Brands Shopping For Customer Insights To Improve Performance

Digital Web
TV Advertising Spend

Broadcaster Sky and retailer Sainsbury’s, two of the largest collectors of personal data, recently revealed strategies aimed at boosting the consumer experience and opening more opportunities for advertisers, according to an article today in Marketing Week. This underscores the increasing importance of customer information as a mighty tool not only for fostering revenues, but also for gaining people’s trust in a particular brand.

According to a survey by data security specialist TRUSTe in April, 36% of the UK’s 50 most popular websites give automatic access to consumer information to third parties for commercial purposes, without overstepping their privacy policy. Automatic sharing of website users’ data is becoming very popular and more and more brands are seeking to reap the benefits of such partnerships.

Last month, Sky sealed a deal with Channel 4 that will add some of its channels and its on-demand service 4OD to Sky’s digital platforms. That way, Channel 4 will gain access to anonymised audience data from Sky’s customer database collected through its customer intelligence unit Sky IQ. With this initiative, along with similar schemes due to come out soon, Sky aims to provide advertisers with useful information to engage more actively with their target consumers, IQ deputy managing director Tony Mooney says.

Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, is partnering with suppliers to offer valuable personal data from its Nectar loyalty scheme. The company has teamed up with Nectar’s owner, Aimia, to provide suppliers with access to Nectar data for a better understanding of customers’ buying habits and to advertise with the retailer across various channels.