Unilever Tests Disney’s Identity Integration with Trade Desk. A Pivotal Move Towards a Cookieless Future

CPG giant Unilever is the first brand to strategically test the integration of Disney’s Audience Graph with the Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 identity framework. The deal is one of several developments announced as part of the Disney Tech & Data Showcase that took place on January 25, 2023.

Six months after the announcement of Disney and Trade Desk integration in July, Unilever has now invested in this move to prepare for the cookieless future.

The first-of-its-kind integration between Disney and Trade Desk facilitates first-party data activation in a programmatic ad environment. Recently, Disney also announced that its proprietary ad server, which powers Hulu, will be extended to every Disney platform. Thus, advertisers and marketers can leverage first-party audience matching over an expansive ad inventory on Disney.

Unilever has not yet commented on how it plans to go about testing the platform or to what extent it will be sharing its first-party consumer data in the clean room.

But according to Disney, this integration will enable ad buyers to discover more addressable, biddable inventory across the Disney portfolio, all validated by Disney’s proprietary Audience Graph. In addition, it will also allow for greater interoperability to match enterprise data against some of the world’s most premium content across Disney’s ad channels, such as linear TV, cable TV, and digital platforms.

In its statement, Disney described the capabilities of the integration as creating an audience match reliant on high-fidelity first-party data vs. more traditional means of matching based on cookies or pixels.

As a result, the business will be able to deliver relevant advertising while upholding consumers’ privacy.

Data clean rooms are all the rage now, given the eventual doom of third-party cookie tracking. The demand for clean rooms and first-party data sharing is clearly going up. Particularly, in the CTV space, marketers seek to run highly targeted ads with deduped measurement.

This integration will possibly open up new pathways for enterprises to navigate a cookieless world. Not to mention, it will power greater interoperability between Disney’s Audience Graph and the open-source Unified ID 2.0 (UID) framework.

The UID framework of Trade Desk is one of the powerful alternatives to cookies that uses multiple identifiers to maximize scale and addressability. With Disney’s massive ad inventory, the UID framework can now be combined to unlock and refine customer segments with precision and run personalized ad campaigns.

Moreover, Disney’s data clean room technology will provide a safe ground for brands to match their first-party data within a secure and encrypted environment.

The deal lies at the intersection of several digital marketing trends - addressing privacy concerns, targetability, unified measurement, and the growing CTV network. This announcement may also put Disney ahead of Netflix and other competitors in the programmatic CTV ad space.

All in all, we believe that Disney’s agreement with Trade Desk and Unilever’s move to test the efficacy of the integrated platform is a key milestone. A milestone that may set the stage for enabling greater interoperability and collaboration in the programmatic ad ecosystem to cope with a cookieless future. In addition, it provides a path for marketers to drive better audience activation and measurement across digital channels.