Adstra's Scott Gordon discusses integration with Adelphic
In conversation: Scott Gordon, Adstra EVP – Partnerships
In this Viant Q&A, Adstra EVP - Partnerships, Scott Gordon discusses disruptive strategies supported by industry experiences and the shift to the next era of data.
In what has been a year of uncertainty, have you seen marketers change their approach to using data?
2020 was certainly a year of reconsideration on the part of marketers across all of their efforts. Between the immediate impact of the pandemic and diversity issues on consumer sentiment and behavior, and the longer-term impact from the threat of 3rd party cookie and mobile ID deprecation, marketers have had to look at redesigning both process and message. In both, marketers have had to take a closer look at their use of data and the information that data represents. The acceleration in digital commerce and consumer behavior has placed a premium on speed of access to data, while the regulatory changes and concerns on identity deprecation have spurred investment in gaining greater control of one’s own data and identity management. It’s safe to say 2020 was a year that marketers truly invested in their understanding of data and identity, and in turn—has begun the shift to the next era of value creation.
Looking ahead, and with the end of cookies in sight, what do marketers need to understand as deterministic data becomes the primary currency of the internet?
The question is one constructed with a great many assumptions. The concern around the deprecation of cookies only applies to third-party cookies, and while the concerns are certainly real, one could argue their demise is more uncertain now than at the beginning of the year. The recent antitrust actions by the US and other governments may change the platforms’ ability to move forward with these changes and may actually reverse the decisions on companies like Mozilla and Apple that have already started to take action.
As to deterministic data becoming the primary currency, it might be more accurate to say that 1st and 2nd party data is becoming the larger currency. 1st Party data will largely be driven by deterministic data but will also include modeled and inferred data. What marketers want and need is access to data that helps them better understand an accurate picture of intent and behavior. Deterministic data does not always equal valid data. How many of us have lied about age or income in filling out a social media profile? That all being said what marketers do need to understand is how data is being collected, permissioned, and used throughout their marketing processes.
They also need to understand that regulatory change around the use of data and identity has been constant and evolving over the last two decades and will continue to be so going forward. Long term success will come from owning your data, establishing an accurate permission management capability, and having a clear identity strategy that provides an accurate picture of who your customers are at all touchpoints regardless of the cookie outcome. At Adstra, this is why we have become a Data Bureau, to help marketers develop their own solution to each of these three needs.
How does Adstra’s direct integration with Adelphic help marketers as the cookieless future approaches?
With the Adstra/ Adelphic integration, we have established a direct and persistent link between the audiences Adelphic has access to and the known individuals that exist in Adstra’s ID graph. This allows marketers to connect their customers and prospects easily and directly to both the Adelphic network and their associated individual data. Adstra can connect a marketer’s own data and further enhance it with Adstra’s consumer and business essentials data plus any other 3rd party data. Adstra can do this regardless of the media the data comes from and we are not dependent on third-party cookies to do so. Adstra’s integration with Adelphic is based on linking known individuals, not simply a tag management connection.
Identity resolution is top of mind today, but many remain uncertain about what true identity resolution is. What is key to understand?
Identity starts with a valid, known individual, not a simple touchpoint digitally collected. Too often today, platforms recognize “bots” and “digital ghosts” as individuals on the internet. True identity resolution is the process of resolving touchpoints and data elements back to a known, valid individual. This is the foundation for accurately building linkage of individuals across systems and platforms and effectively understanding the complete and effective profile of those individuals. It was once said, “on the internet, no one knows you are a dog.” The internet has long been based on anonymity, driving many of the challenges we see in social and news media today. The next generation of identity will likely shift to make known identity more the norm as it has long been in the terrestrial world. Having an understanding of “true identity” will allow marketers to easily bridge their efforts in either a known or unknown state with customers.
We recently wrote a piece about the changing role of match rates in today’s climate. In your opinion, what do marketers need to keep in mind when using match rates to measure identity resolution effectiveness?
The critical thing to keep in mind is that not all matches are the same. Match rates can easily be adjusted based on the accuracy of the match and the type of data being matched. Many of the platforms and vendors a marketer engages with are compensated based on media volume. As a result, they are financially motivated to drive the greatest scale they can justify. Marketers conversely succeed through effective scale, marketing to the audiences that matter. At the core of this is accurately defining valid and persistent individuals, against which data can be applied, models built, and marketing campaigns can be deployed. In considering any match rates presented a marketer must understand if the match rates reflect the ability to execute each of these steps correctly. What is the outcome they are looking for and does the data “matched” get them all the way through their marketing process? Do the match rates reflect a true match back to a known individual that can be marketed to? These are the considerations that relate to driving outcome.
Adstra is the industry’s first “Data Bureau”. What exactly does that mean?
Here’s how we think about a “data bureau” — a new data orchestration platform that can ingest any form of identity, individual or household, assign a persistent ID connected to attribute data, and then activate against any other media or form of identity. Adstra is central and instrumental in removing the friction of data transfer and federating the use of data in all aspects of marketing. We are agnostic to media form or vendor and can operate in conjunction with existing data and marketing tech our partners work with. This includes executing our capabilities within our partners' internal environments. Our goal as a “data bureau” is to help each partner realize a safer and greater benefit in how they work with data.