Data is at the heart of all our campaigns: Anjali Krishnan, Mondelez
With consumers spending more time online, it's imperative for brands to engage them on digital platforms, and data is just the tool for that, says Krishnan, Head of Media at Mondelez India
There has never been a greater opportunity to gather consumer data and utilise it for creating products, experiences, and communications that speak to them on a personal level. Data is helping organizations across the globe to connect better with consumers, innovate on unprecedented scales, and be closer to the hearts and minds of the people they serve.
Data-driven marketing is a huge tool in the arsenal for modern marketers who are aspiring to change the way businesses are done and customer relationships are built. One of the most aggressive players in the Indian market today, when it comes to data-driven marketing, is Mondelez. Be it their NFT collection for Gems or ‘Cadbury Celebrations’ Cannes-winning festive campaigns, the brand has kept data at the core of every marketing innovation in recent times.
In an interaction with e4m, Mondelez India Head of Media Anjali Krishnan shared all about the importance of data-driven marketing and how the brand is crafting bespoke experiences and campaigns using the approach. Edited excerpts follow:
On data-driven decision making
Speaking on the importance of data-driven marketing in modern times, Krishnan highlighted that the modern consumer is spending more time online than in any other place. It, therefore, becomes imperative to engage with them on digital platforms and data is the tool that allows brands to do that.
She said, “It is very important to know the choices and behaviour of our consumers if we want to serve them well — be it around our products or content, or engagement. This helps the brands to take well-informed decisions and improve the customer experience. Data-driven decision-making allows us to do that.”
How Mondelez is getting critical consumer data
As the digital world evolves and gears up for a cookie-less future, brands need to have better control over accessing and holding consumer data. Well aware of this fact, Mondelez, over the past few years, has been working hard to improve its data-collection and data-analytics capabilities.
Krishnan shared, “We get concentrated user data from two primary sources: one is our ongoing campaigns and the other is our own media platforms like our website and content channels. We have our Cadbury Play app as well. Additionally, we have recently embarked on our CDP and CRM journey. We are utilising all industry standard tools when it comes to social media, culling data based on engagement, time, efficiency and effectiveness of a campaign.”
How data is driving purpose for Mondelez
All of this data is then used to create purpose-driven campaigns, which are more than mere pieces of communication. As Krishnan highlighted, “We have our Cadbury Celebrations’ festive campaign that also got India its first Titanium Lion at Cannes this year. The campaign helped us in supporting more than 2000 retailers across 500 different pin codes. Next, we have our Dairy Milk ‘Heart the Hate’ campaign, again based on solid data insight around cyberbullying. Our endeavour with Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk on this Valentine’s Day led us to host the first date in the metaverse, and a lot more. Data sits at the heart of all of these campaigns.”
Challenges to data-driven marketing
On being quizzed about the challenges that Mondelez India faces when curating data-driven campaigns, Krishnan replied, “Most CPG companies do not have their own data strength. So, we essentially do not have anyone to look up to. We are trying to figure out the ropes on our own at this point in time.”
She added that the ever-changing dynamics of the digital world are a unique challenge too, “The consumer trends and behaviour are always changing. Therefore, it is very difficult to have a constant unified understanding of our customers. We have to constantly evolve our data strength and that is a task too. Most importantly, to continuously figure out how to be the most relevant to your customers – that’s quite challenging.”
Could monetary investments be a challenge too? Krishnan doesn’t think so, “I don’t think it is a challenge. Obviously, it is an investment but we don’t see it as an incremental cost. Data sits at the core of all our marketing efforts and strategies.”
