Shopper journeys are becoming more and more complex. In a hyper-connected era where people spend more time online and are given limitless choices across multiple platforms, brands and retailers are now serving shoppers in both online and offline spaces.
This reality also gives way to the growth of data. Today, there are tremendous amounts of data flowing through retailers’ channels. This rich data also provides opportunities to understand customers better and provide more meaningful offers to them whether they are shopping online, at an actual store, or both.
“If I engage with you online, do you end up actually buying in offline stores? Connecting the online and offline journeys has always been elusive. In the era of data, connecting customer journeys can now be measured and better understood,” says Carla Yap-Sy Su, the Head of Data, Consumer Strategies, and Growth Marketing of Data Analytics Ventures, Inc., the loyalty and data firm of the Gokongwei Group.
In the Philippines, one solution to the “holy grail” of connecting the online-to-offline customer journey is being pioneered by DAVI and Facebook through a solution they call Collaborative Ads for Store Sales (CASS), a first-in-the-world innovation. By delivering targeted ads to Robinsons Rewards members through Facebook CASS, “shoppers are able to see the most relevant deals aligned with their offline purchase behavior on their Facebook feed and matched with the nearest Robinsons Supermarket Store,” says Carla. “We are able to provide more value to our customers by serving relevant offers that are aligned to their interests, featuring products that they will most likely shop for, leading them to discover stores that are convenient to them. This allows us to connect what they see online and continue that journey to monitor offline purchases, allowing us to measure attribution, leading to new insights, optimization, and better campaigns.”
It seems simple enough, so why doesn’t every marketer or brand try to replicate this on their own? “Because having the right data matters,” says Carla.
The key to making the CASS concept work is the data that DAVI holds, its most vital asset.
“Through DAVI’s data we are able to understand our customer transactions extensively, so we understand new behavior, unique purchase patterns, brand preferences, and what experiences and offers they find valuable. By understanding their lifestyles and life stage, our goal is to build a more meaningful relationship with our members by providing the right offer to the right customer at the right time,” shares Carla. DAVI grows the Gokongwei Group’s loyalty programs, Robinsons Rewards and Get Go, and has built a data hub – Nexus360 – that processes customer data to generate new analysis and insights about the customer across their various shopper journeys in the conglomerate.
To be able to connect online-to-offline purchases, the data runs through the proprietary platform developed by DAVI and Facebook. Here is where Carla also clears up one of the fallacies regarding data analytics. “Having access to data is not enough,” says Carla, who describes her role at DAVI as interconnecting data, strategy, and marketing. “Understanding the narrative that the data shows, what it tells you about the customer, strategizing how to be relevant in a crowded marketplace, and growing the business by doing more precise action becomes clearer by reading the data right.”
She adds, “It is not just access to data that is important, but what you do with it, what you intend to learn from it and how you act on the insights through effective programs. At the end of the day, data that is unprocessed and does not present a clear story is just noise.”
One of the earliest brands to put the CASS concept to the test was URC’s Piattos potato chips. Because of the pandemic, more people were spending time at home and URC wanted to capitalize on this to increase sales of its Supersized packs. DAVI was able to identify an audience for Piattos’ ads on Facebook who were already familiar with the brand and also those who would be open to purchasing the product. These audiences are then matched with similar audiences in the Facebook platform. These “test and learn” campaigns have allowed DAVI to further understand how customers respond.
Buoyed by the success of this initiative, DAVI is now at work crafting other collaborations for CASS with Facebook and the other brands in the Gokongwei Group. “In DAVI, our goal is to build a ‘customer 360’ reality where we understand the many dimensions and interests of a customer and have the ability to connect various offers and channels, from one store to the next, from one experience to the next.”
Collaborating is a critical path for growth. “This innovation would not have been possible without the collaboration across DAVI’s cross-functional teams and synergies with Robinsons Supermarket and the Digital Transformation Office of JG Summit. The collaboration led to new learnings and tests that helped design how this solution will benefit both members and business stakeholders,” says Carla. Apart from the strong partnership it has with Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc., DAVI also has collaborations with other units in the conglomerate, including Robinsons Bank and URC, allowing those business units to engage better with their customers. These budding partnerships help DAVI discern which offers the group’s customers find relevant and what type of deals they want more of.
FILTERING THE NOISE
Before joining DAVI in November 2019, Carla was the founder and CEO of a data intelligence company, TheNerve Corp., which deals in crisis management and data forensics through network analysis, investigative social listening, and market intelligence. Until recently, she was also the chief revenue officer and head of strategy, sales, and marketing for Rappler. Before these stints, she rose through the ranks at SMART Communications, becoming the head of brand equity management handling various 360-marketing campaigns across the whole brand portfolio.
Asked about the differences of running her own firm and being part of a large organization, Carla says they both had their ways of building character. Being her own boss developed her ability to be “entrepreneurial and agile,” says Carla. “There is no choice but to be nimble and think on your feet in order to chase after new solutions and make a mark.”
On the other hand, being part of the workforce in a conglomerate has allowed Carla to appreciate the “opportunity for synergies.” In a larger team, Carla says, you can also think of new concepts and ideas, identify intersections across the business units, and have the opportunity to scale it up and create new spaces for the market. Through collaborations with other units of the group, your ideas may be applied in ways even beyond the original concept, yielding “new results, new offers, and new experiences,” says Carla. “That, I think, is what a conglomerate like the Gokongwei Group brings to the table. The excitement of, what’s next? How else can we come together to build new value in an ever-changing market?”
Being involved in the data analytics side of the group also affords Carla the opportunity to apply the core values of the group, which are the Entrepreneurial Mindset, Integrity, and Stewardship. “Data success is a journey. Every step is a learning opportunity. All these values are meant to be the guide towards powering through both opportunities and challenges, developing character and growth,” asserts Carla.
Working for the conglomerate enables Carla to have a growth mindset and entrepreneurial spirit. “It’s a challenger’s spirit as well, being bold in identifying new opportunities and making it a reality.”
This growth also comes with great responsibility by properly handling all customers’ data and working closely with Data Governance. As data is considered DAVI’s number one asset, integrity and stewardship go hand in hand. “It is important to make sure that data governance and having clear and transparent policies, to our customers and stakeholders, is critical. Data governance and being ethical about the use of data is everybody's responsibility.”
WHAT’S NEXT
After the recent launch of CASS in partnership with Facebook, DAVI is partnering with another global giant for a different type of data analytics innovation, set to be deployed this quarter.
To enable manufacturers and brands to boost sales of fast-moving consumer goods categories at Robinsons Supermarket, DAVI has allied with NielsenIQ, a global measurement and data company, to develop an advanced analytics platform called Nexus360 Insights. Combining DAVI’s loyalty data with Nielsen’s platform allows users of the system to “immediately gain access to understanding the value and behavior of our core shoppers and how this leads to new insights across various product categories,” says Carla.
Nexus360 Insights answers the questions of what products do members buy often, when do they buy it, what type of product movement or customer behavior is emerging, what brands are growing or stagnating, and more, all presented in a user-friendly platform, encouraging more people to embrace data analytics as a means to achieve customer growth.
“Our retail business unit partners and every brand on store shelves would benefit from Nexus360 Insights. It allows us to immediately see the movements across brands, drivers for growth, and tracking of KPIs that get us closer to unlock the whys, leading to better market decisions, and designing better offers for the evolving shopper,” explains Carla.
By making use of DAVI’s data solutions, everyone wins. Brands gain insight on how to move their products at supermarkets or retail outlets, and consumers are assured that they can get more value from the products they want through getting the best offers and stronger engagement.
Next in the pipeline, DAVI will be launching more data solutions that will continue to grow its loyalty programs and further enrich its data through the Nexus360 data hub. “The new data-driven programs will explore opportunities across various industries and technology. Our goal is to further enrich DAVI’s data to continue to provide better options for customers, allowing them to enrich their lives even more,” enthuses Carla. “With more engagement, comes richer data, leading to better opportunities. This is going to be a game changer.”
