Even as laws around privacy and consumer data are examined and reinforced, brands still have access to reams of data, from our purchase and browsing history to customer demographics, locations and economic activity. As it is said, consumers are their own goldmine, that gold being data. And brands are increasingly leveraging machine learning and AI to create hyper-personalised purchase journeys for consumers, as a surfeit of tools create unique consumer profiles and categories to know what will resonate within each of our individual echo chambers.
Gopa Menon, Chief Digital Officer – Mindshare South Asia, says, “To fully understand a consumer's real-life experience, creative thinking and collaboration across different disciplines are crucial. While data analysis is valuable, it's also important to gather qualitative and quantitative insights from diverse teams and areas of expertise.”
This can involve analysing search trends, monitoring social media conversations, conducting expert analysis, and incorporating user feedback. By using data-driven insights, marketers can gain a deeper understanding of consumer motivations, behaviours, and needs, considering their psychographic profile. This approach also considers various demographic factors, allowing for a comprehensive perspective.
Pictures might be worth a thousand words, but everyone’s data tells a whole story, individual to each person and based on thousands of decisions we make every day, from what we watch to what we skip to what we browse to what we buy to the news we watch to the forwards we forward. All of these myriad data points combine into a human being and a prognosis of the choices they’ll make.
“It's essential to recognize the interconnectedness of these dimensions and strive for a comprehensive and rigorous approach when developing a holistic strategy that considers the whole consumer,” says Menon, adding that it’s important to look at all aspects and understand the human aspect and move beyond binary numbers.
That being said, data privacy and explicit consent are also necessary to allow for the entire ecosystem to exist and flourish. It’s the Uncle Ben axiom: With great power comes great responsibility.
“Increasingly, we see brands thinking seriously about owning consumer data. But in order to collect meaningful data, brands need to provide a fair value exchange. They need to ask: “Why would consumers share their data with us?” And that’s where true relationships can get unlocked. We call it the consumer genome: a data powered portrait of the consumer that is humanised and not just a data point,” observes Saurabh Mathur, Regional Head of CX, VMLY&R Asia.
This consumer genome allows brands to move from broadcasting to personalised and even customised conversations with their consumers – from only thinking about reach and frequency to thinking about loyalty and customer lifetime value.
Mitesh Kothari, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, White Rivers Media says that brands understand the high level of alertness amongst their audience now that makes them capable of taking informed decisions about private data sharing with trust.
“Data humanization empowers us to achieve robust privacy practices to foster a culture of transparent and responsible data handling. At minimum, most relevant data retention and tech like anonymization, data humanization can go a long way in achieving data-driven and human-centric regulations. The tailored experience received by the audience ensues a feeling of value and safety, making the entire user journey pleasant and fulfilling.”
