The Road to 3rd Party Cookie Deprecation: Breaking Down Organizational Silos & True Collaboration

With the death of 3rd party cookies should also come the death of organizational silos. Just like many of you reading this, I’ve worked for multiple companies, ranging from startups to enterprise corporations, and one thing has always been constant; organizational silos have killed much needed progress and collaboration necessary for future-proofing efforts. As such, 3rd party cookies don’t care about your company or your silos; all they know is that their deprecation will impact every facet of a business, regardless of company mission, mantra, team structures, etc. Therefore, it is crucial that silos are broken down as soon as possible so the entire company can collaborate and future-proof as one team, not multiple teams. I’m not saying to remove team structures; I’m saying to remove these invisible barriers preventing teams from truly collaborating, not just stating that they need to collaborate and then proceed to do nothing. And yes, I said this because it's true; and as mentioned in my previous post, I'm a no BS, no fluff individual who puts value on reality, not perception.

Before getting into breaking down silos, we have to talk about one critical point as to why silos exist along with the underlying value and weapon of a silo, which is a double-edged, sneaky sword. And that underlying value/weapon is accountability. Everyone wants to collaborate until the metaphorical sh*t hits the fan; then collaboration goes out the window when it comes time to find the accountable party, which often results in higher walls protecting the silos. That is the true problem of silos no matter what anybody says (and I’m very, very sure each one of us industry veterans have been on either side of this double-edged sword). Regardless of which side of accountability you are on, one thing is for certain; 3p cookie deprecation is coming and it doesn’t care who you are or which side of accountability you are on, period. The company’s bottom line will suffer as a result. The real question is: What are you going to do about it?

How do we break down the silos? What incentive can companies give to enforce collaboration? Well, the first major incentive is purely and simply company survival. What companies don’t realize is that 3P cookie deprecation impacts advertising, revenue, site analytics, tracking, measurement, attribution, subscriptions and paywall tech, profiling, and more. If you work for any company, chances are that these functions and technologies sit in different teams and organizations. Therefore, there needs to be a meeting of the minds, the SMEs, and leadership to understand the impact of 3P cookie deprecation on every tech, domain, team, etc. as ignorance is not going to be bliss come July 2024

Now onto the good stuff! How can companies prepare to mitigate the risk and impact of 3P cookie depreciation? Firstly, this risk mitigation is not for the faint of heart and it will require both a mindset shift and an organizational shift; a new way of thinking so to speak. Therefore, I have put together a very high level framework to get you started (for more details and a blueprint, I am here to offer my consultative services - so DM me!). See below:

• Ego & politics need to be exponentially minimized in favor of expertise and compromise (it’s wishful thinking that ego and politics will go away entirely, but as long as humans exist, these items will exist, for better or for worse)
• Nominate a subject matter expert in each department across the company to create a risk analysis and mitigation plan, preferably someone with hands on experience/hands on key work that can speak to how 3P cookie deprecation impacts their area of the company
• Each SME must conduct due diligence in their area of expertise, in as much depth as possible, in order to provide critical areas of impact to the greater group of SMEs
• Schedule a workshop week with each of these SMEs, in the same room/virtual room, making their due diligence on 3P cookie deprecation the sole job function for this time period
• Start by discussing core critical areas of concern, which includes the following, but not limited to:Areas of risk by licensed or O&O technologyHow site tracking and analytics will be impactedCurrent partners’ (co-ops, data, tech) reliance on 3P cookies and its impact on your core businessImpact on user identification and identity graphsAddressability concerns in the advertising ecosystem, by browser, channel, etc.Impact to privacy-compliant infrastructures and opt-out mechanismsWhiteboarding an architectural flow of how your business and technologies integrate with each other and which parts of the flow will be impacted by cookie deprecation
• Contact each of the impacted companies and tech you work with (mentioned above) to either assess or innovate for 3P cookie deprecation
• Assess and research current and emerging tech that can help mitigate for these weak/impacted areas and functions if the above is not fruitfulIf possible, gain commercial information as soon as possible to make an internal case for budget requests
• Finalize a risk analysis and mitigation plan of action (include revenue and operational impacts as $$$ > Text when it comes to proving a case)
• Nominate one or two SMEs from the workshop to present the risk analysis and mitigation plan to leadership

Although the above is high level, it is very necessary to get these discussions, workshops, and risk mitigation plans together ASAP as there isn't much time left to do so. Most importantly, tying all of this back to the topic of accountability, every single department should be held accountable for either the success or failure when it comes to the 3P cookie deprecation plan of action. As mentioned before, ego and politics must be exponentially minimized if you want your business to survive and thrive in a 3P cookieless future. Afterall, the SMEs of the entire company came together, created a plan of action together, pitched it as one, and executed as one. There is no singular individual held accountable here. True collaboration requires accountability on all sides; no exceptions! And like I said before, 3P cookie deprecation doesn’t care about you, your company, your organizational structures, or politics. It is indifferent.

In short, the moral of this week’s story is to break down silos for the benefit of the company’s future when 3p cookies deprecate. Put aside all differences, ego, and politics in favor of solving the root problems coming your way in July 2024. Mitigate risk with the executors, the SMEs, and ensure that collaboration is at the forefront of this initiative and time period. And most importantly, hold all of yourselves accountable when it comes to this do or die moment in our ecosystem. It is an uncertain and fearful time for the media industry. However, to quote Frank Herbert, and in the spirit of Dune Part 2’s release this week, “Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.” Be open and honest with yourselves, put aside the blockers and hurdles, collaborate together, and fight for your company’s survival.?

So, what are you going to do about it?...

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