It’s not 2+2, but two times two: Satyan Gajwani

“Big data, when accompanied with a vision, can transform businesses today,” maintains Satyan Gajwani, Chief Executive Officer, Times Internet.

While there is a huge quantum of data available today, the challenge really lies in using the available data in scalable and systematic ways. Balancing the context further, Gajwani added that the large amount of human intervention does create concerns around bias of data, the collection and assessment of which is largely a manual process.

Managing a digital company which runs websites, mobile sites and apps, Gajwani shared, “For us data is really easy to capture. The first stage is all about deciding the kind of data that we want to collect and thereafter, we ask ourselves how we are going to collect it.” He then put forth the fact that the mandate is of ‘Audience First’ which means, instead of looking at total number of page views, the concern is more around what the user is actually doing on the sites. “There are always different types of users making content consumption very diverse too. So, we started slicing and dicing our data and began to take a multi-dimensional approach to it. We knew that it’s not two plus two, but it’s two times two,” he appended.

Gajwani re-emphasised the collection and organisation of data and ultimately using it to make intelligent insights leading to productive decision making. “Can we start thinking about different content for the different types of users who consume content on the fifteen properties we run besides The Times of India and Economic Times? To answer this question, we started by testing a few ideas.” He then explained the function of ‘I Beam’ in helping the folks at Times Internet look at data across different segments and categories, adding thereby a lot of complexity around how people are interacting with the variety of content. He divulged the segregation of different types of consumers as Flybys, Occasionals, Regulars, Fans and Loyals, depending upon the time they spent consuming content. So while a Loyal might visit the page more than five times a month, sitting at the bottom of the ladder is a Flyby who might hardly make a once a month visit.

Talking about the relevance of the advertiser in this ever evolving milieu, Gajwani noted, “The one thing that is not really successful is the ad spots. The decision to do something different was driven essentially by data. We thought about creating the option for the ad spot to move and went ahead with it. So, everytime you visited the page, the ad spot wasn’t in the same place. And once we did that, the resultant Click Through Rate (CTR) was significantly higher.”

Comprehensively condensing the way forward, Gajwani shared a few takeaways emerging from all the learnings at Times Internet. He first stressed on starting small and building conviction. “It’s really easy to make it really complex and then fail,” he said. Investing in collecting good quality data is also something Gajwani went on to endorse. “Hire nerds and give them room. And lastly, drive it from the top and make sure you have clarity in management and strategy because there are investments and equal number of failures involved,” he concluded.

While engaging in a conversation with Ravi Rao, Leader, Mindshare South Asia and answering his question on the integration of slow moving data from traditional channels, Gajwani said that the two platforms are treated separately since the way Times’ markets online is independent of its offline strategy. On being asked from the audience about younger people being better handlers of New Media and digital enterprises, Gajwani replied, “It is less about age and more about where one’s orientation is.”

Satyan Gajwani was sharing his views at the Delhi leg of the e4m Conclave on October 22, 2012. He was speaking on the topic ‘How can big data, along with vision, transform businesses today’. The Conclave is presented by Jagran.