Simplex's data integration and statistical models allow Bunge to optimize its marketing budget
- Specialized marketing startup uses algorithms to predict with 75% accuracy the impact of offline and online campaigns
São Paulo, October 7, 2020 - Bunge, one of the largest agribusiness and food companies in the world, can already predict how the sales of its brands will behave throughout the year, based on the marketing investment made in each region of the country.
The capability is the result of a project conducted with the start-up Simplex, which integrated the history of three years of 10 different databases - ranging from sales results over time, investments made in different media, product participation in points of sale, retail prices, and demand forecasts, to the regional advance rates of the Covid-19 pandemic. The project went further. Another of its pillars was the development of a tool to automate the application of statistical models on this sea of data in order to enable scenario forecasting.
"Today we are not only able to measure the results that TV, radio, or digital media campaigns have had on sales, but we already have an algorithm that predicts, with 75% accuracy, what the ROI (return on investment) of future campaigns will be in each region of the country," celebrates João Galoppi, head of Digital Marketing at Bunge.
According to the executive, the accuracy of the predictions tends to increase, since the statistical predictive models adopted are improved through artificial intelligence as they are used. For him, one of the biggest challenges in his area was to understand why a campaign worked so well in one place and not in another. And, of course, whether the marketing budget had been well dosed among the various media available. "Obviously, we had some assumptions. But today, on the contrary, we have organized data and the innumerous possible crossings", he highlights. According to the executive, Bunge today is already able to identify, in detail, the weight that the price increase in a certain market has in neutralizing the marketing efforts that were destined to that region. Or to see the peculiarity of a certain market and how its consumer or buyer reacts - since they are not always the same person - as a result of promotions or advertisements.
Galoppi argues that, especially in the current scenario, optimizing the investment based on data is the most efficient way to overcome the crisis and increase the marketing budget's potential reach. "Simplex was decisive in this process given its expertise in predictive statistical models and the development of the tool that allows us to see the whole scenario through intuitive dashboards," he summarizes.
Data under the magnifying glass
The integration and cross-referencing of information was done on 10 different databases, taking into account both the advertising and marketing databases and the databases for physical sales channels. Among the various information gathered and organized, Galoppi enumerates the audience points of the campaigns carried out, the cost of online and offline campaigns, the participation of each type of campaign, the total number of impressions and clicks. On another front, Nielsen data were also surveyed, such as the brand's volume and share on retail shelves, the months in which Bunge advertised, and the periods in which it carried out marketing actions aimed at the offline sales channels.
"What we have in our hands today is better grounded decision making," guarantees Galoppi. For the person responsible for Digital Marketing at Bunge, Simplex' participation in the process was decisive: the start-up allowed more speed to the work developed. "We concluded our plan in less than 6 months", he celebrates. For the executive, another success factor of the initiative was the work of a multidisciplinary team, including a dozen people, from advertising professionals to chemical engineers, and involving several areas of the company, which gave a richer and more diversified view of the challenges posed.
"In digital markets everything can be measured, from the first click to the conclusion of the purchase, it is possible to invest in media with precision and be able to calculate your ROI (Return Over Investment). And a great challenge, achieved here, was to effectively do the same in offline media", explains João Lee, director of Simplex. His greatest satisfaction with the project, he says, is to see that algorithms and data already support several other areas of the company to better understand the market behavior.
About Bunge
Bunge (NYSE: BG) is a global leader in sourcing, processing and delivering grain and oilseed products and ingredients. Founded in 1818, Bunge fuels a growing world by creating sustainable products and opportunities for more than 70,000 farmers and their consumers around the world. The company is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and has 24,000 employees who stand behind more than 350 port terminals, oilseed processing plants, grain silos, and food and ingredient production and packaging facilities around the world.
About Simplex
Founded in 2017 by e-commerce professionals, Simplex has positioned itself as a SaaS (Software as a Service) company to increase e-commerce traffic and sales conversion with simple implementations. The company has more than 20 clients in markets such as Brazil, France and Italy.
For more information contact:
Evocar Comunicação e Conteúdo
Maurício Gonçalves
mauricio.goncalves@e-vocar.com
cell. (11) 9.9917-9424
Ana Cecilia Americano
ana.americano@e-vocar.com
cell. (11) 9.6852-9623
In Press Porter Novelli
bunge@inpresspni.com.br
Tel. +55 11 4871-1479