"Human beings are empowered with big data and every means of technology. Ultimately, we are still in the business of understanding consumers, and connecting them with brands."

Andree says the most important element is talent: "To take all of the complexity and technology and turn it into value - value for both clients and consumers. The big change is that consumers are now much more informed than before, so the messages coming from the brand have to create value for that person. It remains a creative business. Whether we can attract the best talent and create the best team decides whether we can win."

Technology has made consumers less patient and more demanding, he says. "For example, I travel a lot, and I've got higher expectations for the hotels I regularly stay in. I expect them to know me, to know what I like in the morning. All of the data, all of the innovation that has been created is driven by management insight and user interface, like how to make the user interface better, faster and more informative than before."

Digital advertising depends greatly on strong technological support, and Dentsu has both its own subsidiary and collaborative technical firms such as Dentsu Robotics Business Operations, Dentsu Media Laboratory and Dentsu ScienceJam.

"A hundred years ago, if we wanted to make things automatic, we fed them with electricity. Today, if we want to make things smart, we feed them with data," Andree says. Chinese consumers are very e-commerce-driven and adaptive to technology, so big data becomes of great value in determining consumer habits and preferences in China.

Since big data became a popular concept in 2008, it has become one of the most repeated terms in China. However, doubts have been raised at times about the validity of some big data in China, especially in the notoriously chaotic e-commerce industry, in which some data and rankings have been called into question.

That has created problems for global firms that are accustomed to data-based analytical methods. So, last year, Dentsu Aegis Network China formed strategic alliances for data with Tencent and Alibaba, the internet giants, which enabled the company to break through the isolation of data "islands" and jointly build a new, open environment for digital marketing, according to Dentsu. They have collaborated in such areas as big data management platforms, consumer study systems and consumer tracking platforms, with the goal of increasing the diversity, breadth and depth of data, enhancing the understanding of consumers' online behavior and their attitude toward brands, the company says.

"It is not our data; it is their data," says Andree, adding that the firsthand data provided by the two internet giants, with sufficient sampling, is reliable.

"In the end, it is the insight you pull from the data. The key is whether you can turn data into intelligence," he says.

Andree does not believe innovation is automatic. "So you have to create a culture where people are willing to risk. We have to create cultures that empower people, and even if cultures differ, values are shared," he says.

xiaoxiangyi@chinadaily.com.cn

Bio

Tim Andree

Executive vice-president, board member, Dentsu Inc

Executive chairman of Dentsu Aegis Network

Age: 55

Education: University of Notre Dame (1979-1983) bachelor's degree

Career:

Executive vice-president, board member, Dentsu Inc, and executive chairman of Dentsu Aegis Network (2013 to present)

President and CEO, Dentsu Network (2012-14)

Senior vice-president, Dentsu Inc. (2012-13)

Senior vice-president,

President and CEO, Dentsu Network West (2010-12)

Chairman of Dentsu America (2006-12)

Senior marketing positions at Toyota, Canon, BASF and the National Basketball Association (1989-2006)

Drafted by Chicago Bulls, played in professional leagues in Italy, Spain, Monaco and Japan. (1983-89)

Book: Trinity, 1976; The Haj, 1984

Movie: The Big Short, directed by Adam McKay, 2015

Hobbies: Coaching children's basketball, gardening and doing "what my wife asks me to do".

( China Daily European Weekly 05/27/2016 page28)