As Chief Innovation Officer at Diageo, Mark Sandys says he is in charge of “shaping the future of how people socialise.” Beyond simply expanding existing “liquids in bottles,” his role looks at consumer trends that can apply to any industry and uses AI and data analysis to seize the overarching developments that will influence purchasing behaviour.

The Importance of Zooming In & Out

Mark’s top data driven marketing tip is about using a zoom lens to delve into data, but also to see the bigger picture. As he puts it: “the danger about being in a job like mine is you're detached from reality, and you live in an ivory tower. So you need to find those ways of knowing what's really happening.”

This involves social listening, but also interacting with people in “real life” in pubs and bars. But, of course, if you’re looking at detail too much, you may miss the bigger trends. This is why it’s important to look at overview reports and culture views to balance it all out.

Setting the Right Priorities

Mark’s best investment of his energy and time has been planning out his day in such a way that exercise is booked in first. “Your week is always busy. If you plan in your time to exercise last, you’re never going to do it.”

His advice is to look at the times where your energy works best for different parts of your work, and adapt your schedule to this. In his case, that’s a break for exercise at 11am which offers him a moment to refresh and boosts his productivity.

Technology Will Blur the Lines Between B2C and B2B

Backed and supported by the Diageo Foresight System, the Distilled report maps out the future of consumer trends with the help of AI to see what are the fastest growing areas to focus on. It’s open to all and captures trends such as: neo-hedonism, expanded reality, betterment brands, conscious wellbeing, and collective belonging.

Find out how Diageo seize on these trends with their brands, why they share their findings with the world, and more about data driven marketing with Mark, on the latest podcast episode.

The host of the Shiny New Object podcast is Tom Ollerton, founder of Automated Creative.