quality of our content, setting a new standard for the website experience we offer to our visitors. Since the relaunch, we were able to quadruple traffic to our website and gain deep data-driven insights into the mechanics of content design, which will guide our digital marketing efforts moving forward,” added Lothal.

This post is sponsored by Siteimprove.

Sydney, Australia – The National Australia Bank (NAB) has ranked first among five known banks in Australia regarding its implementation of customer experience to its services, the latest index from research and advisory firm Forrester shows.

NAB has improved its CX quality the most with a 6-point increase over last year, propelling the bank from third to first place in Forrester’s ranking, compared to last year. The bank has also had the highest percentage of customers reporting excellent experiences (47%) and the best performance across all three dimensions of CX quality: effectiveness, ease, and emotion.

The research also noted that among customers of Australian banks who felt valued, 62% plan to stay with the bank, 77% plan to spend more with it, and 84% will advocate for the bank. In contrast, of customers who feel frustrated, only 21% plan to stay with the bank and to spend more with it, and a mere 13% will advocate for the bank.

Riccardo Pasto, principal analyst at Forrester, noted that while banks are racing to elevate the digital experience of their websites and mobile apps, oftenly they neglect the importance of human interactions.

“At a time of strict social distancing and lockdown orders that make in-person interaction not feasible, video chat and other digitally enabled human interactions allow banks to get closer to customers and connect with them on a deeper emotional level. Our research shows that CX leaders grow revenue faster than CX laggards, drive higher brand preference, and retain more customers, who are more inclined to forgive stumbles made by brands with good CX,” Pasto said.

He also added that brands with the best customer experiences during the pandemic shutdown will benefit the most from pent-up demand on the other side.

The index also added that communicating in plain language is one of the top three drivers of CX quality; just 58% of customers say that banks are successful at this. Having transparent interest rates and fees is one of the top four drivers for retaining customers, but just over one-third of banking customers report that banks do a good job with prices and fees (36%), indicating room for improvement.

“Even a minor improvement to a brand’s customer experience quality can add revenue by reducing customer churn and increasing share of wallet. Additionally, superior CX leads to reduced service costs and lowers the cost of customer acquisition through word of mouth,” Forrester said in a press statement.

The index benchmarks the CX quality of brands and is based on a survey of more than 5,000 Australian adult customers, including more than 1,400 customers of five banks, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, NAB, Suncorp, and Westpac.

Singapore – The customer experience (CX) among major banking institutions in Malaysia lacks differentiation in execution, found by the latest index from global research and advisory firm Forrester.

Said index observed the CX environment across Malaysian multichannel banks AmBank, Bank Rakyat, CIMB Bank, Hong Leong Bank, Maybank, Public Bank, and RHB Bank. The index notes that all banks fell under the ‘OK’ category, with all scores falling within a very tight range, indicating a lack of differentiation within the industry, primarily driven by the challenge that the Malaysian banks face with building positive emotional engagement with their customers. 

In terms of CX ranking, Maybank emerged as the leading brand and outperformed all other brands in customer retention, with 41% of customers planning to stay with the bank. Across the three key dimensions of CX quality namely ease, effectiveness, and emotion; customers rated Maybank the most effective and easiest to work with. The bank also received positive emotional feedback from 52% of its customers, just below Bank Rakyat’s 53% mark in that category.

“During this tumultuous year, feeling confident, happy, and valued mattered the most to customers to remain loyal to a brand. In such an undifferentiated market, the ability to invoke positive emotions will be critical to delivering differentiated experiences. Our research indicates that 80% of Malaysian firms will be implementing or expanding their digital transformation by the end of 2021 to provide better experiences,” said Tom Mouhsian, principal analyst at Forrester.

Meanwhile, the index noted that among customers in Malaysia who felt valued by their bank, 41% plan to remain a customer, 61% plan to spend more with it, and 69% will recommend it to family or friends. In contrast, among customers who felt frustrated with their bank, only 10% plan to remain with the brand, with 17% planning to spend ‘more’ with it, and just 14% to recommend it to family or friends.

“This investment is not going to be enough, however, to differentiate CX. In addition to investing in digital experiences, businesses must connect emotionally and empathetically with their customers. To achieve this, CX pros must have a disciplined approach to envisioning, designing, and delivering a consistently high-quality customer experience,” Mouhsian concluded.