Putting trust in marketing based on big data technology

When thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs started up more than a decade ago, everyone wanted success badly but only a few, such as Vincent Yan, founder and CEO of AdMaster, an independent provider of advertising metrics and analytics, achieved it.

His story began with a bachelor's degree course in chemistry at Peking University from 1999 to 2003. Later, he worked at P&G, a Fortune 500 company, for two years as product manager in R&D and another year as consultant with Mars & Co, a global boutique management consulting firm.

In 2006, he decided to strike it out on his own, when the startup culture was not as glamorous as it is today.

In 2006, Yan and his friends founded AdMaster. "Being an entrepreneur can be lonely, especially in the beginning," he said. "It's not until the fifth year that we received our first round of venture capital funding from GSR Ventures (in 2010)."

The second round was from Wi Happer Group in 2012.

After the advent of artificial intelligence and big data, he and his team figured that ad metrics alone would not satisfy the firm's clients. AdMaster needed to grow, to keep pace with the changing times.

"What we wanted to do is not only help our customers to identify their problems but also provide them with trustworthy solutions," Yan said.

In the past few years, AdMaster has transformed itself from a digital ad analytics firm into a provider of big data- and artificial intelligence－based marketing solutions.

According to Yan, Jingshuo Technology Group, which now includes four independent business divisions (AdMaster, nEqual, Jinshuju and Tuice), was formed recently to offer a one-stop service covering marketing measurement and solutions, data intelligence technology, SmartForm tools, intelligent social customer service and customer relationship management.

So far, Jingshuo Technology Group has covered 80 percent of brands of fast-moving consumer goods or FMCG players such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever and L'Oreal, and more than 60 percent of the world's automobile brands.

The group's target clients are not restricted to big brands. "I also want to help small and middle-sized enterprises. Our dream is to build a world in which each business will be conducted easily."

Small and medium-sized businesses currently account for 3 percent of the group's revenue, but in the next three to five years, the number is expected to grow to 15 percent, Yan said.

In the future, AdMaster will be committed to becoming a global brand, he said. "This would mean more competition with international brands, including US-based Oracle and measurement company Nielsen," he said.

So, it is vital that AdMaster figures out its strengths. "Our service from Tuice and Jinshuju can help small and medium businesses find and seize opportunities from social networks," he said. "Therefore, we can attract more small clients."

AdMaster, he said, achieved annual sales growth of 50 percent in the past several years. But he declined to share absolute figures and the timeline.

He attributed his knowledge of corporate needs and market trends to his 13 years in the field of digital marketing in China. His past experience, he said, enables him to combine marketing services with internet technology.

"From that experience, I've learned a lot of things about marketing, consumers and data analysis, which proved to be useful later when I started my own business."

He said he expects AdMaster to list in China in the near future. "The valuations of firms such as AdMaster will be more attractive in the mainland market compared with those in Hong Kong or New York."

That could also pose a challenge because many firms are lining up for listing in China. However, Yan is optimistic. "Success will come when the time is ripe. We've a good team, so neither us nor our investors are going to worry because of that."

Among the firm's core values, he considers "trust" a big strength. "You've to put yourself in a good position so that others could trust you," said Yan. "Some companies used to be popular in the advertising industry, but they gradually declined because they could not earn their clients' trust."

Asked about advice for startups, he said: "An entrepreneur should start up in a field he or she is good at ... so, beginning from a vantage point is crucially important."

Fan Hang and Niu Yilin contributed to this story.