How RMB’s data strategy maximized its clients’ advertising ROI

RMB wants to help customers achieve their advertising targets, and streamline its internal processes at the same time. A couple of years ago, the organization realized that a data-centered business strategy would take both its services and its internal operations to the next level.

Get by with a little help from your friends

After diving into the wealth of data by themselves, the RMB team understood that two data-savvy heads are better than one. Soon, the choice to collaborate with an external partner turned out to be the right one.

“For a company such as ours, which used to be mainly driven by manual processes, I recommend ‘Don’t do it alone’,” says Massimo Papa, Deputy General Director at RMB. “When you start your data journey, you may already have an idea of your destination. But there are many pitfalls along the way. We tried to tackle the data a couple of times on our own. In the end, however, it was delaware’s expertise that allowed us to set up a truly successful data strategy. They really helped us define the why, what and how of it all.”

A business partnership between customer and supplier

RMB’s customers are reaping the benefits as well. They gain more insights into both their return on investment and their return on acquisition. “By connecting RMB’s data flows and the customer’s, we can say exactly how much someone spent after seeing or hearing a specific ad,” explains Benoît Loffet, Senior Manager Data & AI at delaware.

“Thanks to the data solutions that we have developed with delaware, we can predict which timing is the best choice for a campaign, considering a client’s industry and competitors,” adds Massimo. “In that way, delaware has helped us evolve from pure advertising management to a data-driven company. Our customer-supplier relationship has become a business partnership.”

Data as a breeding ground

“The story at RMB and other delaware customers demonstrates that data is not the ‘new gold’ or ‘new oil’,” confirms Benoît. “Instead, you should consider data as a breeding ground for new insights, improved business processes or even new business models.”

Nonetheless, that soil needs several nutrients to ensure fruitful and enduring growth. Those do not just include the necessary tools and technology, but also data governance, communication and an environment that promotes knowledge sharing and training.

“Whatever improvements you want to make, it’s not enough just to rely on technology,” clarifies Benoît. “You need to familiarize every employee with the new business model, highlight data transparency and focus on proper change management. At delaware, we guarantee that those don’t get pushed to the back.”

A new way of working

That attitude completely shifted the company’s way of working. “It changed RMB’s corporate culture, processes and objectives, the ways in which decisions were made, and so on,” states Benoît. “Data just make it easier to label and address your pain points.”

Massimo adds, “For example, what if you’re figuring out how to reduce absenteeism at work? In the past, we might have set up a task force with a handful of analysts, who would spend their days crunching numbers in Excel spreadsheets. Or we would have organized a lot of workshops.”

With delaware’s support, RMB is now able to find the answers to similar challenges by simply pushing a proverbial button. “Linking our databases has made that possible,” explains Massimo. “As such, we can see that flexible hours and working from home can diminish absenteeism. It may sound simple, but it clearly illustrates how data allow us to make factual decisions without having to rely on a manager’s experience, intuition, … - or the results of twenty-three workshops.”