media update’s Aisling McCarthy looks at how brands need to respect consumer data if they want to build trust.

As consumers give more personal information to brands, they demand more personalised services. In order to deliver this personalised service, brands need access to consumer data. However, this personal data should be treated with care and be used to make the consumer’s experience better, rather than just trying to upsell.

At the recent IAB Digital Den, Paul Berney said that most brands offer consumers access to their content in exchange for their valuable personal data, but this is not a fair exchange.

Without even knowing, people give away tons of information about themselves – a phenomenon Berney referred to as the ‘unconscious flow of data’.

For example, consider how much information Google knows about you.

• Google – Tracks your search history and internet browsing activity
• Google Maps – Tracks your movements
• Google Play Store – Knows your email address and credit card details
• Google Passwords – Knows all of your passwords

He suggested that brands shift their focus on why they collect data. “Data should create value for, not from, audiences.” With that in mind, marketers need to find a way to balance the need to access data with the service expectations of consumers.

Berney offered five pointers for brands dealing with consumer data:

1. Understand that not all data is the same. Just because you have some data on your clients doesn’t mean you know everything about them.

2. Respect consumers data. Brands must understand that personal data isn’t just information about a person, it’s their information. If they choose to share it, then it must be treated with respect.

3. Stop hiding what you do with the data. If you want to build consumer trust, don’t hide the truth about what you plan to do with their personal information. Shift from ‘terms of service’ to ‘terms of trust’.

4. Understand that privacy isn’t binary. Brands must understand that privacy is a dynamic thing and not static. Just because a consumer has agreed to one thing, that does not mean they agree to anything else.

5. Help people understand their data. If brands want to build good relationships with their consumers, then it is important to use consumer data for good. It is important to help people make sense of their data.

“Data should create value for, not from, audiences.”
What you do with consumer data is more important than the data itself. Brands should sim to help consumers understand their data in order to help them make a decision.

Marketing should be aimed at building long-term bonds with consumers, rather than just making a quick sale and using people’s information to spam them about products they are not interested in.

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Consumers are becoming more aware of how brands are using their data, and subsequently more laws are being put in place to protect it. The European Union will put their General Data Protection Regulation into place on Friday, 25 May. Find out more in our article, Quick Read: What does the GDPR mean for South Africa?