With BCN Smart Audiences, BCN offers its own data segments, based in part on the privacy-first solution Utiq – with a reach of over 75 million online user profiles.

BCN is expanding its portfolio with a new, future-proof data offering: BCN Smart Audiences. The cross-media marketer makes proprietary data segments available for addressing precise audiences. With a reach of over 75 million online user profiles, BCN is positioned as a premium data provider in the German market. And BCN is one of the first providers to make data segments available in scalable reaches, based on the privacy-first solution Utiq.

Market environment and challenges

The digital advertising market is facing a profound transformation. Third-party cookies are currently still available, but their importance is declining steadily. Data protection requirements, platform restrictions, and changing user expectations mean that, in future, sustainable targeting strategies will have to rely on first-party data and alternative identity solutions. With BCN Smart Audiences, BCN offers a future-proof solution that unites premium environments, proprietary publisher data, and modern ID technologies for a scalable audience strategy.

BCN as a player in the data segment market

With the launch of BCN Smart Audiences, BCN enters the arena for data marketing via data marketplaces, thus complementing its existing portfolio of high-reach media brands. This emphasizes BCN’s position as a premium data provider with a clear focus on brand staging: Advertisers not only gain access to high-quality environments, but can now also combine them with precise segments and a clear brand strategy – both supported by data.

What are BCN Smart Audiences?

Smart Audiences are data segments based on high-quality first-party data from the BCN portfolio: a data pool fed by over 50 brand-safe media brands. Premium sources such as CRM systems, magazine subscriptions, affiliate marketing, and commerce signals provide this data in compliance with the GDPR. The segments cover a broad spectrum, including:

• Interest segments (e.g. Finance, Technology & Computing, Home & Garden, Food & Drink, Style & Fashion, Automotive, Sport, Travel)
• Commerce Audience segments (e.g. Consumer Electronics, Beauty, Style & Fashion, Real Estate, Shopping, Automotive, Financial Products)

Innovation: Utiq, an alternative to third-party cookies

One technological foundation of BCN Smart Audiences is Utiq, a European privacy-first ID solution. Utiq is committed to transparency and consent, ensuring that users retain control over their data and advertising preferences at all times. As a European solution, Utiq is specifically tailored to the requirements of the European framework. for data protection. What’s more, identification also functions in environments where third-party cookies no longer play a role. BCN is one of the first players to offer Utiq-based data segments on the market. And BCN already has around 16 million Utiq IDs in its network.

“With BCN Smart Audiences, we close the gap between premium content and cutting-edge data technology,” says Carsten Sander, Executive Director Technology at BCN. “For the first time, advertisers can access data segments from the BCN portfolio based on a European privacy-first solution. This enables us to offer reach on a par with the major data specialists – but with the level of quality and brand management that our media brands stand for.”

“BCN Smart Audiences are the result of years of investment in data infrastructure, technology, and governance,” adds Nadeem Qureshi, Head of Data at BCN. “From the outset, our goal was to create a data product that does not view scalability, quality, and privacy as contradictory, but instead unites them consistently. By combining high-quality first-party data, deterministic ID solutions such as Utiq, and easy activation, we offer the market a reliable alternative to non-transparent platform solutions.”

Flexible activation: BCN Smart Audiences now available to advertisers

BCN Smart Audiences are now available to advertising customers and can be used flexibly in media planning. The segments can be activated directly at BCN – in conjunction with a media campaign or a programmatic deal – and now also via various DSPs and SSPs.

About BCN  

BCN is one of Germany’s leading cross-media advertising marketers. With more than 300 brands and 500 media offerings, BCN reaches 63 million people across multiple media channels.

As the joint marketing organization of Hubert Burda Media, FUNKE Mediengruppe, and Mediengruppe KLAMBT, BCN brings together a unique portfolio of brands and media. Its marketing channels include print, display, mobile, podcasts, social media, and events.

The executive team consists of Susanne Müller and Carsten Sander. More than 300 employees work at various locations in Germany and Europe. The main locations are Munich, Offenburg, and Hamburg. Further information can be found at www.bcn.group.