GroupM wants to take media into a new era. But in such a competitive industry, it needed a data platform to accelerate its journey. With Snowflake’s Data Cloud, GroupM now has the flexibility and scalability to move media towards a data-driven future. And with Snowflake’s data collaboration capabilities , it can give more control to its clients, too.
GroupM is a world leading media investment company with a vision to lead the next era of media. Made up of Mindshare, Mediacom, Wavemaker, Essence, and mSix&Partners, GroupM contains three of the top five global media agencies and is responsible for $53 billion in annual media spend.
In such a competitive industry, and with a drive to deliver the best outcomes for clients, GroupM knew data was vital to achieving its goals. We spoke to Simon Lloyd, Head of Engineering at GroupM, to find out how the media investment company is making the most of data with Snowflake.
Disparate systems created unnecessary complexity
GroupM’s previous ecosystem was made up of multiple different solutions, each working at separate stages of the data lifecycle. With such a complex landscape across the business, Lloyd wanted a solution that could simplify GroupM’s ecosystem into one tech stack with best-in-class tools at each layer.
“With such a broad landscape to deal with we wanted a solution that was simple and cost effective,” explained Lloyd.
A flexible, scalable approach to data warehousing and sharing
GroupM wanted to separate its technology and data from its use cases, so it could get the flexibility it needed to usher in the next era of media. With this clear goal in mind, Lloyd and his team decided Snowflake’s platform was the best solution to meet their needs.
“We chose Snowflake because it addressed a number of our key requirements,” said Lloyd. “It took care of data warehouse ops which, as a small team without the capacity or resource to have a dedicated person, was a big plus for us.”
“And it’s flexible and scalable,” added Lloyd. “We use Snowflake to power everything from our web apps, campaign optimization, and client reporting, all while being able to track costs on an application-by-application basis.”
GroupM’s agencies have the freedom to share data
Now GroupM’s agencies can work in the way that best suits them, without the need to rely on a central resource. This removes bottlenecks and increases autonomy and flexibility, while enabling seamless data collaboration.
Lloyd explained: “Through Snowflake’s data collaboration capabilities we can easily disseminate information across the business, and even to clients—who are becoming increasingly hungry for data rather than static reports.”
And Snowflake’s data collaboration capabilities leave data stewardship in the hands of the experts that know that data the best.
Greater insight for GroupM and its clients
Lloyd is excited to see how Snowflake will help GroupM transform media in the future: “Through global Snowflake implementation, we’ll be able to harmonize data and creativity in ways, and at a scale, that have just not been possible previously.”
Lloyd also plans to extend the benefits of Snowflake to GroupM’s clients, to make sure that they have the tools to move media towards an exciting, data-driven future.
“Using Snowflake’s technology, we can give our clients secure access to data through clean rooms and data sharing,” Lloyd adds. “And that will allow them to control their media in brand new ways.”
