The Importance of Embracing Change in Your Personal & Professional Life
In the rapidly evolving landscape of data-driven decision-making, the role of a data strategist has emerged as pivotal in guiding organizations towards success. Molly Baker, Founder and CEO of Indie Consulting had the privilege of delving into the expertise of Stephanie Gaynor, managing director of the data strategy and analytics group at Mindshare. Join us as we explore Stephanie's unique perspective on the evolving field of data strategy, uncovering key insights and strategies that can empower organizations to thrive in a data-centric world.
Molly Baker [MB]: Talk to us a little bit about what you are thinking about in your professional life these days? What types of challenges or opportunities are top of mind?
Stephanie Gaynor [SG]: I think that the challenge and the opportunity is probably the same thing that keeps coming to mind now. The amount of change that we are dealing with right now as an industry is crazy. I feel like the change is coming from so many different directions as well. We're seeing it from more of a technical aspect, from how we go to market digitally with the deprecation of third-party cookies.
MB: Do you think that is actually going to happen?
SG: Google, in January, disabled third-party cookies for 1% of the user base on Chrome. So they're starting to do it. We are seeing signal loss. We are seeing new consumer privacy data laws come into place, which is impacting how we go to market. A lot of change in the actual digital data landscape there. We're also seeing consumers change a lot. Obviously, it's so much easier to buy products and to explore products.
And then, operationally, we are well into hybrid working now and working with AI. I just had to run a virtual workshop last week and it was going to be virtual, then it was going to be hybrid, then it was going to be in-person. You have to think about all of these different things when you're running a workshop. I think the biggest phrase that we're hearing right now is: what got us here in the last 10 years isn't going to get us there [now].
MB: I 100% agree with you that there's constant change happening.
I think it's always been the case to some extent, but now with the operational work culture changes too, it layers on top of that. How do you best collaborate and when does it make sense to be in-person versus at home when you can do everything from your laptop to a certain extent? Interpersonal connectivity is still important, I think.
Brag about yourself a little bit. What are you great at?
SG: Well, talking about change, I am good at embracing change.
I think I have a bit of a fearless attitude to jumping into the deep end when change is coming. Also, instead of being intimidated /overwhelmed by it, see where the opportunities are going to be and where the positives can be as well.
Having that mentality has allowed me to work and live in three of the best cities for advertising, New York, LA, and London. It's allowed me to work on some amazing clients and with some of the smartest brains in the industry. So, I think not shying away from it and jumping into it is one of my biggest strengths.
MB: More and more it seems that brands are really struggling to understand who their customers are. So often we ask our clients, who are you trying to target? What does your current customer look like? They say everybody, which is the worst answer.
Talk to me a little bit about how you see brands figuring out who their customers are today and determining that?
SG: It has to start with a strong data strategy. We are very fortunate in this day and age that we have data that is very representative of a lot of our consumers. We see time and time again where our clients will either have this aspirational view of their consumer or they'll have the person buying the product who isn't the same as the person using the product.
We have to really think about who our actual consumer is that we want to talk to. Why I say data strategy, not all companies and not all brands will have a data asset that represents their buyer. Especially for CPGs or people who don't necessarily own that last mile or own that sale. You have to think about who you want to borrow data from to be able to get a good representation of your consumer.
Once you've [have] that good representation of your consumer and your prospect consumers, then you can start looking at the differences between your buyer, your category, and your prospect to understand where you need to grow. So, it all starts with that really good foundation of who your consumer is.
We're seeing some brands really kind of invest into technology to be able to do this as well. But it has to come back down to that data strategy to understand who your true consumer is.
MB: So, if you're not a DTC brand and you don't own that last mile data, where do you start?
SG: There are so many different touch points when it comes to purchasing. It's really about understanding where those touch points are, whether that be in a brick and mortar or online. I would recommend running an RFI to understand the quality & governance of that data. Then understanding, for your business, if you want to bring that data in or if you want to work with someone else.
Definitely start off with where your consumer is actually purchasing the product. And then start there.
MB: Let's say, you've figured out your data source, you're looking at your customers today, then then what?
SG: Customer strategy for me is understanding what the motivation is behind the consumer. Why are they buying? Why would they buy it? Why do they care about buying? Where are they buying?
Then you can start putting together and translating that into a marketing approach to activate against.
MB: I think your role is so interesting because it is the antithesis of the way things were done traditionally. Your point before about this aspirational view of our customer, that was how marketing was done.
Who is our persona that we're going after? Who is the ideal buyer? Then we're going to create everything around that sort of hypothesis. Now in the age of data that we have available to us, we can really see who actually are these people and then build up from there.
SG: A lot of times the end consumer doesn't necessarily change. We recommend doing an audience refresh or a customer refresh twice a year. Some brands just need it annually. If you're bringing out a new product, then you need to do it more regularly.
The motivations and the reason why someone is buying change so much. We're seeing culture shift so quickly as well, which impacts that too.
MB: What data sources do you think that most brands should be looking at today or have access to? Do any really stand out?
SG: I would actually reverse the question. To get brands to think about where the touchpoints are within their consumer journey that can be translated to a data signal and an addressable signal at scale. Then think about the data sources.
Industries are so different. If you go back to the traditional marketing funnel, the traditional marketing consumer journey is: I become aware of an ad, then I consider an ad, then I convert.
That doesn't happen anymore. I can be scrolling through my Instagram feed and I could convert within two minutes of getting introduced to a brand. There are so many ways now that it's really important for brands to understand their consumer journeys and then identify the data sources that can translate into that.
For example, it could be, I'm adding to cart on a retail.com. Well, I need to use that signal from that retailer and I need to intercept that moment. If I don't, then my competitor probably will.
There's an exploratory article where someone is looking at plant based personal care products. That is a great place for a CPG to be and you wanna be in that data set.
Your own data. You see some companies who have amazing first-party data assets and people who are on their site browsing different product pages and they need to prioritize that asset.
We're seeing a lot of zero party data companies come up now, which is really interesting consent-driven data. Which, I think, will perform really well because of the nature of it. Someone has actually consented and is clear why they're handing over their data to a company.
In a roundabout way, think about your consumer journey first, then really attach that to a digital or addressable signal that can scale. Then start thinking about the different kinds of sources or the different data partners that can really translate back into that signal.
MB: What relationship has been most impactful on you professionally?
SG: I've had some amazing mentors and some amazing managers, but the most impactful are my girlfriends. I have a really tight group of girls and we are all at the same stage in our careers. And whether we know it or not, we're all pushing each other to be better. They're all girl bosses respectively in their roles.
Even if I've had a bad day or not feeling up for it, their motivation is inspiring and infectious to be around. They're also my biggest cheerleaders. I did my first conference last year, presenting at Datt Unplugged in New York for data ethics and how to operationalize data ethics. They threw me a little dinner and I got a card and champagne. It's just little things that you can do really and people who will celebrate you. It’s really been impactful in my career.
And then I would probably say my dad. He's not in the industry at all.
I used to be a track and field athlete. One thing about track and field is that you have to be able to perform on race day. I think he should’ve had a little master class on how to get prepped for performance for your race day. He's very good at it. All the mental training that we went through, I've used in how to prepare for an interview, a conference, a big client meeting, etc.
I think in our industry being able to just get up and perform when you need to is something people don't realize is important.
MB: Tell me about your friends. How did you meet this group? Are they professional or personal connections? How did you build this network?
SG: They're all majority expats in New York. All different, some in the marketing industry and some are not. All met through friends of friends and having similar values, hard work ethic, and wanting to have a bit of an adventure in New York.
MB: I love that. So, tell us who you are and what you do! Give us the reveal.
SG: I'm Stephanie Gaynor. I work for Mindshare, which is a global media WPP agency. I am one of the managing directors of the data strategy and analytics group.
MB: What does an average day-in-the-life look like?
SG: We are in the data strategy and analytics group. We are really pushing forward with future-fit and future-forward data strategies for our clients.
So the average day-in-the-life is really working with our clients to understand what their problems are to create new solutions for them all rooted in data research and marketing science.
I also have a team. So making sure that they are growing, developing, and putting together solutions that really drive data strategy forward for our clients. Whether that be mainly in audience strategy and in customer strategy, and tying that through all the way through to data activation.
We also do a lot of thought leadership, so around the identity space. We spoke before about third-party cookie deprecation, what's going to happen there, what our clients should be doing.
I'm also a data ethics champion. One of my passions is how can we, as an organization, use data more ethically, and operationalize that across companies. So, yeah, that's what I do.
MB: Tell us a little bit more about the data ethics piece.
SG: We have a lot of data privacy laws and governance laws. People really started to learn about that with GDPR and CCPA, but we're broadening out state by state. Potentially, there'll be a federal law in the future.
We know how quickly advertisers work, especially digital advertisers, and how quickly we've all accelerated in using data for targeting and to make our marketing campaigns better, more efficient, and more effective. We've really accelerated so fast, quicker than the law was able to set governance around. The best way to describe it is just because we can, doesn't mean we should. Just because I can use this sensitive or personal data to make my marketing campaign more effective, should I?
At the end of the day, is that a responsible use of data? Is that how the end consumer would want people to use my data?
Why is that important? We should all be better humans and we should all be better using and taking more responsibility for the kind of power that we have. Also, we know from various studies that consumers are very worried about this now. Consumer trust correlates back to business growth as well.
If we find out there's a data breach or that there has been a misuse of data, which we've seen in a couple of companies and the FTC is starting to find now, that is going to have an impact on if a consumer wants to buy your product from your company.
I think people will be hopefully happy to hear that people are out here thinking about this kind of stuff. .
MB: I think people will be hopefully happy to hear that people are out here thinking about this kind of stuff.
What is the high and the low of your current role?
SG: My high is that my team has been rocking it lately. I’ve been really enjoying watching them grow and take on challenges. Stuff that they couldn't do a year ago and they're taking them in stride now. That's been really lovely to watch.
I'm also an athlete at heart so I love performing. I love getting up and doing a good client presentation, getting acknowledgement for it, and knowing that we hit the mark with our response to their proposal.
MB: I wanna know more about your dad's prep for race day.
SG: It's a whole program. Very structured. I think it's just a mixture of organization, knowing when you need to perform and working back from that. Specific things we need to do this week and then next week. So more of the physical aspect, I would say.
But then mental stuff as well and a lot of visualization. I was a sprint hurdler. I used to be able to run my race in my head at the same exact time that I would be doing it normally physically. He would say on your mark, get set, go., I would run my race in my head and tell him when I was finished, and then it would be the same time.
Really mastering that visualization, and then getting prepped up for race day, having your hype song. Now whenever I go to a big meeting or conference, I'll have my hype song.
It's just little things like that. He's retired now but I'll get him to do a master class.
MB: What's your hype song?
SG: It varies. This is very, very cringe. The last time I did a big, client meeting, I was so obsessed with The Little Mermaid’s ‘Part of your World’.
MB: I love that. I do think it's important because if you are picturing positive things happening, winning, and achieving certain goals, they are more likely.
What's the low of your role?
SG: The low is when I don’t quite meet a client assignment. Especially in my realm of work where it's data strategy, things can get very technical. There's a real fine balance between not going too granular with all the data and the tech, but then also not being too high level because people do expect that.
When you don't hit that mark and a client is like, I was expecting a bit more. I would say that's the low.
MB: Did you think at 21 you'd ever be in the role that you're in now?
SG: My role definitely wasn't a thing when I was 21. So no. But I always knew that I would be in a fast paced environment. I love being around passionate people and I think being at an agency you're always around passionate people. I knew I wanted to work in a big city so I think I knew the environment. I knew I wanted to work with people with the end product being people, which is with advertising.
But, I didn't even know what data strategy was when I was 21.
MB: What would be your biggest piece of advice you'd give someone who's interested in getting more into the data and analytics side?
SG: Definitely be from an immediate perspective as well, being solution oriented. I say that because it is data, but it's not always black and white. So you have to be able to come to the table with a solution and be able to pivot quickly if that solution doesn't work out. I think that's a huge one that when I'm interviewing or building my teams, I look for.
I would also say to get your cheerleaders and network early on early on in your career. I think that's really something that people can be doing a better job of.
Then the last one is probably having a life outside of work. If you have your passions outside of work that are completely different, it can really help avoid burnout. It makes your perspectives more interesting. It allows you to actually work harder and bring better stuff to the table.
Trendy or Tragic
SG: I'm all about a rewards program. I think it's a great way to collect data and I also think it's a great way to add value back to that consumer. But I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks coffee so I'm going to say tragic on that one.
In-house AI tools versus open source i.e. ChatGPT?
SG: From just an ethical standpoint, I think in-house are trendy. I think it's a way for us to really add more governance and regulation to AI in general, which I think is definitely faster.
SG: I'm going to say trendy as well for that one. It was going to happen. I think the more places that people can have those touchpoints and consume, I'm for it.
Check out Stephanie Gaynor on LinkedIn.
As for us, follow @namedrop.pod on Instagram & LinkedIn and @molbakes on Instagram for all future episodes and insights.
