Data has evolved to become a central pillar of how businesses practice marketing, purchase advertising, evaluate consumer media and deliver compelling customer experiences

The third edition of the annual Global Review of Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising has once again revealed the starring role data-driven marketing and advertising (DDMA) plays in the success of any business.

In just three short years, DDMA has gone from being a niche discipline to take centre stage in the development of offers, messages and experiences that span virtually every customer touchpoint. Rather than just sitting in marketing alone, CMOs, CEOs and business leaders globally are beginning to realise the importance of DDMA and integrating it into other business functions.

“Technology is rapidly changing every day and has a big impact on how customers interact with brands, which is why data is critical for driving many aspects of businesses,” said Jodie Sangster, Chair of GDMA and CEO of ADMA. “It’s a positive sign for marketers to see more and more CEOs and Board members understanding the value and importance of data. However, in order for businesses to thrive and deliver on customer experience, emphasis must be placed on sophisticated data management and analytics models. Also at the heart of the data-driven revolution is building consumer trust – as businesses look at securing more personal data from consumers, consumers value transparency and want to know if their information is being well-protected. Moving forward, trust will and should play a critical role in an organisation’s business strategy.”

The study, conducted jointly by GDMA and Winterberry Group, further recognised the data-driven opportunities that lie in digital channels and how continuous support in growing these marketing technologies will result in consistent business improvements.

“Data has grown to play a central role in how businesses around the globe make critical marketing, product development and other investment decisions,” said Jonathan Margulies, Managing Director at Winterberry Group. “With three years of research now in hand, we can conclusively say that the ‘data-driven’ approach has evolved beyond its ‘direct and digital’ origins to represent a centrepiece growth strategy for both promotional marketing and customer experience—and for businesses all over the world.”

These findings were put together through an online survey of 3,283 thought leaders spanning across the advertising, marketing, media and technology industries in 18 countries, between July and October 2016. The Global Review is by far the largest study of its kind undertaken by a global consortium of marketing associations with the aim to identify and confirm the insights on how DDMA impacts business and market growth.

The key insights derived from the survey are:

• Data has become an indispensable marketing asset: 79.6 percent of global survey respondents said customer data is critical to their marketing and advertising efforts, similar to the 81.3 percent and 80.4 percent of panellists, respectively, who voiced similar sentiments over the past two years.
• More than anything else, growing investment in data reflects the importance that marketers vest in the customer and their experience: 89.6 percent of survey panellists said that their practice of DDMA was focused, at least in part, on the maintenance of customer and prospect databases – with those resources typically aimed at supporting better and more relevant offers and general customer communications.
• 2016 was “The Year of Measurement”: Larger numbers of panellists declared their organisations “sophisticated” when it comes to cross-channel campaign measurement as well as campaign measurement across single marketing channels.
• Investment (still) on the uptick: Over half of global panellists said they increased their spending on DDMA in 2016 compared to the previous year, while 35.8 percent said their investments remained flat. Spending increased the most substantially across digital channels and related execution functions, as it has for the past two years.
• DDMA works: In evaluating the relative impact of their key DDMA communication channels, panellists said that over the last year, performance improved across nine of ten tracked channels, suggesting a likely combination of both improved planning and executive, as well as more insightful measurement and attribution techniques.
• Improvements from the inside out: For the second consecutively year, panellists said better integration of their existing advertising and marketing technologies would be most helpful in advancing their ability to derive value from DDMA efforts. Second of the list of priorities: improving the functionality and efficiency of their internal organisational processes so as to support the optimal use of data (suggesting that for many organisations, outmoded business practices represent a more significant threat to growth than a lack of resources of expertise).

The Global Review was made possible through the generous support of MediaMath – as respected global leader in data-driven marketing strategy and technology.

“All effective marketing is powered by data, but it’s also about finding the right place and time to show a marketing message and measuring efforts intelligently with an eye toward business results,” said Joanna O’Connell, CMO of MediaMath. “Smart marketers are realizing that it goes beyond just having a lot of data—they have to more granularly segment and analyze their audiences and then seamlessly reach and engage them across channels and devices in their marketing campaigns.”

A more detailed analysis of the The Global Review, including its worldwide analysis and an appendix providing snapshots of response across each of its 18 participating markets, can be downloaded at: http://globaldma.com/download/

About The Global Review of Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising
This report explores data-driven marketing and advertising practices across 18 global markets. Produced and published by GDMA and Winterberry Group – and with the sponsorship of MediaMath – the effort was made possible by support from GDMA member organizations around the world, including:

AMDIA (Argentina), ADMA (Australia), BDMA (Belgium), ABEMD (Brazil), Adetem (France), DDV (Germany), D+D (Hong Kong), DIMSZ (Hungary), DMAi (India), IDMA (Ireland), DMA Italia (Italy), DDMA (Netherlands), DMAS (Singapore), DMASA (South Africa), ICEMD (Spain), SWEDMA (Sweden), DMA (United Kingdom) and DMA (United States).

About GDMA
GDMA is an organisation that represents, supports and unites marketing associations from around the globe that focus on data-driven marketing. It promotes worldwide initiatives aimed at providing marketers with global trend information, thought leadership and know-how on data-driven marketing across all sectors, disciplines and channels.

Twenty-seven marketing associations are currently part of GDMA and more countries will join as their marketing associations begin to undertake the data-driven marketing remit. Collectively, they represent a significant proportion of the world’s major brands, corporations, suppliers and agencies. Through its members’ associations,

GDMA provides access to the world’s largest network of data-driven marketing organisations and influencers.

GDMA is chaired by Jodie Sangster, the CEO of the Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA), in Australia.

About Winterberry Group
Winterberry Group is a unique management consultancy that supports the growth of advertising, marketing, media, information and technology organisations – helping clients create custom strategies, capitalize on emerging opportunities and grow their value. Our services include:

CORPORATE STRATEGY: The Opportunity Mapping strategic development process is geared to support agencies, marketing service providers, technology developers and other firms in their e orts to prioritize addressable pathways to growth and sort through complicated “buy-versus-build” decisions—as informed by a synthesis of market insights and intensive internal analysis.

MARKET INTELLIGENCE: Our comprehensive research on industry trends, vertical markets and evolving value chains provides in-depth analysis of key demand drivers, market developments and potential opportunities.

MARKETING AND DATA TRANSFORMATION: Our process mapping, marketplace benchmarking, holistic system engineering, use case analysis and vendor selection/ RFP management offerings are grounded in deep industry insights and “real-world” understandings—with a focus on helping marketers and media companies better leverage their core assets and respond to growing demands for transformation driven by the emergence of data, digital media and marketing technology.

TRANSACTIONAL DILIGENCE: Both financial and strategic investors turn to us to provide strategic and operational diligence in support of their potential acquisitions in the advertising, marketing and media industries; our target assessment and industry landscape research provide insight into trends, forecasts and comparative transaction data needed for reliable financial model inputs, laying the right foundation for value- focused ownership.

Additionally, Winterberry Group is differentiated through its affiliation with Petsky Prunier LLC, the leading investment bank serving the technology, media, marketing, e-commerce and healthcare industries. Together, the two firms provide one of the largest and most experienced sources of strategic and transactional services in their addressable markets.

About MediaMath
MediaMath is a global technology company that’s leading the movement to revolutionize traditional marketing and drive transformative results for marketers through its TerminalOne Marketing Operating System^TM. A pioneer in the industry for introducing the first Demand-Side Platform (DSP) with the company’s founding in 2007, MediaMath is the only company of its kind to empower marketers with an extensible, open platform to unleash the power of goal-based marketing at scale, transparently across the enterprise. TerminalOne activates data, automates execution, and optimizes interactions across all addressable media, delivering superior performance, transparency, and control to all marketers and better, more individualized experiences for consumers. MediaMath has delivered triple-digit year-over-year growth since inception. It has a seasoned management team leading 17 global locations across five continents. Key clients include every major agency holding company, operating agency, and top brands across verticals.