We are recognizing Yushuang Zhou in the 2024 Marketers To Watch Series, in partnership with The Wall Street Journal, for her innovative work and leadership as the Senior Director, Analytics, Data Science & Syndicated Data at The Clorox Company. Here’s how she thinks about her important role:
I joined the Clorox marketing team in 2011 after 10 years in the consulting business. As the Analytics & Data Science team lead, we believe marketing is the growth engine for our loved portfolio of brands that can be found in 9 out of 10 U.S. households. I have the dream job of driving business growth by leveraging the power of data analytics along with the creative and strategic thinking of marketing.
Yushuang Zhou, Senior Director, Analytics, Data Science & Syndicated Data, The Clorox Company
Curious to learn more about the leader behind Clorox’s Analytics & Data Science team and why her work impacts the bottom line? Keep reading to learn Yushuang’s perspectives on why quality data is essential to winning the market, the innovative work she’s been leading to test, learn, and scale, her mom’s career advice that’s been pivotal to her success, and more.
What gives me joy outside of work…
Community service gives me energy and inspiration outside of work. I am especially passionate about promoting environmental sustainability, serving underprivileged populations, and mentoring girls in sports and STEM programs.
Every marketer should listen to...
The Masters of Scale podcast is my go-to for weekend hikes. It features legendary entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders who discuss how to scale businesses from zero to some of the fastest-growing and most iconic companies.
Future of Marketing
Q: What’s one thing coming down the marketing pike you are most excited about?
AI-driven technologies will enable us to analyze vast amounts of data to better understand consumer preferences and behaviors in real-time. Thus, AI will revolutionize how brands engage with consumers and personalize consumer experiences at scale. AI will also enable us to democratize the power of data, making insights more readily accessible to people without specialized expertise in data and analytics in a low-code/no-code environment.
Q: What widely accepted “marketing truth” do you wish the industry would evolve?
One common misconception is that Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies that sell through retailers do not have sufficient first-party consumer data. Therefore, they do not know how to do personalized marketing as businesses that sell directly to consumers.
While it is true that CPG companies like Clorox traditionally rely on third-party syndicated data, which continues to be a powerful data asset, first-party data is becoming increasingly available and actionable.
As part of The Clorox Company IGNITE strategy, we set the goal to collect the first-party data of 100 million consumers by the end of our fiscal year 2025. We have already achieved and surpassed this goal. This first-party data has been integrated into a unified cloud-based database that allows us to store, enrich, and activate our first-party data in a way that is compliant with privacy requirements.
Analytics & Data Science are leveraged to provide a holistic view of the customer journey and behaviors and develop deep understandings and valuable insights about our consumers.
These valuable insights allow us to personalize marketing efforts to best serve consumer needs at different touchpoints across various channels, leading to improved consumer experience, increased engagement, stronger loyalty, and better payout.
Q: What prediction do you have for Analytics & Data Marketing over the next few years?
Whoever has the right data wins the market. In today’s digital landscape, the convergence of digital platforms, retail media, artificial intelligence, and automation has heightened the importance of data in marketing strategies. Marketing will become increasingly dependent on data to reach, engage, and convert customers. The line between marketing and technology will continue to be blurred.
Analytics & Data Marketing at The Clorox Company
Q: What’s something exciting you’re currently working on at The Clorox Company?
One of the manifestos for the Clorox marketing team is “We Are Brave.” We embrace the toughest challenges, move fast, take smart risks, and try new things. When we miss, we learn quickly and get closer next time.
This new way of work requires us to embrace a culture of experimentation and learning in an agile and iterative manner. That’s why we developed an analytic practice to support Test, Learn & Scale (TLS), working with talented marketers to experiment with hundreds of marketing hypotheses, from creative iterations to whom to target to where to spend.
We aggregate insights from past studies and experiments, identify and quantify hypotheses that drive the most value, run pre-launch experimentation to test performance, and relentlessly micro-optimize every consumer interaction.
The successful ideas are then scaled up, and their in-market execution is monitored and measured, the results are used for our business performance reviews, demand driver optimization, and business planning in sales and operations planning (S&OP) forecasting cycles. Anchored at every critical step of our business process, this infinite loop allows us to see more end-to-end, make faster decisions, and deliver best-in-class marketing.
Q: What’s the most pressing business challenge you’ve faced within the last year at The Clorox Company, and what have you done to solve it?
Analytics has been seen as a secret weapon for Clorox. I believe the secret to the long-term success of our team is to prioritize analytic efforts to meet the business where it is heading instead of where it is right now. We are constantly looking for ways to build our toolbox so that we have the right tools to unleash the potential of our business.
One of the biggest challenges is measurement in real time with predictability confidence so that we know what is happening in marketing and we can advise businesses about what’s coming up in a timely manner.
We are modernizing our data infrastructure to automate data pipelines and build measurement tools (quick test & learns, marketing mix model, multi-touch attribution model, cross-channel lift studies, household penetration drivers, brand lift, etc.)
We have also begun leveraging AI/ML to monitor signals from social media, consumer reviews, and market trends, which allow us to gauge consumer sentiment and anticipate emerging needs.
Leadership and Career Advice
Q: What leadership muscle is most important for marketers to exercise?
Adaptability and agility are essential leadership skills for today’s marketers, especially given the rapidly evolving landscape of consumer behavior, technology advancements, and competitive pressures. Adaptability enables marketers to pivot swiftly in response to changing market conditions, emerging trends, or unexpected opportunities and challenges.
Meanwhile, agility ensures marketers can execute these adaptations efficiently and optimize their actions in real time. Analytical professionals and data scientists play a pivotal role in providing timely data and insights so that marketers have the information needed to stay ahead of the curve, creating a more consumer-obsessed and resilient company.
Q: What’s the most game-changing career advice you‘ve received?
While not a career woman, my mom gave me the best career advice. “There are always jobs to be done. Sometimes it just takes a little mindfulness to think and willingness to act.” This advice shaped who I am in my personal and professional lives, for being proactive, always keen on taking initiative, and going above and beyond to get jobs done right.
Marketers to Watch is a recognition series to spotlight highly innovative and forward-thinking marketing leaders in the community. If you have someone you’d like to nominate for the series, apply here.
