Data to become ‘Constant Influence’ by 2030: WPP Report

WPP has launched its latest report ‘Data 2030’ that mentions that the world is moving from the digital revolution to a data revolution; creating a data universe in which data infuses our everyday lives, the decisions we make and the way we behave. The report explores that until now, data has been a recorder and interpreter of the world, but by 2030 data will define the relationships between things, places and people, and decide much of our experience. Data will not yet be in charge, but it will be a constant influence, the report says.

Highlighting the marriage of data and marketing, the report says that in the marketing world, creativity and data will no longer consider as separate functions but will instead have informed creatives who use data as a guide and an inspiration. They will use the different data signals to build up a picture of who has the affinity, interest and motivation to buy from their brand, and this knowledge will influence the creative work just as market research does today.

Smart marketers across the industry will be inspired by data as much as they are by blog posts and TED talks today. They will move on from talking about the mechanical benefits of targeting and optimisation. Instead they will use the stories data tells us about markets and customers to describe the opportunities our clients have and the challenges they face.

At the same time, consumers will take a much more central role in the creation of their customer experience. Google’s predictions for Hypertelling give a glimpse into a world where an individual’s access to data and devices as varied as music, images, videos, VR and location mean he will be able to curate his own interpretation of an advert. This will of course be merely an appearance of freedom: marketers will still want to limit choices to retain control of the brand and message.

The Data 2030 report has segregated the world of data in 2030 through four themes:

1. The dataverse

As data volumes expand, it will be used to track and influence everyday interactions, but the cost of storing and processing that data will be a major factor in how we use it.

Machine learning will be commonplace, spawning its own data from the data it ingests. Africa and Asia will be fully online and those industries which are only tentatively digitising in 2020, such as education, agriculture, healthcare, and regulation, will have been transformed.

2. Data the decision maker

Data will be used as a decision maker, although for the most part it will be restricted to augmenting human decisions rather than replacing them. Its new role will change how we process and apply data.

By 2030 data will be considered a decision maker, an influencer and an input to our actions, not just a record of what has happened. This is a long emerging trend and today’s challenge of ‘too much data, too little insight’ will be a thing of the past. Data will envelop our everyday experience.

3. Rebalancing control

Regulation and social attitudes will transform the market in personal data and how we manage access to it.

4. The professionalisation of data

Regulation, energy costs and environmental taxes, as well as reduced access to personal data, will combine to create a more professional use of data.

Read the complete report here