Experian & Audiences back first-party data activation

Experian and AUDIENCES have partnered to help brands use first-party customer data in media activation, targeting brands and agencies across the media ecosystem.

The arrangement combines Experian's consumer insight, data enrichment and identity tools with AUDIENCES' software, which runs within a client's own cloud environment. That structure is intended to let brands retain control of their underlying data while connecting customer information to advertising and marketing channels.

The partnership addresses a problem that has grown more pressing as marketers invest more heavily in collecting customer information from their own websites, apps, loyalty schemes and other direct relationships. Many companies have built sizeable first-party datasets, but turning them into usable audience segments across a fragmented media market remains difficult.

Experian cited research showing that 72% of marketers struggle to activate first-party data effectively because of technical, operational and privacy barriers. The finding reflects a broader industry shift as advertisers adapt to tighter privacy rules, changing identity frameworks and the declining usefulness of older tracking methods.

Data challenge

For brands, the core issue is not only gathering information but linking it to the systems used to buy media across search, social, connected television, programmatic advertising and other digital channels. Different platforms often rely on different identifiers, leaving customer insight trapped inside internal databases instead of feeding into campaign execution.

Experian said its identity network provides 85% household connectivity across 500 million digital identifiers. AUDIENCES said its software is designed to distribute and activate first-party and proprietary data while keeping the data owner in control of the original records.

The companies are initially working with a small number of brands to test priority use cases before widening the collaboration. They did not disclose the names of those early customers or any commercial terms.

The move also reflects growing interest in data architecture that keeps sensitive customer information inside a company's own systems rather than moving it between multiple outside vendors. In practice, that model is meant to address concerns from legal, compliance and data governance teams, which have become more influential in marketing technology decisions.

Experian is a FTSE 100-listed data and technology group with operations in 33 countries and a workforce of 25,200 people. It is active across sectors including financial services, healthcare, automotive, insurance and marketing services, giving it a broad base from which to sell data-led products to large organisations.

London-based AUDIENCES describes itself as an independent software company serving brands, retailers, publishers and other data owners. Its pitch centres on helping organisations use customer intelligence inside their own cloud infrastructure rather than exporting core data assets to third-party environments.

Management view

Colin Grieves, managing director of Experian Marketing Services UK&I, set out the company's view of the market problem in two parts.

"For years, the industry's focus has been on collecting first-party customer data. Today, the real opportunity is turning that insight into measurable marketing outcomes. Too often, however, marketing teams know who they want to reach but are constrained by the complexity of connecting customer insight to the platforms, identities and activation opportunities needed to reach those audiences.

"Through this partnership, we're helping marketers unlock more value from the customer data they already hold, powering stronger relevance, improved marketing performance and greater confidence in how campaigns are delivered and who they are reaching," Grieves said.

Rob McLaughlin, co-founder and chief executive of AUDIENCES, said the operational burden of linking data to the wider advertising market had become a major obstacle for marketers.

"One of the biggest barriers to activating first-party data isn't a lack of insight - it's the operational complexity of connecting that data to the fragmented media ecosystem. Our collaboration with Experian solves that challenge by providing a secure, interoperable activation layer that allows brands to translate their existing customer data into privacy-first audience signals that can be deployed consistently across today's media landscape. The underlying data remains firmly under the brand's control, meaning marketers can activate across channels more efficiently while maintaining the security, transparency and compliance that modern marketing demands.

"Together, we're helping brands simplify audience activation, reduce operational friction and make first-party data work harder across search, social, programmatic, CTV and emerging digital channels," McLaughlin said.

The partnership underlines how the advertising technology market is shifting from simple data collection to the harder task of making customer information usable across multiple media environments without surrendering control of the data itself.