Trendsetters: Visa's Jessica Williams Talks about the Intersection of Innovation & Analytics

Ask Jessica Williams what she finds most exciting about today's fast-changing marketing world, and she'll immediately tell you that she has "a passion for analytics." (Her Twitter handle--@MediaMetricsGal-- also underscores her keen dedication to data.) As Global Innovation Marketing & Analytics Leader at Visa, she's not only blazing a new path by integrating left and right brain abilities into a single role, but she also represents the next-generation of skillsets and talents that are becoming critical to marketing's digital evolution.

When Jessica started at Visa two-and-a-half years ago, she was hired as part of the analytics department. However, it became clear that she possessed that rare ability to translate research and data not only into strategic insights, but ultimately into global recommendations that could move the needle on brand growth and value. In a year, she was asked to become part of Visa's marketing organization.

Jessica admits worrying about whether the "quant person inside of me could move to marketing." However, she realized that such a role would enable her to a see a project from inception to execution--instead of simply setting up the analytics and measurement without getting a chance to implement the work. "I hoped to be one of those marketers who listens to the data, and then uses it to inform decisions that would directly affect all marketing efforts."

She found great success in her new charter of Global Innovation Marketing & Analytics. And while she concedes that "Marketing is 100% creative," she's quick to add, "But if not driven by strong data, it rarely succeeds. Working so that these two worlds could come together was a lot easier than I thought."

She next encouraged Visa Marketing leadership to bring a data platform to the organization, so that everyone would view all social and digital indicators in one place and allow teams to make decisions in real time. "Analytics," she says, "is just good storytelling…. And it's super interesting. For example, we can now look at payment and preference data alongside specific marketing data in 40+ countries and better understand the value of Visa's amazing sponsorships and robust marketing programs."

Yet, the journey to marketing data automation took roughly two years. Jessica calls it a team effort and understood that she had to be a constant "squeaky wheel" to insure that everyone stayed on course and overcame inevitable roadblocks that ranged from security issues to data transparency. In the process, a colleague learned of Origami Logic through a TechCrunch article about an Israeli-based company in stealth startup mode who seemed to be developing the kind of marketing solutions that Visa needed.

Origami Logic recognized that marketers were drowning in data, and much of that data seemed far too incompatible to be used to draw any significant conclusions. The startup's goal was to make all of this information more relatable and easier to understand, so they could redefine the way a marketer measures marketing data and signals and optimizes their efforts. Visa immediately partnered with Origami Logic, so they might build a system together that would help address the needs of a global organization.
During the Visa Checkout launch and rollout, they worked with Origami Logic to measure marketing signals from every ad, creative, post, keyword, video, email, website visit--across every marketing channel. Visa was then able to convert millions of daily marketing signals into actionable insights which literally empowered them to make campaign adjustments every, single day.

"In the past, we were always looking in the rearview mirror. In the time it would take to receive results, a two-week-long Olympics event was over. Now we can see what happens today and immediately interpret ways to better optimize our marketing dollars."


Jessica Williams has become an industry advocate for how automation can bring positive change to an organization. She says that many believe the process will take too long or require too much budget. She, however, has experienced a level of difference from automation that she finds truly remarkable.

"Not only did our real-time data reports and dashboards change the way our organization worked, but they broke down silos. There's a spirit between departments of ‘Let's do this together,' because we don't have to create something to make a program work--just look as the dashboard. The process has made us so nimble. Not only are we making our marketing dollars more efficient, we feel we are moving forward from biggest to better to best