Human Elements in Data: Making Abstract Topics Tangible [Interview]

Rather than throwing cold water on creative inspiration, facts can lead the way to amazing stories, explains the agency’s head of data. I know nothing about data. For me, Data was a character on Star Trek: Next Generation. Also, I was so bad at math in school that I was in a class with people who couldn’t even spell the word “math.” So it was with some trepidation that I embarked on an interview with Robyn D’Arcy, Head of Data at AMV BBDO, and presumably a genius at juggling facts and figures.

Interview with Robyn D’Arcy, Head of Data at AMV BBDO

Robyn turns out to be chatty and warm, not at all coldly analytical. This fits right in with AMV BBDO’s approach to data, which is “data with a soul” or as a form of storytelling. Both sound reassuring, but what do they mean in practice? Robyn says: “Ultimately, it’s about moving away from misconceptions about data and what it can do in an agency context. In other words, moving away from the reductive view that it’s just numbers and code.”

Not math at all, then? “It’s not pure numerical information,” she confirms. “Instead, it’s about adding texture. It’s about words, culture, themes. It’s about discerning real people’s feelings.” Data enables the agency to see a subject from multiple points of view. “There’s never just one static narrative or one story. We want to get to know people from different angles to get the best insights, leading to the best ideas.”

Data is not presented as a chart. “We focus on the beauty and complexity of the many ways you can tell a story. We make data interactive and experiential, allowing users to engage and see the results through their chosen lens.”

Tracking acts of kindness

Data informs every campaign stage, from initial research to reactions to the creative work. “For every campaign, every brief, we begin with data, helping with the ideation, defining what people want and what they’re most likely to respond to – which feeds directly into the strategy.” A recent example is the agency’s work for the RSPCA, the iconic animal welfare charity. “The ideation was based on what was most important to people who cared about animal welfare: how they felt about animals, what they were most likely to resonate with, and what animal welfare meant to them in 2024.”

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Once the campaign had launched, data tracked how it was performing. “Not just in terms of how many clicks, comments, and earned conversations, but how people engaged with it and what they were saying.” They expressed joy, amusement, and positive emotion, which are rare in the often bleak world of charity advertising. “It’s one of the best examples of the multi-thematic approach I mentioned. We could look at the responses and segment them into categories like ’emotions expressed, animals mentioned, language type, themes of conversation,’ and see how any of those interacted with another.”

It followed the emotional journey the campaign took people on “and how it led to their small acts of kindness towards animals.” Her favorite fun fact: when the agency dug into how the campaign had changed attitudes to animals, “we found there’d been a more than 10,000% increase in references to snails within unbranded, general discussion of animal welfare in the UK.” The campaign recalled the agency’s research on Sheba, the cat food brand, into cat owners’ relationships with their pets. I’m never super happy when our cat wakes me at three in the morning to be fed. “Ah, that’s interesting,” Robyn perks up, with feline alertness, “because normally the top time is four o’clock. Anxiety towards cats peaks at 4 am. That insight led to our 4 am Stories.”

The language factor

Data can also establish the way the public experiences brands. How are brands depicted in pop culture? What contexts, colors, or verbal references crop up? In that way, brands can see themselves or their competitors in the real world. I noted that Robyn started as a copywriter. How did that lead her into the world of data? “Well, I wanted to do something in the creative industry, but I didn’t know data was an option, to be honest. I was studying at UCL and struggling to afford life as a student in London. So I started doing copywriting and SEO on the side.”

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SEO was a segue into data, she explains. Plus, she studied languages (French language and literature), which is a kinship with data analysis. “It was very similar to the kind of analysis we do now. It was about thematic segmentation, word choice, emotion, tone… When looking at 18th-century French literature, you’re also looking at what it says about the socio-political context of the time.” The fact that she graduated in 2016 played a role. “It was the year of Brexit and the rise of Trumpism. The start of the post-truth era. I wanted to understand how data were manipulating people.”

Today, she believes language is the key to making the most of data. “If you look at the top themes in conversations around a subject, you see it through only one lens. However, analyzing language type and tone shows you how varied opinions are. If you’re not focusing on language, you miss out on things like sarcasm or jokes, which could take the context from congratulatory to accusatory in an instant. You could treat subjects in ways that are at best reductive and at worst misleading.”

Data as a gift

When “big data” became a buzz term in the agency world, some creatives pushed back, worried that the number crunchers would undermine their instinctive, gut-feel approach. However, data has been embraced as a partner at AMV BBDO. Robyn says: “Because we put so much emphasis on emotion, language, themes, zeitgeist, and culture, I think we’ve managed to successfully embed data into the creative process rather than each side being seen as completely different mindsets and disciplines.”

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Plus, if you’re creative, it’s always good to have a backup for your big idea. “If they get struck by an idea from their personal experience, we can dig into that further by understanding how others feel about it.” Data has also been a dirty word among consumers, provoking privacy concerns. This, too, is becoming more nuanced, says Robyn—more transparency about how data is pulled, stored, and analyzed. People have grasped that it’s mostly anonymous.

“One of the main evolutions is the idea of data value exchange. When people willingly give you their data, what are they getting back? A few years ago, if you said ‘data,’ the first thing that jumped into people’s brains was Cambridge Analytica. But now I think it’s more like Spotify Wrapped.” The fun December delivery gives listeners personalized insights into their favorite songs, artists, genres, albums, and podcasts over the past year. “So for people who use the app, there’s a feedback loop where they get their ‘wraps’ every Christmas and are thrilled about it. They can see themselves represented; it’s very shareable, and they get excited about it.”

Grasping people’s emotions can make abstract topics more relatable. For example, data analysis enabled the agency to link an intangible issue like air pollution to a concrete metric: house prices. Robyn captures the essence of social listening in data gathering with a compelling phrase: “Understanding personal emotional undercurrents as part of broader collective trends, movements, and motivations.” In essence, data is inherently human.

Photo credit: The feature image is owned by Robyn D’Arcy / AMV BBDO and has been provided to the author with permission to be used.
Editorial notice: The guest author copy, and the quoted text from the interviewees were edited and condensed for style and clarity, but their meaning was not changed. The article was published with permission.

This guest article has been submitted by Mark Tungate. While we appreciate guest contributions, it's important to note that the views expressed by the author are not necessarily reflective of those held by TechAcute.