Hub & Spoken.

What's in this podcast?

In this episode, Jason talks to David Lepicier, Head of Global Data Analytics at Pernod Ricard, a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company that specialises in wine and spirits. They discuss the traps to avoid when rapidly implementing a data strategy in a consumer goods company, plus how to find and fix issues that may come up.

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One Big Message

Data is becoming an integral part of marketing and communications. It can help make smarter decisions in terms of strategy, message and target audience. As data analytics becomes more sophisticated an increasing number of companies are turning to data to improve their promotional campaigns.

[00:34] David’s background and the work he does at Pernod Ricard

[02:00] What is FMCG, and why it is so important for commercial companies experiencing growth to have a strong data strategy

[03:50] How data is used at Pernod Ricard for daily operations

[08:00] The 3 focus areas that Pernod Ricard uses to improve promotions and campaigns

[15:30] How to identify and solve problems quickly

[18:30] How to build cultural trust in data with other departments so they can help execute a data strategy

[22:46] How to create a team that spans across different departments all over the world

[27:50] David’s role as Global Head of Data and how his leadership role has evolved since he started in 2015

Optimise promotions with data

The use of data for marketing is becoming increasingly popular. From advertising campaigns, to promotions, having consumer data readily available has become a key component for marketing success in almost any industry.

Data-driven optimisation refers to a process that uses statistics and data analysis to find the optimal solution from many possible choices or solutions – with minimal resources required from humans. In marketing, use of data can help organisations make almost real-time decisions on their advertising based on consumer data. This approach has been gaining traction in recent years as a way for marketers and businesses alike to better understand what works best when it comes to their content, messages and offers. Using data helps marketing decision-makers allocate their resources more efficiently without having to test each different variable one by one – which would take up time.

Find and solve flaws in data

Problems with data can have serious implications on security and operations, and can cause some workflows to break or not perform at their optimum. The problem with finding data issues is that they are very hard to identify and even harder to stop. Often it boils down to successions of failure and arming yourself with the capabilities to deal with problems quickly.

When it comes to data however, prevention is always better than cure and the best way is to try and avoid problems as much as possible.

Small tangible wins trump complicated plans

The best way to achieve long-term success is by breaking down the task into small, manageable pieces and create small wins along the way. When your team stops feeling overwhelmed by a large undertaking, it becomes much easier to take action on it.

The key to this strategy is specificity – make specific plans about what you are going to do and how you will do it instead of reliance on vague notions or grandiose ideas that never get off the ground.  If your plan involves taking steps forward towards an abstract goal, break those steps down into smaller parts with tangible outcomes along the way. And when you do have a win, celebrate those wins to reinforce the things your data team is doing right.

Going forward this way makes it easier to demonstrate your efficiency and helps to build cultural trust in data over time, instead of making decision-makers wait for prolonged periods of time for results.

Create a star team with members all over the globe

Just like money, data never sleeps especially in large multinational companies. Therefore, having a global team is essential to success. However, putting together an effective team with members all over the globe can be a challenge. In the field of data, cloud-based technology and remote working apps makes it easier but not devoid of challenges.

When it comes to having a global data team, there is a large amount of autonomy and trust involved. Effective communication is key to creating a cohesive work environment especially with remote teams who need to report back to a central department.

To summarise

Companies today are using more data for marketing than ever before. Data can be used to make smarter decisions and optimise business processes rapidly. However, rapid implementation can sometimes cause errors to arise; it’s important to have the resources on standby to deal with any issues as quickly as possible.