Here's a flavour of what Tony Phillips, Woolworths CMO and his data partner Tony Davis at Quantium said in their Photo Essays for The Annual 2014.
Tony Phillips
There is a little bit of The Emperor’s New Clothes about this big data debate. I look at this from a customer’s perspective. Data is not a means in itself to solve all marketing solutions. Our job is to engage our customers with meaningful and motivating communications.
We don’t talk about above the line, below the line, new media, traditional media. Just simply what is the best channel or mix of channels that stimulates and motivates the sale in the most effective and efficient manner.
The beauty of relevant data, in the hands of people who understand what it’s telling us and what can be done with it, is that channel and message decisions can be made to give the customer something of more value: relevance, saving time, saving money, or all three. This is the true power of data – it delivers a better customer experience.
Tony Davis
It’s funny, but it wasn’t long ago that everyone fell asleep at the mere mention of data, analytics or technology: the
historic domain of the chief information or data officer.
Now, in business, if you cannot speak the language of customer analytics, market performance and financial return, you are gone.
Boardrooms buzz with the recognition that data is essential in defining new sources of real-time competitive advantage and improved performance. As Jack Welch said: “There are only two sources of competitive advantage; the ability to learn more about our customers faster than the competition, and the ability to turn that learning into action faster than the competition.”
Davis and Phillips's articles first appeared in The Annual 2014 (12 December). There's more where that came from. In the Photo Essay CMOs, CIOs and data kings align: Woolies, Qantas, Quantium, Nestlé, Contiki, Telstra, NRL and more talk about the new frontier of marketing.
We've also got Media Rants from The Australian's Chris Mitchell, Sunrise's David Koch, Women's Weekly editor in chief Helen McCabe, radio talent Merrick Watts and Ross Stevenson and Gruen Transfer's Dan Gregory.
Your copies will be landing on desks over the next few days and we'll be sharing some of those insights online over the next few days. You can also buy the iPad version immediately and check it out digitally.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at rosiebaker@yaffa.com.au
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