Creepy cookies: why saying goodbye was for the best

The next Catch a Fire webinar is in the diary! On March 26th at 10 AM GMT, we will discuss why creativity is key in personalisation and all digital marketing strategies. Ahead of the webinar itself, we will be exploring the importance of first-party data, audience targeting and the tools to make AI your ally.

Data is a commodity, and people know it

Your customers are more tech-savvy and privacy-aware than ever before, and they know their rights. Third party cookies raised serious privacy, security and legal concerns with incidents such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal waving red flags. The call to ban third party cookies became loud and clear, and even today as they are being phased out, 81% of consumers believe the risks of personal data collection outweigh the benefits (1).  

So what spurred this deep mistrust of third party cookies?:  

• Privacy concerns: excessive tracking of users’ browsing habits across the web facilitates the creation of detailed personal profiles, often without the user’s knowledge (2).  

• Security risks: data can be hacked by malicious parties to harvest personal information and spread malware (3). Just take a look at the Medibank data breach in Australia, which saw the harvesting of 9.7 million records from Australia’s largest health insurer in October 2022. The names, addresses, birth dates and sensitive health information of then current and former Medibank customers was compromised, as was the reputation and trust in Medibank.  

• Invasive profiling: data collected could be used in a discriminatory way, sold to create biased advertising or automate decisions, which questions the real autonomy users have.  

• Legal issues: this data harvesting conflicts with strict privacy laws like GDPR, which mandate clear consent and transparency in data collection practices, which not all brands were previously transparent about (5). 

It’s no wonder that with pressure from consumers, privacy advocates, and regulatory bodies, major browsers Safari and Firefox were prompted to ban third-party cookies. Google Chrome has also announced plans to phase out third-party cookies, although this has been delayed until 2025 (6). 

Personalised marketing; considerate, not creepy

Shady tactics firmly put to bed, there remains a place for personalised marketing. In fact, it’s a necessity: markets are made up of real people, who are never static. With the right targeting and AI tools you can gain insights about your audience to inform your personalised marketing strategies. People change, so it follows that whether online or offline, brands need to stay curious and evolve with the habits and expectations of their audience. And when you do, it pays off.  

According to a study by Epsilon, 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalised experiences (7). Brands that understand the importance of tailored marketing to meets their customers’ specific needs and preferences, see the results. According to a survey by McKinsey, with a strong personalisation strategy in place brands can reduce customer acquisition costs by as much as 50%, lift revenue by anywhere from 5% to 15% (8). 

But, as personalisation grows, so does the importance of respecting consumer privacy. Brands must find the sweet spot between complying with GDPR regulations and consumer expectations, while also understanding their audience and engaging with them effectively. As we have spoken about in previous webinars, transparency fosters trust. Communicating clearly about how you intend to use your customers data and offering opt-in options can help establish integrity. Brands that succeed in balancing personalisation with privacy will build better loyalty with customers. 

So where does AI come into this?

When it comes to execution, AI can be a real asset in personalised marketing strategies. In fact, Segment’s State of Personalisation Report (9) found that 92% of businesses are already using AI-driven personalisation to drive growth.  

There’s a vast array of ways AI can help:  

• Streamlining business processes,  

• Analysing purchase history,  

• Segmenting customers based on behaviour,  

• Assessing reviews and feedback for sentiment,  

• Creating consistent product descriptions,  

• And so much more. 

As outlined by Shopify in their report Seeing around Corners: Personalization (10) and many ecommerce giants, first party data is everything. An arsenal of first-party data by your side is crucial to steer you towards accurate and strategies and results in a vastly improved customer experience. Personalised marketing and AI go hand in hand in 2025. But AI simply can’t do everything – you also need the human touch. Especially when it comes to creative.  

Let your creative do the targeting

A recent study by Vervaunt (11) found that with cookies in the rearview mirror, dynamic creative content can often handle the targeting itself. Marketing has always been about getting under the skin of your audience in order to craft the right angle to get their attention. Resonating with their needs, tensions or aligning with their cultural content. Utilising AI-analysed data can amplify this.  

AI in personalisation today allows marketers to understand their audience on a deeper level and reach new ones that share similar behaviours. It is opening creative pathways to speak to multiple audiences, segments and expand your reach with algorithms that just keep learning.  

Personalisation is necessary in marketing today, but it’s crucial to have the right data, the right strategy and the right creative to win. Want to know more? Our next article will focus on Targeting 101, as we delve into tools to target ahead of our next webinar.  

Keen to join us for the webinar? Simply sign up below:

More from the Ignite Webinar Series

Go back and take a look at the last episode in the series: Why Sustainability Isn’t Selling