When you think about it, it’s probably not that surprising to find out that the phrase “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission” was first uttered by a senior member of the US Armed Forces.
However, I first heard the phrase not long after I had started to work in the world of data. This wasn’t said to me with any reference to privacy or compliance. Back then, we’d only just learnt to spell the word compliance, and privacy was something we required when doing our ebullitions. It was suggested as a general attitude to work and, to be honest, in many cases I believe this is a good approach, however, privacy is not one of those cases.
Having been involved in data-driven marketing since the Nineties, the environment has changed immeasurably – back then above and below the line marketing was still de rigueur – with activities in the above the line arena being viewed as vastly superior and more valuable to an organisation than those beneath this all important line.
Email marketing, social media, programmatic buying, smart phones and tablets where all still to come. As an industry, we were governed by the Data Protection Act 1998 with the PECR legislation still being a twinkle in the regulator’s eye.
And for those of us collecting data, our job was to stay under the consumer’s radar, finding ways to hide our compliance copy in plain sight to stay inside the law, but ensuring only the most “switched on” would find the opt out box – if they knew to look for it.
Move on 20 years, and not only has that fabled line disappeared, “below the line”, data-driven marketing has now come into ascendancy. Digital marketing has exploded with data becoming the lifeblood of many companies and a regular topic of conversation in board meetings – often everyone from the CMO, CIO, CEO & their PA has something to say about it. And the issue of data privacy has entered the national consciousness – regularly making “front page news” in the nationals, and being debated on anything from Question Time to The Jeremy Kyle Show.
During this time, consumers have also changed – when I began collecting data through lifestyle surveys, no one I knew understood what I did for a living – and that was after I’d explained and showed them a survey. The data industry was a mystery to all but those practising the dark arts.
This is no longer the case, as demonstrated by the DMA’s most recent report, Data Privacy 2015 – what consumers really think. This report echoes countless other reports that have appeared in the last couple of years; the majority of consumers know and understand that brands are going to use their data to effectively boost their profits. Some consumers do not accept this and will never be happy to give a brand permission to market to them. This is just something marketers have to accept.
But many consumers don’t mind sharing their data; they understand the concept of business and how marketing works. However, they do expect some sort of value exchange and most importantly, they expect to be asked permission prior to their information being propagated throughout an organisation.
Obviously, gaining permission is just the first step. Brands then have to deliver on their promises. Explaining that you are collecting someone’s personal information to ensure you can deliver more relevant, interest-based content or discounts and offers is a good way to gain someone’s permission. However, this strategy needs to be authentic, not just a way to gain more data – as in real life, a company that makes a promise and then breaks it or never had any intention of keeping it – will lose the trust of that consumer.
Companies like The Guardian and Channel 4 have understood this and are leading the way in the UK – being entirely transparent and genuine about their data collection practices and motivations and then delivering on them, therefore building an authentic relationship with their customers that is based on trust.
They seem to have understood that those who don’t ask for permission will find it much harder, if not impossible to gain the consumer’s forgiveness. Have you?
Dee Toomey is a director of Dynamic Device Decisions
