In association with digitalAudience

Why data collaboration matters 

First, why does data collaboration matter? As the industry continues to move in a privacy-first direction, with more advertisers favouring privacy-first solutions, data collaboration is a way companies can build customer intelligence in a privacy-centric way. First and second-party data is used to enrich customer intelligence, allowing businesses of all sizes to collect an extensive database of insight. 

Data collaboration can be beneficial for many types of companies, from brands and retailers to data suppliers. Benefits of data collaboration include facilitating improved audience targeting and customer acquisition, allowing partners secure access to unique datasets, and increased media spend. Data collaboration also allows for improved measurement, as well as better data monetisation.  

Data troubles and regulatory hurdles 

This leads us onto our first challenge for companies breaking into the European market – data-related obstacles. When it comes to data collaboration, an absence of local data players can have a detrimental impact. Without local data players, companies can suffer from a lack of contextual knowledge, which leads to misinformation and misinterpretation. 

Expanding on this, regulations vary greatly in different parts of the world, creating another challenge for companies looking to expand their reach around the globe. 

Privacy regulations are very different in Europe compared to the US, for example. The European Union adheres to GDPR which ensures data protection for all individuals through comprehensive legislation on data processing (also mirrored by the UK in UK GDPR). Meanwhile, the US employs a more sectoral approach with various laws governing specific industries, instead of one single, overarching privacy law. 

Under GDPR legislation, data can flow freely within the European Union/European Economic Area without additional restrictions. However, transfers outside of this region are only permitted if the receiving country has an adequacy decision from the EU, if it uses approved safeguards, and ensures a level of protection equivalent to that in the EU. 

Yet, while GDPR applies to all countries within the European Union, those which follow its regulations also abide by a range of different local regulations specific to their own. Additionally, countries within the EU may have different interpretations of GDPR laws. Effectively, even in regions which abide by wider overarching regulations, there is still a great deal of nuance and understanding required to work out how a company must operate and achieve success in a particular location. 

A sea of cultural differences 

The mission of expanding operations into markets brings with it not only logistical challenges, but also ones related to culture. By expanding operations into new markets, companies come face to face with a sea of cultural differences. 

The most obvious difference: language. Some regions may share languages, although the way they are used may differ. 

For many customers, it will be important to be able to reach someone at your company who speaks the same language as them. If your company operates in say, France, a customer will likely be unimpressed if unable to get hold of someone who speaks French. This applies not only to the customer-facing support, but also to the back office. 

The full funnel of operations needs to be integrated into that region, adapting seamlessly to a local market – not just dedicating one person to the wider region of EMEA. 

Website layouts, and the details included on them, can also be dependent on region. Consumers native to certain countries may favour having certain specs displayed on certain pages, which in others people may not, for example. 

Additionally, the decision-making process can vary vastly. Some countries operate in a more hierarchical fashion, in which only a select-few have the power to sign off a decision. This  usually results in a much longer decision-making process. Contrastingly, others operate less hierarchically, and welcome decisions being made by people with less authority in the company. Being aware of these types of cultural differences are essential to enable smooth integration in a local market. 

Overcoming fragmentation

Many companies expand into the region, then find themselves pulling back after seeing they don’t have what’s needed to build up their business up in Europe. The fragmentation within Europe itself is another challenge.   

Firstly, in order to successfully avoid privacy-related problems, privacy needs to be built into your business model. It can’t be an afterthought. When it comes to regulation, companies should collaborate with local players who understand the region’s legal frameworks. 

For everything, a local ecosystem is a must. Simply having the international pipes is not enough – they have to be built into the local ecosystem and infrastructure. 

Local players have the contextual knowledge that is needed. They understand the cultural, economic, and technical context of data, as well as how it’s collected, what signals, and how it should be interpreted. This facilitates more meaningful insights, and can also reduce the risk of misinterpretation of the data. Successful data collaboration relies on an ecosystem of parties which bring together different assets to create a prosperous solution for all involved. 

Local data players, local publishers, a local network, built on trust. This takes a lot of time and resources, and requires a local team and network of people on the ground in the target region. The full funnel of local players are needed, to help bridge the gap between a company’s global ambitions and local reality in a region.