Data as the New Currency

It’s no secret that today’s consumers expect their online experiences to be tailored to their interests. A recent study confirmed that three-quarters of consumers would readily share details about their age, gender and personal history in exchange for enhanced personalization scenarios.

In a Tealium/TechValidate survey of marketers in Q2, we found that most brands classify revenue generation as their top priority for marketing interactions, but a significant number are focusing their efforts—both from a data collection and experience-building perspective—on providing value to the consumer (27%) and building a relationship (17%.)

This highlights a shift in the traditional relationship between consumers and brands. Historically, consumers would share information about themselves or connect their social identities in exchange for promotions, discounts or other incentives. But as brands seek to differentiate from one another based on their customer relationships and experiences, understanding customer preferences and acting on customer data becomes paramount.

Most brands believe customers understand the need to share data in order to achieve a desired level of personalization. Our survey found that 69% of marketers believe consumers understand this new value exchange between consumers and brands, where data is the new currency. Since today’s brands are able to provide more than just the goods and services they sell, there’s an expectation that as consumers share more about themselves, brands will capitalize on real-time customer data to create unique and relevant experiences.

But at the center of this value exchange is the promise of protecting customer data and leveraging it in a timely manner. If brands collect data, but can’t act on it in real time across channels—the utility of that data is lost. Likewise, brands must embrace a holistic approach to data governance and privacy to ensure they are holding up their end of the exchange by protecting valuable customer data.

Today’s brands must build a comprehensive data foundation for their digital business that spans all vendors, teams and customer touchpoints with a common purpose to better understand customer needs and take relevant, timeline action across channels.

You can explore more about the new value exchange in our recent webinar or explore how other brands are building their customer data foundation.