NBCUniversal launches first-party identity platform

NBCUniversal announced it will launch NBCUnified, a first-party identity platform that helps any sized advertiser, in any industry, to use data effectively and efficiently to meet and exceed their business goals. Comprised of three main components — NBCU ID, Data Marketplace and Partner Integrations — NBCUnified unites the company’s vast network of consumer touchpoints into a scaled data offering for marketers within One Platform, and promises to usher in a more connected, data-driven experience of premium video for audiences and advertisers alike.

A new consumer data and identity platform, NBCUnified combines NBCUniversal’s expansive network of consumer touchpoints across movies, entertainment, news, sports, ecommerce, subscriptions, theme parks and more —which together engage more than 230 million adults each month—into a single database that marketers can use to match their own first-party data. With a deep, person-level understanding of consumer media behavior, NBCUniversal and its partners can provide highly measurable, targeted and personalized advertising experiences that move businesses—and the industry—forward.

“It all starts with consumer relationships and trust. We understand what engages over 230M adults each month, and with NBCUnified, we can translate these relationships into better consumer experiences, deeper insights for our partners, and a more connected TV world for our industry.” — Krishan Bhatia, President and Chief Business Officer, NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships

The latest One Platform offering for marketers and the industry, NBCUnified builds on the company’s expansive suite of advanced advertising tools and capabilities—from AdSmart for data-driven audience targeting on every screen to NBCU’s Audience Insights Hub for data interoperability through the company’s proprietary clean room environment—available to partners today. Specifically, NBCUnified is comprised of three main components:

NBCU ID: First introduced at ONE21, NBCUnified taps into over 150M first-party, deterministic person-level NBCU IDs and 80M household IDs, with the goal to exceed over 200M by 2023—all drawn from the company’s privacy-minded first-party relationships with consumers.

Data Marketplace: Across NBCUniversal’s ecosystem of first-party consumer relationships—spanning movies, entertainment, news, sports, ecommerce, subscriptions, theme parks and more—NBCUnified taps into thousands of consumer behavior attributes. Combined with information from extensive third-party licensed data providers, the data marketplace gives advertisers first-party person-level insights, which yield a nuanced understanding of their customers, empowering business growth and scale.

Partner Integrations: NBCUnified acts as a fully interoperable platform, providing marketers a modern-day, privacy-minded solution to connect data spines ranging from agencies, third-party technology platforms, industry-wide initiatives, consortiums and NBCUniversal’s own proprietary clean rooms.
In addition to providing advertising partners with a trusted and scaled data platform, NBCUnified is the backbone of NBCUniversal’s overall Measurement initiative. NBCUnified will serve as the platform providing blinded, privacy-minded person-level and household identity and the data spine that underpins the new measurement yardsticks the company is developing.

NBCUnified is the first offering to be launched out of the company’s dedicated enterprise data organization, led by the company’s new Chief Data Officer John Lee, and solidifies the data and identity vision NBCUniversal unveiled at ONE21. It is slated to launch in Q2 2022 and will be the foundation for ongoing innovation and transformation within NBCUniversal and across the larger industry.

“In a world where third-party identifiers are fading, first-party data is the future. From partnership to measurement to creative, a deep understanding of consumers at the individual level is critical for marketers to reach their KPIs and expand their business. NBCUnified is the scaled data offering that marketers need and a solution that the industry can also leverage to embrace a fully data-powered, data-enabled tomorrow.” — John Lee, Chief Data Officer, NBCUniversal Digital TV News