Adobe: ‘Brands want to get a better grip on their data in 2019’.

In 2019, European brands will give priority to making more effective use of data and increasing transparency. This is shown by new research by Adobe and Econsultancy, in which 13,000 professionals were questioned. Respondents expect to pay more attention to data management.

European brands indicate that they want to become less dependent on so-called walled gardens: external advertising platforms that want brands to relinquish control over their data. 44 percent of the respondents indicated that this dependency is a major concern for their customers. In addition, 28 percent said they were awake at night to the challenge of personalizing customer experiences without violating consumers’ privacy.

The study also asked about the effects of the various laws worldwide in the field of data protection, such as the European privacy law AVG. 89 percent say that this regulation has a positive effect on their organisation. 24 percent of European companies say that laws such as the AVG had a negative impact on their business. That is three times more than in other regions where the study was carried out.

In addition, almost two-thirds of IT professionals consider it a priority to improve data collection capabilities and centralize the information collected within one platform. More than half of the marketers also give priority to making better use of data for the effective segmentation of target groups and improving targeting.

Data management and AI

Brands invest in getting a better grip on their data and improving customer experiences. As a result, 42 percent of marketers are committed to improving their data analysis approach to achieve a more holistic customer view. Another 42 percent want to integrate their systems and data to create better workflows.

Finally, brands are committed to increasing their CX-related technology investments with artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time experiences. More than a third of the brands already use AI to better serve their customers, an increase of 50 percent compared to the previous year.