The Economist magazine published in 2017 that, in the digital age we live in, data have gained more value than oil. Their driving force is particularly noticeable in the marketing and advertising industry. In marketing, there have always been questions that couldn’t be easily answered: how do consumers think, what consumers want at a certain time, what will they want tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or further in the future? Answers to these questions are contained in the data, so it is not surprising that the future of the global marketing industry is moving towards improving the technology infrastructure with the aim of selecting high value data and exploiting them through the digital economy. With their help, it is easy to identify different interests and consumer preferences and the basics of functioning of certain markets. In order to understand consumers, it is important to know what they think, want and feel.
Thanks to the process of globalization, new technologies and personalized communication, we now produce more data than ever before. Of course, the data is not the ultimate goal of marketing experts, but rather long-term viable sales, but that is only achievable through proper content of ads. Proper content … better put- personalized content. Consumers will decide to buy those products whose market messages are consistent with their interests and which listen to their needs. Here the data takes the center stage.
However, the goal cannot always justify the means, because consumers are just people whose human rights come first. What does that mean? This means that the competitive industry often forgot fundamental human rights, such as the right to privacy, which should not be denied and relativized. At the height of these developments, a new consumer protection system called GDPR was set up, and came into force as of 25 May 2018. It introduced new rules on the processing of personal data that will be stored and used only with the clear consent of the individual for a certain timeframe and for precisely defined purposes.
So how do you continue to develop marketing strategies on the wings of data? Dentsu Aegis Network has created a specialized unit called Dentsu Data Services that operates under the slogan “From Data to Business Results”. This unit brings together many marketing specialists from different fields from data analysts to marketing strategists whose goal is to gather data in accordance with GDPR rules and to create as much detailed and complex image as possible about the consumer and their needs in real time.
Dentsu Data Services has been operating in Croatia since March 2018. With the help of modern tools and data sources, it offers solutions for improving marketing strategy and increasing sales through better insights into consumers. Some of the products and services of the Croatian division are: M1 Panel, a unique solution for getting a better insight into relations between consumers and media; Persona Identity Profiling, which enables a deep analysis of consumers through their needs, motivation and habits, Personality-Based Message Design, a revolutionary technology that customizes consumer personality messages and iAnalyse, a modern tool for automating and visualizing data.
“The eternal problem of marketers, how to direct, target and measure messages to (right) consumers more efficiently, is transformed into a much smaller challenge with data,” explained Vjekoslav Srednoselec, Business Director at Dentsu Aegis Network and head of Dentsu Data Services. “Dentsu invests heavily into consumer understanding and cost-effectiveness evaluation in order to optimally manage marketing investments and strategic marketing of our clients.”
“From past experience, using clear insights into consumer needs and attitudes, we get a significant improvement in communication results. Creating a comprehensive 360 image of a real consumer that, apart from socio-demographic and media features, also reflects the needs in the background of consumer’s behavior through various stages of his journey, we come to a deeper insight and understanding of consumers using advanced tools, methods and tailor-made research based on integrated data from various available sources as well as media channels,” said Mirna Gjeri, Research Manager at Dentsu Data Services Division.
Dents Data Services offers services to advertisers who are aware of the importance of understanding of consumers, customers, and decision makers and at the same time enhances the synergy effect of agencies within Dentsu Aegis Network – the iProspect Digital Agency and the Carat Zagreb Media Agency.
