It’s no secret digital marketers are experiencing seismic shifts in their brand-building arsenal. Identifier changes being made by tech platforms and a cookieless future demand new ways of thinking to drive deeper engagement and engender much-needed brand loyalty. The solution is simple: identify publishers that offer trusted and transparent first-data – and crucially can connect brands with high-value, loyal audiences.

Google phasing out third-party cookies and Apple's privacy push mean marketers must take action to insure their brand in the face of further privacy reform. Access to quality first-party data of mass audiences becomes a vital, potentially brand-saving, arrow in the quiver.

As publishers roll out registration walls, keeping logged-in and loyal audiences engaged is the key to delivering advertisers robust, active audience segments to target.

First-party data: do or die

Audiences need a good reason to allow their personally identifiable information data to be collected. The onus to find that reason – the so-called value exchange – is now squarely on publishers. Those that get it right will create loyal consumers and engaged audiences, maximising value for advertisers and giving them a competitive edge.

As more video and audio streaming services compete for attention, rewarding and delighting audiences for their repeated interaction is critical.

Publishers without robust first-party data will be left behind. First-party data affords brands the opportunity to create personalised and valued ads and offers that  forge relationships and – importantly – stick with customers long after they’ve interacted with them.

At Seven, we’ve proven that targeting consumers at a brand level across the largest screen in the house leads to sales uplift. The end-to-end ability of Connected TV provides marketers with the power to adopt a more targeted, customisable approach to running effective ads with contextual relevance – which is one of the reasons consumers prefer the ad experience on CTV over other ad experiences.[1]

A recent FMCG campaign on 7plus, overlaid with grocery transaction data from FlyBuys, delivered a 107 per cent average uplift in sales for those exposed versus the control group. Across the campaign we saw those exposed on a CTV had the highest volume of sales, highlighting the strength of CTV in driving consumer action.

Loyalty: the final piece of the puzzle
At Seven Network’s Upfront 2022 presentation, we announced 7Rewards – breaking new ground by offering a rewards system through a streaming service. This powerful tool allows users who consent to providing more PII with access to tangible local and national discounts and incentives using the 7plus app.

7Rewards gives brands the opportunity to provide viewers with offers, but also to understand more about the consumers who have taken up an offer. This means if a quick service restaurant wants to promote a new range of fried chicken burgers, it can target consumers who redeemed a two-for-one voucher at a competitor’s restaurant.

Offering rewards not only entices users to engage more with the app and advertisers, but the value exchange builds loyalty by instantly rewarding consumers in a frictionless and easy way. 

7Rewards, coupled with our 7REDiQ first-party data insights and data partnerships, means brands are more able to convert our viewers into customers by creating a deeper, more relevant relationship with them.

As Tokyo 2020 boosted 7plus’ user base by 3 million – and crucially these are new, recent and active IDs – we’re determined to not only keep our existing users engaged, but entice new ones.

The combination of our engagement and loyalty with the unique audience understanding of agencies and marketers promises to deliver a powerful edge in 2022. Brands now have all the tools they need to create data-driven, premium, contextually relevant ads that audiences can’t forget.



[1] Integral Ad Science, CTV & Ads report 2021