Gary Tranter and David Mayo team up again in move to global data agency Audience DNA

Former Ogilvy Asia work colleagues Gary Tranter and David Mayo are joining global Quant data agency Audience DNA (ADNA) in Singapore as part of their plan to reinvent the traditional data research agency. Tranter leaves his role as joint chief creative officer at Digitas Asia.

“I want to change the old, expensive research agency and create a disruptive new style of research that can deliver insights, strategy and creativity at speed” says ADNA Founder and CEO Henry Gomez. “This is an unlikely marriage of data research and creativity.”

This was an idea that appealed to David Mayo and Gary Tranter who have also individually created disruptive agencies in the past.

“Brand Clients and Marketers are constantly being forced to make a choice of opposites between speed and creativity” says Mayo, “ but speed always seems to win, principally because it’s easier, it’s measurable and its very cost effective. There isn’t a senior client I know who doesn’t still believe in the power of big ideas.” He says “So imagine if we could use data to release the power of big ideas at speed.”

Mayo and Tranter first met at Ogilvy running Motorola and Coca-Cola globally and between them they have been responsible for some of the region’s biggest wins in creativity and new business.

”Nothing puts business further ahead than big ideas,” says Mayo, “and if you can deliver big ideas at the speed of the consumer conversation, informed by hard, quantitative data, you access the perfect combination of quality and speed.”

Founded in 2017, ADNA’s audience panel spans over 100 countries reaching millions of users, allowing brands to ask questions to prove hypotheses in real time. The ADNA network has a client list that includes Singapore Tourism, Citibank, Disney, SK-II, Wyeth, DBS, MacDonald’s and Microsoft, among others.

“Quantitative data has traditionally been very expensive“ continues Gomez, “ADNA was born from the availability of fresh, quality data and my own belief that brands often already know what they want to say.“ he continues, “So with this combination of creativity and quantitative research we can now test hypothesis as well as generating behavioural patterns, which is a huge untapped opportunity for brands.”

“The idea to have the best of creativity, informed by the deepest of Quant data and delivered at pace is something that doesn’t currently exist” says Nicole McMillan, “ In my experience, the people who own the data do not generally know or invest in Creativity, so this is a unique combination at probably the right time, where big ideas are stronger for being informed by the rigour of Quant data. This is an exciting opportunity hiding in plain view. “