How Media Agencies Can Make Data-Driven Solutions Deliver Real Business Value

THE FUTURE OF
DATA & DATA SPECIALISTS IN
SINGAPORE
SQUARED
DATA MEDIA
INDUSTRY
R E P O R T
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ABOUT SQUARED DATA
The programme will provide aspiring analytics professionals
with the skills they need to gain a competitive edge in the world
of analytics and data driven innovation.
The Squared Data Programme is part of the IDA’s Company-
Led Training (CLT) Programme, an initiative which supports the
industry in recruiting, mentoring and training entrant infocomm
professionals in fast-growing technologies such as data and
analytics; and mobile application development. From June
2014 to May 2015, Squared Data Programme will provide 20
Singaporean fresh graduates with intensive training in analytics,
andgivethemtheopportunitytoworkwithinaSingaporemedia
agency to gain hands-on experience. They will also receive
mentoring from top industry talent throughout the programme.
Infocomm Development Authority Of Singapore and Google Inc.,.
(2014). IDA and Google Collaborate on New Training Programme
to Grow Singapore’s Analytics Talent. Retrieved from https://www.
ida.gov.sg/About-Us/Newsroom/Media-Releases/2014/IDA-
and-Google-Collaborate-on-New-Training-Programme-to-Grow-
Singapores-Analytics-Talent

The Google Squared Data program gave us
the unique opportunity to springboard into
the media industry as data specialists, in
the midst of the ‘big data’ hype. Across our
agencies, the message is clear: Data-driven
innovation is integral to the future of the
industry, and agencies need to adapt to the
changing landscape. Since then, we have
gained perspective on how media agencies
integrate data analytics into their services.
More importantly, we want to look forward
and identify opportunities where media
agencies can leverage data capabilities.
The articles that make up this report aim to
identify the direction data analytics within the
industry is headed, and provide actionable
insights on how agencies can better maneuver
in a data-driven ecosystem. As editors, we’ve
taken the liberty to articulate three main
considerations:
WALKING THE TALK
Selling a solution to clients’ business problems
entails being able to package services and
technologies into a cohesive whole that
directly addresses needs at various stages
of the analytics journey. It requires some
discernable level of objectivity - “Is my agency
my consultant who is helping me identify the
best thing to do, or a vendor trying to sell me
more products?” - and a willingness to share
any potential risks of doing the best thing to
do.
Are your agencies willing to exhibit either?
Whilst the new paradigm of the industry
is that data analytics has huge revenue
potential, perhaps more needs to be done to
communicate that this potential holds true for
the client as well. An agency that trusts its own
capabilities to deliver value should strongly
consider tagging its fees to the value delivered
- communicating about data is more than just
using business vocabulary, decks on revenue
projections, and pretty Tableau dashboards.
Once you prove that you are worth your
while, you can quickly demand the premium
you deserve; it’s an easy sell to clients who see
clear revenue impact.
Our first two articles, “Want Data to Make
You Money?” and “Client-Agency Relations”
explore these questions further.
ACTUALLY VALUING YOUR HUMAN
RESOURCE
The dearth of skilled hires is a constant
bugbear; to alleviate this, your agency should
make a decision on the model of analytics
operations if it hasn’t done so already: are
specialist teams going to be set up, or is an
integrated approach preferred? Even trialling
a model is better than no decision.
PREFACE:
DATA
ANALYTICS IS
HERE TO STAY
By Goh Tze Sam
& Vicnan Pannirselvam

As we’re in the dark ages of sorts, help your
recruiters by spelling out what specific skillsets
are needed to deliver the data services you’ve
imagined, not job titles. This is a period marked
with somewhat vacuous designations, made
worse by the very different realities of the
different marketing activities that agencies are
trying to claim as their own: media, creative,
social media, event activations.
These requirements should then be
communicated to all affected stakeholders:
everyone. This allows not just your recruiters
to look out for the right people, but members
of your teams to identify what they need to
learn to remain relevant in their roles.
Your organisation also needs to decide
on if and how it is going to support this
learning. Governments like Singapore’s
have programmes for skills-upgrades via
online learning programmes. Employers can
support these training efforts via subsidies,
and/or flexible work schedules to allow for
the demands of part-time study, your agency
would also be able to incentivise and support
its team members by articulating how it would
recognise these non-standard qualifications
in its evaluation processes. How do you want
to build the capabilities of your team?
We hope that the articles “Data Talent in
Media” and “Coping with the Data Deluge”
would help frame the questions facing you.
THE PLACE OF MEDIA AGENCIES
Thesquabblingoverterritorybetweenagencies
is compounded by clients fragmenting their
budgets across a few parties. Like it or not, we
need to get better at working together with
each other. Are you willing to do that?
Mediahaslongbeenthedomainexpertswhen
it comes to data, but other stakeholders are
becoming more educated. The smokescreen
of jargon no longer is a defence, and all
agencies need to identify how to cooperate
honestly in good-faith. “Collaboration &
Network” looks at a few ideas on doing this
within your own network, for a start.
Media agencies also need to clearly articulate
their value add over ad-tech companies; this
means they need to figure out what it is. “Ad
Tech VS Agencies” would share some ways of
defining these value propositions that would
hopefully describe your agency’s experience.
WHAT’S NEXT?
It is both an exciting and intimidating time to
be in the media industry, as the ‘big data’ wave
has brought about significant changes across
the industry. All agencies are taking decisive
actions to integrate data analytics into their
business to fulfil clients’ changing needs
and also improve operational efficiency. It is
encouraging to see similar sentiments and
enthusiasm regarding data-driven innovation
expressed across agencies.
We hope that the articles put together will
distil these opinions and thoughts into a
clearer perspective on how data can and will
be incorporated in the various functions of
agencies, to benefit your clients and you.

CONTENTS
1 WANT DATA TO MAKE YOU MONEY?
2 WHAT CAN BE DONE TO IMPROVE THE SYNERGIES
BETWEEN CLIENT AND AGENCY?
3 DATA TALENT IN MEDIA: AN OVERVIEW
4 COPING WITH THE DATA DELUGE
5 IS DATA COLLABORATION POSSIBLE BETWEEN
SISTER AGENCIES?
6 AD TECH COMPANIES & MEDIA AGENCIES, RIVALS
OF THE NEW ERA?
9
15
19
21
25
29

7
1
WANT
DATA TO
MAKE YOU
M O N E Y ?
Until recently, the picture was fuzzy at best. The
data deluge made a previously unimaginable
trove of information now widely accessible;
it has advertisers trying to connect with
consumers across a multitude of platforms.
However, doing this involves teasing apart
how ads work in concert across media and
sales channels. One has to know how all the
moving parts of a campaign collectively affects
behaviour and drives revenue, as well as be
able to predict what happens when they are
adjusted. These capabilities represent the
holy grail in marketing.
Part of the grail is analytics. Once a back-of-
the-house research function, it is becoming
entwined in daily strategy development and
operations.
WANT CLIENTS TO SAY, “HOLY ****, I
WANT THAT...”?
Agencies have extensively implemented
analytics as differentiator, a unique value
proposition (UVP) for themselves. But clients
want to know why analytics is relevant to them
and to their business issues. Without this
translation, such a UVP is just another point
in a long droning credentials deck.
“Agencies often sell analytics not as part of
solution strategy, selling too many things
as standalone that does not tie in to solve
actual business problems.”
- Harpreet Kaintel, CIO - APAC,
ZenithOptimedia Group
Don’t sell analytics, optimization, nor
management sciences. Sell solutions to
business problems. People don’t care what
you call it if you can solve it, as articulated
in the Selling Analytics panel discussion at
INFORMS 2011.
By Ezekiel Tee

8
“Omniture doesn’t sell you analytics. They
sell you a solution to your problem. And
the bigger the problem they can solve,
the more money they can charge. A good
example of this is that they don’t help you
with just your SEO or PPC needs; instead,
they help you with your digital marketing
strategy.”
- Neil Patel, Cofounder of KISSmetrics and
Crazy Egg
Create buy-in by offering holistic business
solutions by the integration of media buying
and analytics services with consideration of
client-specific business objectives.
WANT CLIENTS TO FEEL, “YOU’RE THE ONE
FOR ME”?
Clients often look to their agency partner
as an objective third-party organization that
looks at the bigger picture, understands
global consumer trends, and provides the
ultimate “outside-in” customer perspective. In
short, clients want their agencies to provide
both solutions to and perspectives on issues
they can’t discover on their own.
As such, analysis presented without actionable
recommendations or plans for clients to follow
up on leads to clients seeing less meaningful
or relevant use for analytics services; it
appears to add no tangible or visible business
value for their business.
To increase the chances of success, involve
your customer in defining the “solution”;
learn their language, their business, their
challenges.
“The most important thing is to tie
everything back to revenue and cost
involved. Understand the client’s business
and how they make money because clients
have to apply the recommendations to see
the impact of data-driven insights.”
- Vinoaj Vijeyakumaar, Co-founder &
Managing Partner, Sparkline
Agencies offering analytics services have
to actively address the client’s business
objectives. Learning everything about the
client – their business objectives, their
challenges, their desire to intelligently use
data – lets agencies function as extensions
of the client itself. Agencies have to have a
continuous sense of what is happening and
serve up relevant insights to clients.
WANT CLIENTS TO ASK, “TELL ME
ABOUT…”?
The use of “travel knowledge” - merely
following how things have often been done in
the past, is common among clients. Spearing
through the complacency of using outmoded
methods begins with awareness.
It lines the difference between clients with
skepticism and clients with belief. A client that
is skeptical of analytics for whichever reason
will not be convinced until those reasons are
addressed.

9
“It’s finding a way to put to the client that
they need to do something that ironically
is what they expect us to already be doing”
- Raymond Au, Head of Analytics APAC,
Educate first and sell second. Educating clients
helps drive up the demand for the product,
which makes the job easier to get buy-in; this
can be done through webinars, whitepapers,
conferences, booths, and countless other
forms of marketing.
The important commonality between all
the methods mentioned is that they involve
collecting clients contact information so
agency lead qualifiers can follow up with
clients later on to figure out when clients are
ready to buy-in.
WANT CLIENTS TO DECLARE, “I BELIEVE
YOU.”?
Agencies can minimize risk for clients
through demonstrating client-specific proof
of concept. Upon seeing its value-addedness
for the business, it is more probable a client
would be willing to take up analytics.
“It is important that we demonstrate the
power of data and potential incremental
ROI to clients otherwise how can we expect
them to buy into the concept?”
- James Parker, Client Solutions Director,
Annalect
Start with small problems that can become
quick wins, to help establish credibility and
trust, whether it be within the agency or with
clients. Short-term success can breed long-
term opportunities.
Strongcasestudieshighlightingthebeforeand
after effects of technology implementation
increases validation of the product and shows
that the product does what it is supposed to
do.
“Show value of analytics through baseline
services or offerings to clients, then
attempt to upsell once value-add of
analytics is realized.”
- Robin Wong, Global Head of Operations,
GroupM Data and Analytics Services
WANT CLIENTS TO RECOGNIZE, “WE ARE
IN THIS TOGETHER…”?
In a cost-plus world that can bill in a cost-
plus way, there is little incentive to reduce
client cost, creating a perverse incentive to be
inefficient. The cost-plus model incentivizes
two predictable but toxic offsetting behaviors:
clients seek to minimize rates and agencies
seek to maximize charges.
By sharing of risk, the agency has “skin in the
game”. It then has a real incentive to achieve
the clients’ objectives. This transparency
fosters trust and confidence.
”If agencies really trust their data and
optimisation skills, selling conversion
optimisation with results-based billing
would have huge impact on the clients’
end and really makes it concrete that
marketing is an investment and not a cost,
as client would only pay for results.”
- Eero Aalto, Business Director, Digital Arts
Network, TBWA
The agency’s willingness to share the risk and
to be compensated on a performance basis
tends to cause, in the minds of clients and
potential clients, the agency to be judged
on merit rather than just size and name
recognition. The agency then has a greater
incentive to achieve what should be the

10
ultimate goal - namely, to make money by
fostering long-term relationships with clients.
WANT CLIENTS TO ACT: “LET’S SIGN THE
PAPERS…”?
There is a plethora of benefits to doing
analytics. To credibly communicate this
message is paramount in the conversation to
clients.
“Agencies must have the right relationships
at the necessary levels of their clients’
hierarchies. As with any subject matter, its
importance will not percolate through the
organization unless senior management
‘gets it’ and promotes it.”
- Jonathan Edwards, Director - Analytics
Data and Technology APAC, MEC
Learn how to explain analytics to those
who know their business but may not know
the math, or to someone who took a linear
programmingcourseincollege,ortosomeone
who is astonished with the sum() feature in a
spreadsheet.
“There is an art, entirely complementary to
the science, to making data (...) intuitive.
Data specialists must ‘tune-in’ to planners’
and account managers’ appetite for
data usage and the demands from other
aspects of their roles.”
- Jonathan Edwards, Director - Analytics
Data and Technology APAC, MEC
WHAT IS, NOW WAS...
It is known that different clients have different
needs. And that there is no single skeleton
key solution that gets through to all clients.
But it begins somewhere with: selling not
analytics but a solution, involving clients in
getting the solution, educating first and selling
second, establishing credibility by starting
small, sharing skin in the game and learning
to explain analytics.
Perhaps then, demonstrating and
communicating the business impact of data
activity to clients might just be lesser of a
hurdle.

“DON’T SELL ANALYTICS, OPTIMIZATION, NOR
MANAGEMENT SCIENCES. SELL SOLUTIONS TO BUSINESS
PROBLEMS. PEOPLE DON’T CARE WHAT YOU CALL IT IF
YOU CAN SOLVE IT.”

13
In the data analytics industry, clients are often
unclear on how they can monetize their own
data, even in large companies with large sets
of data. In fact, the deeper the hierarchies and
the larger the operations, the tougher it is for
senior managers to make decisions based on
data instead of on acumen or bias. As such,
they often turn to agencies for enlightenment:
to give better and more actionable insights to
inform decisions.
In order to do this effectively, clients and
agencies need to build synergy between
them to turn weaknesses to strengths, and
shortfalls to niches.
COMMUNICATION
“Clients and agencies need to be clear; agree
and align on the availability of data, what
is the expected output and the potential
application/usage of the data for business
decision making.”
- Leroy Lim, Business Director, PHD
Singapore
Simple as it may sound, this is potentially the
largest pitfall for most business relationships
in the media industry. Even as most senior
managers would agree that effective
communication solves most problems,
technical deadlocks and hard-to-swallow
truths can be found in the data analytics
industry.
Some can angle insights in order to create a
more alluring story for their business partners.
However, they regularly commit the fallacy of
omission, which can create false expectations
and eventually tension between parties.
It is hence crucial that assumptions and
caveats are transparent, and that they can be
challenged based on soundness rather than
its appeal to stakeholders. This ensures that
any unwelcome truths are supported by data
and can be managed preventively instead of
reactively.
MANAGEMENT
Even if clients and agencies see eye to eye,
most fail to determine measurements and
fail to realign expectations in time to salvage
projects and business relationships alike.
“Anything that cannot be measured
cannot be managed; anything that cannot
be managed cannot be successful.”
- Robin Wong, Global head of Operations,
2
WHAT CAN BE
DONE TO IMPROVE
THE SYNERGIES
BETWEEN CLIENT
AND AGENCY?
By Goh Tze Sam
& Sebastian Tay

14
A powerful statement, yet entrenched in
reality; KPIs are key in objectifying success
and should definitely be present in the data
analytics industry. However, it is common that
the efficiency of data crunching be prioritised
over rigor in determining soundness of
insights.
In order to build trust between agencies and
clients, both parties should outrightly agree
that the KPIs in data analytics should not be
on efficiency but rather in terms of effective
analysis. This should be followed up with
updates as often and as soon as possible in a
given project.
This gives opportunities for clients to provide
business context and for agencies to give data
visibility in order to decrease ambiguity.
BUSINESS OBJECTIVES FIRST
“Its about using business lingo to
communicate with the clients or
stakeholders. Strip back the data
jargon and add value to business by
understanding the business first which will
lead to coming up with the right questions
and ensuring the insights we provide are
aligned with their business needs.”
- Aleetza Senn, Managing Partner,
Sparkline
Analytics is a powerful tool for many clients.
However, it should be seen as a crucial piece in
the larger solution. It is of utmost importance
for data analysts to understand the business
objectives of the clients and agency, and then
see where analytics can fit in and add value.
As counterintuitive as it sounds, new analysts
could benefit from slowing down and taking
time in learning how the agency as a whole
works with its clients, and look to connect the
dots using their skillsets.
The same concept of slowing down and
learning can be applied to all other teams
within the agency as well. Planners and
managers should understand and leverage
analytics as a form of intelligence to align on
clients’ goals and forge more effective working
relationships.
A connected understanding of data analytics
within the whole agency will lead to a more
cohesive and stable client-agency relationship.
ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS
“Data is a very effective way of proving
the value of a strategy so media agencies
should translate ‘big data’ into actionable
insights for the clients..”
- Alice Isola, Associate Director Content/
SEO, Resolution Media
What sets media agencies apart from a
“Anything that cannot
be measured cannot be
managed;anythingthat
cannot be managed
cannot be successful.”

traditional consulting firm is that the former
provides end-to-end services, from planning
to executing communication plans. Insights
acquired from data should therefore be
actionable, and ultimately lead to added value
for both client and agency.
In other words, analysts must constantly
challenge themselves with the question “So
what?” when reviewing any data analysis
findings. It is insufficient to simply use clients’
data and conclude which campaigns delivered
the best ROI; instead, inform clients on how
upcoming campaigns can be implemented
based on these data-driven insights.
This process of constantly reviewing and
refining results from any data analysis will
prove challenging, but will be an impactful
way of demonstrating the value of an agency’s
work to a client, through data. When clients
see first-hand how data-driven insights help
to add value, they will be more willing to share
new data sources, paving the way for more
data collaboration between client and agency.
“ANALYTICS IS A POWERFUL TOOL FOR MANY CLIENTS.
HOWEVER, IT SHOULD BE SEEN AS A CRUCIAL PIECE IN THE
LARGER SOLUTION.”

17
WHAT IS THE CURRENT HIRING SITUATION
FOR MEDIA AGENCIES?
What are companies looking for in data
scientist hires? The likely answer is that
they want intellectually curious individuals
who are able to use their unique blend of
domain expertise, programming skills, math
and statistics to derive actionable insights
from masses of data to solve business
problems. These individuals are also great
communicators who can effectively translate
technical concepts to the layperson.
However, finding such talents have been
compared to finding four-leaf clovers and
unicorns. If talent scarcity had not already
made it difficult for companies to land such
high calibre candidates, the highly competitive
3
DATA TALENT
IN MEDIA:
AN
OVERVIEW
market for them certainly has. More so for
media agencies, who are competing with
names like P&G, Accenture and McKinsey,
who offer highly competitive packages for the
same pool of talent.
HOW CAN MEDIA AGENCIES SOLVE THEIR
DATA TALENT SHORTAGE?
Training up talent internally is one viable
solution some media agencies are adopting.
Internal staff may already be familiar with
exploring clients’ data. The domain expertise
they possess has been argued to be harder
to acquire than technical skillsets. As Gartner
Research Director Svetlana Sicular notes,
“Learning Hadoop is easier than learning the
company’s business”. All that is left is to cover
the gap in terms of technical skillsets which
can be achieved via retraining programs.
The reverse holds true. Media agencies
could induct fresh graduates with technical
competencies in programming, math, and
statistics into media and marketing. Omnicom
Media Group has adopted such a strategy
by recruiting talent from masters programs
focused on economics and statistics.
Expediting the company’s hiring process might
also be a worthy undertaking. Recruitment
company Burtch Works notes that data talent
is rare and quickly snatched off the market.
Sluggish hiring processes only make it harder
to land these individuals who often have
multiple offers.
While salary has to be competitive, there are
other forms of compensation that media
agencies could consider. Burtch Works note
that these include flexible work arrangements,
access to the latest tools, organization-wide
buy-in for analytics and solving challenging
problems.
By Avan Koh
& Dustin Yang

19
4
THE DIGITAL BOOM
The media industry has been experiencing a
boom in the number new technologies that
come with the emergence of digital media its
tracking possibilities. These new technologies
allow marketers increased visibility on the
purchase journey of consumers from the first
time they were showed an advertisement
till the time a purchase was made on the
website. This was unprecedented in the offline
marketing world.
MORE DATA!
The ability to track consumer journeys also
meant the collection of huge amount of data
aboutaconsumer.Wherewashefirstexposed
to an ad? What other ads were viewed by him
and on what sites? Did he click on the video
ad and how long did he watch it? What pages
did he view on our website and how far down
the purchase funnel was he? The unfortunate
marketer now has so many more data points
to deal with, and would easily be overwhelmed
if not trained to deal with these..
NEW TECHNOLOGY, MORE
OPPORTUNITIES!
With increased trackability and volume of
data, technology vendors have built platforms
to take advantage of new possibilities. Ad
networks collect enormous cookie pools
from their network of publishers, identifying
user behaviour and interests through their
viewing habits. DSPs and SSPs bridge the gap
between demand and supply by providing an
auction-like environment to sell and buy ad
placements.
Ad space can hence be sold to advertisers that
view these users as more valuable, creating a
win-win situation. With remarketing cookies,
advertisers would also be able to follow users
with relevant ads as they visit other websites
after having left their own sites.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
The emergence and convergence of big
data and technology platforms has put
media agencies on a back foot, due to the
lack of talent and skills to handle these new
trends. The media and marketing industry
is conventionally viewed as more art than
science has not help their cause; however,
marketing campaigns and strategy are driven
more by data than ever before. This is the
space where the young professionals can fill.
Armed with (big) data analytics skills, they are
at an excellent position to coax the agencies
to move towards a direction where decisions
are driven by science and data more than
judgement calls.
COPING
WITH THE
DATA
DELUGE
By Tay Yu Heng

20
WHERE CAN YOU LEARN?
Besides analytics skills, it is also important
to pick up industry knowledge. There are a
number of free online resources available
that come with official certifications. Google
AdWords and Analytics certifications can be
obtained from the Google Partners site, after
viewing through some videos, reading content,
and taking online quizzes. There are also
other additional resources on the Analytics
Academy site. Google’s online resources
aside, you can also visit Facebook Blueprint
to learn about campaign management from
Facebook.
MOOC platforms are another good place to
learn. You can enrol for the Digital Marketing
Specialisation by the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign on Coursera.org. To
quote the description of the specialisation:
“When you complete the Digital Marketing
Specialization you will have an understanding
of the continually shifting consumer mindset
and how to use varying digital platforms to
reach different customer groups. You will
understand strategic marketing concepts and
the tools required to make informed decisions
and set the direction for your company,
business unit, department, or product line in a
digital ecosystem.” Obtaining these additional
certifications on your own accord will show
your desire and drive for knowledge.
The various MOOC platforms are also
excellent places to pick up new analytics and
big data skills, which the more experienced
professionals can consider going through
to understand these concepts and identify
potential industry application. The Data
Science Specialisation by the John Hopkins
Univerity on Coursera.org is a good place
to start. There are many more open online
learning courses on this topic available out
there for the keen and curious to explore.
WHAT ABOUT THE MANAGERS? WHERE
DO THEY COME IN?
The big data analytics boom brought about
radical new ways in how many industries
operate, and the media and advertising
field is no different. While new technology
and techniques are being introduced, some
managers are still used to the traditional
way doing things; these include looking at
percentage/numeric changes between rows
and columns of excel sheets. This is where
the new young professional can bring about
changes.
While less experienced in industry knowledge,
newcomers may be able to introduce more
efficient ways to analyse and evaluate the
wide spectrum of data available to them.
Managers should be open to allowing them
more leeway to explore and model data. As
mentors, the managers can help to bridge
the gap in industry knowledge so that the
techniques used are sound and relevant to
“The emergence and
convergence of big
data and technology
platforms has put
media agencies on a
back foot...”

21
the context.
TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!
Young professionals equipped with strong technical skills in data, together with accommodative
managers, are well poised to lead media agencies into the big data space by increasing
operational efficiencies and discovering new opportunities. The possibilities are endless, let the
change begin!
“...they(young professionals) are at an excellent
position to coax the agencies to move towards a
direction where decisions are driven by science and
data more than judgement calls.”

23
IS DATA
COLLABORATION
POSSIBLE
BETWEEN SISTER
AGENCIES?
“Data collaboration between sister
agencies is difficult given confidentiality of
client data...”
- Robin Wong, Global Head of Operations,
With 4 different global agencies (Mindshare,
MEC, Mediacom and Maxus) under GroupM,
the potential impact of a collaboration is
huge. However, even within sister agencies,
collaboration with regards to data specifically
is an issue due to the legal obligation of privacy
where an agency’s clients are concerned.
“Competition might be the reason for
working in silos in agency sister groups.”
- Vinoaj Vijeyakumaar, Managing Partner,
Sparkline
Data collaboration between sister agencies is
also hindered by competition with each other,
given competing client holdings between the
agencies. At the same time, such competition
should not be discouraged in order to ensure
that the organisation as a whole continues to
motivate and improve itself.
“Media to Media, there’s a conflict… Share
insights but not data or targeting data.”
- Jason Tan, General Manager,
Forobviousreasons,certaindatacollaborations
are simply not feasible between media
agencies. However, there are possibilities
of collaboration in different aspects such as
sharing of learnings, infrastructures, ideas,
methodologies and algorithms.
“Agencies should collaborate more, not
only between the agency sister groups
but also between media and creative
agencies.”
- Alice Isola, Associate Director Content/
SEO, Resolution Media
The notion of collaboration between media
and creative agencies is also supported by
Paul Frampton, Chief Executive Officer at
Havas Media.
“In the new world, there must be fewer
kings and more coalitions.”
- Paul Frampton, Chief Executive Officer,
Havas Media
In a 20 March 2015 article, “It’s time for media
agencies to collaborate and connect, writes
Havas Media’s Paul Frampton,” Frampton
mentionstheimportanceof“agenciesevolving
to become partners and collaborators,” and to
achieve this with “regular dialogue and shared
objectives.” There is a need for both the media
and creative agencies to start involving each
other more frequently.
5
By Celestine Goh
& Khairul Anwar bin Abdul Aziz

24
“Data will not kill creativity, if it belongs
and benefits both media and creative
teams.”
- Paul Frampton, Chief Executive Officer,
Havas Media
Creative agencies will need to start adapting
their content for programmatic advertising
and media agencies have a hand in “amplifying
and measuring” content ideas from the
creative agencies.
“It isn’t just about getting to the right
person at the right time, but also with the
right message.”
- Vicnan Pannirselvam, Data Strategist,
TBWA
Until creative and media agencies are willing
to talk to each other openly, the client’s
interests are placed at a disadvantage. This
doesn’t need to be a 100%, if reservations still
exist – at the very least, performance of media
buys (particularly for digital) can and ought to
be communicated.
Creative agencies need to be able to
speak the language of media planners/
buyers – understand what CPC vs CPM is,
what conversions are, and how testing and
optimisation could work. Conversely, media
agencies ought to have the confidence to
transmit this data to their creative partners,
and leverage their buys to suit various
creatives. This particular paradigm would
allow all stakeholders to achieve the best
possible campaign and business results for
their clients.
HOW TO FOSTER COLLABORATION
BETWEEN AGENCIES?
In order to foster collaboration in agencies,
a paradigm shift must occur from the status
quo. At a macro-level , agencies can ignite the
shift towards collaboration through creating
the right culture, structure and synergy :
Creating the Right Culture
“A team structure where analysts
are grouped based on distinct but
complementary skill sets propel teams
to work with one another to get the job
done.”
- Aleetza Senn, Managing Partner,
Sparkline
To foster complementariness, HBR
recommends having everyone being clear
on what their role is in the team, as well as
flexibility on how to achieve their tasks. Team
dynamics play an integral role in creating the
right culture for collaboration to occur.
“The open office concept will encourage
sharing of domain expertise which will
foster better communication, improve
one’s effectiveness and efficiency and
increase learning opportunities. ”
- Joshua Bledsoe & Kimmy Koh, Director
of Owned Media & Paid Social, GMI &
Associate Director of Regional Search &
Performance,GMI (iProspect Singapore)
Dentsu Aegis Network
By investing in signature relationship
practices [HBR], collaborative behavior is
encouraged as highly visible investments are
made - in facilities with open floor plans to
foster communication - that demonstrate an
agency’s commitment to collaboration.

25
Creating the Right Structure
Run the agency group through a single
P&L because as long as agencies compete
head to head with their sister brands,
the incentive to collaborate is massively
weakened.”
- Jonathan Edwards, Director Analytics,
Data and Technology (APAC), MEC
Runningtheentireagencygroupunderasingle
P&L will be the biggest transformational shift
to enhance collaboration. Not only will this
discourage unhealthy competition between
agencies in the form of price undercutting,
it will foster a collaborative and innovative
culture that enables the transfer of expertise
between agencies.
“Find data that is not sensitive and shareable.
Besides that, get clear guidelines/structures/
rules on what goes in and out between sister
agencies”
- Harpreet Kaintel, CIO APAC, ZenithOptimedia
Group
In order to make collaboration seamless, a
clear structure needs to be put in place with
service-level agreements between agencies
so that everything is clearly documented with
minimal room for subjectivity.
Creating the Right Synergy
“Between media to media, get an
understanding of what are each
agency’s abilities and initiatives and find
opportunities to jointly explore.”
- Benjamin Yeow, Regional Digital
Operations Director, Starcom
Instead of using competition between
agencies as a strategy to get the best results
for a client, collaboration can be used to
create the best team to work for the client.
Prior to this, each agency needs to ascertain
who has the best tools, talents and network
for the job.
At a micro-level, young professionals in the
field can work on creating the foundation for
themselves to collaborate by expanding their
professional network.
Creating the Right Foundation
Networking can occur in diverse forms, from
casual get-togethers such as Web Analytics
Wednesdays, to the more organic variety such
as volunteering at DataKind SG. Whichever
the case, all forms encourage the exchange of
ideas and the fostering of new skills to inspire
young professionals with a new approach or
network to achieve a specific objective. That is
something that cannot be overlooked when
one seeks for collaboration.
“Instead of using
competition between
agencies as a strategy
to get the best
results for a client,
collaboration is used
instead by creating the
best team to work for
the client.”

27
With an exponential adoption rate of
technology nowadays, ad-tech companies
are now finding themselves at the forefront
of digital data collection. Many ad-tech
companies can now therefore go straight
to the marketers, and provide cheaper
alternatives to use their services. Being the
source of such digital data, ad-tech companies
have that added advantage.
“Many venture-backed ad-tech
companies that originated as agency
vendors are increasingly going directly
to marketers and offering them cheaper
ways to implement their technology.
A combination of factors -- ad-tech
companies wanting their own client
rosters and marketers wanting to control
their own data and lower costs, among
them -- has spurred the movement.”
- Alexandra Bruell, Tim Peterson, Adage.
com
“Tech firms know that there are huge
opportunities in the marketing industry,
and these platform providers are the
people who resolve the problem of data
availability.”
- Jason Tan, General Manager,
ZenithOptimedia
Such leverage has given ad-tech companies
much negotiating power, and more clients
could now be thinking that they don’t really
need the agencies anymore, leading to a
situation of redundancy.
“Everyone wants to cut out the middle-
man and see if they can lock down dollars
for themselves,”
- Christine Peterson, U.S. group media
director, MRY (Source, Adage.com)
Should such a situation be viewed as a serious
threat, or is it possibly a new opportunity that
AD-TECH
COMPANIES &
MEDIA AGENCIES,
RIVALS OF THE
NEW ERA?
6
By Lin Yukai

28
media agencies should grab hold of to make
full potential use of such emerging trends?
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BALANCE.
As the world gets increasingly more
digitalized, agencies can learn to adapt
through a two-pronged approach: by striking
a balance between building technologies and
establishing partnerships.
1. Establish partnerships with ad-tech
vendors
“Agencies need to work closely with
companies like Google and Facebook
otherwise risk missing out on some of the
latest tech solutions.”
Annalect
“The business model of a media agency
differs greatly from that of a technological
company.”
- Josh & Kimmy, Dentsu Aegis Network
It is important to be updated on the latest
trends within the marketing technology realm.
Being the middleman between such platforms
and clients, agencies takes the role of being
nimble and technology agnostic. This allows
agencies to change between tech solutions
within the marketing environment, which
gives them options to find the best solution
for a client.
Furthermore, with the vast differences in
business models between media agencies
and ad-tech companies, partnerships would
be a better option over acquisition; the latter
would add additional burdens on the agency
to sustain and manage a business unit that is
not of their expertise.
2. Building upon current technology in-
house
“Custom configurations of that tech;
data warehouses, javascript applications,
innovative ad tech deployment, clever
statistical packages and so on are exactly
what we should be doing. Building the
underlying technology is not.”
- Jonathan Edwards, Director - Analytics,
Data and Technology (APAC) MEC
“(Agencies should be) more on gaining
value from others’ technology. Agencies
need to work closely with the technology
provider and educate/equip their
employees with relevant skill sets of using
those technology to their fullest potential.”
- Vinoaj Vijeyakumaar, Managing Partner,
Sparkline
Technology is not the core expertise of media
agencies. Thus, it is important for agencies to
then explore into the area of value-addedness.
By providing the necessary training of such
technology within the agencies, employees
“Being the middleman
between such
platforms and clients,
agenciestakestherole
of being nimble and
technology agnostic.”

29
could bring out the best from such tools,
creating better and more efficient solutions
to clients with their expertise.
THE STRENGTHS OF MEDIA AGENCIES
Despite the competition, media agencies
should still be aware of certain competitive
edges they still possess, and make them work
to their advantage.
1. Possession of offline media data
“There is still a sizable market for offline
media”
- Raymond Au, Head of Analytics,
ZenithOptimedia
“The demand for offline media (analytics)
are still there, especially for large
developing nation markets, which clients
will still require in the future”
Despite the explosion of digital media, there
is still a need for traditional offline media,
which is still much prevalent in developing
nations where technology penetration rate
may not be as high. Thus, the possession
and management of these offline campaigns
and their relevant data will be one of the
advantages agencies will hold.
2. Being THE useful middleman
“Media agency technologies added value
sits in the cross channel attribution
capabilities.” - Alice Isola, Associate
Director Content/SEO, Resolution Media
“... (tech companies) may not be interested
in offering full solutions but clients still
need that. Thus, media agencies can step
in as the mediator, to be the auditor for
such data”
As the manager helping clients to run different
sets of campaigns across multiple channels,
agencies can further bring value through cross
channel attribution; they are not only able
to measure performance based on strategy
and implementation, but also to benchmark
it to industry/platform average. In addition,
agencies can double up as the mediators, to
be the auditors for the data provided by ad
tech companies. Being in a neutral position,
agencies can therefore recommend the best
media-data, tech content, and creators that
is of favourable trading terms best suited for
each individual client.
TOWARDS THE FUTURE
“As media agencies, who are managing
clients’ investments and in between
the clients and the media owners, we
should be doing more analytics for
clients in order to help them make wiser
investments, not more investments in the
long term.”
- Robin Wong, Global head of Operations,
With the ongoing trend of digitalization,
agencies should not be complacent, and

30
have continuous efforts in increasing its
internal competencies and skillsets. Thus,
as the stakeholder that manages clients’
investments and in between the clients and
ad tech companies, agencies should be
doing more analytics for clients in order to
help them make wise investments, not more
investments in the long term. Through more
direct connection with clients, agencies can
then get access to higher quality data, which
can further increase the insights of analysis
that brings high value.
CONCLUSION
“Being nimble and technology agnostic
allows you to change with the latest best
in class technology in the marketing
environment”
Annalect
The heightened competition between ad-tech
firms and agencies is generating real market
changes. It’s pressuring individual agencies
to reposition their strengths and reconsider
the costs of their ad-tech offerings. And it’s
pushing ad-tech firms to build up agency-like
capabilities to handle accounts.
Thus, in such a fast paced and evolving
environment, it is important for agencies to
increase their adaptability to adjust to the
changing trends by the ad-tech companies,
yet preserving and improving their strengths
and competitive advantages of having the
know how from offline media experiences.

“WE SHOULD BE DOING MORE ANALYTICS FOR CLIENTS IN
ORDER TO HELP THEM MAKE WISER INVESTMENTS, NOT
MORE INVESTMENTS IN THE LONG TERM.”
- ROBIN WONG, GLOBAL HEAD OF OPERATIONS, GROUPM DATA AND ANALYTICS SERVICES

THE
SQUARED
DATARATIS
CONTENT EDITORS
VICNAN KARUPPIAH
PANNIRSELVAM
JARYLL TJIOELIM SHI YING
HENG CHANG BOON SIMEON CHOO
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
ROBERT SIM KING
YIU
HAIRIZUAN BIN
NOOR AZMAN
OWEN NG SING
LIM
WEB DEVELOPERS
GOH TZE SAM
DESIGN EDITORS

LIN YUKAI TAY YU HENG
KHAIRUL ANWAR
BIN ABDUL AZIZ
JAMES DANG SHI EZEKIEL TEE
KONGQUAN
JOURNALISTS
GOH TZE SAM SEBASTIAN TAY KAI
SHENG
CELESTINE GOH
MEI ZHEN
LOW YI XIANG ANDREW YOUNG
JING LIN
AVAN KOH BANG
CHUAN
DUSTIN YANG
NENGYONG

SPECIAL
THANKS
Dentsu Aegis Network
GroupM
Maxus
MEC
Mediacom
Mindshare
OMD
Performics
PHD Media
Resolution Media
Sparkline
Starcom MediaVest Group
TBWA
Zenith Optimedia

CREDITS
Circular Speech Bubble Icon on Page 3 made by
Graphicsbay.com from Flaticon.com
Infinity Icon on Page 12, Icon on Page 18, Boxing
Gloves Icon on Page 26 and Human Icon on Page 32
made by Freepik.com from Flaticon.com
Money bag Vector Art on Page 6,Vector Art on Page 8,
Human Bulb Brain Vector Art on Page 16, and Hand
Vector Art on Page 22 designed by Freepik.com
from Flaticon.com
Image on Page 30 taken from Youtube/IAB Arena

How Media Agencies Can Make Data-Driven Solutions Deliver Real Business Value

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