There’s a lot to be done ahead of May when it comes to GDPR. The risk of not complying with GDPR is real and could lead to fines for companies of up to €20 million or 4% of global annual turnover. So what does it mean for the marketing industry, and why will the location be the new imperative for marketers?

In a nutshell, GDPR is about users giving consent to data collection, the flip side is that it also gives them the ability to withdraw that consent. Therefore, it is vital that marketers treat the user IDs that different platforms collect and segment in an open and transparent way. The customer is in control of their data and, as the old saying goes, the customer is always right!

It’s a jungle out there

The existing ID management ecosystem is a jungle; involving so many tech and service vendors that ruthlessly fetch every single ID they can… hoping to monetize it somewhere down the road. It’s no wonder that government bodies are taking this seriously!

Europe is getting organized, and I think it shows in the new legislation. Different countries within the EU will surely treat the implementation of GDPR a bit differently. There are also still a few gaps in data regulations that enable assumptions but overall the careless days are long gone. This is a good thing for the industry, a good thing for marketers and, most importantly, a good thing for consumers.

Looking at GDPR from the location vendor’s perspective, you could say that most will take a severe hit. Primarily this is because the bid stream is the typical source for most vendors of location resolution and profiling data. GDPR will put an end to this and the value of such profiles and audiences will be very close to zero.

The science of location

Currently, no governments are talking about location data and how it relates to GDPR – primarily because they don’t have a real answer for it. On the flip side, marketers must get ahead of GDPR and see location marketing as being at the top of their agendas.

The world is based on its history but lives and breathes now every second. The ability to analyze behavior in real-time is therefore of utmost importance. Real-time consumer behavior is primarily about location and the context of that location. This insight is gold dust for brands and advertisers, as well as being the sleeping pill for any marketer who truly wants to understand their customer.

The most interesting, and perhaps surprising thing, about location intelligence is that knowing one’s identity is not even necessary in most cases. It is more about analyzing and reacting to behavior as it takes place, then acting on it. This is a double win for customers and marketers alike as it’s both privacy friendly whilst vastly improving the user experience.

As users need to give their consent under GDPR, location data will be the front line of customer marketing. This will ensure marketers stay compliant from the off and that consumers are given the best experiences at all times. Therefore, businesses that use location specific audience intelligence platforms will have first mover advantage in a post-GDPR world.

In this sense GDPR will herald a new era of personalisation. An era where location means everything.