We spoke with Michelle Harness, Wiland’s in-house digital agency expert, on the power of leveraging data from consumer spending to create highly targeted, highly responsive digital marketing audiences. These data-driven audiences give brands and their agencies a competitive advantage in reaching their best prospects and achieving superior results at scale.
Please tell us about yourself and your role at Wiland.
As the Division Vice President of digital agency sales, my role is to grow Wiland’s partnerships with platforms and agencies. I have been in the industry for over 25 years and have had wonderful opportunities to grow as a marketing professional—starting in traditional direct mail and database marketing and now seeing the evolution of the industry into digital channels like mobile, advanced TV, and social. I’m an advocate for quality, privacy-compliant data and passionate about leveraging it to help my clients meet their goals—a sentiment shared across Wiland and the exceptional team I’m privileged to work with every day.
How would you describe Wiland and how the company serves its clients?
Wiland is all about data. Because we deal with it all day, every day, we are the ultimate realists when it comes to marketing metrics. But when it comes to the future, we are confirmed optimists, believing that for every client and every agency, exciting opportunities are always on the horizon. We have a good reason for this optimism, as our track record of connecting brands with their ideal consumers is unsurpassed—we enjoy a 97% retention rate of our top 500 clients.
Beyond fueling the success of thousands of brands, Wiland has also pioneered some of the most important advances in data-driven marketing technology. Another aspect I particularly like about the company is our culture. We’re known for our honesty, integrity, and goodness. Our clients, vendors, and partners are treated with the utmost respect as valued stakeholders in our success.
Why has Wiland chosen to partner with Eyeota?
Eyeota is one of the largest and most data-transparent companies in the industry. They have a progressive approach in the marketplace, and we believe that they have a wonderful platform. Eyeota makes finding audiences easy, helping advertisers effortlessly discover audiences like ours that will help them quickly connect with their best new customers.
How are Wiland audiences particularly relevant to advertisers?
The best predictor of future purchase behavior is past purchase behavior. At Wiland, we have the largest set of individual-level US consumer spending data and interest-intensity signals ever assembled. Combining our significant data assets with advanced predictive analytics, Wiland enables brands and their agencies to reach people ready to spend with them now and make repeat purchases at a high rate in the future.
How can advertisers best leverage Wiland audiences?
With our vast data assets and superior predictive modeling, Wiland can tell who is ready to buy, not just shop, with a specific brand or within a particular category or niche. Our powerful custom-modeled audiences are created based on a brand’s specific campaign objectives, while our ready-to-deliver digital audiences cover thousands of niche categories and are immediately ready to activate across all channels and devices.
What are your data predictions for 2021?
I foresee a continued focus on transparency and attentiveness to how data is being collected and used. It will be crucial for our industry to uphold the highest standards of data use and distribution so that we can maintain consumer confidence while responding to a world that is becoming more regulated. When it comes to consumer lifestyles, we will be accounting for changes based on the upheavals of 2020, including remote working and shifted buying habits. Channel-wise, we see 2021 also ushering in the rise of advanced TV. Since our founding in 2005, Wiland has served as a leader in the ethical use and protection of consumer data, and we expect to continue to lead in this important area.
With Eyeota, Wiland audiences are available in the US for omnichannel campaign activation on display, mobile, and social channels including all leading DSPs, walled gardens, and other platforms. For more information about Wiland, connect with an audience specialist today at datadesk@eyeota.com.
