What I wish I’d known about ad tech when I led a media agency
For media agency leaders navigating today’s challenges, here are the top three things about ad tech that ex-agency lead Adele Burke wishes she’d been aware of at the time.
With over a decade of leadership experience at a highly successful media agency, working closely with some of the most recognisable brands in the industry, I prided myself in staying up to date with the latest trends and developments in advertising and technology, and I genuinely thought I had done just that.
Yet, stepping into the world of ad tech—more specifically, data clean rooms and data collaboration—has been an eye-opening experience. Like most agency leaders, I was constantly juggling fast-paced client demands, managing the complexities of the ever-changing media landscape, and all whilst leading a talented team. There was simply no time to pause and delve into the intricacies of emerging tools like data clean rooms or multi-party data collaboration. I knew these buzzwords, but I didn’t fully grasp their transformative potential. To be honest, they sounded overly technical, intimidating, and time-consuming.
Looking back, there are many conversations I’ve had with clients where data collaboration would have been a game-changer for their business – had I known more about it, I could have made a real difference! For media agency leaders navigating today’s challenges, here are the top three things I wish I’d been aware of.
Adele Burke
What a data clean room actually is (and is not)
My first “aha” moment while preparing for this role was the realisation that a data clean room isn’t a product in and of itself—and it is certainly not the end destination. Instead, it’s a foundational technology that enables first-party data collaboration and strategic alliances to create better marketing outcomes.
Data clean rooms create an environment for experimentation, allowing marketers to explore cutting-edge solutions in audience insight generation, targeting and segmentation, as well as activation and measurement. These tools enable organisations to enrich customer profiles and test new targeting strategies to drive greater efficiencies —all within a privacy-first framework. I know better than anyone how great media agencies are at experimenting and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to give their clients a competitive advantage. I’d like to time travel back to that environment, armed with what I now know, to further enhance outcomes for clients.
It’s not just about privacy, it’s also driving full funnel performance
One thing I understood about data clean rooms was that some platforms offered a privacy-first solution for brands and marketers looking to invest in, and improve, their first-party data capabilities in an evolving legislative and technology environment.
With the first amendments to Australia’s privacy legislation last year and the long drawn out death of the third-party cookie, collaborating in data clean rooms enables brands to fill knowledge gaps and develop a comprehensive view of their customers with differing levels of data security or privacy.
However, what I didn’t know was that first-party data collaboration can also enrich and improve marketing outcomes across the entire marketing funnel. By selecting the right data partners, brands can enrich customer profiles and deduplicate their audiences across channels to maximise reach and drive awareness. Brands can tap into second- and third-party datasets to gain unique insights, tailor creative campaigns based on these insights, and identify look alike audiences to move customers further down the funnel, driving consideration, and by partnering with retail partners, brands can improve conversion rates closer to the point of purchase as well as measure the impact of their strategies on sales.
For example, a well-known sunscreen brand in Australia used Infosum technology to execute a multi-party collaboration with a retail partner, a location data partner, and a leading consumer data company to better understand who their core consumers were. Historically, the brand had targeted a ‘Mums with kids’ audience but, through analysis, discovered they were missing out on key sunscreen segments. With Infosum’s data clean room technology facilitating this three-way data collaboration, the brand was able to develop efficient new segments that increased the overall reach of their campaign as well as influencing the creative message and media channels that would be most effective.
It’s simple: no data scientists required
When I first heard about data clean rooms and multi-party collaboration, I imagined a lengthy, complex setup requiring teams of data scientists. But I’ve since learned that collaboration can be fast, efficient, and surprisingly straightforward—and pretty much anyone (myself included and almost anyone who works at a media agency or in a marketing team) can grasp it in an extraordinarily short amount of time. In fact, it’s only getting quicker.
For example, a global brand recently set up its data clean room, trained multiple agencies, and completed three collaborations with media owners—all within just 24 hours. It isn’t the laborious process I once assumed. With the right solution, it’s a simple drag-and-drop interface designed to cater to both technical and non-technical users alike.
So, as an agency leader, don’t ignore data clean rooms as something that only specialists recommend. Take some time to understand them so that it can be a solution you also recommend when clients face challenges or seek out their competitive edge.
My only call out is that it’s vital to recognise that not all data clean rooms are created equal. Thorough due diligence is essential to ensure the solution delivers seamless interoperability, an intuitive user experience, and uncompromising privacy-by-design features, such as a decentralised platform with Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs). However, as the ability to leverage and innovate with first-party data solidifies its place as a cornerstone of marketing success, now is the ideal time for agencies to act boldly and position themselves as leaders in a privacy-first era.
Adele Burke is sales director, ANZ at Infosum
