LONDON –Videos is the fastest part of Xaxis, the data and technology of GroupM, media agency division of  WPP.  It has been a “watershed” year where the agency is using data to target about half of its video buying across the EMEA region, says Caspar Schlickum, MD of EMEA, in this interview with Beet.TV

The Impact of Data

“Data Is The New Oil” has been the dominant narrative of the fast-changing advertising world for a couple of years now. But what room is left for ad creatives anymore in this new scientific age of ads?

“I still find the term ‘Big Data’ infuriating,” says  Schlickum. “It implies data is the end-game, as opposed to a path or a contributor to a more valuable conversation with a potential client.”

Managed properly, Schlickum sees the new richness of data as the impetus for a new era of marketer storytelling, not just for efficient yet mundane targeting.

“The role of that data in the creative piece is amazing, potentially,” he says. “Sequential storytelling, fuelled by the right kind of data, is a  huge opportunity for our industry – but, to do that, we need to reconnect the media with the creative. This requires a dialogue.”

This video was recorded  at the Beet.TV programmatic video leadership summit sponsored by Videology, hosted by Xaxis at the London offices of GroupM.

Editor’s Note:  The voice heard doing the interview is Beet.TV contributor Robert Andrews.