Data has been gaining a bad reputation in the eyes of the public lately. Increasingly people have been asking whether mainstream brands such as Facebook and Google are behaving responsibly when it comes to people’s data. Additionally, with the EU directive in place, efforts have been made to make all brands accountable for how they respect people’s privacy and how they use data. While there may be some mileage in these concerns, the real problem, though, surely lies in perception. And we have a duty, as marketers, to help change this.
When used appropriately data has the potential to significantly improve the relationship between a brand and its customers. It has the potential to empower an entire organisation to help, understand and service their customers better. Crucially, data can empower all areas of an organisation, not just the marketing function. This perception that data is only ever being used in a sinister manner tricking people into spending more on products they don’t want, needs to be overcome. To do this we need to start demonstrating to each other and to the general public how data can be used differently. We need to prove how data can be used transparently and openly. But how?
Understanding the potential of data
It is a tired statement, but data is one of the most precious commodities a brand can have. Access to data means access to consumers. However, advertising and marketing agencies often find it difficult communicating to brands how good they are at interpreting and using that data. It is perhaps seen as a behind the scenes aspect of the job, overshadowed by the traditionally more exciting creative element. Nonetheless data provides a unique opportunity for agencies to demonstrate to brands the extent of their expertise and knowledge. Crucially, it has the power to help organisations make informed decisions. The amount of data becoming available to marketers and businesses is ever increasing. This vast bank of information is uniquely important, but for many brands it remains a huge challenge to make it relevant and understand its full potential. So the real challenge lies in applying the right mix of experts into making sense of this complex field. Data analysts need to be teamed with planners, UX architects and creative’s to make sense of how data can be applied, and devise and implement a system or process within its organisation for this purpose.
Data can empower an organisation
Access to data within an organisation can be empowering as it is essentially an unlimited resource of consumer insights that is valuable across all departments. Companies need to devise a method of sharing the information with everyone within the organisation. Not only would understanding the real time effects of their work on consumer sentiment boost understanding of the brand, but it would also encourage marketers to incorporate the insights into every angle of the marketing campaign. How about also sharing useful real time data with product development teams? With customer service teams? This would show how useful can it be to help a broader range of disciplines within an organisation to have access to relevant data, displayed creatively so it is meaningful and useful at a glance.
Data shouldn’t sit within a silo
There needs to be more focus on combining data and other marketing departments in order to present the information in an interesting and engaging way. Data practitioners should not remain relatively isolated in a silo but should instead be integrated into all aspects of campaign development. One of the most prominent examples of the data and creative sitting alongside one another is the infographic. This type of imagery has become a highly popular way of communicating complicated statistics in a visually informative and aesthetically pleasing way. Numbers are a niche interest; imagery helps create a bridge for easy interpretation by all. As creative and marketing specialists we should be looking at new ways to make data easily interpreted and assessing different ways to communicate it so it is digestible, useful and effective in helping people.
Ensure it is meaningful
Data is only valuable to consumers if it relates to them and links to real time events. As an example, G2 Joshua has created a live data visualisation which monitors social chatter around the various brands we service. This then translates the results into a simple yet meaningful visual graphic. This enables us to tell by quickly scanning the cloud, which of our clients is generating the most social buzz. This sits within our reception area, so it is visible to everyone at the agency as well as our clients. In G2 Joshua’s meeting rooms and work spaces a version of this data display is available allowing people across the agency to search across the brand cloud and disseminate the chatter across particular topics in real time. During the Olympics this technology was used to track which of the sponsors were making the biggest impression across social channels in real time. Considering this was such a well covered topic across the media throughout the Games, this was a great example of how you can pull together a disparate amount of data and present it in a coherent, interesting and meaningful manner.
We can easily shift the perception of data; we just need to open people’s eyes to the opportunities it offers and think creatively about how we can display it imaginatively, in different locations so it is useful and empowering.
