Episode 1: Marketing Disruptions and Data Analytics Modernization in a Post-Pandemic World

Shayla: In the wake of the pandemic, it’s been heartwarming to see different communities coming together, recognizing people working on the front lines of this global crisis. In addition to human support, another element that is critical to public health and economic response is data. Data is at the very core of the efforts to understand and predict the impact that the pandemic has had and will continue to have on our businesses, employees, and our lives in general. The tremendous amount of epidemiological data that has enabled scientists, health workers, government authorities, and industry leaders to make informed decisions. So it’s not surprising that data analytics, which is primarily known for its problem solving and predictive superpowers, that’s become an essential navigational tool supporting several high-priority tasks that businesses are faced with. What is surprising, however, is how quickly organizations, even the ones with limited analytics experience have stepped up and implemented analytics solutions for many business purposes.

And so, with that in mind, we’re excited to bring to you Grazitti’s new 6-part podcast series – Marketing Analytics Central – Conversations on Blazing Ahead With Data. My name is Shayla Wentz and I’m a marketing automation and demand generation manager here at Grazitti. Being a marketing communications enthusiast, subjects like data analytics and big data interests me a lot, which is why I will be your host for this marketing analytics podcast series. I’m delighted to also have David Edelman here with us for each episode in this exclusive podcast series. David is a global executive advisor for digital and marketing transformation, a member of Grazitti’s advisory board, and has formerly served as CMO at Aetna. With over 30 years of experience as a chief marketing officer, David has helped several consultancy businesses with product and digital marketing transformation. He works as an advisor to top executives at startups, midsized, and enterprise-level organizations driving large-scale change from both clients and client service side. How are you today, David? Thanks for being here.

David: Oh my pleasure! Doing great Shayla.

Shayla: Excellent. We’re excited to get started. So without further ado, here’s the first episode of our podcast series, Marketing Disruptions and Data Analytics Modernization in a Post-pandemic World. We’ve seen disruption in almost every possible sphere in marketing avenue, but media has definitely been taught in terms of a digital shift. What, in your opinion, David, were the most significant reasons for media organizations to accelerate their digital channel shift from traditional TV to different OTT platforms?

David: Well, it’s pretty clear, I think from everybody’s own behavior that the OTT platforms – Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus, Peacock. All of these just saw a surge of activity. People were there. Um, people had a lot more time. They got more engaged with various shows and these platforms were serving up quite the variety of on-demand content that people could see in most cases without commercial interruption. So it’s where the market, where the market was. At the same time, there’s also been improvements in these OTT platforms who are now starting to offer more rudimentary ways of targeting. This will get dramatically more advanced. It’ll get way more personalized over time. But we are now starting to see those capabilities. So marketers can start using the OTT channels in more ways that are similar to the way they’ve been targeting online. I think we’re just seeing the beginnings of that, but it’s going to accelerate dramatically further in the next few years.

Shayla: Yeah. Excellent. I think you’re exactly right. And, you know, meeting customer demands is a really important aspect of this digital shift. How do you think businesses can manage the unpredictability of these demands?

David: Well, one of the most important things is to have your data radar out. Uh, so you need to understand where people are, what people are buying. I mean, that’s an obvious thing to say, but it’s not necessarily easy to get your arms around that. So working through in, in the case of media with your media agencies, making sure you’re looking at Google’s all kinds of search data, making sure you’re looking at trends in terms of media consumption and being very specific in terms of the market segments that you’re going after, the keywords that are of interest to you and even, and looking very closely at what’s driving traffic into your own properties. Where are you seeing demand coming from? Are there differences versus before in terms of the trends? Um, that’s something that you or any company can actually get their arms around. The question is how fast are you actually looking at that and reacting to that. So it’s important to have your arms around that data to see it, to know it, to have a quick response capability. I think also partnering with your agencies because in many cases, the data that comes from agencies becomes really important.And you’ve got to raise the bar on what you’re asking for from those agencies, having them share data with you, having joint teams, looking at that, and parsing it for what it’s actually saying versus just leaving the media decisions as a black box that’s with your agency. I think most marketers are going to be building up their own media capabilities that could be a challenge to the media agencies, but it can also mean just simply having smarter clients who can work with them so that you can be more effective together.

Shayla: Excellent! Yes. Um, so another trend that we’ve seen in the last year and a half is remote health services have picked up significantly. Now, this is shifting gears a little bit, but as we talk about organizations working to meet revenue targets, increasing productivity, their efficiencies, all while ensuring the health and safety of their people, this is going to continue to be an important topic. You know, we’re seeing a lot of people now avoiding going to the clinic or hospital for medical issues that they think can be resolved virtually. Virtual health will most likely be one of the permanent outcomes of the pandemic. So, David, how do you think data and analytics can support telehealth and telemedicine?

David: Yeah, there’s many different angles. You know, one of the most important things that actually happens now with telehealth and telemedicine is the actual act of having a digital interaction creates data in and of itself. And there’s more data that’s coming out of those interactions. And it’s also providing access to people who could not get easy access before. So creating more information on more people than you were able to see before. I mean, even, for example, people getting telehealth access while they’re at work, taking a break to do that without having to travel. That’s just opening up all kinds of opportunities that businesses realize. In mental health, that’s become a huge growth area where people are able to get access to therapists without having to get into a car and travel. Um, my wife is actually a therapist and it’s just amazing how her practice has grown dramatically from a telehealth perspective. But what is interesting about a lot of the data that’s coming out is you can start to see patterns. You can see what are the types of things that people are going to tell the health for what is getting resolved in telehealth versus where they have to do a referral back to a regular visit.

How much is that changing the actual cost of care, changing the outcomes, changing the nature of prescription rates for drugs and all of this is leading to new ideas for clinical pathways and encouraging certain kinds of care to start from a telehealth perspective before people see anybody because that can be a terrifically, both cost-efficient and convenient triage point for people. So for many of the providers out there who are starting to use telehealth to reach their patients for the payers who also want to encourage lower cost and more efficient ways of delivering care, understanding those patterns and looking at that mix is going to become important. That’s going to change compensation rates for the payers. Um, because if telehealth is something that’s going to be more important, you gotta pay the providers for it. And so we’re, we’re going to see shifts in the nature of how we think about clinical pathways, how they’re funded, how patients are encouraged, a lot of behavior change marketing that’s done by payers to get people to do more low-cost ways of getting their care is, of course, going to encourage telehealth. And you’re also seeing large companies, like for example, where I used to work CVS, Aetna launching their own telehealth capabilities because, in the case of CVS, they had minute clinics. It’s just a natural thing now to offer telehealth as well. So that they can very, very quickly reach their base connect that right up for example, with Aetna’s care systems.

So you can triage people and get them immediately while you have them on the phone, into a care management program. So I think we’re going to see a huge change in the nature of care, way more happening through tele, but not everything can happen. And I think that’s where the data is going to help us understand the priorities for where it works better.

Shayla: Excellent. Yeah, it’s it seems like it’s going to be a whole new world with regards to some of these industries, um, plays such a key role in our daily lives. Well, thank you so much for being with us here today, David. I had that’s the end of our episode, number one. Um, we’ll be sure to tune in next time when we discuss Marketing in the Post-pandemic World. Thank you so much!

David: Thank you!