New AI-driven platform to tackle shrinking budgets

An average Kenyan consumer today prioritises value for money due to shrinking disposable incomes.  

As a result, the brand advertising segment has significantly evolved to drive demand, reach and engagement with consumers. 

And as brands change how they communicate with consumers amid tough economic conditions, shrinking marketing budgets and reduced consumer spending power, organisations have been challenged to embrace change, including the use of data and data-driven tools to better understand consumers.  

To bridge the gap between brands and fragmented consumers by deeply understanding decision-making drivers, Dentsu Kenya has introduced a new data and AI system designed to help brands target consumers with precision as both marketing budgets and household spending contract.

Merkury features the "Consumer in Your Pocket" COPO AI model, which allows brands to plan and execute campaigns across digital and traditional channels with greater accuracy.

“We live in very tough environments as it is. In Kenya, we have seen that brands have been stifling their marketing budgets while at the same time trying to reach consumers, recruit new consumers, and retain consumers,” said Dentsu CEO Joel Rao.

A study conducted by the firm is targeted at enabling people-based, privacy-conscious marketing in the Kenyan advertising ecosystem. 

The platform is intended to support brands in financial services, telecommunications, fast-moving consumer goods, and retail sectors.

According to Rao, these sectors' need for measurable, data-driven marketing continues to grow. 

The study also highlights generational differences, particularly among Gen Z consumers who have grown up with mobile technology and social media.

Rao notes that the group has shorter attention spans and different decision-making patterns compared with millennials or Gen X, creating opportunities in experiential marketing. 

“What influences them is very different because of the exposure to technology, content and social media. However, their attention span is lower than any other generation we've seen so far,” said Rao. 

“In our study, we've seen that there's an opportunity for the experience economy to grow over and above what we've seen traditionally,” he said, pointing out that older generations are more inclined to traditional forms of marketing. 

While demographic profiles may appear similar across borders, purchasing influences vary by market-specific factors that the data set is designed to capture.

Dentsu stressed that organisations refusing to adapt risk falling behind as consumer decision-making grows more complex and fragmented.

“Marketing effectiveness today depends on how well brands understand and activate their data. Merkury allows us to unify fragmented signals into a single view of the customer and activate audiences with far greater precision and accountability,” Rao said.

“Results demonstrate that when identity and data are connected properly, brands can achieve both improved efficiency and stronger engagement outcomes.”

Eva Muita, head of data and insights at Dentsu, reiterated that marketing is changing in the country.

Muita adds that brands need to understand how buyers and consumers make decisions as costs rise and more brands enter the market. 

“So brands need to understand why one is selected and how to ensure that they're the ones that are being chosen,” Muita said. 

The issue of data gaps to drive brands, according to Muita, is cross-cutting: "Large corporations may have the data, but it's very limited.” 

“Data fragmentation is a gap that exists within small and large enterprises. These are the gaps we are trying to close,” said Muita. 

Dentsu has a footprint across various markets. The firm notes that the gaps in Kenya can be seen across other markets, Ghana, South Africa, and Nigeria. 

“It is critical to understand that there's a very unique cultural nuance in every market that the data captures that is unique to that market,” Rao said, adding that culture is an important aspect in purchasing decisions. 

Dentsu’s system, Merkury, has been designed to help marketers move beyond siloed data and platform-specific targeting towards a unified view of the customers. 

“If you do want to win in this market and any market, step one, whether you're a large organisation or a small organisation, is understanding what data says consumers want,” said Muita.