Throughout the week, OMG’s Global Head of Strategic Engagement, Chris Stephenson, will provide key insights and takeaways from each of these themes — highlighting the issues shaking, shaping, and transforming the advertising.

Key Learnings from Day 2: 

McKinsey & Co’s Quentin George told the Advertising Week Europe audience that the depreciation of third-party cookies will impact 80% of all marketing spend. And yet, only 10% of marketers are ready — secretly hoping that Google will find a suitable replacement. This startling statistic came as Quentin discussed the value of working with first-party data from marketplace ecosystems with eBay’s Head of UK Advertising, Upasana Gupta.

There’s a huge growth opportunity around creativity with data — namely custom algorithms and using AI across search and social to unearth unknown insights, such as subtle brand references and associated keywords. One large advertiser in the drinks sector advised conference delegates to ‘make the most informed decisions possible based on innovative use of data, and then own those decisions and optimize.’

A session on ‘Quality and Verification’ discussed the challenges of driving data governance in newer channels such as retail media. OMG UK’s Chief Media and Partnerships Officer, Harriet Perry, called for more consistency in how ad impressions are counted, plus the reduction of media wastage for a more sustainable and efficient data approach.