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Chief in Tech S1E31 - Lauren Vaccarello : How Marketers Can Capture $27 Trillion in Assets · Chief in Tech Deep Dive Shortcast

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  We are currently watching a massive collision
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  between two basically unstoppable forces on the
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  internet right now. Oh, absolutely. It's happening
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  everywhere. Right. On one side, you have the
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  complete dismantling of the tracking infrastructure,
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  like the tools marketers have relied on for over
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  a decade are just gone. Yeah, falling apart completely.
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  And then on the other side, you've got this consumer
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  base that is fiercely demanding, like hyper -personalized,
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  bespoke... digital experiences. Right, which
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  sounds like a total contradiction. Exactly. It
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  feels impossible. Give me a highly personalized
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  experience, but absolutely do not track me. But
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  sitting right at the center of this collision
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  is a specific demographic in the U .S. There
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  are over 75 million of them. And that's a huge
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  number. It is. But here's the crazy part. Together,
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  they control nearly $27 trillion in assets. Trillion.
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  With a T. Yeah. And when you look at an economic
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  force of that magnitude, I mean, $27 trillion,
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  you are no longer just talking about a target
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  market anymore. Right. It's bigger than that.
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  Much bigger. You're talking about a gravitational
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  pull. It is actively forcing every major corporation
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  on Earth to just rewrite the rules of digital
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  engagement, privacy, and brand identity completely
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  from the ground up. OK, let's unpack this, because
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  that is the exact mission of our deep dive today.
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  We are decoding the invisible mechanics behind
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  this shift. Which is so needed right now. Definitely.
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  We're drawing on some really fascinating insights
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  spearheaded by Lauren Vaccarello. She's a chief
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  marketing officer, and she did this incredible
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  presentation called Marketing to Generation Detrust
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  and Data Transparency. Yeah, her work on data
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  trans... Transparency is basically a roadmap
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  for this entire new landscape. Exactly. And to
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  you, listening right now, whether you're a digital
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  strategist trying to figure out how to do your
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  job without the old tracking methods, or you're
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  just an everyday internet user noticing how brands
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  interact with you, this impacts you directly.
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  Because we're really talking about the monetization
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  of your digital identity. Right. So to capture
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  any part of that $27 trillion pie... we have
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  to understand the people holding the fork, and
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  they're being called Generation D. And the naming
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  convention there is critical, right? Because
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  Generation D fundamentally breaks the mold of
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  how we usually think about demographic cohorts.
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  Because usually it's just about age. Exactly.
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  We're so used to grouping people chronologically,
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  you know, Millennials, Gen Z, Baby Boomers, but...
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  Based on a major Accenture study referenced in
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  the source, Generation D transcends birth years
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  entirely. Wait, really? So it's not an age bracket?
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  Not at all. The D just stands for data, or digital.
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  It's a lifestyle demographic. They aren't defined
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  by when they were born. They're defined by their
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  absolute reliance on a connected ecosystem. They're
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  always native to it. I find that shift in categorization
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  just fascinating. It's like we used to group
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  people by the neighborhood they grew up in, right?
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  Yeah, geographic. Yeah, or by specific decades.
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  So you share this baseline. worldview but now
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  we're grouping them by the digital language they
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  speak exactly the infrastructure they inhabit
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  so does that mean like a highly tech savvy connected
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  baby boomer actually has more in common from
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  a consumer standpoint with a 25 year old digital
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  native than with someone their own age yes Yes,
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  they absolutely do. Because they inhabit the
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  exact same digital ecosystem, their psychological
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  expectations for how information is delivered
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  are identical. staggering data point in the source
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  that really illustrates this. OK, what is it?
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  So Generation D manages to pack 11 hours of media
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  consumption into just 7 .5 hours of actual time.
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  Wait, hold on. 11 hours into 7 .5 hours. How
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  is that physically possible? Extreme systemic
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  multitasking. They're the ultimate multitasker.
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  Oh, right. Like, think about the cognitive architecture
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  required to do that. They're streaming a show
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  on the TV while actively managing a fragmented
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  conversation in a group chat on their phone.
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  Right, and maybe simultaneously scrolling a curated
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  algorithm on a tablet. It's wild, but when you
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  compress media like that, you aren't just distracted.
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  You become this ruthless editor of your own attention,
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  right? Yes, exactly. You develop an immediate,
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  subconscious filter. Anything that feels irrelevant,
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  slow, or fake. just gets blocked out instantly.
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  And I imagine that ruthless filtering extends
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  directly to how they interact with brands. Oh,
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  absolutely it does. Because they are processing
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  so much information, they have completely abandoned
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  the old internet paradigm. The old paradigm being
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  like the anonymous troll. Yeah, the idea that
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  your online self is just a pseudonym or a fake
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  performance. For Generation D, their online personas
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  aren't a hobby. They are authentic, permanent
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  expressions of who they actually are. So their
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  digital identity isn't a mask. No, it's a mirror.
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  Wow. Which, I mean, that introduces a massive
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  vulnerability, doesn't it? How do you mean? Well,
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  if my digital persona is a true extension of
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  my real world identity, Any interaction I have
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  with a brand online carries way more weight.
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  Yes, perfectly said. Because I'm not just buying
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  a product anymore. I'm incorporating that brand
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  into my personal narrative. And that brings us
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  perfectly to the core framework you need to understand
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  to reach them. It's called the identity trust
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  cycle. The identity trust cycle. OK, break that
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  down for us. So the cycle operates on the premise
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  that because this digital identity is so closely
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  guarded, brands have to respect and reciprocate
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  it. Right. If a company treats the user just
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  like a conversion metric and, say, interrupts
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  that 11 hours and 7 .5 hours flow with some generic
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  annoying banner ad. The user just instinctively
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  rejects it. It's just noise. Exactly. Yeah. But
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  if the brand shows they actually understand the
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  user's specific curated identity. or reciprocal
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  relationship forms. They trust the brand, they
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  share data, and they organically promote them.
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  Here's where it gets really interesting. Let's
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  look at the Starbucks example from the source
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  material. Yes, that's a great example of the
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  cycle in motion. Right. So if a consumer deeply
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  values corporate responsibility or, you know,
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  ethical sourcing, and Starbucks clearly telegraphs
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  those same values, the transaction changes completely.
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  It's no longer just buying coffee. Exactly. They
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  buy the coffee, but then they take an aesthetic
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  photo of the cup, post it to their curated feed
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  and organically broadcast that brand to their
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  entire network. And mechanically what's happening
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  there is profound. The brand is elevated from
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  just a commodity to a cultural prop. Yeah, the
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  consumer is using the logo to signal their own
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  internal values to their peers. But the identity
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  trust cycle dictates that this level of advocacy,
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  it has to be earned through shared principles.
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  A Generation D consumer will only lend their
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  digital credibility to a brand that actually
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  walks the walk. Right, which... transforms the
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  customer from a passive buyer into an active
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  activist or brand ambassador. Absolutely. But
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  it also forces the brand into a highly scrutinized
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  position. You can't just sell a good product
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  anymore. To earn that integration, the brand
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  actually has to take a definitive stance. Yeah,
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  they have to share a set of values with the consumer.
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  It touches everything, from their hiring policies
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  to their social responsibility programs. Product
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  promotion just isn't enough. So wait, let me
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  bring up the Nike campaign that Lauren's presentation
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  touched on, the one featuring Colin Kaepernick.
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  Right, a really prime historical example of this.
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  And obviously there are a lot of political conversations
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  surrounding that specific campaign, but we're
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  just looking at the underlying marketing mechanics
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  here. Purely from a data strategy perspective,
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  yes. Right. Nike didn't just throw a dart at
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  a board to pick an issue. They used their data
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  pipeline to understand the specific sociopolitical
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  terrain of their target audience, right? Exactly.
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  They quantified exactly what social issues their
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  audience cared deeply about, and they aligned
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  their corporate voice directly. with those data
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  points. So it was calculated alignment? Yeah,
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  it wasn't arbitrary. And by doing that, they
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  built a much deeper relationship and massively
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  increased customer lifetime value. They secured
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  their place in the identity trust cycle. OK,
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  but I have to push back a little here. Because
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  if I'm a listener and I run, say, a medium -sized
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  company, maybe I make high -quality sustainable
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  coffee mugs, this sounds exhausting. Does this
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  mean every single business is now forced to be
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  allowed social activists just to sell a mug?
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  That's a really valid question. But if we connect
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  this to the bigger picture, it's not about forced
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  activism. It's about authenticity. OK, how so?
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  Remember that media compression we talked about?
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  That ruthless filter. Gen D is incredibly adept
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  at spotting corporate pandering. If a brand suddenly
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  adopts a loud stance that totally contradicts
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  their internal behavior, Gen D will see right
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  through it. They'll see it as performative. Exactly.
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  And they will punish the brand for it. They demand
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  a genuine partnership. So if your company's genuine
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  identity is just a quiet dedication to making
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  great mugs and treating your employees well,
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  you just communicate that transparently. Precisely.
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  The friction only happens when a brand tries
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  to wear a mask. You have to find the genuine
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  overlap between your values and your customers'
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  values. But to map that overlap, a brand needs
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  data. Really granular data about who their customer
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  actually is. Yes. And that brings us to the existential
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  crisis looming over the Internet. The death of
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  the third party cookie. Exactly. The source notes
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  that Google Chrome started planning its removal
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  years ago, and the phase out is completely reshaping
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  how brands get data. I mean, for years, the industry
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  relied on this invisible tracking infrastructure.
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  I've always thought of relying on third party
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  data like it's secretly eavesdropping on someone
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  at a party to figure out what they like. That
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  is exactly what it's like. You're hiding behind
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  a plant, taking notes, and then you jump out
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  and say, hey, I hear you like tennis. It's creepy.
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  Very creepy. And for Gen D, who treats their
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  digital identity as a sacred extension of themselves,
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  that non -transparent tracking is totally unacceptable.
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  Right. So what's the solution? Zero party data.
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  Zero party data. Meaning, meaning data that a
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  customer intentionally and proactively shares
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  with a brand. Following your analogy, it's like
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  just walking up to someone at the party and politely
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  asking them about their interests. Oh, so just
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  having a normal conversation. Yes, it's an explicit
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  value exchange. Okay, I want to highlight the
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  Stitch Fix example from the source because it
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  illustrates this perfectly. It really does. Stitch
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  Fix doesn't try to secretly track you across
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  the internet. They just give you a highly detailed
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  style quiz. You tell them your budget, your style,
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  your fit preferences. Right. You are intentionally
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  building a new identity profile for them. And
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  in exchange, the customer gets a better personalized
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  box of clothes and the brand gets this incredibly
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  rich 360 degree data profile. It's consensual.
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  Totally consensual. But getting the zero party
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  data is just the first step. Right. What do you
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  do with it? The real challenge is orchestration.
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  How do you deploy that data when the internet
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  is so fragmented? The source mentions a clothing
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  retailer called Tolol, sometimes referred to
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  as Tap Tap Wool, that handled this really well.
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  Yes, they used a very sophisticated architecture
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  because in a zero party world, the customer doesn't
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  belong to the brand. So Tolol used a platform
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  called Talend to massively increase the pace
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  of their data delivery. Why does speed matter
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  so much there? Because consumer trends shift
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  in days. Batch processing data at the end of
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  month is useless now. Talon let them ingest those
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  zero party signals in near real time. OK, so
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  they solve the speed issue. But you still have
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  the deployment issue, right? Like, the customer
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  spends all their time inside Facebook, Google,
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  Instagram. Without a third party cookie to track
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  them in there, how did Trillol reach them? That's
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  where the second layer comes in. using a platform
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  called Stitch. Stitch? Yeah, Stitch orchestrates
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  the data. It takes those zero -party profiles
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  and integrates them with Facebook, Google, and
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  Instagram data to understand buying habits. Oh,
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  wow. So they aren't tracking the individual across
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  the web anymore. They're taking the profile the
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  user voluntarily gave them and using Stitch to
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  personalize the experience within those platforms.
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  Exactly. It requires heavier lifting on the back
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  end, but it respects the boundary. So what does
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  this all mean? When we look at this whole picture,
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  it reveals this massive paradox in how Gen D
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  actually behaves. The Gen D paradox. It is a
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  huge contradiction. Right, because on one hand,
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  they welcome brand engagement. They love incentives.
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  They want hyper -personalized clothes and coffee
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  and content. But on the other hand... They absolutely
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  hate advertising and they fiercely protect their
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  data privacy. Yes, they are basically saying,
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  know absolutely everything about me, but do not
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  track me. It sounds like an unsolvable riddle.
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  How do you solve that? The golden rule. Treat
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  others as you want to be treated. Exactly. That's
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  what the source pulls it down to. Total transparency.
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  Brands must clearly state what data they are
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  collecting and why. Right. No more hiding it
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  in a massive terms and conditions document. No.
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  It has to be opted in partnership. It cannot
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  be a marketing monologue anymore. You have to
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  say, we want your location so we can give you
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  local deals. And if the exchange has value, they'll
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  opt in. Yes. But if you try to trick them, you're
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  done. So to summarize this whole shift, capturing
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  this $27 trillion market, it's not about designing
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  stealthier ads. It is fundamentally about transparency.
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  It's about shared values and building that identity
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  trust cycle by relying on zero -party data. And
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  for you listening, it's really important to remember
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  that as a member of this digital ecosystem, you
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  have the power. You really do. Your demand for
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  transparency is what's actively forcing these
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  massive corporations to change how they do business.
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  They have to treat your data as a privilege now,
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  not a right. Which is an amazing shift. But I
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  want to leave you with a final kind of lingering
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  question to ponder on your own. It builds on
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  everything we've talked about today. Oh, I'm
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  curious. If our authentic online identities are
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  becoming so deeply intertwined with the brands
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  we trust and the data we voluntarily hand over,
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  What happens to the parts of our identity that
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  don't fit neatly into a consumer profile? Oh,
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  that's heavy. Right. Like, are we subconsciously
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  curating our true digital selves just to be better
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  marketed to? The tension between who you are
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  and what the algorithm wants you to be. Exactly.
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  Are we shaping the market with our data, or is
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  the market shaping us? Something to think about.
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  Thank you so much for joining us on this deep
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  dive. Keep questioning the digital world around
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  you, and we'll catch you next time.