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Case Study
Building a True Partnership For Effective Measurement
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Ancestry.com LLC is a privately held online company based in Lehi, Utah, United States. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
“Bonsai has been instrumental in thoughtfully assessing the current status of operations in Ancestry marketing, recommending solutions, and helping us to implement them. Every solution is thoughtfully proposed but I have been really impressed with the insights that the Bonsai team shared based on meetings with internal team members. Their objectivity allows them to glean really interesting feedback from the team.”
Audrey Bower
Director of Marketing Analytics, Ancestry
Problem Overview
Ancestry had multiple challenges when they came to Bonsai: measurement infrastructure, media attribution and strategy to name a few. There were many systems and teams operating in silos. The business wanted to move away from transactional goals and last-click attribution, so they could pursue true customer-centric marketing. Ancestry also wanted to make sure they were prepared for data privacy changes, so they turned to Bonsai as an objective 3rd party.
What was the ideal outcome?
To obtain a 3rd party view of the structure, so the Ancestry team knew who was using the tools, what they were being used for, and what wasn’t being used at all so that they could maximize their investment.
Bonsai's Approach
- Audit before we act.
- Know the client & the goals.
Maximize Data
Behavior
Customer
Revenue
Minimize $
Storage
Media
Processing
Services
Where we started
Assessment
Discover Process
As Bonsai dug in initially and gathered learnings, the Ancestry team decided to expand the scope and gather even more information via survey and live interview for the audit to be as effective across the whole organization as possible.
MarTech Utilization Survey
Initial Audience: Analysts
Changed To: Analysts, Marketers & Executives
Initial Purpose: Identify Technical Requirements
Changed To: Utilization | Satisfaction | Mastery | Criticality | Visibility | Uncovering Expertise
10
0
Live Interviews
Initial Audience: Analysts & Executive Stakeholders
Changed To: Ten Teams, 20+ Interviews
Key Questions:
- “What tools can’t you live without?”
- “Do you modify data regularly?”
- “What would you change?”
8
0
Learnings
- Data Factory issue: Think of it like a data tax – extra time and resources required to fix and clean data means less bandwidth to use it! This was causing bottlenecks in the process, and requests were being made for more headcount.
- Lack of accuracy and trust in the data: Inconsistencies in which tools were being used, inconsistency in the knowledge of using the tools, and some tools not being used at all.
RACI Bottlenecks & Backstops
Technology paid for but not used
Data Challenges
Clear Survey Feedback
Lack of Data Trust
0
%
Data Trust Score
“Lack of error monitoring”
“No data access governance”
“Errors left to user to escalate”
“Lack of congruency”
“Various platforms for the same info”
Inconsistent & Multi-Reporting
Results
Bonsai provides not only the service you were expecting, but they go above and beyond to understand your business and provide solutions you weren’t expecting.
- Further understanding of the business. – Data loss & duplication.
- Elimination of unutilized technologies – Saved $$$ across media, storage, services.
- Increased data trust.
- Marketing analytics support.
- Migration from channel-based marketing to customer based marketing.
Teams
Utilize | Understand
Why Bonsai?
Founded in February 2020, Bonsai started as a project developed by two co-founders passionate about the power of data, innovation, and technology in everyday lives, but frustrated by the waste and complexity generated by the existing technological ecosystem. Our hands-on approach solves marketing technology, data, and analytics challenges through groundbreaking design. Our principles eliminate tech waste and maximize your ROI.
Manufacturers iterated the process of production for hundreds of years. Digital business, marketing, and analytics suffer from a death of process. Sure, you will find thousands of “best practices” from various sources. What you won’t find are proven methods, reproducible tests, or established science. And the allure of a “single platform that solves everything” increases adoption – signing up for another platform is easy! But more technology doesn’t solve the problem. It just means more incomplete data, inaccurate insight, privacy liability, and decision delay. We reject the idea that software alone adequately solves the real issues facing businesses.
Our managed services draw inspiration from the art of Bonsai – precision design and rigorous cultivation that replicates natural beauty on any scale. Our unique approach shapes future-proof marketing technology ecosystems that operate seamlessly, scale efficiently, measure accurately, delight your customers and grow your business.
Whether we partner to fix a single data pipeline, deploy an optimized process, or re-design your entire marketing technology strategy, our managed services deliver this blend of domain expertise to deliver true business transformation.