The Article 29 Working Party is busy shaping the future of Europe. If you haven’t heard of this group don’t panic; it’s not the sinister new villainous organization in the latest James Bond movie. Rather it’s the European Union’s predictably dull but highly influential data-protection advisory group, who are leading the charge on the new EU Privacy Directive, due for imminent interpretation and implementation by each local EU market.

1. by Norm Johnston

2. The Article 29 Working Party is products and services. Imagine a world where
Amazon couldn’t recommend books you
busy shaping the future of Europe. If you
might like? Such draconian restrictions on
haven’t heard of this group don’t panic; it’s
data usage are actually under consideration
not the sinister new villainous organization
by some markets.
in the latest James Bond movie. Rather it’s
the European Union’s predictably dull but
To be fair the majority of consumers realize
highly influential data-protection advisory
that in return for some of their information
group, who are leading the charge on the
– whether anonymous behavioural or opt-in
new EU Privacy Directive, due for imminent
personally identifiable (PII) - brands can do
interpretation and implementation by each
a much better job adapting their products
local EU market.
and associated marketing to better meet
their unique needs. According to the UK’s
Without a doubt it’s a good idea to regulate
latest fast.MAP/DMA Data Tracker, where
and legislate when it comes to people’s
some relationship with the brand exists up to
private information. Certainly the Internet
75% of consumers would be happy to share
still at times resembles the Wild West; greater
personal information; 62% would do likewise
consumer understanding, consent, and
if they are simply in the market to buy
control over usage of their data is critical to
something.
further growing all aspects of the Internet,
whether usage, online advertising, or
At Mindshare we have a name for this
e-commerce.
accelerated data-driven and consumer-
focused mentality: Adaptive Marketing, which
At the very heart of this is an approach that enables marketers to truly
adapt their activities in rapid and unparalleled
issue is arguably the future of ways to meet their consumers’ interests and
marketing itself. needs. Not just advertising but every part of a
brand’s marketing mix to make its product(s)
more relevant and beneficial to everyone
involved. And it all depends on data.
However, similar to the USA and other
markets, privacy has become a political
hot button, which has led to the usual
scaremongering and dispersion of misleading
information. The good news is that
governments are collaborating with industry
leaders, including the likes of the IAB, Google
and WPP, to come up with a sensible solution
that balances consumer privacy concerns with
legitimate marketers’ wishes to create a more
effective and impactful online experience.
Why is this important? At the very heart of
this issue is arguably the future of marketing
itself. Without a proper – simple, intuitive,
legal, ethical - online exchange of data, both
consumers and brands will find far reaching
implications to not only advertising but also Live Dashboard Application
the way they buy, sell, create, and configure

3. Take advertising. Via Adaptive
Marketing advertisers can now optimize both
their media and creative to ensure consumers
are getting more relevant content both online
and offline.
For example, using tools like our Live
dashboard, Mindshare can now instantly
assess both slow-moving analogue and
fast-moving digital data to determine where
consumers will most likely value and engage
with a brand’s advertising and content. Offline
media such as TV can now be optimized
based on assessing real-time proxy metrics
like Twitter activity, Google searches, and
Facebook posts related to a TV spot. A recent
GroupM/Thinkbox study in the UK showed that
20% of the total response to a TV campaign is
driven immediately online within 10 minutes
“Upper funnel” marketers may
be inclined to relegate such talk to their
of exposure. Of course many of these online
direct-response oriented colleagues. However,
destinations have adaptability in their DNA,
in an increasingly digitally-connected media
each with either paid, owned, or earned
ecosystem, even those with brand objectives
opportunities to adjust brand content and
will face pressure to use Adaptive Marketing
advertising on the fly.
methods to increase their engagement levels,
video views, and Facebook “Likes”.
Mindshare can now instantly
Advertising is of course only one element
assess both slow moving analogue of Adaptive Marketing. Consumers are
and fast-moving digital data using their personal data to adapt brand
relationships in a variety of ways.
For example, marketers have been
experimenting with online adaptable
Creative messaging can also be adapted
packaging for years. Jones Soda was one of
instantly; technology like WPP’s Xaxis,
the early pioneers of customizable labels
Collective’s Tumri, and Google’s Teracent
(great for wedding gifts!). Others have since
enable advertisers to assemble ads in real-
jumped on the band-wagon. Everyone from
time based on a target audience’s behaviour
Kleenex to Frosted Flakes now offer some form
and preferences. Mindshare is even using
of adaptable packaging of their products.
social data to adapt ad units. Our Shanghai
office recently launched Social DNA 1.0, a
digital display ad unit that dynamically syncs
with users’ public profiles from QQ, Ren Ren
and Sina to create a personalized branded
experience for users. Visible World brings this
same dynamic ad configuration capability to
television. For example, Lufthansa can now
adapt their TV spots featuring different calls
to action, images, destinations, and pricing
based on different household profiles and
their physical location.
Kleenex Personalised Tissue Box

4. Pricing has become infinitely beverage by mixing together existing Coke
products and then sharing their favourite
more dynamic. Groupon and other such
creations with their friends via Facebook. P&G
crowd-sourced Web sites bring consumers
and Starbucks have set up communities on
together to influence and dictate product
Twitter and Facebook to solicit new product
pricing. Dell regularly uses Twitter to offer
ideas to feed into their product development
new price promotions based on analysing
teams. Even notoriously secretive companies
consumer sentiment. Many companies, most
like Apple are rumoured to use buzz
notoriously the gaming industry, analyse
monitoring and consumer sentiment tools to
Google search query volumes to predict sales
adapt their products based on user likes and
and consumer demand, important factors
dislikes. Likewise at Mindshare we routinely
when establishing pricing models.
use such buzz monitoring tools not only to
inform our client’s media activity but also
Even notoriously secretive to feed into their product development and
companies like Apple are customer service teams.
rumoured to use buzz monitoring
and consumer sentiment tools
Last but not least marketers are also using
digital data to adapt their actual products.
Nike lets runners customize their trainers via
Nike ID, while millions of people routinely
use My M&M’s to adapt the colour and text
on their favourite candy. Coca-Cola has
introduced their Freestyle vending machines,
which enables consumers to create their own
Coca-Cola’s Freestyle Vending Machine
Leveraging Real Time Data

5. Is all this adapting worth age of margin-pressures and the constant
threat of commoditization, some level of
it? A marketer’s level of adaptability is
Adaptive Marketing may be a necessity rather
dependent on many variables such as the
than a luxury or one-off experiment.
product’s complexity, brand positioning,
and purchase consideration levels. In
Becoming an Adaptive Marketer can require
short, marketers must ask whether an
serious structural changes. For example, the
Adaptive Marketing approach would bring
entire media process - budgeting, planning,
incremental value to their consumers and
buying, and optimizing - needs to become
to the company. In fact, some luxury brands
more fluid and “always-on” rather than static
may actually benefit from their inflexibility
and sporadic. Brands need to develop a library
and elusiveness. For others the benefits of
of creative assets – images, calls-to-action,
Adaptive Marketing can be enormous: many
applications – that can instantly be deployed
of our clients are seeing a dramatic increase
into advertising units when required.
in sales with lower CPA’s while others are
building a powerful army of Facebook fan
Fortunately offshore creative production
advocates.
facilities like WPP Deliver and our own
Mumbai Mobile Centre of Excellence enable
Processes need to be revised marketers to scale these asset libraries at
to reflect the need for speed and low cost. Processes need to be revised to
reflect the need for speed and rapid iteration.
rapid iteration. New technologies should be adopted to
handle the complexities of managing real-
time data, marketing and pricing rules,
What all marketers should consider is the
asset distribution, even packaging and
threat from new companies with adaptability
manufacturing. Companies will also need to
built into their DNA, e.g., Adorable Diapers
hire new talent, including nimble uber-geeks
for customizable nappies, the Cereal Club for
used to acting on rapid streams of incoming
your perfectly blended mix of cereals. In an
data.

6. While all of these components are
important, none is more critical than data,
which is why you should be aware of the
Article 29 Working Party and other such There are only two sources
governmental bodies. of competitive advantage: the
Data is ultimately what will enable marketers ability to learn more about
to give consumers the best content (including
ads), pricing, products, and experiences. Used
our customers faster than the
ethically it will bring rewards to everyone competition and the ability to
involved. It’s not necessarily a new idea. Jack
Welch, the former CEO of GE, once said that turn that learning into action
there are only two sources of competitive
advantage: the ability to learn more about our
faster than the competition.
customers faster than the competition and
the ability to turn that learning into action Jack Welch
faster than the competition. Who knew Jack
was our first Adaptive Marketer.