Fuse Insights   •   March 16, 2021

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Last week, Google announced our third-party user-tracking cookies are crumbling. That’s a big loss for digital advertising and has put targeted ads on the ropes.

Like Apple, Google has stepped things up in the name of user privacy. It will no longer sell web ads that target individual users’ browsing habits, and Chrome will no longer support cookies that collect data.

But just because Google is through with cookies doesn’t mean it’s through tracking you. Google will still track users on mobile devices, and it will still serve targeted ads based on user behavior, at least on its own platforms. That means Google itself won’t be dramatically affected by the move.

To understand third-party cookies, look at a day in your life online. As soon as you open your computer or pick up your mobile device, you start browsing or searching for content, starting with that all-natural dog food you heard about, or that bracelet your friend was wearing during your Zoom meeting. Maybe you check your Facebook feed and “like” some sponsored content or look for some new running shoes for spring. That’s all part of cookie data, and it’s proven to be a win/win for consumers and advertisers alike. Individuals get served relevant ads (based on their interests), and advertisers are more prone to convert customers who may be predisposed to their product or service.

But do people really like the idea of being tracked? Not really. And regulators are passing more stringent privacy laws because of it.

As we all know, advertising is what keeps the web open. But privacy practices need to keep up with our changing expectations. People want their identity and information kept safe and confidential on the browsers they use. And advertisers still need a way to find their audience based on web behavior.

So, what’s the right answer? Is there any substitute for third-party data that satisfies both the consumer and the marketer?

Let’s start with first-party data. Over the last few years, larger brands like P&G and Starbucks have worked diligently to taper their dependence on ad tech by building out strong direct-to-consumer relationships. P&G has a database of more than a billion people, while Starbucks is going big into personalization through first-party data collected on its own channels.

An effective loyalty program or app is more important today than ever, because it gives you direct insight into your customers’ behaviors and mindsets. Loyalty programs help you develop a personal relationship with customers, reward them for their behavior, and recommend new products or services that will keep them coming back for more. Smaller brands in particular need to place value on every consumer connection, where the first priority should be getting an email address and consent. The bottom line? First-party data is becoming more and more valuable, so get as much of it as you can.

Meanwhile, if you’re not a mega-brand with several billion people in your database, there are some new alternatives to third-party cookies.

The Trade Desk recently announced their industry-wide initiative to develop and deploy Unified ID 2.0, an open-source, interoperable identity solution that Nielsen (the gold standard in media data and measurement) has come on board to support.

Unlike cookies, Unified ID 2.0 operates across multiple advertising channels. Marketers will now be able to understand ad campaign performance across streaming TV, browsers, mobile, audio, TV apps, and devices with a single ID. This new approach uses secured technology to encrypt and hash a consumer’s email address or phone number (any authenticated login) for their protection.

Jeff Green, CEO of The Trade Desk, said it like this: “As consumers embrace connected devices and TV becomes fully digitized, advertisers are looking for a new approach to identity that helps them measure across platforms in a way that puts the consumer in control. With industry-wide collaboration, Unified ID 2.0 accomplishes these objectives while preserving the value exchange of relevant advertising.”

Some of the key elements of Unified ID 2.0 include:

• A simplified consent framework for publishers
• Encrypted identification
• Simple and transparent consumer controls
• Single sign-on capabilities across the open Internet (so consumers don’t have to consent repeatedly)

At its core, Unified ID 2.0 is an upgrade to cookies, because it will operate across several different advertising channels with a single ID. This creates a stronger, simplified environment for media precision and measurement.

Lotame has also created a new cookieless identity solution called Panorama ID. It relies on deterministic audience data, including customer IDs, emails and publicly available web information. Lotame says the ID features an average of 119 web and 89 mobile attributes per pseudonymous individual, delivering the highest accuracy, profile depth and scale across the open web.

And then there’s Google, where this whole cookie-free diet began. In this empty-glass-of-milk, cookieless future, Google wants ad targeting, measurement and fraud protection to adhere to standards set by its Privacy Sandbox. But isn’t a sandbox a place where everyone is invited to play?

According to Digiday, Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative is still in its infancy, so while Google has proposed many features, no actual platform or code exists for marketers to properly assess. The idea is that it will replace third-party cookies with five application programming interfaces. Advertisers will use each API to receive aggregated data about issues like conversion (how well their ads performed) and attribution (which entity is credited for a purchase). Google’s Privacy Sandbox represents an alternative pathway for the ad industry to take, relying on anonymized signals (not cookies) within a person’s Chrome browser to profit from that user’s browsing habits.

All in all, cookies are not as creepy as they sound. But the industry has done a poor job of explaining the value proposition to consumers — relevant ads in exchange for free content. That’s why user privacy has reached such critical mass. But give the industry a problem and it will find some creative solutions. And I think we will all be happier with open standards that help support a better Internet for advertisers, publishers and consumers.

If you found this article from Fuse Digital helpful, please let us know. And if you have further information you’d like to share, please comment, so we can all learn more.

Fuse Insights   •   March 05, 2021

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In March of 2020, when the COVID pandemic came into full view, many of us found ourselves moving out. Of the office, that is. We packed up our laptops, organized our sticky notes, grabbed our favorite office plants and wondered how long it would be before we re-experienced client meeting leftovers and the awe of fluorescent lighting.

Well, it’s March 2021 now and most of us are still working from home, which begs the question: Is the traditional office still viable? By forcing people to work remotely, the pandemic has opened us all to new ways of working. Companies like Twitter and Square have given employees permission to work from home indefinitely, while other organizations have announced intentions to reduce their office space. Looking back to before the outbreak, many businesses were reluctant to let employees work from home, citing a potential lack of productivity and trust. But things have changed — big time.

According to smallbizgenius, 4.3 million US employees now work from home at least half the time. That’s a 140% increase since 2005 and the reasons are clear: Companies that allow remote work have a 25% lower average turnover rate, and people who work remotely (even once a month) are 24% more likely to be happy and productive. The numbers are starting to add up. Today’s smaller companies are prone to hire remote full-time workers. They cost less and are more productive, while using less company space, electricity and equipment.

Before starting Fuse Digital, I was ECD at SQ1 in Portland, Oregon. I got up at 6:00 a.m. every morning, showered and dressed, and hit the road in time to see the sunrise. But between leaving the house and arriving at work, there was really no telling how I’d feel, and it was all based on how good or bad the traffic was. Sometimes it would jam up so much, I’d have to dial into a meeting from the car. Talk about distracted driving.

Today, I still wake up at 6:00 a.m., but now, instead of hitting the shower (or shaving), I throw on some sweatpants and a V-neck T-shirt, brew some fresh coffee, steam the milk, and stroll into my home office overlooking the woods beside our house. I browse the NY Times online, check the stock market, and start writing down early morning thoughts. After my coffee, I jump on our Peloton, take a quick 20-minute ride, then I shower. And it occurs to me: If I was still working at the downtown office, I may not even be there yet.

In the 12-months I’ve worked from home, I’m less stressed and more productive. I eat healthier. I don’t have as many unnecessary meetings. There’s no wait for the bathroom and everything in it is mine (or my wife’s). My car has about 10,000 fewer miles on the odometer. And of course, every day is Take Your Dog to Work Day.

But not everything is as good as it sounds. Working remotely works well for many reasons, but it can also come at a cost. According to a YouGov survey in partnership with USA TODAY and LinkedIn, 51% of respondents who work remotely said they felt lonely and isolated. Feelings like this have been amplified by the pandemic, but loneliness has always been a common complaint for remote workers.

Pandemic-related school closings have also taken a huge toll on families. Couples are being forced to juggle working from home while trying to keep their K–12 children emotionally engaged in their schoolwork. It’s a daunting equation, especially considering many children are battling emotional distress from months of social isolation and a lack of school structure.

The reality is, we all miss each other. We miss coming to the office and talking face-to-face. We miss getting out of the house, being in the center of town, eating at an outdoor café, or having the occasional group lunch. We miss happy-hour Fridays, employee potlucks, and morning chitchats with the parking lot attendant. For many of us, working from home also makes it difficult to create a healthy separation between work and leisure.

Obviously, there are pros and cons to everything. But once the pandemic is behind us and our children are back in school, which would you pick?

Remote? Office? Or somewhere in between?

If you work from home, you can avoid feelings of isolation by bringing some of those office norms to you. Invite local work colleagues out to lunch, even if you have to socially distance or wear a mask. Host a brainstorm meeting on your patio or in the park. You’ll be energized by it and feel more connected to your team.

If you work full-time from the office, try choosing one day out of every week to work remotely. See if you feel more in control. Taking just one day to do things your way can lower your stress and help make you more productive.

We all work in different ways and it’s important to do what works best for you. Just remember, technology exists for a reason, so use it to your advantage. But keep in mind that safe, in-person get-togethers can be equally as important.

A lot has changed in the last 12 months and the traditional way we work may never be quite the same. But one thing that will never change is our need for human connection. So, keep those Zoom (or Teams) meetings coming, check in with one another “just because,” and never lose faith that when this pandemic is fully behind us, we’re going to have a really big office party — in person.

Cheers!

Fuse Insights   •   February 26, 2021

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As I was starting Fuse Digital, I brushed up on so much helpful content while getting my teams together. Facebook platform optimization, B2B tactics that include social B2C, YouTube direct response ads, customer experience, and marketing funnel strategies (not one out of five was the same).

While I was absorbing all of this, I came across Dave Trott’s blog, The Ten Condiments of Advertising. What a brilliant read. And all he did was describe our relationship with salad:

“Lettuce, tomato, cucumber.

On their own, they don’t have much taste.

So, we add some mayonnaise and pretty soon, we have a tasty salad.

But now we decide, since all the taste is in the condiment, we don’t need the boring part of the salad.

No boring lettuce or tomato or cucumber to get in the way.

All we really need is the tasty part that everyone loves — the condiment.

So, we get rid of the lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and just serve up a plate of delicious mayonnaise.

But would we really expect anyone to eat a plate of mayonnaise?

Well, we’ve just used exactly that logic to get advertising into the state it’s in.”

Trott goes on to explain that, like our salad, advertising started off with boring product claims about why one product was better than the other.

And no one liked that very much.

So, we added music, nice photography, and humor — the emotional condiments. And people started liking advertising a lot more.

But then we did the same thing with advertising as we did with our salads: We assumed that if people liked the emotional condiments so much, why waste time with any of that boring stuff, like logos or information about what makes the product different.

We tossed together advertising with little more than retouched photography, VFX, sound design, and tasty music.

It reminded me that advertising is more likeable (and successful) when you combine an emotional experience with a rational message. This engages both sides of the brain and creates a path for storytelling that’s not just entertaining, but smart and engaging.

In our Daikin Fit video I wrote and directed, the message is completely rational — space-saving design with whisper-quiet inverter technology. That’s the what we were told to say in the creative brief. But the way we said it — the how — was emotional, playing up the connection we all share when listening to the soothing sound of crickets chirping.

For me, that’s a good example of an emotional ad with a rational message. It has all the ingredients of a proper salad.

Anything else would be a plateful of nothing but mayonnaise.