Creative Data Academy: Camille Hanotte's Experience

‘Arriving bright and early on the 1^st day, I met individuals studying a variety of academic fields including marketing, data science, artificial intelligence and public relations. Each and every one of the delegates, like myself, were enthusiastic to learn how to utilise data, to make a difference (from solving sustainable development issues, to the creative industries, health care, fintech’s and science). It was inspiring to meet so many eager individuals with different perspectives and ideas about data.

A mind blowing talk from Chris Davey (Head of Creative at Whitespace) showed us the valuable impact of data in positively contributing to tackle societal issues. He touched on reducing rates of knife crime and homelessness across Scotland through strategic marketing and through utilising various artificial and virtual reality tools. Although I was aware of this before, it was great to see how these sorts of campaigns can be executed from start to finish.

It was great to be able to hear from Michael Briggs (Director of Growth: Global SEO and Content at Skyscanner). Following this, we took part in a workshop which tackled a live problem, looking at optimising the Skyscanner website for new customers using data already collected.

People-based marketing and consumer insights was also a key theme across the 3 days. Most notably, talks from Scott Logie (Read Group) as well as Justin Armsworth and Suneel Gopaal (Experian), really focused on informing us on how to use direct marketing, profiling, modelling and segmentation to effectively market to customers. Applying this knowledge after these workshops really helped develop my skills and confidence in this area.

In line with GDPR in the spotlight, the ethics around data usage, consent and the public’s interest, Rachel Aldighieri (MD of The DMA) spoke about authenticity in marketing. This was highlighted as a positive thing for industry, further increasing customer engagement, authenticity and corporate transparency. As Elizabeth Denham (Information Commissioner for ICO) said, it’s an ‘ethical pause’ in the industry.

It wasn’t just the various talks and workshops that made these 3 days so thrilling. The opportunity to speak with a variety of industry professionals at the networking event was extremely valuable; I really appreciated the time they took to offer us guidance towards making a positive impact in the data and marketing industry. I left that evening feeling more confident and assured that I should follow a career in this industry.

Overall, reminiscing over the 3 days at this year’s Edinburgh Creative Data Academy, has further enticed my appetite to work alongside data to help and produce various creative campaigns. I strongly believe that attending the 3 day Creative Data Academy has helped me unlock my potential into an exciting, ever evolving industry.’

If you fancy finding out more about programmes like this, register your interest here