A Refreshing Approach to Data

Rose Herceg, President, WPP in Australia & New Zealand

Rose Herceg, President, WPP in Australia & New Zealand

Big data. Two words get thrown around all the time. On hearing them, I’ve seen many a set of eyes glaze over out of fear that the conversation will go down a rabbit hole of buzzwords and jargon.

What gets lost in the conversation is the power that comes with having a simple (yet robust) approach to data. At WPP, we’ve created a data philosophy that has struck a chord with our clients.

Many of our clients want to create their first-party data, they want to control their data in whatever ecosystem they inhabit, and they long for expert guidance on which data sets are the most valuable to them.

WPP’s data philosophy – a response to clients’ needs – is articulated in six core beliefs.

1. Our clients own their consumer data. We do not. The power of WPP comes from knowing how to maximize this consumer data in ways that grow our client’s businesses dramatically.

2. Surveillance is never a good customer experience. Whatever we know about a customer has to be volunteered by that customer. They’ve told us something with the expectation that we can deliver something real and purposeful to them.

3. Personally identifiable data (PII) is vastly overestimated as a proxy for behavior, while context, intent, and past behavior are vastly underestimated.

4. Data access is more important than data ownership.

5. Data variety is more important than data volume.

6. Data is used ethically and with purpose.

This simple, very human philosophy is starting to pay dividends. It is shaping the data sources we select and allowing us to focus on the deep behavioral insights that are incredibly valuable when predicting behavior. By taking the best data from a wide variety of sources, our chances of creating a memorable and valuable connection with any customer are much greater.

When we look at some of our greatest successes across WPP, there is one element they all have in common: the ability to unearth behavioral nuggets worthy of investigation. This is often because clients have a beautiful set of facts about their customers

The added benefit of using data our clients own is that all data remains safe and secure. The data is housed by our clients, and we use only what we need to prove a hypothesis or develop an insight. These insights can be rolled out to the broader customer base on a test-and-learn basis so that we can focus on what works best and then deploy it quickly. By focusing our talents on value extraction, rather than ownership, we can develop breakthrough initiatives that customers are eager to experience.

When we look at some of our greatest successes across WPP, there is one element they all have in common: the ability to unearth behavioral nuggets worthy of investigation. This is often because clients have a beautiful set of facts about their customers. These nuggets give us something we can use to connect far more imaginatively with the audience.

WPP is known around the world as a creative transformation company. Data (as we use it at WPP) is one of the best ways to demonstrate our creativity. By taking a thoroughly refreshing approach to data, we are living our data philosophy to the advantage of our clients.