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Giulia Branca

Consult Analyst

About this Author

As a Consult Analyst at iProspect, Giulia is responsible for business analysis, data audits and helps develop proposals for clients. Giulia joined iProspect in January 2018.

Why Customer Data Platforms Are More Than Just a Trend

Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are an interesting new marketing trend, but what are they and how can they be used to manage data? The CDP Institute defines a CDP as ''a marketer-managed system that creates a persistent, unified customer database that is accessible to other systems''. In short, it is a platform created for the use and control of customer data. There are many tools and platforms that purport to do just that, so what does a CDP do and how is it different to a DMP or a Data Management Platform? Let’s start by looking at what data a CDP can capture. In simple terms, it is a tool for collecting and storing all sort of customer data from both the offline and online worlds (examples include CRM, Analytics, Email, Call Centre, Third-Party providers, and APIs ). Unlike a CRM system, which tends to focus on manually-inputted personal information about “known customers”, the CDP can collect both PII (such as email addresses, name, device IDs) and data about ‘unknown customers’ (e.g. data that’s been collected via a cookie placed on your website). In the instance where someone has visited your site and you don’t know them by personal details, then they remain an ‘unknown customer’ until you collect more information. What a CDP does best is to combine information that you have on both known and unknown customers. It allows you to create a sweet spot where you have both online and offline information and are able to create a persistent identity for individual users. Since a CDP allows you to store both of these interactions, you can ultimately create a fuller profile that can potentially be used to reach the customer in a more personalised way. So, a CDP has several key advantages: 1. Provides a single customer viewpoint, working with both cookies and traditionally collected customer data. 2. Combines Known and Unknown customer data creating a sweet spot of information 3. Works well with big data technologies and provides detailed real-time customer analytics and insight. 4. Reduces reliance on the IT department by giving marketers greater control of data and allowing them to make timely informed decisions. 5. Creates a persistent profile for ‘Known customers’. If you’re still thinking this doesn’t sound a million miles away from a DMP, then you’re not too far off but there are some subtle differences. Firstly, a DMP is inherently advertising focused, where cookies are often the mainstay of data that’s collected. A CDP also has more traditional customer information and can be used to provide detailed customer insight in a bid to help you increase conversion and retention. As we’ve said, CDPs focus on combining data, whatever the source, to build a persistent customer profile. This is like a chronological history of your known customers. CDPs tend to focus on known customers analysing behavioural information about their customer journey to discover indicators that can lead to further personalisation. On the other hand, a DMP focuses on creating anonymous profiles of both known and unknown customers, which are largely cookie based and therefore, generally less persistent. However, with DMPs, you benefit from hundreds of third-party data providers who offer a plethora of targeting opportunities to help you reach ‘Unknown Customers’. In summary, both types of tools are, to some extent, able to push data into paid media channels. Although DMPs clearly have the upper hand in the advertising space because of their pedigree and a greater number of connections to media buying tools. CDPs are an excellent tool for data storing. Whilst the two platforms are tackling some of the same challenges, it’s clear that they do so from very different standpoints in terms of the kind of customers you mean to reach (either known or unknown). It really boils down to whether you are more interested in your customer details in order to better know your customer tastes or in large scale unknown audiences. If you would like to know more about how to choose the right marketing technology for your business, get in touch with our Consult experts to understand how this technology can transform your business and deliver lasting and sustainable change in the digital era. 0 4 min read

Digital Transformation: four key areas to consider

In some instances, B2C out performs B2B when it comes to digital performance. Typically, B2C organisations find a competitive advantage by understanding that their customers demand a frictionless online experience. As the demand from customers continues to grow B2B organisations need to be able to take advantage of technological developments. Therefore, this post outlines four key areas B2B marketers should consider if they hope to leverage the opportunities posed by these new technologies. Change management Any transformation is going to involve significant organisational change. This could be in the form of processes, people, technology or all three. That said, this should not dissuade B2B organisations from embracing new ways of working. Instead, businesses should go through a process of change management to help the transition be as seamless as possible. The change management process ensures that there is buy-in from various levels of the organisation. The process is going to take time, cost money and involve breaking old habits. Therefore, someone from within the organisation should be championing the change and navigating the process. The elected person will need to pre-empt confusion and denial, help to identify and incorporate advocates into the process and ensure once the new system, process or personnel are on-board the long-term success of the transformation is achieved. Choosing the right technology Simply put there is no right answer when it comes to choosing the best suited technology for your business. Each organisation has its own demands and requirements, identifying the right solution is one if the biggest challenges. Buzzwords like data management platform and continuous data protection can be distracting, when often the answer lies in a better implementation of what is already in place. Often integration between existing technology is even more important. In any scenario, the solution must be tailored to business objectives and the audience they want to engage with. This involves having an agnostic mindset, ensuring that the introduction of new technology helps to draw powerful insights from the data. Understanding your audience through data intelligence Data intelligence provides a platform for telling stories through data; understanding who your audience are and finding actionable insights that help your business achieve its goals. The information gathered provides proof of who your audience are and how they engage with your brand. Additionally, it provides deeper insight that can inform campaign planning, creative ideas and overall marketing strategy. Moreover, businesses can gain a holistic view of the data lifecycle, across all channels and platforms. This information is useful for testing messaging and developing new media activations for target segments. By leveraging the data gathering businesses can effectively measure success, increase investment and drive positive return on investment. Planning and execution project management Project managers are an integral part of any digital transformation project, from planning through to execution and implementation. They listen and understand what the company’s needs are, then formulate a robust plan that involves coordinating resources (internal and external), communicating key deadlines and ensuring collaboration throughout the business. These steps will help to guide the business to its desired outcome. It is important to note that whoever takes on the project should be able to provide viable recommendations based on the needs of the business. In addition, they should have extensive experience in understanding financial restraints and the implications of failure. Digital transformation will undoubtedly cause a level of disruption to a business. Understanding the limitations of an organisation but at the same time being dedicated to the end goal and having a clearly defined plan will be the key to a success. 0 3 min read

Is In-housing Right for your brand?

As we begin 2019 we wanted to take some time to look back at one of the biggest trends which we expect to continue throughout this year and beyond: In-housing. Last year several of our clients came to us to begin discussions about the prospect of in-housing elements of their digital media. In this blog post we look at some of the factors a brand should consider when deciding whether to in-house. The process is not for the faint-hearted and should not be reached without careful consideration and having full support of the wider business through expectation alignment and management. Before deciding whether to in-house or not, first ask yourself whether the organisation is structured correctly, whether you fully understand the implications and complexities of in-housing and whether you can dedicate the time and resource to the process. It would be easy to follow the momentum in the industry and jump into in-housing. But not every business needs to in-house. There are a multitude of reasons a brand might decide to in-house and knowing your organisations motivation is a good place to start in understanding whether in-housing is right for you. Perceptions about the potential savings or benefits of in-housing are often misguided, for example, believing you can save agency fees by in-housing needs to be weighed up against the potential loss in ways of working, learnings and the expertise a brand receives from an agency relationship. It may be that instead you need to review how you work with your current agency partner. We have defined five insourcing models, these range from agency owned models where the brand owns the tech, but the agency delivers all activation, through to various hybrid models, brands owning everything in-house and the agency providing strategic and advisory support. During the initial stages of in-housing, we work closely with clients on a “Pre-Discover” phase, defining business cases, expectations, organisational buy-in and agreeing on the best operating model to achieve a brand’s objectives. The “Pre-Discovery” phase helps avoid other pitfalls by aligning the wider business and ensuring sufficient stakeholder engagement. A crucial part to this process and something we can’t emphasis enough, is the relationship with your existing agency. It’s short-sighted and potentially catastrophic not to engage your agency in the process. We understand that notifying your agency of a desire to in-house can be challenging, but your agency should be thought of as partners and be integral to the success of the process. Finally, we have outlined some questions to begin asking yourself to help you decide whether in-housing is right for your business. Technology: Does my business have the right tech in place? What tech should the business adopt, that it does not already have in place? People: Which kind of experts do I need for this project? In which geographical areas can I find them? What talent retention approach does my business need to put in place? Which kind of corporate culture changes might be needed? Ways of working: How can I establish the similar ways of working that I had with my agency? E.g. cooperation and an exchange of learnings. Change management: How can I implement this huge change in the best way for my business? What impacts could I potentially face? What is the best path for my people to adopt and embrace the change? The iProspect Consult team have strong a strong track record of finding the right solution for brands that are seeking to in-house. If you are thinking about in-housing or are interested in hearing more, get in touch with the team to hear how we’ve been supporting other clients. 0 4 min read

As a Consult Analyst at iProspect, Giulia is responsible for business analysis, data audits and helps develop proposals for clients. Giulia joined iProspect in January 2018.

Giulia Branca

About this Author

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