Future advertising experiences

Using right to object to develop deeper customer relationships

JUNE 2024

Overview

People are not against adverts, especially relevant adverts. But they do have an issue with how most current advertising relies on passive data sharing with organisations that they do not have a relationship with. And this is a problem for publishers and advertisers too.

Today, no brand would do junk mail. No brand would stick mail through a million random houses, on a million random days. But the reality is we have replicated junk mail online, albeit with more data. It still feels like junk mail.

People see adverts that are intrusive and not relevant. They follow them around the internet. Advertisers and publishers worry that they do not know whose digital doorstep their adverts are landing on. The decisions being made in the middle of the supply chain are too opaque.

In a survey, by YouGov for Luminate, 70% of UK adults said that they have no, or not very much, control over how social media platforms use data in advertising.

Just as people do not have control in the advertising ecosystem, advertisers and publishers have lost control too.

Legislation, like the “right to object”, intends to meet these issues. But in its current form it is not effective. It is either not present, a tick box, or buried in the settings. Few people are aware of it, and those who find and use it discover that many in the industry do not respect it.

Embedding the right to object into the user experience can enhance advertising, allowing users to exercise their rights when it matters, benefiting publishers and advertisers by avoiding opacity and building trust and intent to buy.

It also helps you get ahead of the direction of travel for regulation. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) recently ruled that large platforms were struggling to offer valid consent and should offer a form of advertising involving the processing of less or no personal data.

We hope that forward-looking marketing teams will see the opportunity to get ahead of these changes. Designing right to object into customer journeys deepens customer relationships. By doing so, you will create bigger customer lifetime value and take back control.

Get started on the future advertising experience…

Four Moments to bring the future to life

Toolkit to get started

If you have any feedback on the toolkit or you'd like to know more about this project get in touch at [email protected].

Understand the current advertising experience…

What internet users need

The legislation that exists isn’t working

Publishers and advertisers struggle

The ad system is evolving

About this work

In collaboration with Luminate, in 2023 IF researched how companies that use digital advertising can more meaningfully support people’s legal right to object.

The General Data Protection Regulation gives people the absolute “right to object” to data about them being used for direct marketing.

The aims of this work were to:

Bring the opportunities and challenges of right to object to life, highlighting people and business benefits.
Clarify what could be implementable in one year (or less).
Inspire advertisers and publishers to give people more control.

We prototyped four Moments within a direct marketing journey that could arise if right to object is treated as part of the user experience, not buried in a tick box compliance action. And we created a toolkit to get started.

About IF

IF are experts in design, regulation and policy, digital strategy and technology architecture. We deliver end to end trustworthy experiences that help you stay ahead. If you have any feedback or you'd like to know more about this project get in touch at [email protected].