Surveying 150 senior marketers, the study looks at the impact of AI on privacy and the future trajectory of data privacy

AppsFlyer, the world’s leading mobile marketing analytics and attribution platform, and MMA Global, a leading not-for-profit marketing trade body, today jointly released its first-ever privacy benchmarking study. The survey of 150 senior marketers and data privacy leaders across various sectors explores the complex landscape of data privacy, including its current state and future trajectory.

“From industry changes to global legislation and regulation, data privacy has been top of mind for marketers seemingly since 2018”

As debates over data and AI continue to shape the landscape of marketing, understanding privacy implications is a vital concern for industry-leading brands and media owners. It also introduces a new, first of its kind, comprehensive framework to approach privacy as a source of competitive advantage that allows marketers to match up their own privacy preparedness to their peers who were surveyed. The key theme from the inaugural research report shows there is a growing need to further enhance privacy maturity, the gap in providing true choice and control to consumers, and a need for more investment in training and awareness.

“From industry changes to global legislation and regulation, data privacy has been top of mind for marketers seemingly since 2018,” said Tami Harrigan, VP of the AppsFlyer Privacy Cloud. “For the first time, we’re now able to share with the ecosystem more transparency into how companies are delegating privacy responsibilities and business and safety priorities when it comes to data privacy. This is just a first step – companies need to focus on their proactive privacy practices, ensuring marketing teams are able to provide true choices and control to consumers, and are creating a privacy culture that focuses on consumer data needs.”

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The study found three distinct orientations to data privacy, dependent on who owns the privacy strategy within the organization and the underlying data assets available to the company. Their priorities also were vastly different when it came to overseeing privacy practices:

1. A classic Privacy orientation owned by the Chief Privacy, Security or Legal officer (36% of total)
   • Typical for companies with a significant volume of data, necessitating an approach centered around security and risk mitigation.
   • Prioritization of Risk Mitigation more than Business Outcomes
2. A Technology orientation, owned by a Chief Data or Information Officer (36% of total)
   • More likely linked to organizations where there is a stronger focus on value extraction from data, as well as prioritization of data quality.
   • A technology-driven approach to privacy prioritizes a value exchange with consumers aiming for better access to personal data.
3. A Marketing orientation, typically owned by CMO (25% of total)
   • More likely linked to companies that have lower access to data, yet, do more experimentation with a variety of data signals.
   • Importantly, when CMOs lead privacy efforts, they tend to prioritize brand reputation and marketing outcomes from their privacy initiatives.

“Although we are seeing marketers moving in the right direction, more work is needed to approach privacy more holistically and quantify its business case,” said Vas Bakopoulos, MMA Global’s SVP of Research. “Companies are beginning to realize that investing in privacy enhancing technologies while also building a value exchange with consumers can be a source of true competitive advantage, driving brand reputation and even revenue outcomes.”

“Privacy is at or near the top of mind for most marketers and companies,” continued AppsFlyer’s Harrigan. “But as we see from the results, more needs to be done in a proactive sense. To lead in the age of generative AI and new privacy enhancing technologies, we urge senior leaders to leverage the privacy framework roadmap found through this study to raise maturity and to get ahead of emerging risks through PETs like data clean rooms. Organizations who recognize the need for increased privacy measures, beyond mere compliance, will succeed compared to their successors as they future-proof their privacy practices.”

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