The future of privacy-first marketing

Geneviève: So I could talk about how good data privacy practices make your marketing more effective, which is actually true, but really what we care about most is that it's what users want, and we see this when they're purchasing devices, when they're surfing the web, or when they decide where to purchase.

Charlie: I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that there is a turnkey solution or a one-size-fits-all that works for everybody. It's just not the case unfortunately. There are tools and there are programmes that you can build as part of a wider compliance programme. Another misconception some people have about privacy is that this is a set and forget regime. Unfortunately, that's not reality. You need a constant monitoring and compliance programme to make sure that what you've put in place continues to meet your legal and regulatory requirements.

Zac: I think the biggest misconception I see is that people see privacy and marketing as a zero sum game. One has to fail in order for the other to succeed, but that's not the case. They can both succeed together.

Charlie: The question of why legal and marketing teams should work together is a really important one. These two functions are now completely entwined in a way that we've not seen before. Legal professionals want to bring their expertise of the law and regulatory guidance. Marketers need to bring their knowledge of the products, the proposed use cases, and some of the jargon as well to help the lawyers break down what it is they need. Making sure those relationships are strong and collaborative means that the review process can be a team project rather than a series of last minute, often confrontational discussions.

Zac: My one takeaway for us all to become privacy-first organisations is to simply ask ourselves two questions. Would I do this with my mother's data? And how would I explain this to the 9 o'clock news? It's not just a one hour GDPR e-learning a year for employees. A privacy-first organisation is where it's embedded into the culture of the decision-making process at all levels of the organisation.

Zac: AI is bringing increased complexity into the privacy landscape. Greater amounts of personal data are being used in order to train the models that sit behind it. It's really important that we as organisations put the efforts in to understand the data that is being stored and how it's being used. Treat your consumers like human beings. Make sure you're transparent in what you do with their data. Make sure you give them control and choice rather than treating them just as a number.

Geneviève: Changing the way digital advertising is done is not just a challenge, it's an opportunity. It's not often that we get to re-evaluate our entire business and how we do things and ask ourselves, is this still what I really care about most? So rather than replacing the technologies that we had with an equivalent, really ask yourself, what is it that I truly want to drive with my ads marketing and how can I achieve that? We have a clean slate here, so I hope you make the most of it.