The demise of cookies on Chrome has been discussed for years and despite another postponement, advertisers can’t simply sit back in the hope of yet more delays.

While the delay is good news for the 90% of companies that weren’t ready, it should also be a clarion call for action, encouraging brands to develop smarter solutions ahead of the new 2024 deadline. 

The size and quality of an advertiser's first-party data will separate the winners from the losers in the post-cookie era. 

Many cookie replacements will rely heavily on strong first-party data so advertisers must have a robust strategy in place to maximize consent and ensure that the relevant technology is in place.

All such data must be authenticated, with users opted in and providing explicit consent for brands to target them.

Leverage Data Clean Room Technologies

Data clean rooms facilitate the manipulation of user-level data from two parties such as the matching of first-party datasets directly between publishers and advertisers. They allow activation of advertiser first-party data in a privacy-safe way, enabling strategies such as prospecting, lookalikes, retargeting, frequency capping, measurement and attribution. 

There are two types of data clean rooms now available for testing:

Media Clean Rooms – These sit within walled gardens such as Google Ads Data Hub, Facebook Advanced Analytics and Amazon Marketing Cloud. They are primarily used by brands that spend significant amounts within a walled garden, enabling access to user-level data to carry out advanced segmentation and spend optimization.

Partner Clean Rooms – These are often leveraged by partnering brands, such as an FMCG and retail company or a publisher and advertiser. They allow greater control, granularity and flexibility in activation, examples include Infosum, Permutive, Habu and Google’s PAIR.

Brands should be looking to utilize both types of clean rooms.

Test Industry ID Solutions

Anonymized IDs enable buyers and sellers to consistently identify a user across digital environments without the need for cookies. 

There are two types of IDs that need to be tested:

Deterministic IDs are based on consumer provided and authenticated first-party data such as an email address. Advertisers and publishers with direct consumer relationships can transform such data into an operational deterministic ID that is cross device. Examples are TTD Unified ID 2.0, RampID, netID and Zeotap ID+. 

Probabilistic/Modelled IDs – Some ID providers supplement consented first-party information with behavioral and contextual signals to build user profiles. Probabilistic IDs are typically more scalable than deterministic IDs but may also be less accurate. Examples include Panorama ID, ID5 and FabrickID.

Given the vast number of IDs now available, DSPs and SSPs have begun to allow ID agnostic solutions, enabling all available IDs in the bid stream to be leveraged.

Return To Contextual Targeting

Contextual targeting allows advertisers to target users based on the content that the user is consuming, utilizing signals such as keyword, category, image as well as brand safety and suitability. 

This classic strategy is gaining popularity as an effective approach that does not require explicit consent, rely on trackers or personal data. 

Contextual solutions have advanced significantly in the last decade with providers leveraging contextual signals such as content category sentiment and semantics to provide insights into user interest, affinity or purchase intent. 

There are several contextual solutions that can be tested by advertisers immediately.

Keep Up To Date By Testing Browser And App Frameworks

Browser and mobile-app frameworks aim to facilitate digital advertising without requiring cross-site identifiers. Google’s Privacy Sandbox project, for example, seeks to replace cookies with browser Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), allowing third parties to obtain information directly from the browser and then use the information for conversion measurement, fraud detection, interest-based targeting and re-marketing. 

For interest-based targeting, the ‘Topics API’ proposes that advertisers can target users around topics that they might currently be interested in, based on their recent browsing activity.

For remarketing, the ‘FLEDGE API’ will enable advertisers create interest groups based on their first-party data, which can be uploaded via a ‘trusted server’ that will inform the browser they want to show ads to those users. 

Both Topics & FLEDGE are available for testing now. 

Advertisers that want to move ahead of their competitors and set themselves up for success should aim to build a roadmap for testing now to allow all relevant and applicable solutions to be evaluated, tested and where appropriate, implemented.

Only then can they be confident they are prepared from both a strategic and practical perspective for the largest change that our industry will see for many years.

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There was optimism heading into Black Friday as consumers tried to celebrate a more “normal” holiday season.

The data that got consumers thinking whether to save or spend, based on economic predictions that the U.S. would fall into a recession in 2023, sent conflicting messages to marketers.  

Marketing companies released lots of data Monday related to search and ecommerce -- specifically Searchspring and Criteo.

Searchspring, which analyzes search requests across retail sites across its customer base, evaluated millions of ecommerce site searches across its customer base.

The data does not reveal surprising trends, but does show a return to pre-COVID-19 style gatherings. From November 24, 2022 through November 25, 2022, the company found that searches on Thanksgiving Day fell by 31% year-over-year, but Black Friday searches rose by 68%.

As concerns about inflation rose, consumers looked for the word “sale” -- the 10th-most commonly searched word this year compared with last year, when the term ranked 35th.

“Cozy knit,” “cozy,” and “leggings” were all included in the top six search terms during this time period.

Mobile searches rose by 80%. In fact, on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, Searchspring processed 15,967,405 mobile searches in 2022, compared with 8,888,896 in 2021.

Desktop searches rose by 35%.

Searches for “Disney” fell this year. In 2021, “Disney” ranked No. 17 as the most searched term, but this year the popular brand came in at No. 34.

More interesting, consumers are thinking ahead to Valentine’s Day. Some 16,100 shoppers searched for “Valentine’s containers” during the weekend.

Criteo pulled its data from more than 500 U.S. retailers who partner with the company, accounting for over 700 million transactions in Q4 2021 and Q4 2022, all devices combined, except where otherwise noted.

On Black Friday is Cyber Friday, Criteo said data from omnichannel retailers in the U.S., retailers with an online and in-store presence, shows that physical store transactions rose by 64.5% in the U.S. during Black Friday 2022, and up a 356% online. One year ago, the same retailers only saw an increase of 144% of online transactions. Sales were compared to an average in October 1- through October 28 for each year. 

Analyzing data from 5,400 retailers in 60 countries on Black Friday 2022, the number of online transactions was up 4.8% compared with Black Friday 2021. In the U.S., online transactions rose 7.4% compared with Black Friday 2022.

In the U.S., traffic on retail websites rose 9% year over year (YoY) during the seven days leading to Black Friday, product page views during November 18 through November 24 2022, compared with November 19, through November 25, 2021, suggesting a high intent to purchase during the Black Friday weekend.

Online sales reached $17.2 billion over Cyber Weekend -- a 10.2% hike YoY, Salesforce reports.. Globally, sales totaled 83.9 billion, with 3% growth.

Black Friday sales reached $15 billion in the U.S., and 65.3 billion worldwide.  

The average deal in the U.S. was 30% off, versus 27% worldwide.  

Mobile accounted for 78% of all U.S. online sales, and roughly the same globally. Social drove 12% of all mobile traffic referrals in the throughout the world, a 22% hike YoY. 

The most popular verticals and their increases were: 

• Electronics and Accessories — 31%
• Active Apparel and Footwear — 20%
• Health and Beauty — 14%

Globally, verticals with the highest discount rates were:

• Home Appliances — 42%
• General Apparel — 33%
• Luxury Handbags — 32%
• Health and Beauty — 31%

“Online traffic and sales continued to gain momentum throughout Cyber Week, buoyed by US consumers, who snagged great deals on Saturday and Sunday,” states Rob Garf, vice president and general manager of retail at Salesforce.  

Garf adds: “We anticipate retailers continuing their aggressive discounting approaches on Cyber Monday as they make the final push to move inventory and free up cash.” 

Salesforce analyzed shopping data from more than one billion consumers on Commerce Cloud and Marketing Cloud, covering 24 of the top 30 U.S. online retailers.

McKinney has added to its senior ranks. Matilda Ivey and Rhonda Nelson will be joining the team as group client directors. Both report to Gretchen Walsh, Chief Client Officer.

The creative agency has done work for Columbia Sportswear, Samsung Mobile, ACC Network and Little Caesars pizza. This year, the agency signed client signed Blue Diamond Growers and debuted McKinney Health, a new practice.

Ivey is based in the New York City office and will lead Stop & Shop and Sherwin-Williams accounts. Nelson is based in the LA office and will lead West Coast operations for Blue Diamond Growers. 

“Their strategic acumen, creative drive and diverse viewpoints will make our people and our work more powerful,” said Walsh.

Ivey joins McKinney from VMLY&R, where she served as a group director of client engagement for three years. Prior to VMLY&R, she also served at Vigilante (Publicis), UniWorld Group (WPP) and Walton Isaacson. McKinney’s EDIB (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging) initiatives by creating a McKinney Marcom Inclusion Playbook.

Nelson, joins McKinney from TEN35. She will lead the Blue Diamond Almonds account and support growth in the agency’s LA office. Previously, she worked with broadcaster Tavis Smiley and led brand integration across his TV, radio, publishing and events.

A new marketing conference and exposition is making its debut next April. It's called Possible and it's being created by Christian Muche who is credited as founder of the annual and digially-focused DMEXCO conference.

Muche has created a new company called Beyond Ordinary Events Inc. and the Possible conference is the firm's first major undertaking. The event is scheduled to take place April 17-19 at the Fountainbleau in Miami Beach.

Possible is targeted to C-suite marketers and industry leaders globally including those serving at brands, media companies, agencies, tech firms as well as creatives, influencers and others. 

MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) Global is a partner and investor in the new conference and Google has signed on a premiere presenting sponsor. Organizers say that as part of its participation, most of MMA's events will fold into Possible.

Muche stated that “Possible will be unlike any other marketing event in the world. We are creating a forum to address the challenges that marketers face head on and give C-suite executives the tools to drive their future success.” 

The event is billed as an "exposition and forum where leading brands, technology, digital, media, culture converge around the future of marketing." It will present over 200 speakers on four stages, 16 tracks of curated content, and access to master classes and workshops, and networking opportunities. Specifics will be unveiled in the coming weeks and months.

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The holidays are a lonely slog for many people, but Teleflora's new holiday campaign taps an unlikely poster girl. It’s Mrs. Claus, stuck at home while Nick is out working.

It’s easy to think the spot, themed “Leave No One Out This Holiday,” is about a recent widow. There’s an empty rocking chair, an extra toothbrush, and a sympathetic husky who looks lonely, too, all while the snow falls around the little cottage.

Then a parka-wearing deliverywoman comes to the door, bearing flowers and a note from Nick, and the picture becomes clear. Santa’s a great guy, but his work means empty holidays for his wife.

Teleflora, owned by the Wonderful Company, created the campaign in-house. It hopes to inspire people to think about anyone who might be lonely this year.

“We asked ourselves, who’s lonely on Christmas Eve -- and realized it’s Mrs. Claus,” says Margaret Keene, the company’s chief creative officer, in an email to Marketing Daily.

“Her husband’s working night and day, leaving every Christmas Eve on a long and intense journey. The intent was to show this very relatable person, giving subtle hints throughout that the woman was Mrs. Claus before the final reveal.”

She says that Mr. and Mrs. Claus typically get painted as “joyous humanitarians.” Instead, this shows a more human side. “Ultimately, the goal is to remind everyone to reach out to your loved ones this season, even to the most unassuming, and show that you haven’t forgotten them.”

The spot, filmed on location in Poland, is the latest in the company’s ongoing “Love Out Loud” campaign platform, which has been running since 2017.

Danielle Mason, Teleflora’s vice president of marketing, tells Marketing Daily a 30-second and 60-minute spot are scheduled to run on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. There are also targeted in-stream media buys on connected TV, digital and mobile. Additionally, the company will use organic social teasers showing various portions of the spot in Instagram and Facebook stories. 

It's also planning an integration with the TV show "The View,"  with snippets of the spot running “while highlighting personal stories from the show’s anchors.”

That integration will also be shared in social channels to increase engagement.

The brand is also hoping to keep the people of Ukraine top-of-mind this holiday. It’s partnering with the Ridna Shkola of Los Angeles, the Ukrainian Saturday School, to host a pop-up at the Ukrainian Culture Center.

Consumers spent a record $9.12 billion online on Black Friday, up 2.3% from last year, according to data published Saturday.

Adobe Analytics released it final Black Friday numbers and previewed its forecast for the remainder of the holiday weekend.

The analysis, part of Adobe's Experience Cloud database, aggregates more than a trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories.

Electronics drove much of the growth, with online sales rising 221% for the category, compared with the average day in October 2022. Smart home items rose 271% and audio equipment was up 230%.

Sales of toys jumped 285%, and exercise equipment increased 218%.

Despite struggling with higher prices and inflation, consumers wanting to purchase items have found flexible ways to spend. "Buy Now Pay Later" (BNPL) orders rose by 78% when compared with the prior week (Nov. 19-25).

BNPL revenue rose 81% in the same period. Black Friday mobile shopping also reached a new record, with 48% of online sales coming from smartphones, up from 44% in 2021.

The most purchased items on Black Friday included toys related to Fortnite, Roblox, Bluey, Funko Pop!, and Disney Encanto.

Gaming remained a popular category. Consumers bought Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5 devices, along with games FIFA 23, NBA 2k23, and Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.

Drones, Apple MacBooks, and Dyson products also sold well.

Adobe Analytics expects the five days from Thanksgiving Day through "Cyber Monday" -- known as "Cyberweek" -- to generate $34.8 billion in online spending, up 2.8% from 2022, and representing a 16.3% share of the holiday season (November through December) sales.

Ecommerce activity is expected to remain strong this weekend, with shoppers set to spend more than $9 billion online -- $4.52 billion on Saturday, and $4.99 billion on Sunday.

Adobe expects Cyber Monday to be the season’s biggest online shopping day again, driving $11.2 billion in spending, an increase of 5.1% over last year.

Today (Nov. 26), is "Small Business Saturday," a day consumers are urged to shop with local, independent retailers, and Adobe's data shows smaller retailers -- those with $10 million to $50 million in annual revenue -- have struggled in an uncertain economic environment. Their online sales grew at one third those of larger retailers (those generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue).

Adobe Analytics expects the five days from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday -- known as Cyberweek -- to generate $34.8 billion in online spend, up 2.8% year-over-year (YoY) in 2022, and represent 16.3% share of the holiday season from November through December.

Mobile shopping struggled to grow for years. Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, believes this Thanksgiving will become an inflection point, where smartphones drove real growth.   

Mobile shopping drove 55% of online sales, up 8.3% YoY, an all-time record for Thanksgiving Day since 2012.

Cyber Monday will remain the year’s biggest online shopping day at $11.2 billion -- up 5.1% YoY. Black Friday is expected to bring in $9 billion by day’s end, up just 1% YoY.  

The analysis from Adobe Analytics, part of the Adobe Experience Cloud, aggregates more than one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories.

Consumers hit a new record when it comes to spending on Thanksgiving Day at $5.29 billion -- up 2.9% YoY, per Adobe Analytics data.

In the holiday season so far, consumers have spent $77.74 billion in the first 24 days in November. Black Friday is expected to bring in $9 billion online today, up a mere 1% YoY.

Consumers can expect big discounts on Black Friday.

• Toys – 34% discounted
• Electronics – 27% discounted
• Computers – 18% discounted
• Apparel – 14% discounted
• Appliances – 14% discounted
• Televisions – 13% discounted

The top selling toys so far include Squishmallows, Roblox, Paw Patrol, Hot Wheels, Cocomelon and L.O.L Surprise Dolls, a longtime favorite. Top gaming consoles include Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5. Most popular games include God of War Ragnarök, FIFA 23, Madden 23, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Other hot sellers: Apple Airpods, Instapots, Smart televisions, digital cameras, and gift cards.  

Categories that are performing especially well include online sales of strollers, up 133%, compared with the average daily sales in October 2022. Other categories showing strong demand include outdoor grills, up 131%; speakers, up 122%; and cameras, up 111%. 

Some consumers are embracing buy now pay later to manage budgets. On Thanksgiving Day, BNPL revenue online was up 1.3%, and orders were up 0.7%. Adobe expects BNPL usage to ramp up with the big shopping days—Black Friday, and Cyber Monday—on the horizon.  

For those stores open on Thanksgiving Day, online shopping picks up and curbside pickup was used in 13% of all online orders. This is down from 21% last year, and shows the impact of store closures today. Adobe expects curbside pickup to peak from Dec. 22 to Dec. 23, directly prior to Christmas Eve, and account for 35% of all orders.  

People finished their Thanksgiving meals and then went online to shop, enjoying average discount rates of 31%, judging by new data from Salesforce. 

Sales spiked between 6 p.m. EST and 10 PM EST, with 78% of traffic coming through mobile phones, Salesforce reports.

Total online sales for the day rose by 9% in the U.S. YoY to $7.5 billion -- higher than the initial Salesforce projection of $7.1 billion.  Globally, sales grew by 1% to $31 billion. 

(Adobe reports a different Thanksgiving number -- $5.29 billion, up 2.9% YoY). 

According to Salesforce, email generated an open rate of 18% on Thursday, a 0.7% click rate and 0.02% unsubscribe rate. 

The metrics were similar on Tuesday and Wednesday, except that opens totaled 19% on both days. Email sends jumped by 7% during the period. 

Online sales rose 3% YoY in the U.S. during the earlier part of the week. Based on preliminary data, Salesforce projects U.S. Thanksgiving sales of $7.1 billion.

Prior to Thanksgiving, brands were helping to fight inflation with discounts of 29% in the U.S. and 26% globally. 

The average selling price (ASP) rose by 3% over 2021 and 16% over 2020 in the earlier part of the week. Mobile accounted for 74% of all global traffic, a 5% increase over 2021. 

Prior to Cyber Week, online sales were up 7% in the U.S. and traffic by the same percentage. Online discounts averaged 23%, a hike of 15% YoY. 

“After lackluster deals earlier in the season, retailers have now stepped up their discount game to pre-pandemic levels,” says Rob Garf, vice president and general manager of retail at Salesforce.

Garf adds: “Consumers responded by browsing and buying online this Thanksgiving, with Buy Now Pay Later options winning over many consumers on the fence, even on lower-priced goods as the pressure of inflation persists.”

Salesforce analyzed shopping data from more than one billion consumers on Commerce Cloud and Marketing Cloud, covering 24 of the top 30 U.S. online retailers.

This story will be updated later in the day on Black Friday, November 25.