Social Lab Group frees up 40% of time spent on reporting

Executive summary:

By adopting Funnel as their data automation tool, Social Lab Group achieved significant efficiency gains in their campaign management processes. They streamlined their data workflows, reduced manual reporting time by 30-40%, and significantly improved benchmarking accuracy across their global agency network.

Key results:

• Freed up 30-40% of campaign managers' total time.
• Enhanced the quality and accuracy of global media data for benchmarking.
• Realized sophisticated yet easy-to-use data transformation capabilities.

Company profile:

Social Lab Group is a WPP agency specializing in strategy, content, and social media. With 15 agencies across four continents, Social Lab works as part of an integrated WPP team and leads the social and performance practice of Ogilvy globally.

The challenge: Tackling fragmented data and inefficient reporting

The Social Lab Group found themselves grappling with obstacles that seriously compromised both the efficiency and impact of their operations. On one hand, the precious hours campaign managers could have spent strategizing and diving into analytics were increasingly consumed by the cumbersome task of reporting. Mathieu Gillain, who heads the global media division, likened this routine to something barely above "monkey work," saying, "It's not monkey work, but almost. The team could be spending time analyzing, finding insights, and coming up with recommendations instead of wasting it on reporting."

Parallel to this issue, the agency had at its fingertips a treasure trove of media data from its global network, useful for benchmarking and performance forecasting. However, due to its dispersed nature across various platforms and markets, this data was nearly inaccessible. As Mathieu clarified, "The data was still highly fragmented because it was in many markets, on different platforms, and sitting with various teams. So, it wasn't easy to access it."

The solution: Streamlining data and automating reports with Funnel

Recognizing these challenges, Social Lab looked to Funnel for solutions. Initially, their aim was to consolidate this scattered media data into a centralized database. Leveraging Funnel’s robust capabilities, they streamlined data from their global network into an Amazon-hosted database, giving their media experts a straightforward way to filter and access key metrics. Mathieu detailed the ease of this solution, explaining, "The data is updated in real-time, every four hours or so, and if you build the dashboards properly with filters, it becomes easy for the client to navigate through the data."

This partnership with Funnel soon revealed another dimension of value: automating the drudging work of reporting. By syncing with Looker Studio, Funnel helped Social Lab develop client-friendly dashboards that update in real-time. "It certainly helps answer a lot of questions," Mathieu said, emphasizing how this solution streamlined the client reporting process.

The results: Liberating time and sharpening data accuracy

As for the results? The transformation was palpable. Social Lab liberated 30-40% of their campaign managers' time, which could now be funneled into analytical tasks and strategy optimization. They also honed their benchmark data, making it far more precise than before. This precision further empowered their multi-market clients with real-time, highly specific insights, easing the process of campaign assessment and adjustment. Mathieu summarized the sweeping change succinctly, noting that the once daunting tasks of data collection and reporting were "no longer a massive struggle."

Agustin Prats, the Paid Social Director at Social Lab Brussels, also weighed in on the operational shift. "It has transformed the way we tackle big campaigns," he said, highlighting the newfound ease of handling complex data.

So, from freeing up significant bandwidth for their managers to providing a more streamlined and accessible data architecture, Funnel proved to be the ideal solution for Social Lab's complex challenges.