Utiq's Adobe integration enhances advertising performance across browsers
Data-driven advertising solution delivers significant improvements in non-Chrome environments.
Utiq has successfully integrated its technology with Adobe's Real-Time Customer Data Platform (CDP), marking a significant advancement in privacy-compliant digital advertising. The announcement made yesterday shows the rapid pace of developments in the digital marketing space.
The integration was validated through a data-only campaign conducted in collaboration with iq digital and GroupM for an automotive client. This campaign demonstrated substantial improvements in deterministic reach, particularly in non-Chrome browser environments where traditional cookie-based methods face increasing limitations.
The digital advertising industry continues to navigate significant challenges as third-party cookies face deprecation across browsers. According to Utiq, the integration with Adobe's Real-Time CDP directly addresses these challenges by enabling brands to unify customer data, discover new audience segments, and deliver personalized experiences in a privacy-compliant manner.
Svenja Onasch, Head of Data Management at iq digital, highlighted the significance of this collaboration: "The combination of privacy-first, innovative technology and constantly growing reach makes Utiq the ideal partner in our eyes to give advertisers and agencies like GroupM more opportunities to enter into a constant dialog with target groups."
The partnership demonstrates how telecommunications-based identification technology can help recover deterministic reach capability, particularly important as the industry moves away from traditional tracking methods. Founded in 2023, Utiq is backed by telecommunications providers Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange SA, Telefónica S.A., and Vodafone Group plc, giving it substantial industry backing.
Performance metrics show improvements
The campaign results revealed several key performance metrics that highlight the effectiveness of the integration:
- Enhanced Deterministic Reach: Over 90% of impressions in non-Chrome browsers were delivered using Utiq's ID, resulting in a 290% uplift and a substantial increase in net reach.
- Improved Frequency Control: The integration facilitated stable frequency management, with Utiq users in non-Chrome browsers experiencing an average of 3.29 ad touchpoints.
- Superior Re-identification Rates: Utiq achieved up to a 61% better re-identification rate compared to cookie-based targeting methods.
These performance improvements address specific technical challenges that have emerged as the digital advertising ecosystem transitions away from third-party cookies. The ability to maintain deterministic identification across browsers represents a technical solution to what has become an industry-wide challenge.
Jens Depenau, Expert Partner Data Strategy at GroupM, emphasized the campaign's success: "The cross-publisher Utiq data-only test based on data signals from the iq digital portfolio was a complete success from GroupM's point of view. With the help of our cookieless targeting evaluation metric PREPITS, we were able to record positive results across all seven dimensions."
Technical implementation details
Adobe's Real-Time CDP enables brands to unify customer data from various sources into cohesive customer profiles. The integration with Utiq enhances this capability by adding telecommunications-based identification signals that work across browsers and devices.
The technical implementation leverages Utiq's "consentpass" solution, which connects telecommunications partners, publishers, and brands via a real-time, end-to-end secure consent signal match. These signals operate cross-browser and cross-device, offering addressability at scale while adhering to privacy standards.
According to technical documentation from Utiq, the company employs a "martechpass" and "adtechpass" approach that enables the delivery of personalized digital marketing experiences. This implementation required:
- Obtaining explicit user consent
- Creation of network signals
- Generation of consentpass identifiers
- Implementation of martechpass and adtechpass capabilities
These technical components work together to enable the first utilization of Utiq's user-consented signals and Authentic Audiences within Adobe's Real-Time CDP, enabling precise cross-publisher and cross-browser targeting.
Privacy-focused design principles
Utiq's approach is built around several key privacy principles that align with evolving regulatory requirements:
- Data minimization: Limited data volume and limited signal life-span
- Consent-based operation: Unambiguous, independent, timely, and simple consent mechanisms
- Transparency: Clear language, layered information, and easy access to privacy controls
- Contractual safeguards: No re-identification or further processing
- Accountability: Embracing all data protection requirements
- Privacy by design: Privacy enablement central to product design and innovation
The company's consenthub portal gives users control over their privacy preferences and facilitates transparent consent management. Users can easily withdraw consent through the portal, ensuring ongoing compliance with privacy regulations.
Utiq explicitly states several practices it does not engage in, including data onboarding, creating data marketplaces, using probabilistic or fingerprinting techniques, building identity graphs, accessing personally identifiable information, storing data, providing clean room capabilities, owning or selling media, or performing cross-industry identity resolution.
Industry implications
The successful integration and campaign results demonstrate a viable approach to maintaining advertising effectiveness in a changing technical landscape. As third-party cookie deprecation continues across browsers, solutions that can provide deterministic identification while respecting privacy regulations will likely gain increased attention.
The telecommunications-based approach represents a significant shift from traditional advertising technology infrastructures. By leveraging consented telecommunications signals, Utiq offers a different technical foundation for digital advertising identification that may prove more durable than cookie-based approaches.
Utiq describes itself as a European AdTech company with a unique telecommunications-powered first-party identifier that harnesses "Authentic Consent" to enable responsible digital marketing. The company empowers brands and publishers to address first-party "Authentic Audiences" at scale while embracing privacy standards.
Leadership structure
Utiq's executive team includes:
- Marc Bresseel, Chief Executive Officer
- Gunter Everink, Chief Financial Officer
- William Harmer, Chief Product Officer
- Mike Piperakis, Chief Technology Officer
- Pascale Arguinarena Villegas, Data Protection Officer
- Alexandra Jaspar, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer
- Richard Finer, Deputy Chief Legal and Compliance Officer
- Laurent Norridge, Chief of Staff
- Boris Weiss, Head of Strategy & Telecommunications Partnerships
- Pagel Colin, Director of Global Clients
- Thomas Bailly, Director of Global Agencies
Market positioning
Based on company information, Utiq positions itself at the intersection of telecommunications capabilities and advertising technology needs. The company emphasizes its ability to provide "privacy-first, data-driven advertising solutions" that address the challenges created by the deprecation of third-party tracking technologies.
The telecommunications backing provides Utiq with potential scale advantages, as these companies collectively serve a significant portion of European mobile users. This scale, combined with explicit consent mechanisms, forms the core of Utiq's value proposition to advertisers and publishers.
According to PitchBook data, Utiq is classified as a privately held company with corporate backing, operating in the Media and Information Services sector with focus on AdTech and Marketing Technology verticals. The company currently has approximately 31 employees and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
Future outlook
The successful integration with Adobe's Real-Time CDP represents a significant milestone for Utiq as it builds its position in the evolving digital advertising landscape. As third-party cookie deprecation accelerates across browsers, similar integrations with major marketing technology platforms will likely be important for the company's growth strategy.
The focus on privacy compliance positions Utiq to potentially benefit from ongoing regulatory evolution in digital advertising. As privacy regulations continue to develop globally, solutions designed with privacy as a core principle may have advantages over legacy systems that require significant adaptation.
Timeline
- 2023: Utiq launched, backed by telecommunications providers Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange SA, Telefónica S.A., and Vodafone Group plc
- March 26, 2025: Announcement of successful Adobe Real-Time CDP integration and campaign results
- March 27, 2025: Publication of detailed campaign performance metrics showing improvements in deterministic reach and re-identification rates