• by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_tyler, October 1, 2014

It’s all about the audience in New York today. Actually, it’s all about the data, because that’s where marketers find the audience.

Speaking at the OMMA Audience Targeting event in New York on Wednesday, Harvey Goldhersz, chief data officer and CEO of GroupM Analytics, spoke to attendees about GroupM’s strategy around tech and data, particularly as it relates to the recent news that WPP boosted its stake in AppNexus, an ad exchange, and divested its ad server.

Goldhersz was speaking to Joe Mandese, editor-in-chief at MediaPost, during a keynote conversation titled: “Is data the true media currency?” 

According to Goldhersz, it’s certainly a priority. “The piece that we will keep close and continue to build are those pieces that give us a competitive advantage in data and analytics,” he said. Goldhersz highlighted the company’s data analytics platform and the ability to onboard CRM data as areas in which GroupM will focus.

Analysts -- and Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP -- see WPP’s focus on data (and its investment in AppNexus in particular) as something that pits WPP against the likes of Google and Facebook in the ad tech field. In the words of Mandese: “That’s really high stakes stuff.”

“WPP benefits from this transaction by acquiring a significant share of what is now one of the most important ad tech platforms, primarily behind Google’s,” wrote Brian Wieser, senior analyst at Pivotal Research, in a recent report.

Shifting the conversation from what data lets WPP and GroupM do to the actual data itself, an audience member asked Goldhersz if he believes agencies should “take a more forceful role in data quality,” and Goldhersz believes they should, noting that “agencies have a responsibility to drive outcomes for results, and measurement is a core part of that.”

“You are right,” said Goldhersz, “agencies need to take an active role to make sure we are getting the best quality data.”

Mandese closed the conversation by asking Goldhersz what piece of data the industry is really missing. “If you could get direct information and data from a consumer, what would it be?” asked Mandese.

“There’s not enough emphasis on the why,” Goldhersz acknowledged. “If you don’t know why [a consumer took action], you can’t replicate.”