The last few years saw an explosion in the use of data sets bought from third-party organizations for ad targeting.

But, in 2018, brands can use their own marketing data to target ads, too.

In this video interview with Beet.TV, Nielsen EVP, Advertiser Direct & Marketer Cloud Damien Garbaccio observes three trends affecting brands:

  1. “Brands are becoming more autonomous.”
  2. “They also want to use data inter operably between products.”
  3. “They’re all moving towards outcome based measurement.”

The first is key. Now that marketing and advertising platforms are getting linked together, advertisers don’t just have to rely on tracking users across the web and finding them again on the other side. They can use data about their own customers, right from their own CRMs.

That fits right in with the trend in which brands also want to exert more control over their advertising operations than they traditionally have enjoyed.

“They want to either bring things in house, or have more control over their data and their data strategy,” Garbaccio says.

“They want to learn more. They want to do more themselves. They’ve typically depended on agencies and others, but they want to do more, specifically in the advanced media, connected TV, and linear space.

“What we’re trying to get them comfortable with, and frankly the industry comfortable with, is one audience that’s defined, but can be activated everywhere – whether it’s digital, whether it’s connected TV, whether it’s linear TV.

“That same audience can flow back and forth, and can be used. And that’s sort of their goal. Will it happen tomorrow? Probably not. But will it happen the day after tomorrow? It could, and that’s the feedback we’re getting from the brands, especially here at Ad Week.”

This interview was conducted at Advertising Week in New York.