Decision Marketing at 15: Why data now rules the world

Back in 2010, the data-driven marketing industry was still heavily reliant on the likes of Experian, Equifax and Callcredit, whose huge data banks had been built on the back of their credit reference business, and even Electoral Roll data, supported by a raft of brokers.

Fast forward 15 years, and, while Experian & Co are still key players, they are now part of a much wider industry, with the rise of the tech giants, the growth of retail media, the advent of first-party data and the more recent adoption of AI triggering a seismic shift.

These days, there is an entire ecosystem supporting client marketers in their efforts to get closer to their customers, with an estimated value running into hundreds of billions of pounds globally.

In fact, you need to look no further for proof than this week’s confirmation that Acxiom will be the driving force behind Omnicom’s new strategy, following its $13.5bn acquisition of rival holding company Interpublic Group.

While adland laments the axing of DDB, FCB and MullenLowe, the ad agencies are likely to play a much smaller part in the group’s future, with Acxiom powering its media ecosystem, “to unify paid, owned, earned, and commerce channels into a seamless system that drives value, precision, and measurable growth in a privacy-first world”.

Rival WPP has also put data at the heart of its business, with new global CEO Cindy Rose, the former Microsoft global chief operating officer, already signing a $400m deal for Google technologies, and building a new executive team steeped in tech and data experience.

There are similar initiatives at Publicis, Dentsu and Havas.

Once heavily reliant on creative intuition and broad demographic assumptions, marketing has evolved into an evidence-based science, allowing businesses to gain granular insights into consumer behaviour, preferences, and needs.

This evolution from “gut feeling” to data-driven precision has fundamentally reshaped strategies across all channels, from targeting and personalisation to measurement and automation.

In 2010, digital marketing was still in its relative infancy, with ad platforms offering only basic demographic or contextual targeting. The iPhone had been introduced a few years prior, and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter were just beginning to roll out advertising models. The primary focus was on foundational digital activities like SEO and email campaigns, with data often collected in silos and analysed using relatively immature analytics tools.

The key game-changer during this period was the rapid proliferation of connected devices (smartphones, tablets) and the Internet, leading to an explosion in data sources. This era, sometimes referred to as “Analytics 3.0”, marked a turning point where companies began to think critically about how this vast influx of information could be leveraged for meaningful change.

The concept of “big data” moved from a buzzword to a transformative force in the marketing world.

In the second half of the 2010s, data became the backbone of digital marketing. The integration of data from various sources (CRM systems, website analytics, social media) allowed for a more holistic understanding of the customer journey.

This has opened up the huge potential of personalisation, the Holy Grail of marketing, where marketers can deliver highly relevant content and offers based on real-time behaviour, purchase history, and location data.

Some are already achieving it; but most are still failing to join the dots. The main issue appears to be unwieldy martech solutions, with one recent study by Intermedia Global revealing that 97% of CMOs have had some sort of issue in the past year that has led to a negative outcome with their customers or business partners.

But in most cases, the issue is not the technology itself; it is poor implementation, disconnected systems and lack of practical support.

The potential is still there for greater efficiency, improved ROI measurement, and the creation of targeted campaigns at a scale previously unimaginable. One day this might even be widespread.

The 2020s have also seen AI take centre stage, further accelerating the data-driven revolution. Generative AI applications, like ChatGPT launched in 2022, have made advanced data analysis, predictive forecasting, and content creation tools accessible to a wider range of businesses.

This has sparked a major dilemma, with most professionals now coming to the realisation that the technology is a classic “frenemy”: on the one hand, professionals cannot survive without it; on the other, it threatens their very existence.

Naturally, AI has also triggered job fears, especially among creatives, although these appear wide of the mark, with nearly half admitting they save five or more hours a week using the technology in a recent study by Magic Hour.

There is little doubt that the future of marketing will continue to be shaped by data, with a renewed focus on integrating human elements, ensuring data quality, and navigating the ever-evolving landscape of consumer privacy and AI ethics.

Brands that successfully embrace data as a strategic asset, while respecting consumer privacy, will not only thrive but also hold the competitive advantage in the years to come.