BAM (Belgian Association of Marketing)’s Afterwork 5@7 took place on May 6 — an engaging evening debate marking the relaunch of IAB Belgium with a timely discussion around the industry’s gradual transition from first- to third-party data marketing.
EDAA’s Programme Development Director Ionel Năftănăilă was one of three keynote speakers who kicked off the session, framing the discussion within a wider legal and geopolitical context.
Ionel highlighted the crucial role of self-regulation as a strategic asset in a global landscape characterised by competitiveness and unpredictability, fuelling innovation where overregulation stifles it. A definite win for everyone involved: creating trust and offering consumers choice and control options; demonstrating goodwill and trustworthiness to regulators; and fostering a harmonised, industry-wide approach to regulatory challenges — a virtuous cycle of exchange between businesses and legislators that benefits both equally.
The debate moved on to two well-participated panel discussions exploring the value of first-party data for companies and its implications for consumer protection. Among a variety of viewpoints from within the Belgian market, three key takeaways stood out to us:
- Consumer trust remains key. Consumers tend to more readily agree to the processing of first-party data, particularly when there’s a well-established relationship between them and the brand. Companies, however, can remain fully compliant while being fully untrustworthy. It is crucial to offer consumers respect, transparency and effective choices over the use of their personal data (as reconfirmed by the findings of our award-winning study “Your Online Voices”).
- Impact implies responsibility. What added value does our industry provides to consumers and to our society at large? Inability to answer this question inevitably leads to defensiveness — a stance that is not conducive to dialogue and mutual trust, with regulators nor with consumers. Not everything that is countable counts, and not everything that counts is countable: it’s up to us to find ways to communicate our value proposition effectively.
- Collaboration is the way forward, both at national and European level. In the face of shifting value systems in the global business environment, Europe stands out as the ideal space to combine economic and societal value. By investing in local talent, we can aspire to achieve competitiveness while staying true to our values. There are plenty of opportunities in collaboration: together we stand strong.
Congratulations to BAM for an excellently-organised opportunity to debate timely matters for the digital advertising ecosystem. Looking forward to the next edition!
