The IAB says that the consumer economy is in the middle of a revolution that\u2019s as significant as the Industrial Revolution was 150 years ago. The organization calls this phenomenon the Direct Brand Revolution and at its core are consumers being able to trust companies with their data.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompanies can not afford to breach the trust of their consumers. That\u2019s why we say brand safety is not optional,\u201d IAB CEO Randall Rothenberg says in this interview with Beet.TV at the outset of the 2018 Digital Content NewFronts<\/a> in Manhattan.<\/p>\n Rothenberg observes that \u201cmassive changes\u201d have taken place in the way supply chains create value and the way value is extracted from those supply chains.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s now possible for companies to be created, for brands to be created, out of nothing in an instant out of the supply chain functions that are available in the cloud,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The common theme is that newer companies are directly connected to their end consumers\u2014connections that yield \u201cenormous amounts\u201d of first-party data that inform the rest of what the enterprise does.<\/p>\n \u201cSo what that means is, and here\u2019s where you see a bit of the tension and the contradiction, you have to have direct relationships with your end consumers. It\u2019s the only way your company can survive,\u201d Rothenberg<\/a> adds.<\/p>\n To be able to first initiate and then maintain those direct relationships, brands must establish trust. \u201cAnd so that\u2019s where you have the tension around data generally and big data specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n