AnalyticsIQ, which focuses on predictive analytics, announced that data veteran Kevin Dean has joined the company as chief strategy officer to help accelerate revenue growth. The company said revenue has grown more than 53% in the past two years.

Dean brings more than three decades of data marketing and executive leadership expertise. He most recently served as chief operating officer at Infutor, which was acquired by Verisk earlier this year.

He also spearheaded global product development for Experian’s marketing services division, held an executive position at Equifax as president of corporate strategic partnerships and vice president of product management, and worked for Cendant and Vita-Mix.

Search & Performance Marketing Daily (S&PMD) caught up with Dean to talk about the reasons he joined the company and the impact he plans to make at AnalyticsIQ, how the economy will influence his plans and the holiday ad-buying season, and his role at the Interactive Advertising Bureau.  

S&PMD:  The online ad industry and ecommerce are dependent on delivery services like FedEx. In a recent earnings call, company executives warned of global weakening demand. How will this affect online holiday shopping for consumers, and advertising for brands?

Dean: Certainly, FedEx’s earnings report sent shock waves through our entire economy.

I think it is important to remember that the bounce our economy saw in late 2020 through 2021 likely couldn’t sustain. Expectations that those rates of broad growth were going to continue really are quite unrealistic. As I said earlier, while 2022 won’t be as strong as 2021, I still feel that the year will be overall positive.

S&PMD:  What is your outlook on the U.S. and world economy, and how will it change advertising, media, metrics and analytics in the coming year?

Dean:  While I am far from an economic expert, I think all of us can see that the past several months have been quite challenging for consumers and businesses. If past economic slowdowns are any indication, I think we can expect brands to moderate their spend on targeting audiences for new customers while increasing their spend to drive more engagement with existing customers.  

S&PMD:  What is your goal for the remainder of the year, and how do you see the 2022 holiday shopping season shaking out?

Dean: I’m still rather bullish for our industry. Consumer spending remains relatively strong, although it appears summertime spend has shifted more toward entertainment and away from retail goods.

While we might not have as strong a holiday season as 2021, it will still have positive outcomes, especially for those companies that focus efforts on leveraging their existing customers.

For the remainder of the year, I personally am focused on evangelizing the AnalyticsIQ message around the power of analytics and how we can help brands win, even in challenging economic times.

S&PMD:  Why the jump to AnalyticsIQ?

Dean:  The world of data-driven marketing continues to evolve, and much of that evolution is the desire to ensure consumers benefit from the world of targeted advertising.

To that point, it is also imperative that no harm is done to the consumer. Inevitably, this path leads to not only data security, but also elimination of known consumer data. 

What attracted me to AnalyticsIQ is their shared belief that great marketing data doesn’t have to rely on consumer intrusiveness.  Rather, we can use analytics to infer segments without holding or using sensitive data. I strongly believe that this is the future of our industry.

S&PMD: What are you doing with the IAB Data Center of Excellence, and how does that influence your position at AnalyticsIQ? 

Dean:  Our mission on the Programmatic and Data Center Board is to ensure that we as an industry continue to innovate and grow the interoperable activation of data for a variety of use cases, including ad targeting and measurement.

But most importantly, we strive to ensure that we have consistent standards and governance for the best possible outcomes with the vow to “do no harm” to the consumer at the forefront of our objectives.

Kevin Dean aims to accelerate the rapid expansion of AnalyticsIQ, which has seen 53% revenue growth in the past two years, driven by strategic business plans and executive key partnerships.