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personalisation customer data

How to be clever – not creepy – with customer data

  • min read
    • Businesses are collecting ever-increasing customer data and marketers targeting consumers with more personalized ads. But when does hyper-targeted marketing cross the line from clever into creepy? In 2012, an angry customer approached a manager of a Target store in Minneapolis, US, demanding to know why his teenage daughter was receiving coupons for baby clothes and cribs. The manager, who had no idea why, apologized. Days later, the customer called to apologize, having found out his teenage daughter was, in fact, pregnant. Target's customer-tracking technology showed people ads based on what they bought. It had identified that purchasing vitamins, cotton balls and fragrance-free skincare products suggested future purchases of a crib and baby clothes, or in other words, that the customer was expecting a baby. Businesses can collect huge amounts of data about customers, and when combined with shopping or browsing patterns, it can tell marketers much about someone, sometimes more than we know ourselves. They can correlate data from different sources into a 'buyer persona' that may be surprisingly accurate. But ads based on this deep data collection and correlation can come across as creepy, leaving consumers wondering how brands know so much about them. Tracking people across the internet "Most websites and emails contain some form of tracking," Karen Gullo of EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) told me. "Cookies let advertisers follow your web searching. Tracking pixels in emails tell the sender if you opened the message. Tracking links let websites know what you clicked on. If you've ever filled out an online form, the data may have been collected even if you didn't submit the form." But with great data comes great responsibility. 'The more targeted the ad, the higher the response' has been a standard in advertising for decades. But as ads grow more focused, they begin to cross lines. Marketers must think about how their campaigns might come across to customers. What makes ads creepy? Research shows that personalization tends to increase response, but it can also have the opposite effect. When personalization and targeting are 'too much,' it puts people off by seeming intrusive. CEO of Email Optimization Shop Jeanne Jennings told me, "I got an email from a department store where I shop, with my first and maiden name in the subject line." She had not used her maiden name for 20 years and could not figure out how they knew it. She eventually worked out they got her maiden name through her social security card, which she had shared when setting up her debit card. While perceptions vary between customers and age groups, people tend to base judgments of creepiness on four things. 1.   Consent: Was the data collected voluntarily? Using data voluntarily provided by the customer means great targeting, but using third-party data or data obtained without consent can be an invasion of privacy. "You want the customer to be pleased the content is relevant. You don't want them to wonder how you got that information," said Jennings. 2.   Explainability: How does a brand know this about me? "Some of the best recommendations… suggest why you are seeing that recommendation," said Emad Hassan, former Head of Data Analytics at Facebook and Paypal, on CMSWire. Using targeted data in a way that makes it easy for the customer to know why you have the data reduces intrusiveness. For example, a donut shop might say, "From your purchase data, we know you're a huge fan of our donuts, so here's a special discount for being one of our top customers." 3.   Third-party data: When information given to one company shows up in an ad for another Using demographic or preference data from a third-party source to target consumers often comes across as intrusive. Someone buying books for a niece or nephew from a children's book shop may not appreciate a children's clothing brand urging them to get "their" children new clothes for school. There's presumptuousness alongside exchange of personal data between brands. "If you learned that a friend had revealed something about you to another friend, you'd probably be upset, even if you have no problem with both parties knowing the information," wrote Harvard Business Review. 4.   Security and privacy: Will this brand keep my data safe? Consumers want to know they can trust brands to store and process their data ethically and securely against hacks and breaches. Poor data storage or weak privacy policies can turn consumers off. Seeing personal information pop up in an ad or communication from another brand can be distressing and feels like a breach in trust between consumer and brand. The same principles that apply to social interactions apply here – don't use information gained without consent or from a third party, keep customers' data secure and avoid using sensitive information like sexual orientation, health information or financial status. "It's about privacy, safety, and security, and being able to control your data and internet experience," said Gullo. Future advertising: Hyper-targeted… or not targeted at all? Third-party cookies are put on a website by someone other than the website's owner and collect data for that external entity. Many search engines have already, or plan to, phase these out soon. The third-party cookie ban means marketers must rely more on data from their own company's customer interactions. This may mean more transparent, direct and explainable ads that improve trust between the consumer and the brand. Jennings thinks marketing's future should be more responsible and smarter personalization. "As the industry is more responsible with how they use data, personalization is going to stay around but be better," she said. Advertising must respond to evolving consumer attitudes to privacy, but data-based targeting is likely here to stay. How companies obtain and use data will change, focusing more on consent and privacy. Make sure your business gets ahead and leaves the (sometimes creepy) old ways behind forever.
future as business narrative

Business has long imagined strange and wonderful futures, and it’s not done yet

  • min read
    • "We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives," declared US celebrity psychic The Amazing Criswell, famous in the 1950s and 1960s for his wildly improbable predictions. In books, newspaper columns and TV appearances he informed the US that a craze for devouring human flesh would sweep the nation, the laws of gravity would cease functioning and the first humans on the Moon would be three pregnant female Soviet cosmonauts. In 1969 he also predicted television personalities would no longer be seen smoking, which doesn't seem so outrageous today. It's hard not to think about Criswell while contemplating what the future might hold after the disruptive events of 2020. Making predictions has always been risky, so why should we still do it? One reason might be because the future has become an important part of the business narrative over the past century. No matter what a company is selling, its best product is often a vision of the future. The customer's world would soon be one of ease and leisure, speed and convenience. The future gives meaning and direction to all those quarterly projections, strategy documents and planning sessions. The future is 14-lane highways and smoking robots A look back at how this message developed over the decades suggests we need it now more than ever. Take, for example, the General Motors 'Futurama' experience at 1939 New York World's Fair. 1939 General Motors Futurama ride at the New York World's Fair With the Great Depression finally over, the fair's opening pitch was 'dawn of a new day.' It was the first time the world of tomorrow had been used as the theme for an international exposition. General Motors offered its visitors a filmic 'ride' over a transport system for the year 1960. Laid out below them were fourteen-lane highways, self-driving cars and residential complexes with landing strips for private aircraft. It didn't matter that General Motors didn't make any of these things – the public flocked to Futurama, just as they packed Westinghouse's Hall of Electrical Living to marvel at Elektro, the Moto-Man: A walking, talking robot that smoked cigarettes. At the time, Westinghouse was best known for its toasters and radios, but these were now part of the promise of tomorrow. In fact, the company doubled down on this association, burying a time capsule at the fair's Flushing Meadows site, not to be unearthed until the year 6939, some five thousand years into the future. 'Cheap and reliable' can change the world One visitor to the 1939 World's Fair came away with a clear idea of where this was all heading. Vannevar Bush, head of the US Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II, drew upon his impressions of the exposition when writing 'As we may think' in 1945. First published in The Atlantic, Bush's essay on the future of information technology would become a key text, influencing generations of engineers and designers. Recalling the typewriters and computing machines he'd seen back in 1939, Bush made an important discovery: The modern world, he declared, had "arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability; and something is bound to come of it." The prospect of sophisticated pieces of technology being both cheap and reliable would have far-reaching implications. They brought complex engineering into the home, connecting it directly with the world of tomorrow. Big science and big business came as part of the package. Popular Mechanics' December 1952 issue featured an article on playing safe with atomic rays alongside one on selecting your Christmas tree. The future can be both familiar and new The reliability of such devices had implications for new marketing concepts like brand management, increasing a product's perceived value with the customer's sense of reassurance. But reassurance can breed familiarity. The more a consumer takes a product for granted, the more its perceived value declines for them. The promise of tomorrow starts to wear thin. Or as future president Ronald Reagan put it in a 1950s sales pitch for General Electric, "Progress is our most important product. If you're sitting back at General Electric you're probably falling behind." The product should not appear too reliable or familiar. After all, who wants to buy a used future? "Suddenly it's 1960!" Chrysler proudly announced when marketing the '57 Plymouth as part of its 'forward look' campaign. Bringing out a new model car every year had become standard industry practice by then – marketing your latest design features as 'three years ahead of their time' was simply the next step. As chance would have it, 1960 was also the year Vance Packard's The Waste Makers was published – a book that introduced the term 'planned obsolescence.' Famous for his exposé on advertising techniques, The Hidden Persuaders, Packard argued companies were deliberately engineering products to limit their future usefulness, making it easier to replace them than repair them. Tomorrow became a malfunction waiting to happen: A point eloquently made with the opening of 1964 New York World's Fair. Built on the same Flushing Meadows site as the 1939 model, it was an update on the same message. General Motors opened another Futurama ride that "takes you into the future and makes you feel like you are there – in outer space, beneath the sea, in unbelievable places watching believable things happen." More ambitious than the 1939 version, if offered visitors a glimpse of what life would be like in the year 2024. 1964 General Motors Futurama ride New York World's Fair As the fair drew to a close, business insider Alvin Toffler published his essay 'The future as a way of life,' later expanded into the bestselling book Future Shock. Published in 1970, it argued society was psychologically incapable of responding effectively to rapid technological change. "I've always been careful never to predict anything that had not already happened," media guru Marshall McLuhan observed in a television interview that same year. "The future is not what it used to be. It is here." McLuhan spent most of the previous decade advising corporations how to survive in an age of rapid networked communications. Tomorrow gets darker In 1968 Stanley Kubrick's movie epic 2001: A Space Odyssey connected corporate America with the future by placing familiar brands in the 21st century. Those on display included IBM, Howard Johnson and Whirlpool. Some, however, had disappeared by the time 2001 came around. Pan American airlines, shown flying a shuttle service into low Earth orbit, folded in 1991. Kubrick's 2001 showed confidence about the future that had all but drained away by 1999. By then people were already asking where their jetpacks and videophones were – shouldn't the future be here by now? The paperless office of the future, first introduced in a 1975 Business week article, remained as far away as ever, despite assurances that "the use of paper in business […] should be declining by 1980." As an indication of how gloomy the business of the future had become by the mid-1980s, Apple Computers announced their Macintosh desktop in terms of a more dystopian world of tomorrow, promising viewers of their launch ad, "you'll see why 1984 won't be like "1984."" Apple Macintosh '1984' ad There was also the chance that on new year's eve 1999, every computer on the planet would cease functioning the second it recalibrated itself for the year 2000. The millennium (or Y2K) bug, as it was called, would cause planes to fall out of the sky and nuclear power plants to melt down. Thanks to engineers and programmers around the world working to ensure January 1 would indeed see the dawn of a new day, the new millennium began with few disruptions. The problem hadn't just been a technical one, however. Life in the year 2000 could never have matched its hype in advertising campaigns over the past fifty years. RCA, for example, marketed an advanced '2000' color TV "set of the future," appropriately priced at 2000 US dollars. In France there was a mania for adding the number 2000 to everything from beer to pet grooming salons to emphasize a connection with the bright promise of tomorrow. Death of the cultural and technological decade The one thing that truly stopped working from the start of the 21st century was our collective ability to map out technological and economic progress in decades. From the 1930s, this incremental ten-year unit became the steppingstone to the world of tomorrow. As each decade came into focus as the decade of the future, separating itself from what came before it, so too did the concept of associating them with a significant cultural, social or political change. To mention the 1960s, 70s or 80s was to call up a specific set of products and designs. It was what allowed Marshall McLuhan to advise business leaders that 'the future's future is the present,' a statement that could have applied to any decade in the latter half of the twentieth century. This perception became increasingly blurred once we entered the new millennium. In the twenty-first century it is no longer possible to identify progress through a decade's look, mood or direction. The only people to talk about 'the noughties' with any consistency were journalists, and even they didn't seem convinced. Upgrades as the new measure of time The old mode of reckoning didn't mesh with the new century. Cars today, for example, tend not to feature the year in which they were first rolled out as an added value. The upgrade has now become the new unit of measurement, whether it's an operating system, a platform or a device. Before the coronavirus pandemic, customers around the world had been known to queue all night outside Apple stores to buy the latest iteration of the iPhone. Apple has continued what the US car industry started in announcing a new model every year. Not surprisingly, the tech industry has also been accused of factoring new forms of planned obsolescence into their products. The contemporary term 'future-proofing' reflects a growing concern with anticipating the disadvantages brought by changes that have not yet been made. It's planned obsolescence 2.0 – the post-millennial version of Future Shock. Meanwhile, in a gesture that General Motors and Westinghouse would have appreciated back in 1939, Elon Musk fitted his own 'midnight cherry' Tesla Roadster to a Space-X rocket in 2018 and sent it on a rendezvous with Mars. It may be the first roadworthy vehicle in outer space, but it's still just a car. And that's the point about the future: It's a narrative that lets business communicate with its times. Has anyone received an Amazon delivery by drone since the idea was first announced in 2016? Narratives are useful for planning and communication, but we shouldn't let ourselves grow too comfortable with them. The future is a narrative meant to help us think more freely, not a foregone conclusion.
marketing data privacy

Great marketers do more than just follow privacy law

  • min read
    • Why is privacy the word on everyone's lips today? Perhaps because according to the Kaspersky Global Privacy Report 2020, a third (34 percent) of consumers have had someone access their private information without consent. And that's just those who know it happened. Governments around the world – including in Europe, the US and Brazil –have brought in new personal data protection laws. Others, like Japan, are being revised. Regulating new technologies, like biometrics and facial recognition, is controversial because it extends the fine line between privacy to protect society and state surveillance. Data breaches are becoming more common and more expensive. In 2019, the average data breach cost the affected business 1.4 million US dollars. The new rules of marketing Marketers now have new rules to follow when collecting data about website visitors, sending marketing email and using customer relationship management (CRM) software. Not complying means hefty fines and reputational damage. In 2020, the Italian Data Protection Office fined a telecommunications company over 27 million euros for making marketing calls without consent. On the bright side, we may be increasingly trusting and engaging with businesses that respect our privacy. A 2018 Harvard Business School study found customers were 40 percent more likely to visit a website's recommended products when wording made clear the recommendations were informed by their browsing behavior. Similarly, in a 2020 study by Cisco, three in four companies said complying with data protection laws had increased their customers' loyalty and trust. Marketing must adapt to new regulation, but it looks like there is potential for this change to make marketing better. Laws marketers should know about As privacy legislations cover more of the globe, it's challenging to keep up with what applies to your company. Here's a primer on legislation already out there or coming soon. Europe: General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) The GDPR applies to all organizations in the European Economic Area (EEA) or that process its citizens' personal data. Data protection authorities for different countries in Europe regularly publish clarifying guidelines, such as the Irish Data Protection Commission's 2020 guide on how and when websites may use cookies – text files containing users' data downloaded onto their device, used for personalizing content. Brazil: Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (LGPD) Like GDPR, Brazil's new data protection law (going into effect in 2021) applies to all organizations operating in Brazil, offering services or goods to the Brazilian market or processing data of those living in Brazil. Unlike GDPR, LGPD does not explicitly address marketing. Nonetheless, marketers with Brazilian customers should understand it, because it directs how they should handle customer data, including sensitive personal data, such as health or political preference. California Consumer Protection Acts (CCPA) California's new data protection law came into force on in January 2020. It applies to companies that operate in California, US and make 25 million US dollars, make more than half their money selling user data or gather data on more than 50,000 consumers, households or devices. It regulates some marketing activity. For example, companies must let users opt out of sale of their data with a clear "do not sell my personal information" link. It also sets out rules for how companies may store and handle customer data. When marketers don't follow the rules While making your marketing privacy-friendly could improve customer loyalty, failing to comply with data protection laws can be costly. Heavy fines Most famously, French data protection authority Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) fined Google 50 million euro. According to CNIL, Google didn't give users clear enough information about how their data would be used and didn't give them enough control over its use. The cost of non-compliance varies. Under GDPR, the maximum fine is 20 million euros or four percent of your total worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher. Under the new Brazilian law, the maximum fine for each violation is 50 million reais (nearly US$1 million), plus daily penalties for not stopping violations after an order from authorities. Keep in mind that you can also be fined under several different regulations at once, so 20 million euros under the GDPR and 50 million Brazilian reais under the LGPD for a similar violation. Being fined in one country or region doesn't exempt you from further prosecutions. It's not just big, high-profile businesses like Google getting stung either. European data protection authorities issued over 428 million euros in fines in 2019. Legal hot water On top of fines, companies that don't protect customer privacy risk being sued by customers or governments. Facebook has had its revenue affected by privacy lawsuits. Aside from financial pain, the bigger risk is damage to reputation. Despite its marketing campaigns trying to fix its tarnished reputation, many no longer trust Facebook with their personal information. Making marketing more privacy-positive Getting creative can make your marketing more privacy-oriented and appealing to customers. You'll also need to watch for where others have fallen foul of the law. Accept and follow the law After GDPR required cookie consent from users, many turned to dark patterns: Interface designs that try to trick the user into doing something like agreeing to marketing emails or consenting to cookies. In some cases, websites use dark patterns to prevent users reading a privacy policy or opting out of sale of their personal information. Dark pattern techniques violate data protection laws. Companies that use them can be fined or see their reputation damaged. Tumblr learned the hard way when people began Tweeting about dark patterns in their cookie consent form. Give privacy options, even when you don't have to Build customer trust by giving them privacy options, even when the law doesn't require it. For example, if you're running a contest on social media, let people enter privately with a direct message or through a website form. While this may decrease numbers of tags and hashtags that increase your contest's reach, it builds a privacy-friendly reputation and increases participation. Ask for consent Beyond cookie banners and newsletter opt-ins, ask customers for consent whenever you run a marketing campaign. For instance, when gathering feedback through a survey, ask participants' consent to use their feedback publicly, even if it's anonymous. Asking shows you respect their privacy and preferences. Protect your customers' data To put customer privacy first and follow data protection law, you must invest in cybersecurity. Even one data breach can lower trust in your company. Reflect on how you collect and use personal data, how it's stored and what tools you use. Find out if your customer management system has reported data breaches recently or your email marketing platform has been fined for privacy violations.
reputation and cybersecurity lion pride

Cyber pride without lions: Building a brand security reputation that goes beyond fear

  • min read
    • Here's a novel idea. What if your organization made cybersecurity a brand promise? What if, instead of driving cybersecurity awareness by highlighting the risk of attack and its expensive consequences, your organization saw your cybersecurity as a reason customers should choose you? Could your business market its cybersecurity with pride? Few businesses are ready for that today, but outside cybersecurity, turning risk into business advantage is nothing new. The commercial value of safety for car brands Today, 1.2 million people worldwide die in car crashes each year. Despite this, we still buy 74 million cars every year. They weren't always so bold. For decades, while road deaths increased exponentially, car brands dazzled customers with luxury, freedom and engine power. Only in the 1980s did car companies start marketing their defense technology as an integral part of their cars. Volvo was one of the first car manufacturers to understand the profitable relationship between safety and reputation. They're now viewed and independently rated as making some of the safest cars in the world. How did they get there? While working for Volvo in 1959, Nils Bohlin invented the three-point safety belt. Volvo chose not to patent it, letting other car manufacturers use it for free and showing they put saving lives ahead of profits. Then in 1987, they produced a bold ad campaign featuring crash-test dummies. Volvo's 1987 ad for the Volvo 340 Fear-driven attitudes towards cybersecurity and reputation management echo the car industry's delay in seeing sales in safety. Fear can lead us to miss powerful opportunities. Why fear isn't the best motivator for cybersecurity Christine Tappolet, Professor of Ethics and Moral Psychology at Université de Montréal, says, "Fear influences what we do by narrowing [our] focus." That's great when the threat is known and limited, like when a lion is chasing you. Psychology makes a distinction between two types of motivation: Approach motivation, or being attracted to something positive, and avoidance motivation, or being driven away from something negative. Andrew Elliot, Professor of Psychology at University of Rochester, says, "Avoidance motivation is designed to facilitate surviving, whereas approach motivation facilitates thriving." Organizations with a strong cybersecurity culture focus on thriving rather than simply surviving. They go beyond cybersecurity and reach cyber pride. What does that mean, and how do you get there? From fearing attack to cultivating reputation "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it," says US business tycoon Warren Buffet. "If you think about that, you'll do things differently." It's hard not to respond to the stark reality of cybercrime with at least some fear. Cyberattacks can and do damage business reputations. Customers expect you to keep their data safe and your operations running. If you can't do that, they'll find someone who can. Cyber pride is a new way to look at the relationship between cybersecurity and reputation. It moves your organization beyond a purely defensive position towards celebrating and cultivating its cybersecurity reputation. What does cyber pride look like in practice? 1.    Put your cybersecurity claims to the test Volvo's safety reputation didn't skyrocket because of an ad campaign and a seatbelt design, but because its claims were true. Independent safety ratings back them up, time and again. In 2017 respected independent testers Insurance Institute for Highway Safety named Volvo XC90 the safest car in the world. Cybersecurity is the same. If you talk the talk, you must walk the walk. Knowing your business is secure will give you the confidence to promote security as a business value. Customers will find out if your claims are all puff because cyber incidents will interrupt their service or leak their data. 2.    Break out of the prison of small print Private policy links sitting quietly at the bottom of web pages hide precious gems you could polish and display. These policies often start by addressing customers' valid concerns then descend into a torrent of legalese. Each web page or marketing material needn't lead with cybersecurity and data confidentiality, but these must move beyond the shadowy prison. Integrate security practices across your business holistically, recognizing privacy as a foundation for business growth. 3.    Go beyond following regulation Regulation shouldn't be the sole guide of your cybersecurity and privacy policies. To let regulation drive is to make decisions based on fear, rather than seeking ethical excellence. Regulation also struggles to keep up with technological change in business and cybercrime. While you must meet regulations, you should look beyond it, guided by innovation and ethics. To use cybersecurity and customer privacy to grow your business, don't just say you care – show it, boldly, at every opportunity. It's the products you build and the culture of your whole organization. In the same way Volvo didn't just want to be seen as making safe cars, they wanted to make safe cars, your business can differentiate itself from the crowd with honest, provable cyber pride.
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About Secure Futures

Secure Futures magazine is your go-to business guide for opinions, trends and insight into the world of technology and cybersecurity. We help your business to bring on the future. Brought to you by Kaspersky, the global cybersecurity experts.

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