Robyn D’Arcy: Data, but make it emotional
Data often gets a bad rap for being cold, clinical, and overly analytical—a far cry from the creative world of storytelling and ideas. But at AMV BBDO London, Head of Data Robyn D’Arcy is flipping the script, proving that data is anything but soulless. In a conversation with Mark Tungate, Editorial Director of the Epica Awards, represented by Campaign Brief in Australia and New Zealand, D’Arcy unpacks how data can spark creativity, bring stories to life, and even reveal unexpected truths about our relationships, whether with animals, brands, or culture itself. From uncovering emotional nuances to creating campaigns that truly resonate, D’Arcy explains why, at its core, data is deeply human.
Rather than throwing cold water on creative inspiration, facts can lead the way to amazing stories, explains Robyn D’Arcy, Head of Data, AMV BBDO London.
To be frank, I know nothing about data. For me, Data was a character on Star Trek: Next Generation (feel free to look that up). Also, I was so bad at math in school that I was in a class with people who couldn’t even spell the word “math”. So it was with some trepidation that I embarked on an interview with Robyn D’Arcy, Head of Data at AMV BBDO, and presumably a genius at juggling facts and figures.
In person, Robyn turns out to be chatty and warm, not at all coldly analytical. This fits right in with AMV BBDO’s approach to data, which is “data with a soul”, or data as a form of storytelling. Both sound reassuring, but what do they mean in practice?
Robyn says: “Ultimately it’s about moving away from misconceptions around what data is and what it can do in an agency context. In other words, moving away from the reductive view that it’s just numbers and code.”
Not math at all, then? “It’s not pure numerical information,” she confirms. “Instead, it’s about adding texture. It’s about words, culture, themes. It’s about discerning real people’s feelings.”
Data enables the agency to see a subject from multiple points of view. “There’s never just one static narrative or one story. We want to get to know people from different angles, because we want to make sure we’re getting the best insights, which will lead to the best ideas.”
Neither is data presented as a chart. “We focus on the beauty and complexity of the many ways you call tell a story. We make data interactive and experiential, with the user able to engage and see the results through the lens they select.”
Positive emotion
Data informs every stage of a campaign, from initial research right through to reactions to the creative work. “For every campaign, every brief, we begin with data, helping with the ideation, defining what people want and what they’re most likely to respond to – which feeds directly into the strategy.”
A recent example is the agency’s work for the RSPCA, the iconic animal welfare charity. “The ideation was based on what was most important to people who cared about animal welfare: how they felt about animals, what they were most likely resonate with, and what animal welfare meant to them in 2024.”
Once the campaign had launched, data tracked how it was performing. “Not just in terms of how many clicks, comments and earned conversations, but how people engaged with it and what they were saying.” They expressed joy, amusement and positive emotion, all of which are rare in the often bleak world of charity advertising.
Tracking acts of kindness
“It’s one of the best examples of the multi-thematic approach I mentioned. We could look at the responses and segment them into categories like ‘emotions expressed, animals mentioned, language type, themes of conversation’, and see how any of those interacted with another.”
It was a way of following the emotional journey the campaign took people on, “and how it led to their own small acts of kindness towards animals.” Her favourite fun fact: when the agency dug into how the campaign had changed attitudes to animals, “we found there’d been a more than 10,000% increase in references to snails within unbranded, general discussion of animal welfare in the UK.”
The campaign recalled the research the agency had done for Sheba, the cat food brand, into cat owners’ relationships with their pets. I mention that I’m never super happy when our cat wakes me at three in the morning to be fed. “Ah, that’s interesting,” Robyn perks up, with feline alertness, “because normally the top time is four o’clock. Anxiety towards cats peaks at 4am. That insight led to our 4am Stories.”
Data can establish the way brands are experienced by the public, too. How are brands depicted in pop culture? What contexts, colours or verbal references crop up? In that way, brands can see themselves or their competitors in the real world.
The language factor
I noted that Robyn started out as a copywriter. How did that lead her into the world of data? “Well, I wanted to do something in the creative industry, but I didn’t know data was an option, to be honest. The truth is I was studying at UCL and really struggling to afford life as a student in London. So I started doing copywriting and SEO on the side.”
SEO was a segue into data, she explains. Plus she was studying languages (French language and literature) which has a kinship with data analysis. “In fact it was very similar to the kind of analysis we do now. It was about thematic segmentation, word choice, emotion, tone… When you’re looking at 18th century French literature, you’re also looking at what it says about the socio-political context of the time.”
The fact that she graduated in 2016 played a role. “It was the year of Brexit and the rise of Trumpism. The start of the post-truth era. I wanted to understand how people were being manipulated by data.”
Today she believes language is the key to making the most of data. “If you just look at the top themes in conversations around a subject, you see it through only one lens. But analysing language type and tone shows you how varied opinions are. If you’re not focusing on language, you miss out on things like sarcasm, or jokes, which could take the context from congratulatory to accusatory in an instant. You could treat subjects in ways that are at best reductive and at worst misleading.”
When “big data” became a buzz term in the agency world, some creatives pushed back, worried that the number crunchers would undermine their instinctive, gut-feel approach. But at AMV BBDO, data has been embraced as a partner.
Robyn says: “Because we put so much emphasis on emotion, language, themes, zeitgeist and culture, I think we’ve managed to successfully embed data into the creative process rather than each side being seen as completely different mindsets and disciplines.”
Plus if you’re a creative it’s always good to have back-up for your big idea. “If they get struck by an idea that comes from their personal experience, we can dig into that further by understanding how other people feel about it.”
Data as a gift
“Data” has also been something of a dirty word among consumers, provoking privacy concerns. This, too, is becoming more nuanced, says Robyn. There’s more transparency about how data is pulled, stored and analysed. People have grasped that it’s mostly anonymous.
“One of the main evolutions is the idea of data value exchange. When people willingly give you their data, what are they getting back? I feel a few years ago, if you said ‘data’, the first thing that jumped into people’s brains was Cambridge Analytica. But now I think it’s more like Spotify Wrapped.”
The fun December delivery gives listeners personalised insights into their favourite songs, artists, genres, albums and even podcasts over the past year. “So for people who use the app there’s a feedback loop where they get their ‘wraps’ every Christmas and they’re thrilled about it. They can see themselves represented, it’s very shareable and they get really excited about it.”
Understanding people’s feelings can make abstract subjects directly relevant. For instance, data analysis led the agency to connect something barely visible – air pollution – to something tangible: house prices.
Robyn uses an appealing phrase to sum up the social listening aspect of data gathering: “Understanding personal emotional undercurrents as part of broader collective trends, movements and motivations.”
Or to put it another way: data is human after all.