Next, we look at how to build better collaboration and communication between marketing and legal, to build customer trust and obtain consent - with Darragh Daunt, head of data and measurement at Google and Eloi Casali, head of media at Kingfisher.
Trust is the foundation on which competitive differentiation is built. That means having clear, open communication with customers on how their data is being handled; the same goes for building trust and alignment between internal teams, leading to new ways of working between legal and marketing, data protection officers (DPO) and chief marketing officers (CMO).
It’s clear there’s a business advantage to bringing legal into strategic marketing conversations around data privacy early on - to avoid any regulatory hurdles and create a privacy-centric culture - but for two worlds that speak very different languages and have different goals to come together and navigate this new way of working, how does this work in practice?
Kingfisher is the owner of well-known DIY retail brands across the UK and Europe including B&Q, Screwfix, Castorama and Brico Depot. While a lot of its marketing processes are led by local teams, the business has been making a big push to be able to make more use of its customer data - operating under GDPR and local enforcement approaches in different countries.
“For an organization our size, it’s extremely important that we have central legal and marketing functions that share learnings across markets to speed up implementation,” explains Eloi Casali, head of media at Kingfisher.
To build consumer trust, the brand adheres to a number of principles, including privacy frameworks and practices baked in by default. Any new processes, for example, from setting up vendors to setting cookies, require records of processing activities (ROPA) and data protection impact assessments (DPIA) have legal and compliance teams at the heart.
“For an organization our size, it’s extremely important that we have central legal and marketing functions that share learnings across markets to speed up implementation”
Eloi Casali, head of media, Kingfisher
“Better understanding leads to better solutions. Ultimately both teams have company success in common”
Darragh Daunt, head of data and measurement, Google
Speaking the same language
This collaboration between marketing and legal teams is key when it comes to ads privacy and making decisions around marketing partners, measurement changes and tech stacks. If legal teams are advising marketers, they need to understand the broader marketing goals and the detail around campaign execution. Likewise, it’s important for marketing teams to forecast in advance where they may need to bring legal teams in so they can work together on solutions rather than delay campaigns if brought in too late.
Understanding the full end-to-end process is key for each party to be able to advise on certain matters to make effective decisions. “We hear consistently from DPOs and legal teams that they want to partner early so they can be seen as a business enabler,” says Darragh Daunt, head of data and measurement at Google. “Better understanding leads to better solutions. Ultimately both teams have company success in common.”
Lawyers and marketers have their own languages - which can act as a barrier when it comes to getting the right notices in place and gaining consent. Marketers know their customers best and can speak in a way that resonates - whereas when a customer is faced with a cookie banner that has a bunch of legal terminology that makes no sense to anyone outside of those realms, it doesn’t reflect the brand values that are vital to building trust.
Compliance with data protection legislation and regulator guidelines is the baseline, the marketing layer comes on top, and there are ways legal and marketing teams can help each other - with things like writing copy and designs to improve cookie banners to drive consent rates and improving data protection compliance by working alongside legal.
Working closer together
Privacy is a cross-functional responsibility, it doesn’t sit in one department. That requires legal, marketing and data teams not to work in isolation but to work closer together. With DPOs and CMOs sitting next to each other in important meetings, taking the time to understand the overall goal when decisions are being made, that’s when the best of both worlds come together.
3 steps to get ready
To improve collaboration for the future, Casali shares three pieces of advice:
Set up a cross functional task force with legal, data and marketing and find a sponsor by demonstrating the potential wins/losses of not getting this right.
Understand each other’s paint points and address those through learning sessions. Keep each other informed of developments in your respective areas.
Devise compliant processes enabled by people, tools and technology.
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Move on to explore the next step in the Ready. Set. Grow. series with Google
