Over three-quarters of CMOs struggle to use their data

Almost four in five (79%) CMOs say they struggle to use the data they have available to them to drive future propositions, according to research from Merkle.

This comes in an environment where 68% of enterprise data goes unused. While this figure is high, it is perhaps unsurprising given that 95% of employees say they feel overwhelmed by data. Additionally, over half (55%) of data is siloed and fragmented.

Despite the challenges, there is perhaps more need than ever for marketing leaders to utilise data effectively, with 82% of CMOs saying monitoring changes in the consumer environment is their biggest challenge.

Indeed, according to a recent report from the DMA, customer data-driven campaigns are 329% more likely to report improvements in customer loyalty, 226% more likely to drive pricing power, and 104% more likely to grow customer lifetime value.

Source: Merkle

Gen Z characters four times more likely to be featured in ads than over 55s

Gen Z are heavily featured in UK ads, with characters born between 1997 and 2012 appearing in 78% of UK ads. Despite this strong representation, only one in three ads featuring Gen Z actually appeal to that age demographic, according to research from System1.

Ads are four times more likely to feature a Gen Z character versus someone aged 55 plus, and twice more likely to feature Gen Z versus millennials.

System1 studied 65 ads featuring Gen Z characters by testing these with Gen Z men and women. The ad testing platform assigns creative a ‘Star Rating’, based on emotional response, which predicts a creative’s long-term brand-building potential, and a ‘Spike Rating’, predicting short-term sales-driving potential.

Representation doesn’t always equal resonance, as shown by the results of the study. Having tested the ads, System1 found that targeting Gen Z women saw an average 0.6-Star decline in long-term brand-building potential. Ads aimed at Gen Z men performed even worse, with a 1.5-Star drop. Spike Rating also declined across both audiences.

On social platforms, the gap was even more stark. Resonance scores dropped by 1.7 Stars with Gen Z women and 2.5 Stars with Gen Z men, suggesting that brands are still failing to connect emotionally with Gen Z across the digital environments where they spend a lot of their time.

Source: System1

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