The shift towards a privacy-first internet has forced a fundamental reassessment of how data is used within the digital marketing ecosystem. At the Programmatic Pioneers Summit, a panel of industry experts gathered to discuss “Privacy-first planning: how can you use first-party data to drive measurable performance and monetisation across your campaigns?”.
The conversation moved past the theoretical benefits of first-party data, diving into practical applications, organisational friction, and the evolving relationship between insights and media activation.
Moving beyond simple activation
For many brands, the initial reaction to the deprecation of third-party cookies was to treat first-party data as a direct replacement for behavioural targeting. However, the panelists suggested that the real value lies much deeper.
Katya Zapolnova, Head of Media, EMEA at Mattel, said that while her business has spent nearly a decade refining its data journey, the practical application has shifted.
“In the past, we used a lot of our data for activation purposes, you know, or informing media strategies and tactics,” Zapolnova explained.
While Mattel still sees strong returns on investment regarding sales and customer loyalty via direct monetisation, challenging performance results in pure media activation led to a strategic reassessment.
Delphine Terrioux, Data Strategy Partner at PHD, echoed this need for a broader perspective, suggesting that first-party data should be approached as a full organisational transformation project rather than a simple plug-and-play media solution.
Terrioux said: “They approach first-party data as a transformation project. Because if you have that asset, usually the technology is not the main challenge… the challenge is that in the organisation, they’re going to be teams that need to collaborate around a giant customer data strategy.”
When the technology infrastructure is already integrated through enterprise suites, the real hurdles are operational. Terrioux highlighted that the most successful brands treat data as a shared asset, requiring close collaboration between CRM, analytics, IT, and media teams to build a cohesive customer strategy.
First-party data as a Teenage Cliché
The industry-wide rush to claim first-party data mastery drew a witty comparison from Matthew Wilké, Head of Programmatic and Digital Partnerships at Mediaplus UK.
“I think first-party data is a lot like teenage sex,” Wilké remarked. “Where there’s a perception that everyone is doing it, and everyone is saying they are, but the truth of the matter is there’s not that many who are, and once you are doing it right, are even fewer.”
Wilké cautioned that agencies and brands often suffer from an industry-wide case of “ADHD,” jumping frantically from mobile to programmatic, then to first-party data, and next to contextual, without ever sitting down to execute one strategy exceptionally well.
Instead of forcing first-party data into traditional target models, Mediaplus UK focuses on utilising data assets to extract behavioural insights. Wilké said: “Our success stories from the first-party haven’t been so much out of pure activation of it, but the understanding of what the insights are that we’ve really improved.”
By understanding the deeper motivations of specific demographics, such as how a mother interacts or how a teenage son influences household purchasing decisions, the agency can deploy more effective contextual placement and creative messaging.
Embracing a mission-led strategy
For retailers and companies with high transaction frequencies, the depth of available data offers unique advantages.
Stan Oyovota, Digital Media and Shopper Analytics Manager at The Co-operative Group, explained how the retailer has moved away from a broad broadcast approach toward a highly targeted, mission-led lens based on real shopping habits. Rather than looking at customers purely through demographic segments, the focus shifts to the context of the trip.
Oyovota said: “Instead of taking that broadcast career approach, you’re taking a mission lens, and based on how people shop, you do the missions. You know, there’s a huge concept… we’ve seen how that has been opening up our performance.”
A customer buying milk and bread requires a different engagement strategy than one shopping for a quick evening meal. Oyovota shared that extracting these insights allows the business to build high-performing audience segments that improve media efficiency and tie directly back to business outcomes. Furthermore, this data equity allows the retailer to collaborate more effectively with international brands and CPG partners who lack direct transactional relationships with consumers.
Navigating internal friction and privacy
The panel acknowledged that extracting clean, usable insights remains a significant challenge, with many organisations experiencing severe friction between internal stakeholders.
Wilké emphasised that the biggest bottlenecks often come from compliance and governance functions, including insurance, legal, finance, and risk teams. He said it is vital to get these departments on your side to simply find a path through, “to be able to explain how data is transparent, who has control, what’s your value, and keep it in place.”
Data enrichment projects, such as pairing brand data with financial transaction data from partners like Mastercard, offer immense potential, but only if legal teams are engaged early in the planning cycle.
Maintaining consumer trust also requires a strict adherence to data hygiene. Zapolnova discussed the sensitivities of managing audience data at a brand like Mattel, emphasising a conservative approach to data retention.
If a consumer stops engaging, the data is routinely scrubbed from the system. Zapolnova said: “For example, if a customer stops engaging… those particular don’t engage, and then we have to scrub that… So it’s very slow… we moved from big databases to more small but high-quality databases.”
This proactive maintenance ensures compliance with global privacy regulations while keeping marketing databases accurate and effective.
A shift in measurement philosophy
As the session concluded, the panel agreed that the future of first-party data hinges entirely on a shift in measurement philosophy. Terrioux argued that judging first-party data strategies on traditional cost-per-thousand impressions, or CPM metrics, is a mistake.
Terrioux said: “If we measure not on first-party data, you might be down against traditional, like, platforms… but this requires to measure on the outcomes… to see the real value.”
Because high-quality first-party data often carries a premium, it must be evaluated on business outcomes and total value generated, rather than superficial platform metrics. Ultimately, the consensus from the panel was a call for simplicity and strategic patience.
Wilké gave a final brief piece of advice to the audience: “If you find yourself having to over-justify or shoehorn the use of first-party data in, take a step back and ask if it’s actually the important condition… Use that knowledge across the business, from product development to product innovations.”
The panel concluded with agreement that first-party data should serve as a fundamental engine for understanding consumer behaviour, informing everything from product development to long-term brand experience, rather than just acting as another tool for immediate media optimisation.
