Lotame, the global technology company that makes customer data smarter, faster, and easier to use for digital marketers, today released findings, ‘The State of Data Collaboration: A Global Perspective’, a report on marketer and agency data challenges and the solutions they use, or plan to, fielded by Cint.
The report found that data challenges are ubiquitous, as is planned investment in marketing and data technology, with data collaboration platforms delivering multiple tangible benefits.
A sample of more than 1,200 marketing and agency professionals in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, the UK, and North America were surveyed between June and July 2024. The full global report can be downloaded here.
Key findings for Australia:
- Data challenges are ubiquitous: 99% of marketers and agencies encounter barriers in data orchestration and utilisation. The primary struggles include finding quality sources/partners and dealing with the limitations of first-party data, which often fails to provide comprehensive insights.
- First-party data a priority: 69% of respondents recognise the urgency of leveraging first-party data. However, the nature of this first-party data — primarily using unstable identifiers alone like email addresses and mobile IDs — exacerbates issues, leading many to consider data collaboration as a solution.
- Australia less reliant on third-party cookies: 17% of marketers and 6% of agencies in Australia are entirely reliant on third-party cookies, compared to 32% and 21%, respectively, across the global average. A portfolio approach to identity solutions has emerged, with an average of 3.1 options used in tandem to maximise reach with no clear frontrunner.
- Programmatic spending stagnates: Australian respondents are evenly split in whether they expect programmatic spend to rise or fall, a deviation from other territories where declines are widely anticipated. Surprisingly, spending forecasts are almost evenly split between walled gardens and the open web, despite the former being perceived as more attention-grabbing.
- Technology investment set to surge: 98% of respondents plan to adopt new marketing technologies and data technologies. However, high rates of retirement for customer data platforms and query clean rooms signal ongoing challenges in data management, where issues around consistency and accessibility remain critical.
- Clean rooms face scrutiny: High requirements for data and analytics expertise as well as technical challenges — particularly in scaling with authenticated IDs — is leading to dissatisfaction in clean rooms’ capabilities, with more than a third (35%) of agencies currently using the technology planning to retire it in the next six months.
- Data collaboration platforms gain traction: Despite being a relatively new technology, data collaboration platforms have been adopted by 7 in 10 Australian respondents and are delivering tangible outcomes, such as improved audience targeting and mitigated privacy concerns, with an average of 2.3 positive changes to reported marketing operations.
“Orchestrating and activating data remains a major struggle for marketers and agencies, both inside and outside their organisations. However, they are finally overcoming this barrier through a combination of technology and a shift in mindset. Rather than becoming mini walled gardens, marketers and agencies are realising that a rising tide lifts all boats and are embracing a collaborative approach to data — enabled by data collaboration platforms”.
“This research offers a deeper view of how marketers and agencies are navigating the current advertising challenges,” said Laura Manning, SVP, measurement at Cint. “The findings reveal a range of strategies being adopted, from addressing limitations in first-party data to exploring new technologies like data collaboration platforms. As the industry continues to evolve, we see a growing emphasis on innovative solutions to enhance audience targeting, personalisation, and overall data orchestration and activation — all of which ultimately benefits the end consumer”.
Lotame commissioned industry research into how marketers and agencies are addressing data challenges and opportunities in a post-cookie digital advertising landscape. Cint, a digital insights and research technology leader conducted the global online survey. Cint surveyed more than 1,200 industry professionals, marketers and agencies, across six global markets in June-July 2024: Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, UK and North America.
The survey asked key questions tailored to marketers and agencies and joint questions to look at:
- The state of data with and without cookies
- Advertising investment in walled gardens vs. open web
- Evolution of a next-gen tech stack
- Data collaboration understanding and penetration
