• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, January 18, 2021

The challenge for brand and media owners to better understand and successfully collaborate will rely heavily on data as companies continue to struggle with the elimination of support for cookies.

Newly commissioned research from The Winterberry Group delves into the surge of data collaboration across companies in a post-cookie world. The research -- Collaborative Data Solutions: Data and Identity in the Era of Permission -- is based on in-depth interviews across the U.S. and U.K. with more than 50 industry experts and a panel of senior brand marketers providing input.

While the death of the cookie does not seem to drive the adoption of collaborative solutions, the detailed study shows how collaboration will have a long-term impact on the advertising and marketing industry.

When marketers were asked to cite the collaborative solution they use or participate in to support advertising and marketing efforts at their companies, 61.9% in the U.S. and 51.5% in the UK cited a clean room or another secured and shared environment typically used for the analysis of two or more first-, second-, or third-party data sets.

Some 59.9% in the U.S. and 30.3% in the UK cite data exchange in environments where one organization can license another organization’s first-party data, while 47.6% in the U.S. and 48.5% in the UK cite digital data marketplaces where they license third-party data.

About 47.6% in the U.S. and 42.4% in the UK say they use a data co-op owned and managed by a third party where multiple organizations share pooled data from online consumers or businesses.

The research also suggests marketers can expect a surge in collaborative solutions.

The Winterberry Group expects six primary themes will drive the market. These include Multilevel Permissioning, Multiparty Partnering, Multiple Solutions in Parallel, Solution Applications in the Cloud, Organizational Adaptation, and Steady Rate of Adoption.

When marketers were asked whether their organization provides any of its first-party data for licensing to third parties as an audience solution for targeting or measurement, 40% said it is regulated and 56% said it is unregulated for both.

Some 24% said it is regulated and 14% said it is unregulated for targeting only. About 20% said it is regulated and 14% said it is unregulated for measurement only. Some 16% said it's regulated and 14% said for it's not unregulated at all.

Based on the data and The Winterberry Group’s conversations with marketers for the study, healthcare and financial services were most often cited for lagging behind those in CPG, retail and media.