Deutsch LA's Office Bolsters Business Intelligence Department with Key Hires

Deutsch has announced the expansion of its business intelligence department with a new hire, Jason Widjaja, and two recent VP additions to the group: Julia Locklear and Joanne Marrache. At the helm of the department is Heide Hays, who has driven the agency’s expertise for the past three years.

Deutsch’s business intelligence division connects its clients to consumers through three key offerings:

Growth Planning – Bringing data further upstream to identify sources of growth, audience opportunities and strategic inspiration through business consultancy, audience planning and consumer analytics

Marketing Science – Ensuring campaign effectiveness through measurement and performance strategies and business and campaign/platform analytics

Data Management – Creating the infrastructure that enables the capture, analysis and actionability of data

“So often, data-driven strategies are developed independently of the teams that are actually building the brand and laying the groundwork for growth,” says Heide. “We’re in the business of building businesses and by housing this capability within the walls of our agency, we can identify the greatest business opportunities and have them inform our strategies and approaches from the outset. And on the back end, we can gauge effectiveness and provide a blueprint for increasing efficiencies.”

The group works across Deutsch’s roster of clients. Alongside Jason, Julia and Joanne, is Kurtis Johnson, another VP in the department, who helps manage the team and drive business and momentum for clients.

Jason is a strategist possessing a unique combination of expertise in data analytics, business strategy and technology. He joins Deutsch with more than 15 years of cross-industry experience; everything from strategy and development for the Nestlé brand, to consultancy management at Accenture and business operations for The New York Times. Jason's background is perfectly suited to assess business challenges and areas to innovate. He will be tasked with informing business strategy and opportunity analysis for existing and prospective clients.

Julia, a 20-year vet of the market research industry, was named VP, director of research and consumer analytics. She will be tasked with enhancing the research and consumer analytics expertise for the growth planning capability. Her team also supports the marketing science arm, providing custom research and measurement to help get the most from client customer data. Julia's doctoral work is in business psychology and she joins Deutsch from Ipsos Insight, where she managed quantitative and qualitative studies for multiple clients including NBC, ABC, the NFL, Hulu and Netflix. 

Joanne joins the department as VP, director of marketing science. She will lead the marketing science team by harnessing big data to inform business and marketing performance strategies for current and prospective clients. With 15 years of experience, Julia brings extensive retail and CPG experience that includes stints at Target and Mattel. She joins Deutsch from Publicis Groupe, where she established and grew Analytics teams in China and Japan. Julia holds a BA from New York University and an MBA from Duke.

All capabilities will work in tandem to optimise and create holistic strategies for Deutsch clients and prospects.