Why FMCG Marketers are Turning to Zero-Party Data in Programmatic Advertising?

Everyone is in the process of digital transformation and better use of data. The issue is – it’s not a level playing field and advertisers choose various strategies to step up their digital game.

‍High-involvement categories like tech and luxury goods have a built-in advantage. These brands benefit from loyal users, direct relationships and robust first-party data ecosystems, which of course give the ability to segment and precisely target known customers.

‍While third-party targeting might seem like the next best alternative, the digital advertising landscape is shifting fast. Growing skepticism around its accuracy is hard to ignore – studies show that up to 56% of users are mistakenly categorized into multiple age groups at once [take a look at the study], highlighting just how unreliable these models can be. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the traditional targeting playbook is no longer effective.

‍But what about low-involvement categories, such as FMCG? These companies face a stark challenge – limited digital touchpoints, poor 3rd party, minimal first-party data and no direct access to the consumer. And in a world where personalized relevance is the currency of attention, the question becomes:

The answer begins with understanding the broader shift: from stricter global privacy regulations and the phase-out of cookies, to a growing movement of privacy-aware consumers. In fact, over 50% of users now actively delete their browsing history or switch browsers entirely to protect their data. A real-world example? In May 2024, Brave Browser surged to 78.95 million monthly active users – an undeniable signal of change.

‍Those changes opened the door for a new era of privacy-safe, user-centric, AI-enhanced advertising. In this article, we’ll explore how zero (PD) can become a hero for FMCG marketers seeking scalable personalization and brand relevance – without relying on cookies or sensitive data.

‍_{1: Washington Post and Schar School of Policy and Government a George Mason University as cited in article, Dec 22, 20212.: Internal Adlook’s Study: https://blog.adlook.com/blog/why-socio-demographic-data-fails-a-study-unveils-major-gaps-in-accuracy}

It’s data that consumers intentionally and proactively share – about their preferences, purchase intentions, values or personal context. They could be collected through surveys, onboarding forms, wishlists or polls. It’s a direct line to the consumer’s mindset and for brands traditionally disconnected from their audiences, it’s a game-changer.

‍Imagine knowing not just what someone bought, but why they bought it. That’s the power of zero-party data. It adds human context to the digital signal.

‍To give you an example; In Brazil, people who choose Personal Care products based on recommendations are 8 percentage points more likely to buy them online (35%) compared to the category average (27%). And it turns out, men rely on recommendations even more than women – 24% vs. 17%. These are fantastic insights, which can fuel & enhance both – media AND creative solutions!

According to eMarketer (2024), 55% of global marketers cited zero-party data as their top strategic priority in preparing for a cookieless future, especially in sectors lacking rich first-party datasets. Recognizing its potential as a futureproof solution to deliver both privacy-compliant insights and long-term campaign effectiveness.

‍Unlike DTC or subscription-based companies, FMCG brands often operate without – already mentioned – direct-to-consumer channels or robust customer data platforms. Retailers own the transaction, the brand owns… well, the hope of shelf placement and mass reach.

‍Zero-party data changes this equation. It creates an opportunity for direct dialogue, allowing brands to ask and receive valuable consumer insights. Using properly constructed, brand aware or not aware online surveys in the open web, brands can gather real-time data at scale – without owning a single digital property.

• Build direct, trusted consumer relationships
  Zero-party data allows brands to establish a direct line of communication with consumers—bypassing intermediaries like retailers or platforms. This two-way dialogue fosters authentic engagement and long-term brand affinity, all while aligning with privacy-first expectations and building consumer trust through transparency.
• Target based on real intent, not assumptions
  Unlike modeled third-party data, zero-party data captures self-declared preferences, values, and behaviors – revealing why people buy, not just who they are. This enables brands to create psychographically rich audiences and deliver highly relevant messaging driven by true consumer intent.
• Scale personalization without heavy infrastructure
  Zero-party data can be gathered across open web media and activated programmatically – without requiring CRM systems or owned digital assets. It’s a cost-efficient, scalable solution that empowers brands to deliver mass personalization, even with limited in-house tech resources.

• Motivating Participation
  Consumers won’t share their preferences for free – you need to offer a clear value exchange. Whether it’s through engaging content, exclusive offers, or simply respectful communication, motivating users to interact requires strategic incentives and media investment to ensure you collect meaningful volume at scale.
• Turning Data into Action
  To unlock its full value, brands need to combine AI-powered analytics, cross-functional collaboration and broad media access. With the right tech stack and activation partners, raw survey responses evolve into actionable audience strategies. By scaling beyond owned channels and tapping into the open web, marketers can turn intent-rich signals into meaningful, personalized experiences at scale.
• UX Is the Hidden Multiplier
  Even the best question won’t deliver insights if users drop off mid-way. Survey design, placement and user experience play a critical role in completion rates. Smart, frictionless UX ensures high-quality responses and reduces data and budget waste – future-focused brands treat it as a priority, not an afterthought.

Zero-party data isn’t just about asking questions – it’s about asking the right ones, collecting responses at scale, and transforming them into high-value audience insights through intelligent modeling. Get familiar with the process, which we’ve distilled into a few clear steps below.

‍1. Ask the Right Question

‍The quality of the insight is only as good as the question you ask. A well-crafted question doesn’t just gather surface-level data – it reveals underlying motivations, preferences and emotional drivers that influence how people perceive and engage with your brand or particular product.

When you ask the right question, you gain:

‍✅ Deeper Understanding of Consumer Intent

Instead of guessing why someone chooses a product, you get a direct answer. Is it price? Quality? Brand values? Convenience? These insights help you segment audiences by what truly matters to them.

‍✅ Message-Market Fit

Knowing what motivates your audience allows you to create messaging that resonates, because you’re not just speaking to demographics, you’re speaking to mindsets.

Example:
Asking, “What do you look at when buying a perfume?” helps you understand if someone is price-sensitive, brand-driven or emotionally connected to scent stories.

For “Discount Seekers,” the message might be: “Luxury scents, without the price tag.”
For “Brand Believers,” it could be: “Iconic names. Unmistakable quality.”

‍✅ Smarter Product and Content Personalization

Want to build bundles, recommend products or tailor creative? The right question gives you the insights to do so – grounded in user-provided intent, not assumptions.

Example:

Asking “How many steps are in your skincare routine?” tells you how engaged someone is with the category. You can target:

“Skincare Savvies” with advanced serums and routines
“Minimalists” with 2-in-1 solutions and time-saving tips

‍✅ Cultural and Contextual Relevance

A simple question can reveal cultural nuance, regional habits or device usage that helps you fine-tune where and how you deliver your message.

Insight: People who prioritize “low price” may skew toward smaller cities, use desktop and consume content in News & Lifestyle categories – this shapes both targeting and placement strategy.

When a user responds, we don’t just receive the answer – we capture a rich layer of contextual data that comes with it, pulled from the bid request environment. This includes device type, location, time of day, site category, content they are engaging with and more – what we call signals. Based on those rather than cookies, 0 party data ensures future-proof performance.

All survey responses and signal data goes through proprietary modeling where we need to go deeper into each response, look for correlations between different data points and draw conclusions. Relying on robust modeling built on large volumes of data is crucial. This ensures the scale is significant enough to generate reliable and actionable insights.

These insights allow us to generate custom, scalable audience segments grounded in real consumer input. Signal Profiles – intelligent, psychographic targeting clusters that fuel upper-funnel brand campaigns with authenticity, privacy and precision.

To demonstrate the power of zero-party data in action, let’s look at a campaign conducted for a leading FMCG brand in the snack category. While the brand name and some assumptions remain confidential, the campaign’s structure and outcomes illustrate how intentional consumer input can shape highly relevant, context-driven audience segments and creatives.

‍While zero-party data offers a powerful path forward, unlocking its full potential requires overcoming a few key hurdles. To futureproof your strategy, brands must address these challenges with smart planning, the right partners and a willingness to invest in long-term value.

‍The Objectives:‍

• Map consumption occasions across the main Audience Segment.
• Deliver a consistent brand message with tailored creative tones for each audience segment.
• Gather real consumer insights on product acceptance and media efficiency through post-campaign Brand Lift and Consumer Insight studies.

We embedded short, high-impact surveys within relevant media placements to understand when and how consumers would most enjoy the product. Respondents were asked to choose the most fitting consumption situation.

The top responses gave us more than just preference data – they revealed patterns of behavior, context and signals that could be translated into both creative and targeting approaches. For example:

• Those preferring “Watching a movie with friends” showed stronger engagement with entertainment news, streaming platforms and leaned into social sharing – prompting creatives focused on shared snacking experiences.

We then developed banner creatives that connected the brand’s core proposition with the top two consumption moments for each occasion. Each creative variation was designed to reflect not only the context but also the emotional tone and media habits of the target segment.‍

• OCCASION A focused on consumption moments driven by energy and intensity.
• OCCASION B celebrated moments of shared enjoyment.
• OCCASION C leaned into moments that prioritized focus and stamina

To validate the effectiveness of zero-party data-driven approach, we conducted a Brand Lift study within three main segments. Our focus was on evaluating brand preference and message association within each of the group (over 3,3k responders).

‍Users were divided into two groups:

• Exposed Group – users who had seen the personalized campaign creatives
• Control Group – users who had not been exposed to the ads

‍Both groups were later shown Brand Lift survey banners, asking How would you rate the BRAND in terms of perfectly complementing your meal?

‍With the wide range of options to mark: Very high/High/Medium/Low/Very Low – making the study even more insightful.

‍The results spoke for themselves.

Each exposed audience segment demonstrated a relative lift in brand preference when compared to the control group – validating that tailored messaging based on zero-party insights not only improved engagement but also strengthened brand association in the intended contexts!

In a world where data access shrinks, zero-party data + AI give brands a way to scale relevance without violating privacy – making low-involvement brands and products truly high-impact. This approach enables brands to move beyond demographics and into motivation-based marketing – targeting people not just for who they are, but for why they buy.

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Sources:

1: Washington Post and Schar School of Policy and Government a George Mason University as cited in article, Dec 22, 2021

2.: Internal Adlook’s Study: https://blog.adlook.com/blog/why-socio-demographic-data-fails-a-study-unveils-major-gaps-in-accuracy

3: Emarketer survey: Change in Measurement and Targeting Over the Next 2 years According to Brand Marketers Worldwide, by Type, October 2024