Kantar launches dedicated analytics practice in Australia
On the back of a steady stream of data analytics work, Kantar has launched its dedicated Analytics vertical in the Australian market. John Cucka, an eight year veteran at Kantar in the country, has been appointed to lead the new practice.
The move follows a shift in ownership for Kantar, after Bain Capital acquired a majority stake in the research and insights firm. Kantar’s global leadership has indicated that the new phase in the firm’s development will be characterised by an increased focus on data analytics and technology.
At the start of this year, Kantar’s parent company WPP launched its own Analytics practice in Australia with Rob Pardini named head of the division. Subsidiary Kantar will now operate its own Analytics vertical under John Cucka, with the aim of capitalising on growing demand for analytic support across corporates and mid-sized businesses.
The rapid digitalisation of information recording and collection processes has left many firms in Australia and the rest of the world with large repositories of raw data. While this data has the potential to transform businesses, from front-office commercials to internal operations, businesses struggle to extract its complete value due to the complexity of data science and a lack of necessary knowhow.
Kantar Analytics helps its clients with this process. “Data exists in silos, is typically unstructured and un-contextualised and not always meaningful. Data only becomes valuable if it’s effectively managed into a single consumer truth,” explained Kantar Australia’s Chief Commercial officer Jonathan Sinton to AdNews.
Organising this data in coherent ways can, according to Sinton, significantly improve business decision-making, which is far from the current reality. “Analytics is too often being allowed to distance deep consumer and brand understanding from business decision-making,” he said.
At the helm of the 10-strong local Kantar Analytics team stands John Cucka, currently Business Intelligence Director at Kantar. He has been with the professional services firm since 2010.
“Across every industry, the C-suite is challenging its analytics teams to cut through the clutter and reveal the insights that will help unlock sustainable business growth,” Cucka stated.
Other team members include Jarrod Payne, promoted to Consulting Director, Rob Kramer and Yichao Sun. The most senior of the trio, Payne, joined Millward Brown in 2011 as an Account Manager, and remained with the marketing consulting firm after it became Kantar Millward brown in 2013. He served as an Account Manager in Johannesburg, South Africa, for a two-year period, before he was transferred to the Sydney office, where he eventually rose to the rank of Head of Brand Strategy.
Globally, professional services firm Kantar has over 1,500 data scientists, analytics consultants, technologists and data designers dedicated to analytics – the service offering is one of the fastest growing within its portfolio.
