All Contextual Is Not Created Equal: Just Global and Bidtellect Talk Post-Cookie, Context-First Solutions
Bidtellect’s Jonno Burden interviews Just Global’s Kathryn Nassar on the cookie-less future: how to incorporate a contextual solution that keeps privacy front-of-mind and reaches performance engagement goals.
The Cookieless future has been one of the major discussion topics, not only within brands, agencies, and technology companies, but also consumers who are looking for a better experience as they discover and find new ways to use the internet – all while keeping identity protection at the front.
Kathryn Nassar, Just Global
Jonno Burden, Bidtellect
Just Global, like most agencies, is thinking ahead. How are they going to be fully ready for a world where cookies no longer exist? What are they doing now?
I had a catch-up with long-standing partner Just Global to find out more on what they have planned to for 2021 and beyond.
Q1: How did the Cookieless future discussion start as a main initiative for Just Global?
Running media without cookies isn’t anything new to us or the industry, as there’s always been a significant portion of the population that’s unreachable through 3rd party cookies, whether because of the browser they’re using or their cookie clearing habits. In fact, many of the audiences we routinely reach are part of the groups that are proactive in taking the steps to exclude themselves from cookie pools already. That being said, the announcement by Google of their removal of 3rd party cookies from the Chrome browser certainly brought about a larger discussion within Just Global on how we can best arm our clients with solutions that will allow them to excel in the cookieless future.
– Kathryn Nassar, Just Global
Q2: How has Contextual come into focus with these discussions?
That’s a great question! Contextual, for us, has always played an important role in the way we reach and engage with our audiences. With the disappearance of cookies and uncertainty in the development of replacement technologies, contextual targeting has become a focus of discussions as an alternative that we can scale up to continue reaching our audience in relevant environments. Contextual has proved itself over and over for many of our clients, and those who have yet to utilize it are now looking towards it for a way to extend reach into their target audiences.
– Kathryn Nassar, Just Global
Q3: What testing are you doing around context as a tactic?
This is an interesting one, as we’ve tested contextual targeting in several different ways. We’ve tested contextual in combination with 3rd party audience targeting and as a singular tactic to see changes in performance. We’ve also looked at different kinds of contextual targeting such as keyword vs. category, and then similar contextual solutions head to head. One takeaway we see over and over is that having a great contextual partner (like Bidtellect) can affect performance significantly.
– Kathryn Nassar, Just Global
Q4: Just Global has a huge range of clients but the majority of your teams like to work with some form of Account Based Marketing. How are those teams getting ready with the changes about to come in?
Account Based Marketing is a key part of many B2B strategies, and encompasses a wide variety of tactics. While our 1 to 1 and 1 to few programs will remain relatively unchanged, our 1 to many programs will need to adapt to the cookieless future. We see this happening in a few ways, but come down to trackable environments and alternative cookie solutions. We’ll continue to utilize platforms and publishers that utilize logins to authenticate and target users in the first, and in the second we’ll test alternative cookie solutions as they become available.
– Kathryn Nassar, Just Global
Q5: Do you see clients moving to first- and second-party cookie data?
Certainly – first and second party data has always been the most reliable, and provides a huge amount of value to those who collect and store it in such a way that makes it possible to activate. That activation, however, will be where we see the largest challenges in the future. Without cookies, we’ll need to rely on alternative audience targeting solutions. This is where solutions like contextual targeting (and Bidtellect), which don’t rely on cookies, will benefit advertisers.
– Kathryn Nassar, Just Global
Q6: How have you found it working with a Context first DSP?
While we’re audience first in many cases, having strong contextual partners like Bidtellect helps us ensure that we’re not only reaching our target audiences, but in a way that encourages engagement and provides value to prospects. To this end, a key benefit of a context first DSP is the context driven optimization. Advanced contextual optimization is one piece of the puzzle, but may prove to be a differentiator as context emerges as a cookieless solution.
And of course it doesn’t hurt when you get to work with a stellar team like the one at Bidtellect!
– Kathryn Nassar, Just Global
Q7: Where do you choose Bidtellect over an omnichannel?
Our approach at Just Global is to always use the right tools for the job. Aside from what media we’ll purchase, we also look at how we’ll purchase it during planning. In the past, we’ve worked with Bidtellect when native advertising was a central part of our strategy, regardless of targeting. With the addition of display ad units to Bidtellect’s native offerings, we’re excited to utilize Bidtellect for a wider variety of contextual programs outside of native. Part of this excitement stems from Bidtellect’s optimization technology, which differentiates the platform from others in the context space: using non-identity factors to determine the value of each auction according to advertiser goals and adjust bid price in real-time.
– Kathryn Nassar, Just Global
Q8: What advice would you give to marketers out there looking to stay ahead of the curve on the Cookieless future?
The best thing you can do is test. Test alternative targeting methods and test different cookie replacements. While best practices will emerge, your brand and audience will have their own nuances. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, be one of the few who navigate their own path rather than waiting for everyone else to figure it out.
– Kathryn Nassar, Just Global
