2024 marks a pivotal year for marketing, with significant shifts anticipated in consumer behavior and brand strategies. Retail media accelerators are emerging as a crucial tool for brands, expected to sustain 20% annual growth through 2027. Performance pricing will become increasingly competitive, while subzero-party data, tapping into consumers' subconscious preferences, is poised to revolutionize marketing insights, challenging traditional reliance on self-reported data and past behaviors.

Manufacturers can gain valuable insights into consumer behavior by obtaining data on how, when, and why they purchase their products. This information can help manufacturers determine what innovative products to create, and how to price and distribute them in a way that meets consumer needs.

Retailers can also benefit from providing or selling first-party consumer data. Not only can it create a new revenue stream, but it can also help their manufacturer partners deliver better recommendations that benefit everyone involved.

The article explores the shift towards zero-party data collection as a response to the declining use of third-party cookies, emphasizing its advantages in building consumer trust and crafting more effective marketing strategies. It highlights that nearly half of the respondents prefer sharing data through interactive surveys, and this approach significantly increases trust in brands. The article argues that embracing zero-party data can help brands navigate the post-cookie digital landscape more successfully by enabling more direct and consensual interactions with consumers.

The discussion emphasizes the importance of understanding customer context in content personalization, relying on various data types (zero-party to third-party) to tailor content to individual needs. It highlights the challenges of maintaining up-to-date, accurate data and differentiating between targeting and personalization, advocating for the use of a diverse data foundation to enhance content relevance. Moreover, it suggests leveraging customer intent signals to improve content orchestration, while cautioning against over-reliance on predictive assumptions.

With growing data privacy concerns and changes in data protection regulations, marketing specialists have started to prioritize customer privacy in their campaigns and martech platforms. This approach involves transparent data practices, reliance on first-party and zero-party data, and building trust with users. 

Today, organizations are way more transparent about how they collect, use, and store customer data. Clear communication and enhanced security measures are essential to build trust with consumers. Also, companies are shifting away from third-party cookies towards first-party data gathered directly from users based on their interactions and preferences. Zero-party data refers to information that customers provide willingly, making marketing more transparent and consent-driven. 

In the next few years, finding the perfect balance between a high level of personalization and respect for user privacy will become the main challenge for marketing professionals worldwide. Privacy-enhancing technologies, such as secure multi-party computation and differential privacy, will allow organizations to analyze customer data without compromising privacy. With consumers becoming more concerned with their rights, privacy-focused marketing will be even more critical for building trust with users and increasing customer loyalty in the near future. We can expect that in the era of strict privacy regulations, the importance of zero-party data gathering will continue to grow and in 2024 it will become more widely known and used by companies from all around the world in their marketing technology strategies. 

The transition to first-party data is reshaping online retail, offering opportunities for enhanced personalization and trust. Retailers must navigate new data privacy laws, shifting from third-party data to a more direct relationship with customers. This change, while challenging, enables a deeper understanding of consumer preferences and fosters trust, leading to more personalized shopping experiences.

Google's plans to deprecate third-party cookies are underway, but online tracking is here to stay as the search giant tightens its stranglehold on browsing data

Google has begun phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome, aiming for a complete phase-out by end of 2024, impacting businesses' data collection methods. This move shifts focus to first-party data and introduces alternatives like Topics for ad targeting, while addressing privacy concerns. Critics argue this strengthens Google's data control, raising questions about online privacy and competition. Google's approach reflects a broader industry trend towards privacy-centric web browsing, urging businesses to adapt to first-party data strategies for digital marketing.

Below are five issues in the data privacy and cybersecurity space that businesses may see trending in 2024.

1.  Cybersecurity Rules by the SEC and the EU 

2.  Server-Side Tracking Replaces Browser-Side Tracking 

3.  Training AI Models 

4.  Washington State’s New Health Privacy Law 

5.  Legislation Loves Company 

The article highlights concerns among Americans about online data privacy, with 84% worried about their data when interacting with brands online. It shows a trend of consumers pulling back from sharing data, with 85% sometimes opting out of company mailing lists and 58% doing so habitually. Additionally, 48% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that collect zero-party data, which is shared willingly to help shape products and services.

The phase-out of third-party cookies on Google Chrome has led to significant challenges for B2B marketers, including reduced targeting accuracy and increased data compliance risks. Only 8% of marketers feel fully prepared for this shift, with many relying on these cookies for tracking and personalized advertising. The transition is pushing marketers to find alternative data sources, such as first-party and zero-party data, for personalization and analytics, while preserving user privacy and compliance with stringent legislation.

The article discusses the limitations of first-party data in a post-cookie world, highlighting concerns from Havas Media Group’s Laura Kell. It emphasizes that relying solely on first-party data may hinder new customer acquisition and questions the feasibility of investing in data clean rooms for everyone. It suggests that while first-party data is crucial, focusing exclusively on existing customers does not foster brand growth. The article also explores the role of clean rooms in safely utilizing first-party data, indicating that not all companies may benefit from such an investment due to the required volume of data and associated costs.

A study by Attest on 1,500 consumers found 84% of Americans are concerned about data privacy online, with 41% very concerned. Users are less willing to share personal data, with 85% opting out of mailing lists and 58% almost always doing so. About a third reject non-essential cookies to avoid targeted ads, and 48% trust brands that collect "zero-party data" willingly shared for product improvement, preferring interactive surveys for data sharing.

Salesforce recently shared that 66% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and desires and numerous studies indicate that customized marketing messages lead to elevated conversion rates, heightened customer loyalty, and enhanced customer satisfaction.

This is particularly evident in the fashion and beauty industry where brands are championing personalized experiences, but according to McKinsey & Company, 80% of B2B buyers now expect the same buying experience as B2C customers.

Today's consumers demand personalized products and experiences, with studies showing a significant preference for customization in marketing, leading to higher conversion rates and customer loyalty. This trend is now extending from B2C to B2B sectors, with companies like Dynamic Yield leveraging algorithms for personalization, resulting in substantial increases in engagement metrics. The focus is shifting towards collecting and utilizing zero-party and first-party data for creating personalized online experiences, with an expectation for heightened data accuracy and demand moving into 2024.

Advertisers are adopting a cautious approach towards Prime Video's new advertising platform, evaluating performance metrics and seeking upfront discounts before committing significant investments. Pharma and financial sectors show early interest, while other categories are more reserved. Amazon's timing might have limited initial ad investments, but incentives like bonus impressions for significant spenders aim to attract advertisers. The success of Prime Video ads hinges on demonstrating sales impact, leveraging Amazon's extensive first-party data.

Birds Eye has shifted its advertising focus from linear TV to streaming and online video to achieve more efficient reach and frequency control. The brand emphasizes agility in ad production, leveraging social creators for rapid content creation. Despite exploring first-party data for personalization, Birds Eye found challenges with data degradation and privacy concerns, opting to prioritize broad reach over targeted personalization due to the fast-moving nature of their products.

InfoSum and DIRECTV Advertising have partnered to create a first-party data-matching solution, leveraging InfoSum’s data clean room technology. This enables advertisers to match their data with DIRECTV’s audience across platforms, facilitating targeted ad campaigns that respect user privacy. The collaboration enhances DIRECTV Advertising's data capabilities, offering insights and competitive advantages for media demand. This initiative puts privacy at the forefront, allowing for more efficient customer experiences and returns on investment.

The transition to a cookieless era presents both challenges and opportunities for the life sciences industry, emphasizing the need for customer-centric, first-party data strategies. This shift necessitates new investments in data management and integration with advertising technologies, ensuring user consent and regulatory compliance. The article discusses the importance of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) and first-party data in creating personalized, consent-driven marketing strategies, highlighting the need for precise data consolidation and a strategic rethink of analytics for effective customer engagement.

Organisations are facing rising privacy concerns and trust challenges over their use of generative artificial intelligence, even as they are getting attractive returns from privacy investments, the 2024 Data Privacy Benchmark Study by Cisco shows. Around 63% have established limitations on what data can be entered, and 61% have limits on which Gen AI tools can be used by employees. More than one-fourth (27%) said their organisation had banned Gen AI applications altogether for the time being.