DATA & TECHNOLOGY IN A DIVERSE AND FRAGMENTED MIDDLE EAST
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THE MIDDLE EAST’S DATA MARKETING POWERHOUSE WRIT TEN BY
DA LE BENTON PRODUCED BY
CR AIG DANIEL S
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Through [m]PLATFORM, GroupM looks to redefine the digital marketplace of the Middle East
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As the world’s largest media investment group, responsible for one in three advertisements
This is where Siddons comes to the fore. Working alongside Daniel Vaczi,
globally, a powerful system is required to be
[m]PLATFORM Head of Data & Technology,
able to store and ultimately leverage the
the two are tasked with delivering cutting
mountains of data available. For GroupM,
edge data and technology solutions to
this solution is [m]PLATFORM.
GroupM agencies and their clients.
“[m]PLATFORM is GroupM’s solution for 04
throughout the MENA region.
“The UK, for example, is a challenging
shaping data and technology around each
market to operate in, given the number
advertiser’s needs,” said Marcus Siddons,
of players live and scaled,” says Siddons.
Managing Director, GroupM MENA. “We
“I feel both Dan and I are privileged in the
get unique data from across the media
sense that we can apply our experience
landscape and various consumer touch-
of such developed markets to the MENA
points to help clients best use technology
region, and through our agency back-
and deliver the right message to the right
grounds remain close to what business
consumer at the right time.”
challenges clients need solving.”
“It allows us join up all important insights
“That’s very important,” adds Vaczi. “It’s
to execution, but what it really boils down
often easy when working in a technology
to is understanding individual users and
role or company to be disconnected from
having a complete view of a single user. For
the real business challenges that clients
our region, that’s both unique and challeng-
and their agencies are under. We under-
ing in equal parts.”
stand both agencies and clients as we were
GroupM has operations all over the world,
in the same shoes in our previous roles.
including Germany, Korea, Japan and the
Using this experience, we can tailor
United States, but the company is currently
solutions that directly addresses these
undergoing an aggressive expansion plan
business challenges.’’
“ WE ARE LOOKING TO INNOVATE EVERY WEEK SO THAT WE ARE OPERATING IN A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE THAN WE WERE LAST WEEK AND WILL BE IN A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE NEXT WEEK”
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Marcus Siddons, Managing Director, GroupM Digital MENA
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Across its MENA footprint, GroupM has a
Technology of course is an ever-chang-
presence in over 20 countries from
ing beast and a company like GroupM
Morocco right through to Oman. As an
has to not only recognise this evolving
organisation that defines itself through the
landscape but try and remain ahead
way it works closely with its client base,
of the game in order to continue to
operating across the region presents
deliver for its clients.
unique challenges from location to location,
This in itself creates its own unique
and as a company with technology at its
challenge; does a company look to innovate
heart this challenge is only exacerbated.
and implement technology just to stay in the
“At GroupM we are trying to tackle a huge challenge with [m]PLATFORM, not just siloed understanding of our customers but
game? Or does it not take the risk and fall behind the rest of the market? Siddons agrees as much, believing that
ensuring we can execute against this
the conversation surrounding technology
seamlessly,” says Vaczi.
creates a lot of “noise” and that the key
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element is to cut through this noise and focus on what is actually going to deliver and provide true value to clients. This, he confesses, is not an easy thing to do, particularly as clients also continue to evolve. “In essence, working with a client is about helping them drive growth and profitability,” says Siddons. “But, that’s changed. As the world moves into the digital sphere, clients now have a far greater understanding and control of what they want and how 08
they want it.’’ “It’s not just the client that has a greater understanding of so many different domains, their consumers, our partners and our people do too which wasn’t the case as much as
“ IT’S MORE THAN JUST AUDIENCE AND DATA ANALYTICS. IT’S ABOUT IDENTITY AND ACTUALLY TURNING THE DATA INTO VALUE AND BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE SUGGESTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS TO CLIENTS” Daniel Vaczi, [m]PLATFORM MENA Head of Data & Technology
five years ago. So, for us, the demands have changed because not only do clients rely on us provide the right advice to deliver on our promise to drive success for those clients, partners and people.” This is where [m]PLATFORM comes in. [m] PLATFORM represents a key differentiator for GroupM, allowing it to gain insights into audiences like no other agency or provider could. As Siddons notes, the industry has changed and so too has the market, and this forced GroupM to re-examine its process and service solution. “The industry has grown,” he says. “As that market has changed, we looked at our operating model. Do we buy other businesses? Do we build our own technology? Or do we partner with other businesses? How do we stand tall above other players?’’ “It became clear to us that understanding our audiences and being able to use and apply scale to that was going to be a big differentiator.” What [m]PLATFORM does is provide clients with the best in class audience insight, data analysis and visualization tools on a global scale. But as Vaczi points out, “It’s more than just audience and data analytics. It’s about identity and actually turning the data into value and being able to provide actionable insights.’’ “We use sophisticated artificial intelligence to turn data into insight and then into actions, which is unique to this region. But let’s not forget that there is still a huge people element to this.” w w w. g r o u p m . c o m
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In any technology conversation, it is often easy to forget the key role that employees, suppliers and people will play. That expertise element cannot be underestimated. Vaczi firmly subscribes to that notion. “[m]PLATFORM requires a unique set of skills in order to deliver it,” he says. “We are really proud of the diversity of our teams who come from media planning, buying, programming, data science, analytics and trading backgrounds.’’ “That we have all of these specialists under one roof cannot be understated. Our people are what makes [m]PLATFORM truly unique.” Attracting this talent is often a challenge, but it is 10
a challenge that Siddons feels GroupM has been incredibly successful at doing so. Vaczi confirms, “it is incredibly important that we have the best people. We do this by making it a company that people genuinely want to work for.’’ “A key part of that for me, is that cross pollination of skills, talents and ideas. People really benefit from being a part of GroupM and it shows.” Siddons points to GroupM as having one of the lowest turnovers of staff since he’s been there, not just in the industry but also across the region. GroupM also has one eye on the future workforce and works closely with local universities and schools to foster a pathway for the next generation of students who can drive the company to new levels of innovation. When identifying the challenge that lies ahead,
“ HAVING A SHARED VISION WITH THESE PARTNERS IS CRUCIAL. WHEN WE PARTNER WITH THESE COMPANIES, WE AIM FOR MULTIYEAR LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS. THIS REALLY ENSURES THAT WE ARE AIMING FOR THE SAME GOAL AND THIS APPLIES ACROSS OUR ENTIRE GLOBAL PRESENCE” Daniel Vaczi, [m]PLATFORM MENA Head of Data & Technology
GroupM looked at partner relationships
FORM, but both admit that for them the
and how those relationships can push the
journey is very much still at the beginning.
capabilities of the company. In any
As the company embraces the future of
technology transformation or journey, no
digital, it will do so by building on the
company can do it alone.
foundations of [m]PLATFORM. Data will
“As much as we want to use our own
only continue to define and redefine the
people, in some cases we do need to look to
industry and so GroupM will continuously
our suppliers and partners to help push our
place data at the very core of its operations
capabilities and our skillsets in order to achieve
in order to gain better insights which will
our project goals or roadmap,” says Vaczi.
drive greater results for its clients.
“Having a shared vision with these partners is crucial. When we partner with these companies, we aim for multiyear
“At GroupM we continue to re-invest into our people and technology,” he says. “We are looking to innovate every week
long-term relationships. This really ensures
so that we are operating in a very different
that we are aiming for the same goal and this
place than we were last week and will be in a
applies across our entire global presence.’’
very different place next week.”
Both Siddons and Vaczi have been on a considerable journey over the last few years through the development of [m]PLATw w w. g r o u p m . c o m
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GroupM 36th Floor, Tower A, Business Central Towers, Dubai Media City, United Arab Emirates P.O. Box 450383, T +971-4-4494792 | www.groupm.com