“In the future, we will see branding and performance—upper and lower funnel tactics—come together,” he said. “You will have a much more holistic ad campaign that brings branded campaigns, typically video-led, together with more transaction-based campaigns on the performance side.”

Grether pointed to a beverage advertiser using a playable ad format to drive awareness inside the car—a brand-building, upper funnel tactic. People playing with the ad can then order the drink through Uber Eats to get it delivered to their home. The campaign brings together first-party, upper and lower funnel data, to learn who is transacting and then tries to approach them with upper funnel tactics. “This makes the customer journey much more efficient and brings together branding and performance in one single campaign,” he said.

Of course, customer data is the linchpin to making these campaigns work effectively.

Having access to people’s data is a “privilege,” said Kao, it needs “care and transparency.” Spotify Wrapped, which creates a soundtrack for people of their most played songs that year, is an example of creating an “experience that is valuable and meaningful from that data.”