Advertisers, publishers and retailers across Asia-Pacific bet on UID2

Advertisers and publishers across the Asia-Pacific region are on the hunt for a reliable post-cookie identity solution. Some may have found it in UID2.

As in other regions, APAC marketers are experimenting with a range of solutions, from retail data to contextual targeting to alternative identifiers.

Among them, UID2 is emerging as one capable of delivering precision, scale and privacy-conscious results. Advertisers, publishers and retailers are finding that authenticated audiences are not only more privacy-conscious, but can also deliver superior results to cookie-based ones.

“What's significant about UID2 is that it works not just on certain browsers but across the web, on any smart TV, in digital audio, and on mobile apps,” Nidarat Urailertprasert, digital marketing, media, dcommerce and data lead at Unilever Homecare Southeast Asia, told The Current.

“No matter where our audiences are, we can reach them in a way that respects their privacy.”

The big picture

The identity and privacy landscape across APAC is fragmented.

A slew of data privacy laws were enacted in the last two years, from India to Indonesia to Vietnam. Many of these have borrowed elements from Europe’s GDPR to create legislation that reinforces protections around consumers’ personal data.

These changes come as a Twilio study last September found that 76% of APAC marketers surveyed have seen a decline in the quality of third-party data. On the other side, 92% of them are optimistic that cookie deprecation can help improve the trust between consumers and advertisers.

This fragmentation is an issue for Benjamin Li, controller, marketing and product development, at TVB, a Hong Kong broadcaster and owner of OTT service myTV SUPER, who says differing privacy and identity standards make it difficult for the industry to design and build tech stacks with a common approach to a common goal. He sees UID2 as a potential solution.

“UID2 is believed to be a revolutionary movement that propels the industry forward towards a more unified approach to privacy and identity,” says Li.

How brands are using UID2

As the industry adjusts to a cookieless future, the wave of privacy changes in APAC and the deprecation of cookies are already spurring some brands into action.

Unilever Thailand wanted to grow awareness for its home-care detergent brand Sunlight, and do so with an identity solution. The brand encrypted phone numbers, which made up a large part of its CRM data, into UID2s.

It tested UID2’s effectiveness by comparing it against its usual targeting methods, like second-party data from publishers, cookies and device IDs. Unilever found that UID2 identifiers based on CRM data delivered 30% lower CPCV than other strategies, 1.9 times higher CTR than second-party data targeting, and a 16% increase in brand awareness.

The brand found the test so successful it decided to roll out UID2 audience targeting to other Southeast Asian markets this year.

In search of net new customers, travel package provider Luxury Escapes tested a similar approach. It paired its first-party CRM data with UID2s to drive a lookalike audience campaign. It then compared this UID2 audience with one of website purchasers based on pixel data, finding that in Australia alone, the UID2 group saw 276 percent higher conversion rate, 4.75 times higher ROAS, and 78.3 percent lower cost per action.

How publishers are using UID2

The other half of the UID2 equation is publishers, and some are seeing improvements on their bottom line from integrating the identifier.

Hong Kong news publisher HK01 saw a “significant uplift in eCPM (effective cost per mille)” of 28% for video ads and 70% for display ads, says Claire Wong, senior manager, digital ad operations at the firm.

“This success motivates us to further develop user profiles and expand UID2 utilization,” says Andrea So, CEO at HK01. “The development and adoption of ID solutions is no longer optional in the programmatic advertising space.”

While some advertisers may recoil at the prospect of higher CPMs, impressions delivered via authenticated identifiers like UID2 are highly targeted, helping them find valuable impressions they otherwise may not.

Earlier this year, Times of India adopted UID2, with Chief Operating Officer Puneet Gupt highlighting the solution’s “precise targeting capabilities” for advertisers. Parent company Times Internet says it has 415 million monthly visitors and reaches 54% of internet users in India.

In Southeast Asia, Baidu-owned iQiyi and Tencent-owned WeTV Iflix have both adopted UID2 as they cater to the region’s predominantly mobile audiences.

“UID2 can help demand-side parties better identify our traffic, thereby improving monetization efficiency, especially in terms of pricing,” says Frankie Fu, vice president of the international business department – brand partnerships at iQiyi.

“It’s an opportunity to connect with first-mover advertisers who are looking to redefine digital advertising in a way that respects user privacy with visible performance and impactful results,” says Mary Yeo, regional director at WeTV Iflix.  

How retailers are using UID2

When it comes to retail, much is made of retail data and how advertisers can use it as an effective alternative to cookies. But retailers themselves need to find new customers, too.

In a challenging economic climate, Target Australia wanted to not only reach new audiences, but also do it cost-efficiently and with an eye to a cookie-free future.

The retailer turned to UID2, using its first-party CRM audiences as seeds for lookalike audiences. The campaign drove a 66% higher conversion rate at 36% less cost per action than with third-party targeting.

Similarly, Singapore’s largest grocer, FairPrice Group, wanted to improve on its already-strong market position.

For its Deepavali campaign, the retailer wanted to appeal to both old and new customers. It turned to its first-party data as seeds to create lookalike audiences similar to its current customers.

FairPrice built one set of audiences by relying on device IDs and mobile ad IDs, and the other one by transforming hashed email addressed into UID2 identifiers. The UID2 set delivered 33% lower custom CPA, 23% lower CPM, and reached 1 million more potential consumers.

“This compelling evidence established that UID2 is an innovative pathway to connect with our target audiences across the open internet without relying on third-party cookies,” Iris Paulase, performance marketing lead at FairPrice, told The Current.

The Current is owned and operated by The Trade Desk Inc. UID2 was developed by The Trade Desk, Inc.