Youmna Borghol, head of data science at Choueiri Group, talks audiences, behaviour and Mad Men vs the Maths Men with Eleanor Dickinson
“There are two different parts to the creative process,” explains Youmna Borghol. “One is obviously technology driven, while the other is about creative messaging. We have seen some of these technologies work, so I think from a technology perspective we have been forward looking and have been able to deliver, but I don’t believe we are adequately addressing creative people within the agencies, because the rest of the foundation has not yet been readied. Once this happens, it will generate the next level of personalisation processes, which will impact how creative teams conceptualise.”
The head of data science at Choueiri Group is discussing the age-old problem of the technology/creative dynamic; the art-science dilemma; the Mad Men versus the Maths Men. And while few would dispute the enormous potential of data to help bring advertisers even closer to an increasingly disinterested audience, the thought of hinging an entire campaign on some numbers generated by an algorithm is still enough to make some creatives shirk away. At the end of the day surely, it’s the gut that matters right?
Well, as Borghol points out, the two dynamics certainly do not need to be mutually exclusive in 2016, but the way data is used needs some fine tuning.
“Once we get all the data stitched up and theoretically it is performing exactly the way we want it to, I believe the next layering of competitive advantage would essentially come from matching creative messaging to this data,” she says. “I don’t think people have even started talking about this yet. Right now, the way it works is, from a creative process standpoint, people still think in segments, without any focus on personalisation.”
She adds: “The way I look at it is simple. It’s all about how we go about getting a great blend of insights and targeting. The data can provide you with the ability to operationalise the creative, as well as the offer that you are going to provide within all of the targeting.”
However, in the Middle East and North Africa, the shortage of data, and especially reliable data, is a complaint frequently voiced. Even Borghol herself admits that, until recently, there was nowhere near enough available to be of tremendous value to agencies. Yet within just a few short months, since Choueiri Group’s Digital Media Services (DMS) began its own audiences programme, things have changed rapidly. Now the operation reaches 75 per cent of the region’s very active online population and collects nearly 30 billion data points on a monthly basis. So now for Borghol, the main challenge is no longer an absence of information, but instead it is about ensuring it is the ‘right’ kind of data – the kind that will help marketers identify who their customers truly are. “From here, they also need to understand which channels would serve them best in terms of connecting with them,” she says. “So the key for forward thinking businesses is to be educated on what’s possible by leveraging their first party-data and how to blend that with data that is available via publishers.”
She adds: “The market is still trying to determine where the best sources of data are and making decisions by using data that is available versus data that is useful. This is pretty much where the MENA marketplace is at right now and it’s very similar to what we’ve seen in other markets as well. Then you’ve got more data savvy markets like the United Kingdom and the United States, where data has always been available and clients and agencies are optimising the use of that data in meaningful ways. But in most other markets, evaluating the true value of data inside of a campaign or audience context which a publisher is providing is very much where the market is really at right now.”
So what should agencies be doing now to really ensure they have a handle on an increasingly data-driven landscape? Take a few risks perhaps, says Borghol.
“Audience buying is not a pure performance play, you need to target the right audience for your upper-funnel activities as well, and this is where interest-based, behavioural and demographic data play an important role. I think education and experimentation are the keys which will move us forward. The market needs to start testing out simple case studies and begin to take on
