Omnicom strikes 'clean-room' data deal with InfoSum

Omnicom is beefing up its cloud-based insight platform Omni by striking a deal with data technology giant InfoSum in a move which the group claims will allow clients to “maximise the value of their data”.

Omni was launched in 2018 and is designed to challenge both Omnicom’s rival marketing group’s as well as the likes of Adobe, Salesforce and Oracle.

The platform pools creative, media and data-driven marketing functions into one dashboard, and already incorporates data provided by LiveRamp, Experian and Neustar, among others. It was developed and hosted by Omnicom’s data science division, Annalect.

InfoSum claims to empower companies to unlock the full potential of their data by enabling collaboration between data-rich companies. Through a decentralised infrastructure, brands, media owners, data owners and other enterprise companies can connect data without ever sharing it.

InfoSum’s identity infrastructure allows companies to make third-party data available for companies to match their first-party customer data to interest and behavioural data. This, it insists, can help enrich their customer understanding. By removing the need to share any data, the privacy of the end consumer is protected, as is the security of each data set, InfoSum claims.

The company already powers ITV’s addressable TV platform, Planet V, and recently struck a deal with REaD Group.

Under terms of the agreement, Annalect will gain access to a range of data sources that it can use in combination with first-party data from individual clients.

InfoSum chairman and CEO Brian Lesser said: “We think the industry needs a better system for collaboration where data doesn’t have to change hands. Our system allows two first parties, a media company and an advertiser or an agency, to understand when they have an overlap without having to exchange that data.”

Omnicom clients can use InfoSum to take in data, to build consumer targeting parameters and “to more precisely measure the effectiveness of their advertising,” said Lesser. “I think agencies as a general category are going to come along and invest in these clean-room technologies.” He forecasts a raft of similar deals in the future: “Interest is very high,” he added.

Annalect global chief executive Slavi Samardzija concluded: “Adding an independent clean room provider to the Omni infrastructure will empower our clients to connect their first-party data with media and commerce platforms, as well as their broader supply-chain partners, while respecting consumer privacy. This will maximise the value of their data with the power of Omni applications.”