• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 22, 2019

Freckle, a privacy-compliant data and offline media measurement company, and iCrossing, a division of Hearst, have partnered to provide offline measurement to search clients that both companies believe will increase the ability to measure performance and support consumer privacy compliance.  

Data helps companies understand performance.

iCrossing Chief Media Officer Chris Apostle said if iCrossing reps can improve their understanding of what happens during a consumer’s journey across the web and how invested budgets yield performance, they can make better decisions in terms of driving campaigns.   

An understanding of performance also supports privacy compliance, so the global partnership supports iCrossing’s threefold strategy for readiness and preparedness, visibility, and insights.

Strengthening performance also meant integrating iCrossing’s partnership with Freckle to support brands around GDPR and CCPA compliance, and any other regulation that may arise.

“There’s no better indicator of intent than search,” Apostle said. “If users input a search and end up in a retail store, we have a good understanding what they’re looking for. … And it’s one of the most powerful aspects that drove this partnership.”

Complying with privacy means having a third party to help measure performance. Marketers are well aware that it becomes more difficult to measure the purchase of something when the consumer searches for the item online and buys it in the store. When someone walks into a restaurant, it’s also difficult to determine whether the person got the idea to eat there based on a search ad.

Google’s ability to understand offline visits from consumers based on an ad click makes it possible to measure online to offline conversions, but it’s important to have a way to measure performance from an agnostic source.

Any integrations that sit in the Google stack can be measured through Freckle, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Pinterest, among others, according to Anthony Tsigourakos, Freckle’s CRO.