MAM
Essence launches Essence Data Health Check consulting service
Mumbai: GroupM’s Essence, a global data and measurement-driven media agency, on Tuesday announced the introduction of its Essence Data Health Check (EDHC) consulting service, developed to help brands achieve effective business outcomes from their digital marketing activities by advancing audience data strategy.
EDHC is a service product developed through Essence Global Ventures, the agency’s Singapore-based innovation, research and development hub. The product was built to be a strategic and tactical aid for marketers to accelerate their digital marketing transformation and business growth. In addition to helping brands navigate the seismic shifts in data, identity and privacy due to the confluence of changes in user sentiment, regulations and technology, the offering enables marketers to maximise value from their audience data and optimise consumer brand experience, the company stated. The features of the product are informed by years of providing data services for brands across APAC, including those from the technology, retail, travel, luxury and financial services sectors, the agency said in a statement.
Part of Essence’s consulting solutions, EDHC provides a meticulous review of marketers’ technology stack, data collection setup, audience management approach and data deployment practice, along with actionable recommendations to increase the effectiveness of data-driven paid and owned marketing activities. This review is done with respect towards current and future shifts in legislation and technology pertaining to consumers’ online identity and privacy. Designed for both in-house marketing teams and external agency service models, the offering also recommends measurable implementation roadmaps to track progress and capture value.
Essence VP- data strategy, APAC, Vincent Niou, said, “Data has never been more integral to more aspects of marketers’ businesses, but the space has never been more confusing and uncertain. With Essence Data Health Check, we are excited to help marketers navigate these shifts, while applying our best practices to drive campaign impact and business growth from their audience data, as well as provide the best possible brand experience for their customers across both paid and owned channels.”
Essence VP, advertising operations, APAC, Shane Dewar said, “With consumer sentiment, public policy and the advertising industry as a whole moving towards an ecosystem that puts privacy at the forefront of how it operates, brands and advertisers will be challenged to ensure that the people, processes and tools they have are capable of navigating the new privacy-first world. Essence Data Health Check is designed to help marketers evaluate what they are doing well in, provide a roadmap to improve their data strategy, and ultimately, enable brands to achieve their goals.”
Essence executive VP Kunal Guha, who oversees the strategic direction and delivery of Essence Global Ventures’ research and development efforts, said, “We are now at the dawn of a new era of marketing – one that is defined by consumers’ expectations around their data and privacy, and an industry looking to bring more personalised experiences to their consumers. Essence Data Health Check will underpin the foundations for this privacy-first world, where the ethical compass on consumers’ data is paramount. Through Essence Global Ventures, it is our ambition to continually innovate solutions that will ensure marketers globally can lead with new strategic advantages, today and in the future.”
Through Essence Global Ventures, the agency will further develop and incubate marketing technology products that use predictive data signals and automation to improve business performance, customer experience and brand governance for companies. Similar to Essence Media Health Check and Essence Data Health Check, these solutions will be commercialised and deployed across APAC and globally via Essence’s network of offices, the agency said.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
