The ultimate data platform based on artificial intelligence

DNA is one of the leading Finnish telecommunications groups, offering diverse services to consumers and companies. Together with DNA, we built a new platform to help them serve their customers in a revolutionary way: The Ultimate Data Platform is a high tech analytics solution that utilizes artificial intelligence and serves DNA’s customers and the development of the customer experience. It enables DNA’s customers to have a genuinely consistent, personalised experience in all channels. It also offers business tools for better management, from network design to marketing and customer service. In addition, the Ultimate Data Platform enables operational marketing measures that are as many as 300 times faster than before.

Top-class artificial intelligence for predicting and anticipating customers’ needs

The Ultimate Data Platform enabled the transformation from separate data silos and analytics projects to a consistent data platform and offers tools for improving the customer experience and real-time support for business operations.

Benefits of the solution:

• A better understanding of customer behaviour
• Reduced customer churn, increased cross-sales and increased use of services and products
• Real-time analytics: artificial intelligence is used to manage each customer event in all interaction channels
• Processing of natural language to detect discussions about and themes related to DNA on the Internet
• A consistent service offering in all channels, personalised by the means of artificial intelligence

STRATEGY

Data is the essence of developing customer experience

DNA aims to be the best provider of telecommunications services with the most satisfied customers in Finland. DNA’s development of digital services is guided by the company’s strategic principles:

• Development is guided by a culture of experimentation, and is based on customers’ needs.
• DNA makes use of open programming interfaces that facilitate innovation and offer the company opportunities to introduce new products and services more quickly than before.
• To be able to respond to customers’ needs and increased expectations, DNA must be able to convert data into customer and business insight, automated next best actions and service innovations.
• Traditional data projects typically involve only one organisational function: the finance, marketing, customer service or sales department. DNA realised the potential of cross-sectoral data and analytics. Data is the only element of customer insight and service experiences that expands across all channels and meeting points.

Idea

Better customer service through customer insight

The mission was to develop excellent data-based solutions that make use of analytics so well that customers can be served better in all interaction situations. The aim was to use analytics to provide the management with day-to-day tools that enable them to make better strategic decisions.

This resulted in the concept of the Ultimate Data Platform, which was intended to:

• Reduce customer churn and increase cross-sales and the use of services and products through targeted communications
• Enable real-time analytics and the easy use of operational data throughout the organization without intermediaries or consultants
• Make the day-to-day use of data so easy that the management would really want to use data analytics and would be capable of using it when making decisions
• Build a sustainable foundation for future services that make use of data
• Use artificial intelligence to optimise each customer event in all interaction channels

Solution

From sales pitches to marketing measures – rapidly and flexibly

• Implemented using data science and open source code on the cloud platform
• Unlimited scalability, maximal calculation capacity
• The time to production has decreased from weeks to minutes
• Lower costs
• The opportunity to develop new, data-based products that are ready for production – quickly and at a low cost

Agile team, quick results

DNA set out to develop data into a source of competitive advantage by investing in recruiting the best employees. The goal was to make the work run smoothly without a massive amount of project organisation. For this reason, a small team was established – a close-knit group of experts who work together well. The team was authorised to make independent decisions – and to have fun! The idea was to produce visible results over a short period of time. The group worked in an agile manner, and the first version was completed in less than six months. The project makes use of the latest technologies and algorithms, regardless of whether they have been fully tested. Experiments were made along the way, and new things were learned, while optimisation was carried out continuously. The first data services that were visible to customers were introduced during 2016, and hundreds of new features have since been added to the platform.

All data in the cloud

There were no existing, off-the-shelf products on the market that would have been suitable for the purpose. For this reason, a tailored, fully scalable solution was implemented in the cloud by Amazon Web Service products, and based partially on open source code. This makes it possible to try new things in an agile manner while also enabling a transparent cost structure without licence or server fees.

All customers in one place

The project resulted in a consistent data platform. All of the channels are integrated into the platform, and everything is centred on the customer, as opposed to just one channel and only some of the customers, which was the situation at the starting point. At the same time, data management at DNA shifted from a support function to an operational function where data is continuously used in decision-making and measures that are visible to customers on a daily basis. This makes it possible to automate personalised, context-aware, real-time campaigns. These features have significantly improved response and conversion rates in campaigns. All measures can be analysed numerically.

Real-time analytics integrated into daily decision-making

Simultaneously with the platform development project, an extensive change management programme was started to integrate new data capabilities into day-to-day business operations. The goal was for everything to be worth the time spent on analysis and so easy that the tools would be put into use without the need for specific implementation projects. Automated marketing has been made so easy that managers can implement solutions according to need. DNA has taken management by data to a level that only a few Finnish organisations have reached.

BENEFITS

Consistent service experience for the customer

For the customers, the data platform is visible in all digital services: online services, DNA-TV and other valued-added services. It is also visible in email messages, which constitute the majority of communications, as well as in traditional letters and phone calls and at the DNA stores. The goal is for DNA to always be aware of what is being done in each channel and how the customer is interacting with DNA in these channels. All interaction can be measured in terms of increased sales, improved conversion, reduced customer churn and ROI in marketing.

Better services and targeted measures for customers

Analytics solutions can be used to predict customer satisfaction, combine usage trends and location models with customer value indicators and correlate experiences with granular network and device events, among other purposes. This data can be interpreted to determine the most probable cause, implement the next optimal measures (next best actions) and improve the customer experience. This means that, for the customer, the use of data is visible in how DNA’s brands and products reach them exactly when they need them – and in exactly the right way.

• The underlying need is known whenever something is offered to a customer. The customer is not offered products and services that they do not need.
• The customer is approached only when it is useful for the customer – in conjunction with service implementation or the effective resolution of various problem situations, for example.
• The promises made to a customer via one channel are also kept in other channels, so the customer sees and experiences a consistent DNA in all channels.

Quick and easy customer relationship management

The vision of data and analytics as sources of competitive advantage has also come true in terms of business operations. The solution makes it possible not only to support day-to-day operations, but also to model large entities and support strategic decision-making. The Ultimate Data Platform brings all customer data to one place. This ensures that the same thing is not done ten times (cf. data integration and information models). As a result, overlapping work in customer relationship management has decreased considerably.

Analysis and measurement independent of channels

The features of the data platform help DNA study its customers’ behaviour in online channels and use this insight to continuously improve the service experience. All customer experiences can be measured based on the results measured and events occurring in DNA’s network. Research data can easily be combined with other data, and values and attitudes can be associated with customer behaviour. In addition, the effectiveness of marketing can be measured much more broadly than before. Considerably improved visibility: Everything that is done can be measured within five minutes.

A strong foundation for next-generation data services!

The Ultimate Data Platform is a solution that already offers the following:

• A real-time view of each customer relationship status
• Automated marketing
• Programmatic buying
• The most probable cross-sale and add-on sale opportunities
• Recommendations for interesting content
• A real-time interface for personalised digital services
• Comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of measures
• Models for guiding the planning of investments
• Algorithms for optimising measures
• Text mining to increase the understanding of social media

The platform is a consistent way to resolve data-related issues, even with regard to future needs. It offers incredible opportunities to design new service concepts. In the future, it can also be used as a tool for extensively understanding natural language, and in applications for natural language (bots, better support pages, products and services).