Only one in three brands can offer individualised offerings

Only one in three brands can offer individualised offerings while most consumers are willing to pay a premium for personalisation, says MMA India’s Data Privacy Report.

MMA India (part of MMA Global), the only not-for-profit marketing trade body, unveiled some interesting insights and findings in its report titled, Data Protection and Personalisation in a privacy-first world: A marketer's guide on future-proofing data. Voicing needs and opinions, the report brings forth the strategic recommendations of industry experts from AdTech and MarTech giants such as Google, Meta, Accenture, AppsFlyer, and Dentsu.

A POV article by Vineet R Ahuja, Managing Director - Strategy & Consulting, Accenture India & MMA India Board Member in the report states that while a vast majority of consumers are willing to pay a premium for personalization, only 1 in 3 brands can offer an individualized offering or messaging. On the other hand, sensitivities around consumer data privacy are at an all-time high due to increasing consumer awareness, stringent regulations, and initiatives by technology platforms.

The report also highlights conversations around why responsible utilization of consumer data has become the need of the hour.  It also unravels the new age customer’s need for personalisation without compromising their need for privacy.

MMA feels marketers today need to find ways to ensure privacy is not a hindrance to providing better products and services to consumers. Rather, how a privacy-first approach to data can facilitate consumer trust in the brand. The report also offers tips and tricks on how to accelerate brand growth and delivery performance without compromising the privacy concerns of consumers.

Moneka Khurana, Country Head and Board Member, MMA India, said: “Consumers today are growing increasingly cautious about how much data they share with brands. This report will educate marketers on how a privacy-first approach to data can facilitate consumer trust in the brand. Through reports like this, MMA aims to help brands create a blueprint for the path forward as they navigate the intersection of personalisation and privacy-driven worlds. The brands should be better prepared for the future given that consumer data is crucial for brands and marketers to personalise products and messaging. However, consumers must be reassured that their information is kept secure and private. There needs to be a new standard for responsible data to provide consumers with first-of-its-kind control of their data.”

Arun Neelakantan – VP-Digital Transformation & Growth, Unilever South Asia, said “With rapid digitization across sectors, the digital fingerprints of consumers have increased exponentially over the last few years and will continue to gain pace in the coming times as well. Access to this data enables industries and organizations to better personalize and curate content specific to the needs of individual consumers. Consumers seek personalization across all engagements. They want to be served products and content that they are interested in, that is curated for them and with the reducing attention spans, they are quick to weed out the irrelevant. From companies using their names to now looking for tailored products, consumers are becoming increasingly discerning. In that regard, data privacy is a foundational pillar of building consumer trust”.

Key Highlights:

1. Meta believes that personalized advertising is at the heart of the digital advertising ecosystem, which drives the digital economy and is consequential to overall economic growth.
2. A Meta POV states that if businesses can’t evolve to meet this moment, people may face a very different digital world, dominated by less personalized ads and increasing costs for advertisers. Meta advocates that personalization and data privacy can co-exist.
3. A study by Salesforce in 2020 shows how advertisers are still heavily reliant on third-party data, most of which is collected using third-party cookies.
4. Dentsu believes advertisers need to develop strong first-party data fortresses, data clean rooms and novel ways to stitch together audience intelligence.
5. Google’s all-new marketer’s playbook reveals PepsiCo improved ROI up to 3X by building direct customer relationships. Asos, a U.K.-based retailer, observed 31% more conversions by using first-party data, and Rituals, a bath and body retail company, was able to increase conversions by 85% by surfacing powerful insights from its first-party data to find more valuable customers.
6. MMA India along with EY received inputs from over 150 marketers from retail, finance, automobile, media, healthcare, education, and other sectors in the Indian market and found that:

1. #89% of respondents believed they had policies and processes to safeguard consumer data.
2. #58% had defined ownership & management strategies for 1P consumer data.
3. #60% had little or no integration of their 1P and 3P data with limited employee access.
4. #24% had cross-fishing rules defined for sharing of consumer data between brands.