Thought leader spotlight: Andrew Davidson
Behind the data are our world-class thought leaders. Over the next month, we will be introducing you to the people responsible for Comperemedia’s industry expertise.
Get to know Comperemedia SVP/ Chief Insights Officer, Andrew Davidson. Andrew is a thought leader, speaker, and blogger with expertise in cross channel marketing intelligence, consumer behavior and global trends. Andrew has predicted the evolution in payments marketing for more than 20 years.
Q: What topics do you specialize in?
A: Payments and financial services. I specialize in cross-channel marketing intelligence, consumer behavior and global trends, and have predicted the future of payments marketing for more than 20 years.
Q: How did you get to where you are now?
A: My first research job coincided with the disruption of the UK credit card industry by US card issuers and I found my calling presenting to clients on the impact of a wave of innovative new players entering the payments space. I’ve been passionate about payments ever since.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in your industry, who would it be and why?
A: I’d pick Rich Fairbank, Chairman and CEO of Capital One. Rich has built an incredible company that continues to thrive and I see Capital One as a barometer for the health of the industry. I’d love to get Rich’s perspective on where we are heading. I realize I’m cheating but I’d also invite Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal and current CEO of Affirm. I’d love to hear Max’s vision for how the industry will evolve in light of his success with POS financing. I think this would be a great discussion.
Q: Tell us about a brand campaign or shift in strategy that has recently caught your eye?
A: Recently I’ve been doing a lot of work on co-brand credit cards as we’ve seen so much innovation in the space. One campaign that epitomizes where we are going is the Chase United Explorer Card campaign with Tracee Ellis Ross. The actress and comedian is best known for the TV series Black-ish and is a celebrity influencer with 6.6 million followers on Instagram. United’s influencer strategy spans TV, online video, Facebook and Display Ads and reveals an authenticity that contrasts with the more stereotypical imagery of travel experiences. In the highly competitive airline card segment an exclusive focus on sign-on bonus miles isn’t sustainable and a full funnel approach that emphasizes other aspects of the value proposition is fast becoming the playbook for co-brand card marketing strategy. The United Explorer Card campaign is the perfect illustration of this approach.
Q: What is your favorite part about your job?
A: Uncovering new understanding that will have an impact on the payments industry and sharing those insights with our clients in an engaging format.
Q: Last but not least- tell a fun fact about yourself.
A: I ran the New York Marathon in 1999 and fell in love with the city so much that the following year I decided to move to New York from London. The plan was to stay for 2 years but that was a long time ago and I became a citizen of my adopted home in 2017.
