Predicting the Future of TV without Cookies. A Discussion with a4’s Natalia Irmin

We are facing an industry measurement change with the upcoming retirement of the cookie. While not always the optimal way of data gathering, we as an industry have come to rely on it. But this change need not be a challenge according to a4’s Director of Data and Strategy, Natalia Irmin. 

In fact, a cookieless future is going to looking pretty good. “Cookies are not something that's always existed. It feels like they always existed, but actually hasn't. We still measured before cookies were available and those practices will be coming back,” she explained.

Embracing a Cookieless Future

For Irmin, there are lots of options for measuring without cookies. “First, you still have your first party data which gives you a lot of flexibility,” she noted. And there are new technological breakthroughs that weren’t even imagined when cookies were first introduced. “How do I use artificial intelligence,” she posited, “How do I use data science to create the models that are going to inform what I need to do with my advertising? That is something that a lot of companies are thinking about and coming up with solutions.” But, she noted, “Not the entire universe is deterministic. It depends on the the breadth of your operations. You might have to deal with data that's not necessarily one to one. If you want to keep doing that, you’ll have to think about working with models that focus on incremental reach beyond TV.”

Data from cookies for Irmin falls into two buckets – targeting and measurement. “I think targeting is less of a challenge,” she stated and added, “The measurement portion, how are you going to measure, is more challenging.

Grappling with Walled Gardens

Walled gardens present another ongoing challenge for measurement. But Irmin remains generally optimistic about the industry’s ability to work with walled garden companies. “What I'm finding,” she began, “Is that recently there's been more talk about collaboration and moving beyond those walled gardens.” And yet, she averred, “While we find it useful to collaborate with other companies, we still recognize that the walled garden still exists and some of them, depending on their size, are still useful to work with. You are not going to stop working with some walled gardens,” just because they don't allow you to access certain data.

Being Pro-Active in Industry Changes

Getting ahead of industry changes and evolving into new solutions is pivotal for companies who want to develop the best, most accurate and sophisticated solution to industry changes concerning data. Google, after all, gave the industry a year to adjust before it retires the cookie. Procrastination, however, is not recommended. “From our perspective at a4, we keep exploring all the solutions that come up in the marketplace and start testing,” early in the time frame. “The adjustment period seems like the more correct way to go, because you don't want to wake up one day and be like, ‘Oh I just don't have a solution for this, because I had that extra year and I completely forgot about it and was focusing on other stuff and now I have nothing.’ Definitely don’t do that,” she warned.

Contextual Targeting

For a4, the future, and even the present, rests on contextual targeting. “We are more focused on targeting for measurement and have developed our own internal solutions that include both first party data and modeling,” she explained, “For targeting you’ve got to start thinking more seriously about contextual. With cookies, contextual was always viewed as something that's less good, less accurate, perhaps. But in reality, contextual actually provides you with ability to control your brand safety and it means that you're actually going to those places where your audience is.”

The value of contextual marketing cannot be under-estimated. “You can target certain inventory and nothing else. When you work within the DSP, for example, you have a source of inventory. You then take IPs that you've determined are associated with certain households and a footprint you want to target. Then you layer on top of that inventory specific behavioral targets, people who visit certain related websites. Then measure your campaign after the fact, and make adjustments. Using IPs and measuring contextually allows you to find the audience that you're looking for,” she said.

Collaboration and Team Effort is Vital

Perhaps the most important aspect of navigating through industry change is collaboration and team effort. “It comes down to the people that you get to work with within your organization and with people in other organizations. Because we work with so many different partners, you can really see the difference between working with a company that has people that care or not. One of the best things about working at a4 is working with the people and the teams. I see how hard these teams work to provide to provide a solution and provide answers to all these questions and challenges that that our clients are facing and be able to tell them ‘Don't worry.’ We’ve got you. We know how to help you. We know what you're dealing with and we're working diligently to maintain and expand our offering to give you something extra to help you face those challenges,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com