Display advertising remains a key investment area for companies in the retail and FMCG industries. According to E-Marketer, these industries are expected to invest an increasing share of their digital advertising budgets this year and beyond. A primary driver is their focus on top-of-funnel advertising with the main objective of building brand awareness. Display advertising is particularly effective for creating a visual and emotional connection with target audiences, making it very important for consumer products like cosmetics, food, and beverages.

In a previous blog post I discussed why first-party data is the most valuable data asset today, offering companies valuable insights into their own media users to identify ad messages. Having said that, it is still important to recognize the pitfalls of relying solely on first-party data. While it allows us to better target existing customers, it falls short when it comes to reaching new potential customers, as it only reaches customers who have previously interacted with our data sources. Third-party data complements first-party data to expand reach and create opportunities to acquire new customers.

First-party data is becoming central to business processes and protecting user privacy is becoming increasingly important for companies. As third-party cookies are being phased out opportunities for targeting users are diminishing, creating new challenges for companies. They must balance the demands for personalized content with the growing need for data protection and data privacy.