Dr. Martens Cookieless Hispanic Targeting

Challenge

Dr. Martens was launching a new Spanish-version website in the U.S. and needed to drive high awareness and traffic among the Spanish-dominant U.S. Hispanic community while staying true to the brand's distinctive voice and product lineup. The launch landed against a structural shift in digital advertising: third-party cookies are being phased out in favor of a privacy-focused ecosystem, putting the industry's default targeting methods at risk. The open question was practical and urgent: in a cookieless world, can a brand still reach the right audience at scale and hit its performance goals? Cognate put it to the test on Dr. Martens' new site.

Insight

The future of addressability isn't about replacing the cookie one-for-one; it's about the right blend of data and technology. Identity solutions fed by first-party data and premium publisher inventory can reach intended audiences in non-cookie-friendly environments, and performance improves when that data fuels specific segmentation and personalized creative. The corollary: agencies win by working more closely with publishers that own identity solutions, rather than depending on third-party cookies they don't control.

Strategy

Rather than assume a cookieless future would mean weaker targeting, Cognate ran a controlled test-and-learn experiment to prove it could be stronger. Using Cognate's U.S. Hispanic Audience Network reach, proprietary first-party data, and Google Audiences built from Lotame's Data Exchange, the team constructed three distinct consumer audience sets for Dr. Martens, each built around different needs and interests so every audience would receive creative tailored to its tastes. The validity and performance of those segments were then put head-to-head against traditional third-party-cookie targeting in a live A/B test, with cookieless delivery powered by Lotame Panorama ID identity signals drawn from premium publisher inventory rather than third-party cookies.

Solution

Cognate designed three tailored audience segments and pressure-tested cookieless identity targeting against the third-party-cookie status quo:

• three custom audience cohorts built from Cognate's first-party data and Lotame's Data Exchange — a hip-hop / urban-music cohort (13.1 MM), an alternative / rock-music cohort (19.2 MM), and a pop / Latin-music cohort (17.9 MM) — each with distinct needs, interests, and tailored creative.
• A/B test in Google DV360 pitting a third-party-cookie setup (server-to-server) against a cookieless setup (key-value pairs) powered by Lotame Panorama ID.
• Premium, owned-and-operated inventory from Cognate's U.S. Hispanic Audience Network, delivering Dr. Martens ads across multiple devices and focused on the personas built.
• Browser-level analysis comparing Chrome vs. Safari and other browsers to inform future targeting and budget-prioritization decisions.

Execution

Dr. Martens ads ran across multiple devices, focused on the three personas Cognate built. The campaign was structured as a clean A/B test in Google DV360: a control arm using third-party-cookie targeting via server-to-server integration, and a test arm using Lotame Panorama ID cookieless identity signals via key-value pairs, with delivery concentrated on Cognate's premium owned-and-operated publisher inventory. Performance was measured across viewability, CTR, and effective cost-per-click, then broken down by browser (Chrome vs. Safari and others) so Cognate and Dr. Martens could understand how the two most-used browsers should shape future decisions on when and how to target Safari separately versus Chrome, and how to prioritize by KPI and budget for maximum performance.