Shelley Bransten of Microsoft: How Brand Manufacturers Can Harness the Power of First-Party Data

"First-party data in and of itself is not really what's interesting. What's interesting is that the consumer has raised their hand and shown some interest in that company. I always say it's like the digital breadcrumb of an intent and signal."— Shelley Bransten, Corporate Vice President, Global Retail & Consumer Goods Industries at Microsoft

Most companies aren’t short of data. Your brand is likely receiving data from nearly everywhere — from brick-and-mortar stores to online marketplaces, retail partners, and your own direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels.

But first-party data is the Holy Grail for any brand manufacturer. Your challenge is to collect this information — and harness its full power to transform your business.

Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president of global retail and consumer goods industries at Microsoft, joined a recent episode of the "Unpacking the Digital Shelf" podcast, "The Rising Importance of First-Party Data," to share her perspective on how brands can use data to drive their business strategies and uncover new opportunities to connect with customers.

What Is First-Party Data?

First-party data has increasingly become the essential fuel for brands to tell their stories and meaningfully engage consumers at scale. But how exactly do you define first-party data?

"First-party data is generally seen as the data that a brand or retailer collects directly from their customer," Bransten says, adding that this data can come from loyalty and email programs, a company’s website, CRM, and other sources.

"First-party data in and of itself is not really what's interesting. What's interesting is that the consumer has raised their hand and shown some interest in that company," Bransten adds. "I always say it's like the digital breadcrumb of an intent and signal."

Data With a Purpose

First-party data has become increasingly important in a cookie-less world. Now, it’s easier than ever for brands to collect this data, thanks to cloud and AI-driven platforms that accelerate information gathering and customer analysis.

As Bransten argues, however, data alone can’t lead brand manufacturers to the Promised Land. It’s not enough to invest in a data lake and amass more and more information. Your brand needs to have some intent for how you’ll use this data, because data without a purpose — or without the necessary execution behind it — isn’t really valuable.

Bransten says in her work with Microsoft customers, she often starts by asking them what outcomes they want to drive and how they want to understand their consumers better. She also asks about their core business objectives, whether that’s digitizing operations, improving inventory allocation, streamlining demand forecasting, or optimizing promotions.

"If you start with that kind of end in mind, you're going to move faster than if you're just trying to get all sorts of data from different sources together," she says.

Connecting Cultural Transformation to Data Transformation

To effectively use data, brands can’t just rest on technology.

Data transformation also requires cultural transformation. Bransten says the cultural and mindset shift required to make brands more data-driven is often more important than anything else.

"Trusting the data, leveraging the data, and then hiring the right people who understand the data — that is, in many ways, more important than the tools that they're going to use to read the data."       — Shelley Bransten, Corporate Vice President, Global Retail & Consumer Goods Industries at Microsoft

Maximizing Data at Mars and Anheuser-Busch

When it comes to data, Bransten says intent is crucial, but so is the ability to test and learn — and fail fast.

Companies like Mars and Anheuser-Busch have excelled at this in recent years. Mars has employed a data-first approach throughout its organization, using first-party data to drive both its chocolate business and growing pet care business.

The company used data to support virtual telehealth visits for pets during the pandemic, leveraging this information to get smarter about how they could improve the overall experience for pet owners and their furry family members.

Mars has also used data in its candy factories to improve employee productivity and understand when machines are overheating. The company has even used data to make sure there aren’t too many Skittles or an imbalance between colors in each package, resulting in significant cost savings.

"[Data is] improving customer satisfaction and it's helping them with future product development," Bransten says. "Whether it's your factory or your commerce experience, those kinds of experiences in branded manufacturing are data-rich, but grounded in use cases."

Anheuser-Busch has used data to identify new business opportunities and better support local sellers of its products. The company tracked sell-through and promotion in small family-owned shops in Latin America, which ultimately led them to create solutions that provide financial support for these small businesses.

"The trackability and traceability of sell-through and promotion and pricing in those bodegas helped them get credit from banks, because they were then more connected to the center of [Anheuser-Busch]," Bransten says. "It opened up a whole new financial arm for this company that was more about selling beer than certainly creating microfinancing for some of the local sellers of their products."

Building a Data-Driven Business in the Digital Age

Brand manufacturers can’t just rely on data for data’s sake. As Bransten says, there needs to be intent. Whether your intent is to use data to uncover new business models, democratize information across the enterprise, or drive process improvements and new revenue streams, you must start with an end goal in mind.

Cultural and technological transformation will both be necessary for brands to understand and truly activate this strategic asset — especially during this time of unprecedented disruption. And when brands finally harness the full power of their first-party data, their omnichannel opportunities will be limitless.

"Someone once said to me, ‘In this time, you don't need a map. You need a compass’," Bransten says. "The data is what guides the compass."

Check out the full podcast episode, "The Rising Importance of First-Party Data," for more insights from Bransten.