The shake up marketers are not ready for
In this outtake from The Weekend Mumbo, Mumbrella's Dianna Di Cecco unpacks the unpreparedness of Australian marketers for impending privacy reform, urging the industry to be proactive in preparing for change.
The headline that had me at “hello” this week was the Arktic Fox Digital & Marketing in Focus study for 2023. If you didn’t see it, it’s a must read.
It suggested that Aussie marketers were “grossly ill-prepared” for upcoming privacy changes. Whilst it unfortunately rings true, it still felt like a slap in the face, particularly as a former CMO myself. But as ever, there are two sides to this story.
Is the alarming headline true?
First is the lens of the marketer. And I provide this attempting to mask my bias to jurisprudence because I, unlike some, am a long-time advocate of privacy reform and have followed the Privacy Act Review process like a hawk. I also appreciate that most have not.
Why did I bother? Well, the reason is that marketers are dealing with a lot and there are some pretty heavy expectations on them. Let me set the scene.
Post-pandemic operations have left many businesses in a state of flux, often looking for rationales as to why this week, month or quarter isn’t comparing to a pre-pandemic cycle.
Businesses that suffer from short-termism cause marketing departments to fall into Hamster Wheel Syndrome, where they are forced to hurriedly cascade initiatives from executives who are mostly concerned with achieving an immediate result or executing a “new idea,” (usually their own).
On top of this, marketers are dealing with team turnover, new channels to market, wavering creative, understanding new consumer behaviours, have at least one tender in market, are attempting to ensure campaigns are in line with their brand DNA (or whatever you’d like to call it), operating martech stacks they still haven’t worked out how to use properly, and trying to make sense of every new piece of data, analysis and insight. All while adjusting most aspects of their promotional calendars to align to shifting business priorities, which often means doing the same job multiple times.
Previous versions of Arktic Fox’s report (formerly known as the ‘Marketing State of play’) have painted this exact picture. Add to this the fact that some marketers are not represented at executive level and have decreasing levels of support “at the table,” how exactly are they expected to keep pace with proposed privacy reform? The general argument is “I will deal with it when I have to.” In other words, when it becomes a mandatory, because that is the only time they will make time for it. Easy to see how privacy reform is not a marketer’s highest priority.
And the flip side? It’s the importance of privacy reform in this country and, if the recommendations made by the Attorney-General are implemented by the Government, what that will mean for brands. The flow-on then becomes how marketers deal with it.
Privacy reform will fundamentally change how marketers operate. The overall sentiment of the proposals suggests three key themes; (1) an extended application of the Privacy Act, (2) increased obligations for brands when handling personal information (and more so for sensitive information), and (3) an expansion of an individual’s rights.
These types of change are nothing to sneeze at, and without proactive measures, will leave marketers falling short. So, how do marketers approach this and get the ball rolling? One thing is certain, they cannot be expected to navigate this solo. It must be a team effort.
Firstly, marketers need senior executives—CEOs, MDs and GMs, I’m looking at you—to be better educated and informed about how legislative changes will impact their business as a whole and what the business will need to do to comply.
The marketer’s 000 call to the C-suite
Businesses need to invite marketers into those conversations so they are part of it, not a value-add after the CEO or C-suite has already decided what to do. On a topic that has been discussed too many times behind closed doors, I felt vindicated to hear Dentsu Media ANZ CEO, Danny Bass, at Audioland the other week reflect on how the CMO role was “becoming increasingly detached from the boardroom.”
I hate that this is true but I was glad to hear someone of his calibre say it publicly. Smart marketers deserve their spot at the table. There are those who don’t and I’m not saying every marketer is a genius but there are many who are well-trained and ready to contribute in more ways than they are currently provisioned to. Those people need to find a way in. To senior execs—let the marketer into your club. They’re here to add value and want to contribute to business outcomes. I speak from experience.
Secondly, I feel strongly that marketers cannot be handballed “privacy compliance” and left to fix it. We need a joining of forces for good— marketing (including digital teams), IT and legal departments must work on the solution together. Privacy compliance is not only the responsibility of the marketer—there are many touchpoints and systems that impact how customer information is managed and everyone needs to be held to account.
Having said that, I do find it disappointing that more marketers have not been closer to the Privacy Act review process and that they seem even less interested in how legislation is created. I cannot stress enough how important privacy reform is.
We’re facing the biggest reforms of all time in Australia’s history; the sort of changes that will potentially bring us into line with the rest of the world, and marketers are “ill equipped.” Whether it be due to priorities, time constraints, a skills gap or a blatant lack of interest, marketers cannot afford to get left behind on this topic.
If you’re not sure where to start, I offer three things you can do right now.
1: It is likely we will follow the likes of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA); why not use the principles in these key pieces of legislation to guide your next steps because that is where we will end up eventually.
2: Complete a data audit of personal information to better understand and dissect how you use it, what you collect, how it’s handled, how it’s stored, how you manage consent, a risk assessment of keeping it, and the most important question of all—whether you actually need it.
3: And lastly, the intersection and importance of data security. A month has not passed this year without a major breach in Australia. How does your brand stack up in this area? Find out by hiring an ethical hacker to crack your systems—I promise, the process alone will surprise you and there will be company wide learnings.
While I won’t be holding my breath for the Government’s legislative response, I do know that being proactive is the best way forward given the stakes are high, and potential penalties are higher.
Last year we saw The Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022 increase penalties for serious or repeated privacy breaches from $2.22 million to the greater of $50 million, three times the value of the benefit obtained from the information misuse, or 30% of a company’s adjusted turnover. Not sure about you but I never want to be the marketer where any of this happened on my watch if it was avoidable. In a nutshell, privacy is complex and brands need to be proactive in preparing for change. What are you waiting for?
Diana Di Cecco is event content editor at Mumbrella
