Good data is a critical part of building a robust business strategy. Organizations use actionable data insight to improve the customer experience, drive operational efficiencies, leverage cost savings, and enhance the bottom line. In fact, the majority of sales decisions are expected to be driven by customer data by 2020. This is not surprising, given the volume and variety of data available to us today. We are spending so much to store and manage this information, we might as well use it to our advantage. Businesses are focused on using the power of analytics and the information they have before them to better serve customers and optimize business processes. However, a new Experian Data Quality study shows that the majority of organizations are not in possession of the high quality data needed for these decisions, which has been the case for the past several years. About a quarter of information is believed to be inaccurate and that poor quality data is affecting many aspects of operations and the customer experience. The main reason for this high level of inaccuracy is poor data management practices. Data management is often fragmented and driven by multiple stakeholders rather than by a single data specialist. This creates inconsistencies in the data and reactive processes for correcting inaccuracies. The good news is this legacy mindset is starting to change. We are seeing more organizations advance their data management strategies to include a central data owner and a number of data management projects planned over the next year, especially around data integrations, data cleansing, and data migrations. The biggest problem organizations face around data management today actually comes from within. Businesses get in their own way by refusing to create a culture around data and not prioritizing the proper funding and staffing for data management. Many businesses know they need to improve their data quality, but often have a hard time defining why an investment is needed in the current structure. Organizations need to invest in the people, processes, and technology around data management to improve this valuable asset and leverage it to improve their organizational performance. To learn more about global trends in data management, download The 2016 global data management benchmark report.
New findings from the 2015 holidays season were released by Experian Marketing Services a recognized leader in data-driven marketing and cloud-based marketing technology, showing a significant increase in email volume year-over-year. The report, Holiday Hot Sheet: Insights for the Holiday Marketer, indicates that email volume rose 24.8 percent during the 2015 holiday season compared to 2014, across all-industry verticals. Despite the increase in volume, the number of email opens, clicks and transactions also increased. Unique email opens increased 19 percent, unique email clicks increased 10 percent and email transactions increased 20 percent. “As retailers find more ways to incorporate data to create more personalized and relevant emails, we are seeing both volume and transactions increase,” said Spencer Kollas, vice president of global deliverability services at Experian Marketing Services. “The 2015 holiday season showed us once again that marketers are still finding email to be a valuable way to increase sales.” The report highlights other key marketing trends that defined the 2015 holiday season including the popularity of free shipping and an increase in emails opened on mobile devices. Ninety percent of retail email campaigns included an offer According to Experian’s analysis, 90 percent of retail email campaigns during the 2015 holiday season included an offer, free shipping was the most common, followed by percent off. The percent-off email offers featuring coupons or codes increased from 34 percent to 40 percent in 2015, allowing more tracking of responses. Mobile shopping continues to increase The report found that the percent of email clicks received on a mobile device from retailers during the peak of the holiday season increased 7 percent from 2014. In addition, SMS messaging continued to be an emphasis. 88 percent of text messages included an offer with 55 percent of text messages including some percent off. Cyber Monday retained its rank as the top email volume and transaction day Although Thanksgiving Day unseated Cyber Monday as the top online shopping day, Experian Marketing Services research shows that Cyber Monday retained its rank as the top email volume and transaction date. The top three email transaction dates in 2015 included: Cyber Monday Black Friday Sunday after Black Friday The top three email volume dates in 2015 included: Cyber Monday Black Friday Day before Thanksgiving
2,500 university students across 16 cities have been trained by Experian's experts and young volunteers of the social responsibility project ‘Manage Your Future Now’ project. The project, which was launched by Experian to promote self-improvement among university students, female entrepreneurs, and SMEs, reached the milestone in December and the achievement was celebrated at a recent event at the Experian office in Turkey. Coming from 10 cities across the country, 42 participants gathered to share their experiences. Feedback was positive with everyone agreeing that the project has been beneficial in increasing awareness of social responsibility. The participants were presented with a certificate for their commitment and contribution to the project. ‘Manage Your Future Now’ is a partnership between Experian, the United Nations Development Program and the Habitat Association/Center and Credit Bureau. The initiative includes providing training on financial risks, responsible borrowing, financial management and the efficient management of relationships with banks and the financial sector. Didem Köprücü, Human Resources Manager for Turkey and the Middle East at Experian, said: “We are proud that more people are benefiting under the ‘Manage Your Future Now’ project. Our training is improving every year and I would like to thank all the volunteers and young trainers for their valuable contribution. “The third stage of our project in 2016 will cover financial risk management, as well as financial opportunities for entrepreneur candidates. For this stage of the project we plan to reach 3,000 students and entrepreneur candidates across 26 cities. “However, we intend to continue our project, reaching more people every year.” The project aims to reach 3,000 students by the end of March 2016.
Today, we stand at the forefront of a digital revolution that is reshaping the financial services industry. And, against this backdrop, financial institutions are at vastly different levels of maturity; the world’s biggest banks are managing large-scale infrastructure migrations and making significant investments in AI while regional banks and credit unions are putting plans in place for modernization strategies, and fintechs are purpose-built and cloud native. To explore this more, I recently had the privilege of attending the annual Reuters NEXT live event in New York City. The event gathers globally recognized leaders across business, finance, technology, and government to tackle some of today’s most pressing issues. On the World Stage, I joined Del Irani, a talented anchor and broadcast journalist, to discuss the future of lending and the pivotal role of data and AI in building a more inclusive financial system. Improving financial access Our discussion highlighted the lack of access to traditional financial systems, and the impact it has on nearly 100 million people in North America alone. Globally, the problem affects over one billion people. These people, who are credit invisible, unscoreable, or have subprime credit scores, are unable to secure everyday financial products that many of us take for granted. What many don’t realize is, this is not a fringe subset of the population. Most of us, myself included, know someone who has faced the challenges of financial exclusion. Everyday Americans, including young people who are just starting out, new immigrants and people from diverse communities, often lack access to mainstream financial products. We discussed how traditional lending has a limited view of a consumer. Like looking through a keyhole, the lender’s understanding of the person in view is often incomplete and obstructed. However, with expanded data, technology, and advanced analytics, there is an opportunity to better understand the whole person, and as a result have a more inclusive financial system. At Experian, we have a unique ability to connect the power of traditional credit with alternative data, bringing a more holistic understanding of consumers and their behaviors. We are dedicated to leveraging our rich history in data and our expertise in technology to create the future of credit and ultimately bring financial power to everyone. The future of lending After spending two days with over 700 industry leaders from around the world, one thing is abundantly clear: much like the early days of the internet, today, we are at the cutting-edge of a technical revolution. Reflecting on my time at Reuters NEXT, I am particularly excited by the collective commitment to drive innovative, and smarter ways of working. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of how data and technology can transform financial services, and Experian is positioned to play a significant role. As we look to the future, I am excited about the ways we will create new opportunities for businesses and consumers alike.
The advertising ecosystem has seen significant transformation over the past few years, with increased privacy regulation, changes in available signals, and the rise of channels like connected TV and retail media. These changes are impacting the way that consumers interact with brands and how brands understand and continue to deliver relevant messages to consumers with precision. Experian has been helping marketers navigate these changes, and as a result, our marketing data and identity solutions underpin much of today’s advertising industry. We’re committed to empowering marketers and agencies to understand and reach their target audiences, across all channels. Today, we are excited to announce our acquisition of Audigent—a leading data and activation platform in the advertising industry. With Audigent’s combination of first-party publisher data, inventory and deep supply-side distribution relationships, publishers, big and small, can empower marketers to better understand their customers, expand the reach of their target audiences and activate those audiences across the most impactful inventory. I am excited to bring together Audigent’s supply-side network as a natural extension to our existing demand-side capabilities. Audigent’s ability to combine inventory with targeted audiences using first-party, third-party and contextual signals provides the best of all worlds, allowing marketers to deliver campaigns centered on consumer choices, preferences, and behaviors. The addition of Audigent further strengthens our strategy to be the premier independent provider of marketing data and identity, ultimately creating more relevant experiences for consumers. To learn more about Experian and Audigent, visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/ and https://audigent.com/.
When it comes to cybercriminals and threat vectors, we need to expect the unexpected. Experian’s 12th annual Data Breach Industry Forecast highlights several potential trends for 2025, with AI playing a central role. This year has already seen more data breaches and impacted consumers than 2023, indicating that global data breaches are not slowing down. Some things to watch out for next year includes the potential for more internal fraud. As companies train employees on AI, there is a growing risk that some will misuse their knowledge for internal theft and sourcing sensitive information. Another trend may be cyberattackers targeting large data centers, with the growth of generative AI introducing power as a new attack vector. It’s reported that a single ChatGPT query uses significantly more electricity than a standard Google search, making data centers and cloud infrastructure vulnerable, especially in countries with varying security standards. We expect AI-related attacks to dominate the headlines next year and investments in cybersecurity will increase to tackle this emerging threat, as hackers leverage AI for phishing, password cracking, malware, and deepfakes. Jim Steven, Head of Crisis and Data Response Services at Experian Global Data Breach Resolution in the UK, anticipates that global data breaches will persist at their current rate next year. He notes that ransomware attacks are likely to become even more sophisticated with the integration of AI. Additionally, Steven predicts that threat actors will escalate their tactics to achieve greater rewards, and the misuse of consumer data to damage reputations will increase in 2025. To access the complimentary report, click here.