8April 2019IN MY OPINIONThe concept of a customer data platform (CDP) is nothing new and has been around for a while. Not too long-ago, marketers knew the value of customer data and they pioneered early prototypes of the CDP by accumulating demographics, geographic preference, interests and even sales transactions--all tied to a known physical customer and household. Of course, back then reaching these customers on a 1-to-1 basis was limited to mostly direct mail, call-centers and in some cases email. The rise of digital technology offered many new opportunities to reach customers on a 1-to-1 basis albeit these datasets where different, they were anonymized-approximations of what defined a customer and a household. The digital marketer never truly knew the entirety of their target audience. Nevertheless, these datasets were highly actionable through digital media, websites and mobile devices and so they continued to amass and scale. Over time, the CRM datasets and digital datasets never truly blended. Separate marketing teams formed on the brand side (one focused on CRM and the other on digital), resulting in standalone agencies that would service CRM or digital clients. As digital advertising continued to flourish, some brands started to feel pressured. Their digital dollars were just not big enough to continuously fight for digital audiences (prospects) and consequently digital targeting demised in efficiency. The third-party datasets (data informed by cookie tracking) were inaccurate, problematic and costly. Brands started to realize that the true value By Michael Kaushansky, President Helia & CDO, HavasThe Rise of Customer Data PlatformsMichael Kaushansky
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