Adspace24 says that it has an abundance of internal and external data to draw from, but how do individuals get from data to actionable insights and solutions for its clients — and its own challenges?

Beginning with purpose
To make sense of the data, there needs to be a clear intention. Adspace begins with an understanding of its client's needs and wants (the sales team plays a critical role here).

The client's needs can range from something small — "This is my audience, this is who I need to target, which titles in print and digital will find me in that space?" — to something big. This could involve mapping across its:
  • titles based on store locations,
  • adspend analysis, and
  • additional research.
Once it identifies the client's needs, Adspace decides on what data and stories it needs to tell, and what resources it should use to bring together a solution.

Diversity of data
It is important to have access to a wide range of resources, both internal and external. The more sources, the better — within the bounds of cost-efficiency. Obviously, the sources you choose need to add value.

At Adspace24, its data sources include the following:
  • demographic
  • geographic, and
  • behavioural data.
This enables the team to target every relevant person within its digital and print universe.

Forum24 is the teams' in-house research platform for bespoke local title research and any custom-made data is provided to clients through Promo24. In addition, it draws on various external sources such as IAB, INMA and Statistica to make sure it is on par.

While South Africa is vastly different from say, Switzerland, there are always similarities — and different perspectives to be gained.

At present, trust is at a premium throughout the advertising industry and this, of course, extends to research. Adspace adds that it must benchmark against others; having a diversity of sources with which to compare findings is a way of cross-checking itself.

That said, while in the past there was circumspection about media owners doing their own research and data analysis, technology has mostly erased this — the efficacy of in-house research can be proven.

The human element
While data drives all our decisions, it is important that the human element stays within, informing what we do with it, checking for anomalies and ensuring that there is an internal logic, because the data can lead you astray. If anything looks odd, ask yourself why and where is this coming from.

A diversity of voices
Our "Insights Club" is where Adspace identifies new projects and research that will deliver new data and actionable insights. For example, right now it is busy investigating Gen Z within focus groups, and specific aspects of ROI in combining digital and print.

For this, it is important to have a diversity of voices in the room. You can only really make informed decisions when you start listening to everybody, not just the analysts — because it can become data-heavy. Diversity brings you completely different perspectives, which is why it opened the Insights Club to anybody from the company who wants to take part.

Telling the story
It is all about storytelling. If you are just pushing figures, you will lose your audience on slide one. How the team does this varies on a case-by-case basis: It begins with deciphering the query and then looking to identify those 'golden nugget' insights that will be valuable.

The team says that it always gives the salesperson more than they need; the intention then is for them to sift through this with us and decide what is, and is not, valuable to their client.

When presenting, Adspace tries to keep things as simple as possible, with fewer numbers, more pictures and relevant context. Without context, data can be quite meaningless. It helps to present things graphically — once the client can grasp something visually, it is much easier for them to make informed decisions.

A step ahead
Adpsace adds that its purpose is to identify what is coming — to spot opportunities and challenges ahead of time.

It listens to what is happening in the sales environment, and its clients' concerns, along with everything that is taking place economically, environmentally and globally. It then brings everything together to deduce the outcome. Smart data tells a story — and that helps the team, and its clients, stay one step ahead, concludes Adspace. 

For more information, visit www.adspace24.com. You can also follow Adpsace24 on Facebook or on Twitter.