Andrew Janis is the EVP of Data Intelligence at Arc Worldwide. We sat down with him to discuss his new role and tools his team utilizes to support Arc client partners in their planning and measurement.  

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Q: Andrew, congrats on your new role here at Arc. What would you say you do here? 

Andrew: Thanks for having me. Over the past few years, shopper marketing has changed dramatically. Not too long ago, most activations took place primarily in brick-and-mortar stores, targeted the mass market, and were nearly impossible to measure. More recently, however, a lot of this has changed. I founded the Data Intelligence team with a clear purpose: to infuse all aspects of Arc’s already robust process with the power and insight of data. 

Simply put, Arc is known as a premier creative shopper agency, but we are also the world’s best data-driven agency. We continue to launch new, industry-leading tools in shopper program planning and measurement.

Q: Data is very hot right now. How did you find yourself in the data space?  

Andrew: Funny story, I started my career in an agency as a media planner, but then left for almost 15 years. It drove me nuts that we were spending millions of dollars of our client’s money and basically had no idea if it was working or not. We now have the tools and techniques to do a much better job in the planning, targeting, and measurement of shopper.

Q: You’ve worked with client partners at all stages. What is the number one thing you see shopper marketers getting wrong in their planning? 

Andrew: Flying blind. In many instances they are simply taking the plan from last year and adjusting based on their gut or anecdotal feedback from team members and retail partners.  

Marketers are under more pressure than ever to prove their value. We are expected to make the case for our budgets, spend efficiently, prove profitability, keep category managers happy, give sales managers new news to talk about, and on and on. You can’t do that without the right tools and a solid process. If you aren’t using data to inform every part of your strategy, from which retailers to prioritize to what tactics to employ, you are not maximizing your investment. 

Q: It sounds like you have something in mind. Is there a tool that Arc offers for shopper planning?

Andrew: There is. Arc’s Program Architect is a data-driven shopper planning tool that gives our client partners the information they need to plan with confidence. Program Architect can help with the entire planning process, from figuring out how much of your marketing budget should go to shopper, all the way down to which tactics to employ at which retailers. And, through our exclusive agreement with Foresight ROI, we can even project program performance based on the results of thousands of previous shopper campaigns. 

Q: Specifically, what questions are you able to answer for client partners with Program Architect? 

Andrew: Program Architect helps answer five distinct questions.  

·       How much should we spend on shopper? 

·       What retailers should we prioritize?  

·       How should the budget be allocated to our retailers?  

·       What tactics should we use at each retailer? 

·       What is our expected Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)? 

The tool is flexible enough that we can engage our clients at any point. For example, if they already know their retailers, we can design a tactical plan and project the ROAS for each. 

Q: Sounds compelling. What specifically does the tool provide to partners? 

Andrew: With Program Architect’s 1-2-punch of data and Arc expertise we deliver exactly what our clients need to confidently build their plan. 

·       Shopper marketing budget 

·       Retailer prioritization plan & investment strategy 

·       Optimized tactical retailer budget allocation  

·       Campaign ROAS forecast 

Q: Ok, so let’s assume we’ve used Program Architect to build out our plan, and we’ve executed. What is the biggest mistake you see people making when it comes to measuring the plan performance? 

Andrew: The biggest issue is not measuring at all because people think it’s too expensive or time-consuming. The reality, though, is it doesn’t have to be either.

Q: Is there a tool to help with measurement as well?

Andrew: Arc’s tool is called Impact Evaluator, and we like to think of it as the goldilocks of measurement options. Not too expensive. Doesn’t take a lot of time. And it is shopper marketing specific, unlike a Marketing Mix Analysis that may not even capture shopper spend. It provides a quick, program-specific, vendor-agnostic picture of how a program performed in individual retailers.  

Q: What specifically do your clients get with Impact Evaluator? 

Andrew: Impact Evaluator delivers data across key metrics, so you know specifically how your programs are contributing to the business. Impact Evaluator reports on key metrics including 

·       Incremental sales 

·       Sales lift 

·       Incremental Return on Ad Spend (iROAS)

·       Incremental volume 

Q: Today we’ve discussed tools for Planning and Measurement. Would I be right to assume Arc has other tools as well?  

Andrew: You would. Retail media reporting, creative testing, e-commerce optimization, audience segmentation, opportunity identification…the toolkit is deep. We like to say that data is freedom, because it helps unlock the insights that let our creativity shine.

Looks like we’ll need multiple rounds to this conversation. 

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Reach out to your Arc business lead or Andrew Janis if you want to learn more about any of the tools and capabilities discussed here.