Since Google announced plans to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome, we’ve seen a number of cookie-alternative identity solutions emerge. As more players enter the space, figuring out how to segment and measure audiences is becoming increasingly convoluted.

Delphine Hernoux, chief data and analytics officer at Wavemaker, and Joe Anthony, chief executive and founder at Hero Collective, joined Adweek’s NexTech 2022 summit to discuss the identifier landscape, the solutions gaining ground and how the deprecation of third-party cookies is leading to innovation in better understanding of what audiences are engaging in. 

Preparing for a cookieless future 

Although some advertisers may be anxious about the deprecation of the third-party cookie, Anthony believes it will usher in a new era of deeper connection between brand and consumer.

“What I tell my clients is they really need to embrace this opportunity because it represents a watershed moment in marketing where it will force marketers to become more intimately in tune and understand who their consumers are,” he said. 

Wavemaker has already started preparing for the third-party cookie to crumble. Hernoux said with the ongoing evolution of regulations, technological changes and the limited opportunities for marketers to collect first-party information, it’s critical to embrace a future with more diverse data strategies, leveraging durable signals and contextual data, not just ID-based solutions. 

“We have decided to make sure we diversify as much as possible with our strategy because, yes, first-party data is important, but we cannot forget that more than 50% of the ad spend right now in the United States is coming from advertisers who will never get first-party data at scale,” she said. “This means we cannot put all of our eggs in the same basket.” 

Embracing intentionality  

As advertising touch points shift from a largely brand-centric approach a decade ago to today’s increasing focus on the consumer, Anthony said moving away from third-party cookies forces marketers to innovate to find new ways to keep a finger on what’s important to their consumers and how to show up in the right time and manner to create the right impression and increase engagement. 

“Stop looking for your silver bullet and fall in love with marketing again,” Anthony said. “We’re moving into a new era of intentionality. I think the media industry has been built on trying to get data to do the heavy lifting for us, and I’m looking at this as an opportunity to educate my clients on falling back in love with the process of developing a deeper understanding of their audiences.” 

Hernoux said it comes as no surprise that a shift as large as this comes with some challenges. That’s why she encourages all marketers to start testing and learning new solutions ASAP. 

“You can’t put testing as the last priority on your to-do list,” she said. “It’s super important. We know that when there are headwinds in the economy, test and learn becomes less of a priority. But the reality is that we are right at a moment in time where we see so many changes that we can’t ignore testing and learning.”